One Room Challenge Week 5: Home Office Makeover Sneak Peek!

If you missed my last post, you may be wondering where the master bath project that I was so excited about went! Well, as I explained last week, I had to shift my design schedule around to accommodate my contractor. I hear people complain about this type of situation often, but when you are married to the contractor it’s easy to be more understanding. Working in the trades is not predictable. There are a lot of variables at play. And schedules and resources do not always align. So I have moved my attention to my home office that I have been ignoring since the fall 2015 One Room Challenge. No one to blame for lack of completion of this project but me. So I am back at it with focus and enthusiasm! I saw the acrylic frame above when I was out shopping for a visual merchandising client project recently. I almost gave it to my client, but I liked it so much that I kept it. I have it right where everyone (as in all of my family members) can see it when they enter my space. So far it’s working : )

My office desk is a very cool black vinyl covered custom table. It’s 8 feet long. I inherited it from a creative business associate who made it for the Frette showroom in Boston. They used it to display luxurious bath linens and such. When they were done with it, my friend was asked to remove it. He was about to cut it into pieces and I asked if I could have it for myself. My husband was nice enough to go pick it up for me, and I love having it! My plan is to organize the large surface area to better accommodate my various projects in the works. My first upgrade was my new mouse pad that looks like black alligator skin (found it at Staples). I love how it disappears into the table now. I wish I could hide everything else so easily! I spent all day today moving unwanted clutter out of my office. It’s now in my hallway and working it’s way up the stairs to the third floor. Remember we don’t have an attic since we turned it into our master bedroom, or a usable basement for that matter (it’s a VERY old farmhouse). I sometimes wish I could just get a storage pod delivered to my driveway just to place the stuff I need to sort through until I am ready to tackle it. But I have a feeling I would end up with a colony of pods if I went that route (plus my husband said “absolutely not” when I mentioned my brilliant idea to him). So for now the boxes will remain in the hall till I can get to them. And I promise that I will. Nothing will go back in this room unless I love and need it!

My favorite light is already installed. It is a Schonbeck crystal chandelier that we picked out for our original master bedroom. We have great high ceilings in this house (close to 9 feet) but the new bedroom we built in the attic is not quite as tall. So I decided to keep it where I would enjoy it every day. And I do!

Come back next week for my final reveal. I am really going to try to get it done before the clock strikes midnight on May 12th, the last day of the One Room Challenge. Thank you, Linda, of Calling it Home, for providing this design motivator – it really helps! Check out how motivated everyone else is ...

Featured Designers week 5 progress here

Guest Participants week 5 progress here

House Beautiful weekly trend round up here

Spotting trends at The BDC

Classic zebra patterns in the Scalamandre showroom on display

during the Boston Design Center luxury open house: The Look.

Last week I took a field trip to the Boston Design Center to catch up on the latest interior design trends as presented by BDC Vice President and General Manager, Julie Rogowski, as well as via the well dressed showrooms throughout the building. At the entryway of the first seminar “Trends 2013” we were handed complimentary Mimosa cocktails served on silver platters. I could tell that this was going to be a good day at work!

We took our seats in the crowded fifth floor seminar room, eager to hear from Julie what colors and design directions are predicted for 2013. Her lively narration entertained us while a storyboard of designer eye-candy played in the background. See the Trends 2013 report here. But first, let me show you who and what I saw at the Boston Design Center that embodied the forecasted trends.

Above is a photo from the Scalamandre showroom. Classic patterns, like their zebra wallpaper circa 1930 have been reinterpreted in new colorways and treatments – as shown it is in a silver metallic grasscloth. The spindle chair is another design classic. Upholstered in a bold zebra print graced with a pop of color accent pillow in Mellow Yellow (another predicted design trend) this vignette is a great example of what we will be seeing in upcoming issues of our favorite shelter magazines. 

With Barbara Baratz of Venegas and Company, Lucy Dearborn of

Lucia Lighting, and designer Sarah Lalone of Sarah Lalone Design  

As we know, interior design and fashion design go hand in hand. Above, we see the same sunny Mellow Yellow paired with white and black worn on Barbara Baratz of Venegas and Company. I had to capture this photo with my Passport to Design partner, Lucy Dearborn (who is wearing True Blue – also on the color chart for next year), as the Venegas showroom sparkles with fixtures from her North Shore based design destination Lucia Lighting. The twin large scale orbs hanging above the island in the picture are the cousins of the chandi she lent me for my Modern Family Mudroom vignette featured at the North Shore Design Show last spring.

Read the post I wrote for New England Home Magazine

that included this dazzling light fixture seen at The Bright Group.

Dramatic lighting is one of those design tricks that truly makes a room beyond ordinary. In the showroom above, we see how a pair of lamps in bold orange (still an on-trend color choice, especially rosy-hued versions) are the perfect counterpoint to a neutral palette. Mushrooms, creams, and caramels – or “Tea Party” colors – will maintain a strong presence in 2013.  

From the North Shore: Lisa Kawski of LMK Interiors,

Juli MacDonald of Green Bridge Architects,

Linda Hentschel of iDesign Interior Design Solutions,

 and Nancy Faye Glass of Glass House Designs

Standing in front of The Martin Group showroom, these North Shore designers are wearing colors straight from the trends report: a bit of mushroom, coral, blue and teal, along with forecasted Neo Geo patterns. Lisa, on the far left, will be presenting one of her kitchen design projects in this Saturday’s Wenham Museum Heart of the Home Kitchen Tour.

Floral patterns are also trending, as is glass tile. These shots were taken in the new 342 Designers Club. This much needed addition to the BDC will provide designers with a stylish and relaxing area to sit with their clients to discuss their projects over a cup of coffee or a bite to eat. We popped in to connect with some of the design bloggers that we knew who were tweeting, meeting and greeting as part of the days Social Media Lounge (see the list here). 

Design blogger and former Rue editor Cassandra LaValle

with Julieann Covino of  Jace Interiors and Create Girl

I had never met Cassandra of Coco + Kelley and Rue Magazine in person before – she has a lot of amazing design happenings going on in her world. Check out her super stylish lifestyle blog. 

Stacy Kuntstel of New England Home Magazine,

with Cassandra and Julieann in Designers Club 342

And speaking of super stylish, Stacy Kuntstel was also tweeting in the Social Media Lounge along with presenting her magazine editor styling tips during the lunch and learn portion of the day. While she claims she is not a designer (she spends her days staging photo shoots and creating candelabras) I am pretty sure that any room that she even casually decorates looks like it should be in a magazine.  

With Stacy and Eric Haydel of EMH Design Inc.

Last spring Stacy was the honorary chair of the Wenham Museum North Shore Design Show (see candids from the preview party here). While in the lounge, we also ran into Eric Haydel, another Wenham Museum alum. His fabulous space was just featured in the fall version of the ASID newsletter.

Don’t you just love the striped carpet in the Designers Club? That’s right, stripes in all widths and colors are also trending!

The carpet in this Webster and Company showroom vignette has a similar striped look, but in a classic animal print. Combined with a feminine color palette, floral wall paper and Tea Party neutrals this space was soft, yet warm and elegant. That’s a lot of trends working the same room, yet together they look flawless.

Throughout the day, showrooms provided a unique mix of bits and sips. I passed on the jelly beans at Venegas and Company, but enjoyed a couple of the pineapple martinis being served by Del Frisco mixologist Paul McAvoy. They were quite refreshing. Linda thought so, too.  

Designers Katherine Hawkins and Rosanne Palazola

Another trend to look out for was dubbed Femme Fatale. These fine fabrics on display at the Duralee showroom are a great example of the combination of boldly feminine colors paired with prints in elegant finishes.   

Linda with a piece from the fashion collection of Marilyn Riseman  

While black as a wardrobe choice is always on-trend with the design crowd, I also noted a repetition of gold accents in the crowd (Mellow Yellow), geometric patterns and that brilliant teal blue which pretty much looks fabulous on everyone.

Stephanie Sabbe of Sabbe Design (a guest blogger)

with designer Michelle Cortizo of Cortizo Interiors

(a recent contributor to New England Finery Magazine)

With designer Vani Sayeed who is the principal designer for the

recently opened Boston Magazine Design Home 2012. She also

shared her style tips in the last issue of New England Finery.

With Gail Ravgiala, editor of Design New England Magazine

Even the flower arrangements were on trend:

Mellow Yellow, Seeing Red, True Blue

Say it With Flowers: whether on a fabric, or in real life, flowers are always in style. Referencing their natural colorways is a great way to orchestrate a design scheme.

geometrics + bold stripes + true blue + burnt orange = perfection

While I was at the BDC, I was looking for some inspiration for the Designer Bath showroom. Our brand colors are gray, orange and occasionally blue. I just may have to use this tile-like wallpaper in our storefront windows ... 

  

Artist Susan Siefert of MadPatter Design with Linda Hentschel.

See the Chalk it Up piece she painted for Linda in this post and more

of her work in my recent post for New England Home Magazine.

If one chandelier is good, half a dozen is better.

We had a wonderful time enjoying the luxury open house at the BDC. If only every day at work could be so sparkly!

{Boston Design Center 2013 Trends Report}

April vacation is over ...

Turquoise and Yellow at the Office
by designvignettes featuring
Citizens of Humanity jeans

Eloise Writing Desk from
The Well Appointed House



A sunny and cheerful wardrobe is in order, as I spent a lot of last week prepping and painting, wearing my I-don’t-care-if-this-gets-ruined cast-a-ways while supervising a lot of boy activities. Fortunately, I was able to get a number of items crossed off my to-do-list while still managing to squeeze in a few trips to the park, the circus, the movies, a couple of haircuts, along with sharing time with friends and family. I guess it was a vacation after all ... at times it certainly felt like
a roller coaster ride (and other times like
being stuck in a clown car).



I never get tired of seeing this quote (it is everywhere these days, but was originally designed as a morale boosting poster during World War II). It is a favorite mantra that has served me well, especially
during school vacations : )

Master bedroom preview, part 2

Our current master bedroom is used in this photo
as a backdrop to showcase a pillow collection
that I designed for a seaside home.

I spent last week researching final choices for our new bedroom. I still love this color wall – Benjamin Moore Crown Point Sand which is kind of tan, kind of greenish – but I plan to go with something a tad whiter since there is less natural light in the new space. Although now that the room is completely plastered, it actually looks pretty bright up there. Even so, I have been seeing so many great all-white rooms in both design magazines and on the web that I would love to have one in our home as well.

My top color choice right now is Benjamin Moore Marscarpone. It is a bright creamy white with a touch of yellow that will help to give the room a sunny disposition even with just one window. I am planning on keeping many of the same fabrics that we currently have (reduce, reuse, recycle!) This tea-stained stripe was used to create our custom bedskirt – which I love – and would not feel right about replacing.



Here is the skirt with a sample of carpet. If we decide to go with wall-to-wall (less $ and/or labor) this medium taupe will ground the space well.



This lighter version looks kind of blah to me. Plus with the light walls there will not be enough contrast. Also, our headboard is tan linen and I would rather go with a darker color on the ground. Our top choice would be pre-finished hardwood which my husband could actually install, so the price without having to pay for installation just might work out for us.



This dark stained oak is our top choice right now. It would look appropriate in a 100-year old home.



On top of the hardwood, I would use our existing wool carpet. Here is just a peek of the border (the carpet is all rolled up after coming home from the cleaners, so I could only grab this little shot). It alternates squares of creamy white with greens and golds.



Most of our bedroom furniture is Swedish Home from Ethan Allen. The creamy white wood finish will blend in with the wall color, which will make the space appear larger than it is.



This chandelier from our current room will move with us. I love it even though it does not give off a super amount of light (we will add additional layers of light next to the bed, and in the corners of the room).



This piece of white washed furniture has been with me since my first apartment at twenty-one.
Wherever I go, it follows!

Our current coverlet is neutral in color. It has always been a little small for our king-size bed (even though it is king size, go figure!) so it might end up on the foot of the bed and I will look for something in the same color family but more generous in scale.



I have a pair of zebra striped down-filled pillows from my design inventory that I will add to the mix.


Plantation shutters from Smith & Noble

At the window, I am thinking that a shutter would be a nice choice, allowing us light and privacy control.



My second choice would combine drapery panels (made out of tan linen, perhaps?) with a semi-sheer panel created out of this vintage hand-printed fabric. We often have deer in our backyard so I liked the reference to the world outside our window. I have been saving this fabric for something special, and I am thinking our new room would be a good place for it!

How I decorate for the holidays ... Deck the halls part 2

Remember these spiral trees and green pots?
Combined with greens, they provide a winter welcome.
Come on in!

You are invited to take a peek at my home ... decorated for the holidays. For me, it is all about the details (especially since it is very challenging with my family of four boys to get an entire room looking photo-ready at once unless it is that rare occasion when “no one is stirring.”) So I will show you some of my favorite holiday vignettes ...

I love lots of whites and creams with touches
of blue or gold, plus anything sparkly.



It took me years to find the perfect angel. She reminds me of the one we had on our tree as kids, plus she looks a little like my mom with her blond wavy hair.

Our tree is a visual hodge-podge decorated by my little helpers. Some branches have a good three or four ornaments on them while others are completely bare! As one of my boys explained, “if they look the same, they should go together.”

Some of our favorite child-friendly ornaments ...

The magically mysterious Elf.

Wool mitten ornament
from Beth’s shop.

New this year – we added white snowball-like pom poms and miniature tassels (my youngest came up with this “decorating” idea). I have to admit it was very cute watching the boys throw pom poms at the tree as if they were having a snowball fight! The silver rabbit ornament looks just like our pet bunny, Lucky.

My Santas are usually non-traditional, like
this white one holding a basket of flowers
(a gift one year from my mom).


Or my latest ... cloaked in blueish-green.

I also tried my hand at a new-to-me holiday tradition ... creating pomanders out of tangerines and cloves. Their warm, citrus scent is heavenly combined with fresh pine (notice the B monogram?)

I created this little nest on top of my
dining room chandelier for a couple of
stylishly-trendy feathered friends.

Another proud peacock.

And more feathers.

I like to decorate the unreachable areas like this spot above my television armoire. Must be learned behavior from years of sharing my home with toddlers!

Sometimes a simple touch is enough.

This decorator’s version of a kissing ball!

xo