Chevron and Painted Kitchen Floors
Posted: June 19, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: inlay wood floor, kitchen floors, painted kitchen floor, white and gray 1 Comment »We have traditional looking dark stained wood floors in our kitchen which I like, but if time and money were not an issue with this remodel I think doing a beautiful inlay design would be a great touch, something like a chevron pattern with a nice border around the edges, even a greek key. Painted floors are always a great option as well!
Here are some gorgeous kitchen floors that I just love:
This is a perfect design for a galley kitchen, or any kitchen for that matter, but here this white and gray painted chevron really add a beautiful touch to a narrow space. The yellow dining furniture is a great addition as well – I love that color combo.
This is an image of Miles Redd’s kitchen – hes combined painted wood and an inlay design on his floors along with high gloss painted cabinetry all making his kitchen chic and masculine at the same time.
This kitchen does a great job at mixing whites and grays together. I love how the window treatments and floors take this kitchen from standard to exceptional.
I think this simple stained chevron look would be a nice touch to any kitchen, I would stain a bit darker if I went this route.
Hope you are all having a great week!
DIY Carter Kustera Silhouettes
Posted: June 17, 2013 Filed under: Art, DIY | Tags: Carter Kustera, DIY, Do it yourself, Fathers Day, Silhouettes 1 Comment »Happy Monday!
Hope everyone had a great weekend, I spent most of it packing up our house as our big move out day was Sunday. We have now officially arrived at my in-laws for the next three months (eek). My husbands parents have impeccable taste and their home is amazing, filled with stunning works of art – I will be blogging about it soon!
I knew our move was happening on Fathers Day and that we wouldn’t really be able to celebrate properly so I wanted to make sure I had something special for my husband ready that morning. I decided to go the sentimental route this year and since I love a good DIY project I decided to tackle silhouettes of our two boys ala Carter Kustera.
Carter Kustera is known for his hand painted silhouettes is bright cheery colors accompanied typically by witty quotes and text.
Here is my silhouette attempt of my oldest son, its passable at best. Clearly I need some work! Sorry about the picture quality, as soon as the big reveal occurred the silhouettes were quickly shuttled into storage until we move back home.
I used Shel Silverstein quotes to accompany the silhouettes, the one above says “Tell me I’m clever, Tell me I’m kind, Tell me I’m talented, Tell me I’m cute, Tell me I’m sensitive, Graceful and wise, Tell me I’m perfect – but tell me the truth.”
And speaking of telling the truth it was later revealed to me that my husband actually was really hoping for a pair of new jeans… looks like I might be doing some shopping. Any suggestions?
Hope you all have a great week!
Kitchen Wallpaper
Posted: June 14, 2013 Filed under: Kitchen, Wallpaper | Tags: china seas, clarence house, farrow and ball, katie ridder, kitchen wallpaper, quadrille, Tory Burch, tory burch kitchen nook 1 Comment »We are going to have some extra wall space leading from the kitchen into the family room and I had been toying with hanging up some art work, possibly a decorative plate display but now I have moved on to wallpaper. There is something about the way wallpaper can add a touch of warmth and sophistication to a room that I love.
Now that our color scheme has changed some with the incorporation of gray paint on the island and butlers panty I’m thrown a bit as far what direction I would want to take concerning wallpaper as I am always drawn towards blue. If I was working with straight blue and white picking out a paper would be much easier but now I have to make sure it compliments the gray.
I think Quadrille has some beautiful options for a white and gray kitchen along with options from Katie Ridder and Farrow and Ball.
Here are some kitchens that I think really show case wallpaper well:
I think this Quadrille China Seas print is a fantastic addition to this blue and white kitchen.
This image is from a close friends home here in Dallas, I adore the yellow Clarence House Vases print wallpaper and blue upholstered combo and think along with her decorator she did an amazing job with this space.
Image via House of Fifty.
I love the use of larger prints in kitchens and think this look could be achieved as well with something like Katie Ridders leaf print in gray for our empty wall space.
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Tory Burch’s breakfast nook really makes a statement with this strong Quadrille Arbre de Matisse Reverse print in French Blue. It’s a little over the top for me but I do think it’s a great print. Below is a similar more subtle print.
I think the small prints above could look nice as well in our kitchen in lighter shades, either in Quadrilles Lysette (in tan) or Arbre de Matisse Reverse (in white on white):
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Here is another nice use of a larger wallpaper print by Farrow and Ball using their popular Lotus print.
I think this print in a light gray would look nice as well.
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Although the below look would be way outside the realm of possible with a man in my house I do love this bold bright pink kitchen, I can see it in a little beach bungalow in California.
The New Rash Guards
Posted: June 12, 2013 Filed under: Fashion | Tags: cynthia rowley, J Crew, rash guards, shopbop, Tory Burch, zimmerman 7 Comments »The weather down here in Dallas is getting pretty hot, we are supposed to hit 100 today – ugh… which means afternoon activities no longer involve the outdoors unless they include sitting somewhere poolside.
Ive always been concerned about the sun and the damage it can cause as I have very sensitive Irish skin, my husbands says from time to time it’s pale enough to stop traffic but I prefer to refer to my skin as Nicole Kidman-esque or milky white (although the freckles get in the way of the milky part). Anyway, last year I lived in my j.crew rash guard and this year was happy to see that they have expanded their line along with a number of other retailers selling similar products this season. Gone are the strictly for surfer rash guards, today rash guards range from pretty preppy stripes and florals to lovely geometric patterns all to help and protect the fashionably minded and skin protective girl while hanging out by the pool.
Here are a few of my favorites out there right now:
I love the above two from J.Crew, the red multi stripe is new this season and the blue and white is the one I have and live in.
I thought this floral look from shopbop was cute, its sold out but if you like the floral look J.Crew has one as well, featured below.
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A few top designers are even getting into the mix, below are looks from Tory Burch, Cynthia Rowley and Pret-a-surf:
Are any of you rash guard fans?
The Kitchen Island
Posted: June 10, 2013 Filed under: Kitchen, kitchen island, marble | Tags: carrara, gray island, kitchen island 4 Comments »Over the weekend we went and picked out the marble we will be using for our kitchen countertops and island. I had originally pictured our kitchen all white but after looking at slab after slab of marble I found myself drawn to one that was streaked with a lot of gray called venatino carrara.
Its changed how I see our kitchen and I now think adding in this gray tone will provide some depth to the space. I’m also thinking of painting the island a complementary color gray or even blue to bring out the colors in the marble. Our kitchen island will be pretty basic: sink, trash space, dishwasher and room for counter stools – nothing fancy but from what I have read, seen in person as well as on pinterest (after weeding through a million banana bread recipes, why is everyone obsessed with banana bread on pinterest?) I see that people are stepping up their islands with high-tech water filtration systems, steam drawers, hidden bookshelves and flat screens, etc. I’m open to hearing how we can bring our island to the next level so if anyone has any suggestions let me know!
Here are a few kitchen islands that I think are beautiful as well as a couple that step it up past basic:
I love this kitchen, everything from the honed Calacatta marble to the walnut island countertop and gray painted island keep this kitchen looking interesting.
I like the idea of blue for an island as well, although this might be too light for our space. The gray above is just subtle enough that it makes a statement without screaming for attention.
The above two images show off some space saving examples for kitchens that need some extra storage. I love that antique Italian etagere which stands atop the kitchen island as well as a wine fridge making the most of the space they have.
This is a little too tricked out and I’m pretty sure my husband would be horrified by a flat screen featured like this in an island so I had to include it – of course this is an image from a home here in Dallas (via Traditional Home).
Hope everyone has a great week!
Shelf Styling and Painting
Posted: June 7, 2013 Filed under: playroom, shelf styling | Tags: back wall book shelf paint, farrow and ball, farrow and ball light blue no. 22, playroom, shelf styling 1 Comment »Now that we are losing our playroom in the renovation we will be relocating this space to what is currently my husbands study, it’s more of a leftover space where we have hand me down furniture, a small television, all his books (and some of mine… like The Twilight series, etc;) as well as his massive record collection that sits and collects dust and takes up A LOT of space. One aspect of this room that I love is the wall of fantastic built-in shelves. To spruce things up in this room before officially making it the playroom I’m thinking it needs a nice shelf re-styling as well as painting the back shelf wall to bring some color into the room (which is currently all white). I love blue and since it will be a playroom for boys I think it’s a fitting color, so I’m trying to decide between something soft like a light blue or a more bold navy tone.
Here are some beautiful styled shelves with back wall paint that I’m inspired by:
This is the image that initially inspired me. A good friend from college had shelves put in to her Darien home recently and decided to brighten up the space with Benjamin Moore’s Summer Sun Pink. I think she did a fantastic job and the room looks great!
I’ve always loved Ali Wentworth’s home (I’ve always loved Ali Wentworth!) especially her living room and they way her shelves are styled so nicely.
Above are two examples of shelves with navy back wall paint, I think the contrast of the navy really brings out the shelves and their contents. It’s a nice way to add a dark color to a room without it being too overwhelming.
I’m very much so drawn to these light blue colors, they are soft and inviting and I’ve always wanted a reason to paint something in farrow and balls light blue No. 22.
Not sure which way I will go here, need to put a few paint samples up in the room to see which looks best. Will keep you posted!
Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
Dining Area Lighting
Posted: June 5, 2013 Filed under: Dining Room, Interior Design, Kitchen, Lighting, Uncategorized | Tags: Arteriors, arteriors auburn chandelier, bryant chandelier, circa lighting, murano chandelier, oomph, palo alto lantern 1 Comment »Our house is littered with tiny shabby chic chandeliers with a million crystals courtesy of the old owners. We think at one point there were some nice fixtures up but once they listed the house they switched them out so they didn’t have to negotiate taking them when the house sold… or maybe lighting wasnt a priority…
For a while we lived with the crystals than one day my husband finally had enough and shook the chandeliers until the crystals fell out, well not really but he wasnt exactly graceful about it. So for a while now we have had tiny chandeliers with open holes where the crystals used to be. Not sure which was worse.
First shabby chic chandelier to go is the one in the dining / kitchen eating area room. Since we are going to move forward with more modern dining chairs and keep the farmhouse table I want to find a fixture that reflects this coupling, so something modern with traditional undertones.
Below are a few images of fixtures I have found that might help achieve that vision.
First fixture type is the drum pendant:
I love the look of that first dining area with the farmhouse table, chalk board walls and drum pendants. It’s a nice space yet causal and inviting, perfect for a kid friendly eating area off the kitchen.
Next fixture type is a more modern updated chandelier:
I think the large Bryant chandelier from circa lighting is always a good choice for a more casual eating area, I love its simple clean lines.
I feel the same about Arteriors Auburn chandelier, just wondering without the small shades if the light will be soft enough.
As less safe option would be a glass murano chandelier.
I think murano chandeliers are beautiful just not sure its the right look for our dining room.
Then there is always the good old lantern… I just love Oomph’s palo alto lantern in navy.
Are you drawn to any one of these fixtures more than another? Thankfully I don’t have to make any decisions now, one of the items I can put on the back-burner until our kitchen is complete.
Hope everyone is having a great week!!
