A Bachelor's Pad
Today is installation day for a bachelor whose pad I helped select some key items for. Just a few key pieces to help bring in some color, texture and overall personality.
Hoping to share some photos soon. But for today, enjoy the little mood board I created.
Happy Thursday!
Lean Back
First off, I'm sick (that's where you come in and give me your feel betters just the way sick people wanna hear after they tell you they're sick). I don't typically sway on the side of ineedattention. I said typically, but I've always kinda had a thing for sickness sympathies. You tell people you're sick and like all of a sudden they wanna do stuff for you. TH says, Here, I'll make you some tea and I'm like, Great idea. You're so smart. Ugh, my body feels achy. TH: Should I rub your back? Me: Yes. Can you play with my hair too? Pretending you're Being sick is also a great excuse to act extra lazy. I can't get outta bed, I'm sick. I can't change my clothes, I'll get the rest of my clothes sick. Shower? It's cold. No energy, no gym. Fine, I'll get outta bed, but I should still lie down so I'll lie on the sofa in front of the television. For hours. I can't make dinner, I'll cough in the food. We should probably order takeout.
Then a friend invites you to a party at a place you've wanted to go and you think lying in bed all day was the best idea because now you feel betterrrrr. So seriously, I'm getting legit sick and I tried fighting it all weekend and now I'm coughing every 3.2 seconds 'cause my mucus is trying to get out. That's hot.
It always confused me when people would refer to cool things as sick. Sick is never cool. Like, Dude your jacket is sick. Uh, then I should probably take it off. It might be contagious. Makes no sense.
In non sick/cool related news, I bring to you today's post.
I really like this look of, let me just lay this frame on this piece of furniture like I didn't intend to and just left it there while I went to grab a hammer and some nails.
Lovely lady leans back. So leans back.
You following?
This is such a great tactic.
Save yourself the trouble of patching up holes caused by mismeasuring and just start leaning.
Lean on top of lean (extra lean) for a layered look.
Try this at home.
And Happy Hanukkah to any Jewette readers I may have.
As an honorary Jewess, I will be donning my Star of David necklace TH gave me for Christmas a few years ago.
Happy Tuesday!
freestILe
I've said it before, if you invite me over to your house and you give me multiple drinks, chances of me asking to rearrange your furniture are higher than a college stoner.
As was the case last weekend when TH and I hung out with our friends, a young couple. When you're several drinks in, you can't really comprehend if you're actually offending people. They thanked me and seemed to like the changes, so my guess is they weren't totally offended since they do have knowledge of what I do for a living. I guess I'll know for sure if they completely stop inviting us over.
I get really excited when I'm able to give people a new look without having them spend any extra dollar, dollar bills.
Look. I went back and took pictures for you guys. Let's all get excited.
Here are some befores of their family room:
I felt like there was some negative space in the area in front of the television and wanted to fill it up with seating conducive for conversations since they do like to entertain.
Now for the afters:
We took their sectional apart and converted it into two separate pieces.
I suggested even painting their fireplace wall a blue/slate color to make it more of a focal point and bring out the blues in the area rug, artwork and throw.
They can still enjoy watching television without the other sofa obstructing their view.
I brought in some accessories from different areas of their house to bring in some color, texture and an overall stiled look. I really just moved stuff around.
Lucky for me they had stylish pieces to work with, making this little project easy and fun.
Happy Monday!
Home Decorating
Shortly after our friends The Israels moved into their newly purchased condo, they invited TH and I over to preview and hang out.
After a few drinks I felt comfortable enough to ask, "Can I move your furniture around?" They know my deal so they let me do my thing and soon thereafter hired me to be their guide in selecting accessories and artwork. See, good things do come from getting inebriated. Drinks for everyone!
They needed extra seating and I found the above bench on Craigslist.
Here's what it looked like before.
It was wobbly and fairly ugly looking. We had the legs painted in a high gloss black, changed out the fabric and added completely new padding. And there's storage inside. That's always a plus.
I couldn't quite convince Mrs. Israel to paint her walls, but she was all for letting me paint her ceiling. Not a bad trade off. With the extra paint, we painted a stripe in this awkward nook in the entry. Because of its location, it was the perfect place to add some hooks for purses and misc hangable items.
Mr. Israel likes scrabble and I like quirky, so I was happy when they were both on-board (pun) for these scrabble pillows from Etsy.
vintage lamp and vintage looking phone.
Tray is from Home Goods and print belonged to Mr. Israel's grandmother.
I kept trying to incorporate more color and did so in going with a color mat for the art instead of a standard white or cream.
I saw the Israels this weekend and was happy when Mrs. Israel said, "Irene, you'll be so proud of me. I bought colored pillows for our home office."
I forget that not everyone is comfortable with color and bold choices. If I could make anyone step out of their comfort zone even just a little, then that makes me happy.
Love you for visiting me.
BamBamBoo
I bought this bamboo etegere a few weeks ago from Vanessa De Vargas for 50 bucks.
With proceeds going toward her latest charity project - Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women & Children - I not only scored a good deal, but I felt all warm and fuzzy inside because my money was helping those in need.
I skipped the whole sanding thing because that's just way too laborious for my liking.
I briefly dusted all the cobwebs off of it, wasted no more time and spray painted away.
One can of primer, two days, a trip back to the hardware store, a bit of a high, five and a half spray cans and one blister later, I was done with this bamboo.
Some close-ups
Rue: Your Pathway to stILe
Yesterday, Rue released their second issue. I had lots on the agenda, so I only got to skim through it briefly (will savor it later). But when I came across this office, I paused for a long while, slobbered a little and imagined myself behind the desk, sitting on the buttery, yellow desk chair. Let's have a moment of silence to appreciate its beauty.
Aaaaaannd we're back.
Okay, one more time.
Gorge to the ous
There's a huge deal of pretty in this online mag, and aside from this office, I usually tend to be seduced by the details.
Here are my favorite.
Looking for distractions on this Tuesday? Read Rue. It's free!
xx,
Irene
Interior Styling
When I was studying Interior Design, it felt like my only options were residential design or hospitality. I went back and forth between the two, changing my mind every semester only to figure out that Interior Styling and Accessorizing is my true passion. I only discovered this a few months ago as the words from my professor, "find your niche and specialize in it" echoed in my head. I love the idea of gathering objects for the sake of making them look pretty and perfect - as if they were always set-up that way.
Two days ago, I joined the decor8-created group, Interior Styling on Flickr. It's a forum that allows its over 2,000 members to display their work with people worldwide. Not all pictures are accepted by the creator, but I was quite elated that my first submission was welcomed rather quickly. {Pats herself on the back}. I spent more time than I should have looking through all kinds of inspirational images and would like to share some of many that I totally fell for.
Here's mine.
That bear rug is so cute, and it looks so well contrasted with the green, pale yellow and blue.
Baking never looked so lovely.
I love how every item is placed so casually.
Great color combo.
That lamp is so fun when fit in with vintage artwork, happy colors and traditional chandelier.
The denim colored books, the wood, the horse. Toss is some black and a sweet boy and you have a little cowboy's room. Darling.
Simply precious.
See how perfectly pretty it all comes together. I could fill up on this meal without eating a scintilla of it.
To check out more of this Interior Styling group click here.