Sneak Peek: Office

My office went from nothing to something special in about 5 hours yesterday. Total dollars spent = $45, and 40 of that was for this behemoth...



I have to run off now to a furniture auction I just heard about called Dixon's in Crumpton, MD. It's supposed to be amazing. But please come back tomorrow for the full recap on my office face lift...

Z Gallerie Aluminum Table (and Accessories Sale)

For those you bummed about missing out on the aluminum side tables I blogged about before, Z Gallerie has them for $99. If you buy them now with the promotion code M20, you'll get an extra 20% off.


What else am I loving that's on sale now at Z Gall?

Palmer Stool ($129.95 pre-sale price)


Ceramic Pineapple ($29.95 pre-sale). I scored mine at Home Goods, but lots of readers have asked about it and said they struck out at their local HG. So here you go!


I know it's trendy, but I still think clam shells are cool. ($49.95 pre-sale for the large, $99.95 for the X-large)


I've used these mother of pearl frames (from $19.95-$29.95 pre-sale) in a couple of projects they are so pretty in real life.


Studded Umbrella Stand ($79.95 pre-sale). I'm dying over the orange!

Fun With Photoshop

I love the direction this client's family room is going in. So bright and fun! Here's a little photoshop mock up for you:

Before:


After:



Isn't it crazy what a little wallpaper and some accessories can do for a room - even when they're just photoshopped in?? Can't wait to show you pictures of the actual room once it's finished...

Black Interior Front Door

Looking for a quick and inexpensive way to spruce up your entry this weekend?

When I was helping with my mom's living room updates, we decided to painted the inside of her front door black and we both love the difference it's made in the room. Suddenly her front door has a presence...

Before


After


This was a very fast project, accomplished in a single afternoon. Just a couple coats of black semi-gloss interior latex paint. (She also switched out the old light fixture for this sassy polished nickel chandelier from Lowes that was on clearance for $37)


I hope your weekend is already off to a great start!!

love,
Jenny

Latex vs Oil-Based Paint

Reader Sarah recently emailed me with pictures of her pair of beat up Bentwood chairs that she's looking to fix up. She was hoping to get advice on upholstery and painting the frames.


She wanted these chairs to really pop. Since she only has a pair, my suggestions were on the bolder side. I thought it would look great to paint the frames a bright orangey-red color and upholster the seats with this uber kid-friendly faux ostrich in aqua, which I happen to be using in another project for a client in Florida (Hi, Lisa!).


After writing Sarah back with my thoughts on oil-based vs latex paints, I figured I would bring up the topic here with you guys. I've painted dozens and dozens of furniture pieces in my time. I love the look and wear of oil-based paint on furniture, but I love the ease and convenience of using latex.

Side note: I recently tried the Behr Paint and Primer in one (latex) and I was pretty impressed with the results! I only had to do one good coat with a little touch up as a "second coat." Not bad, though I wish it was available in a gloss finish.

Here's a very basic outline of my experience with both types of paint:

LATEX (water-based) PAINT
My Uses:
Walls
Light-use furniture

Pros:
Easy clean up with water
Cheap and very accessible (lots of colors)
Dries to the touch fast

Cons:
Requires several coats usually to get even coverage, usually need primer
Can peel easily - especially if lower quality
Can take weeks to fully harden/cure

OIL-BASED PAINT
My Uses:
Heavy-use furniture
Floors
Mouldings

Pros:
GORGEOUS (to me) - amazing gloss and depth
Very durable
Covers stains remarkably well, without primer

Cons:
Stinky!
A pain to wash up after - as in, you need chemicals
Requires a steady hand and smooth application
Takes 12-24 hours (or more) to dry

Any other thoughts out there on the pros and cons of latex and oil-based paints?

Miles Redd's black kitchen featuring oil-based lacquer; from the NYT.

Post Script: I've really been feeling the love lately from my readers! Thank you for all the kind and encouraging emails! I love getting each and every one and am trying my best to respond to everyone individually.

Also {trying to say this very nicely}, I'm not in the business of giving out free advice. If you're looking to hire a decorator, please feel free to contact me about my rates and availability (more info here). Right now I'm am taking on clients to begin in the month of November.

If you have a single design predicament that you would like me to help with (like Sarah's request for chair advice here), I charge $25 per question, payable via paypal. Please email pearlstreetinteriors@gmail.com for more information. Thanks!

Hardware Obsession

I completely fell in love with this credenza posted a few weeks ago on Design*Sponge. I love the blue painted finish, but I really LOVE the amazing brass hardware. The image was filed away in my brain for future reference...


Every Tuesday and Friday here in Dover, there is a flea market called Spence's. It's a lot of junk - plastic knock off handbags and shady toiletries aplenty - but there is a healthy vintage/antiques section. Every time I go to Spence's I've picked up one or two fun knick-knacks for around a buck each. Then we hit up the Amish food market for beautiful fresh produce and out-of-this-world baked goods. It's been a fun weekly thing for our family.

Most of the flea market area is full of smaller stuff, but there is a tiny furniture section that's never really tempted me before. Today though, I spied this guy under a pile of old table linens...
Hmm. Looks very familiar...


$40 later and he was mine.


So exciting, right? A couple coats of glossy oil-based paint and a little Bar Keeper's Friend on the hardware will do wonders here. The plan is to put it in my office to hide my fax machine and giant printer/scanner. Can't wait to show you the 'after' pictures!

Folding Screens

Comcast came this afternoon (hallelujah). While a week and a half without internet was horrible, I must admit that there were some very nice aspects of not being "connected" all the time.

On Saturday I drove up to Philadelphia to meet up with a client for some shopping. We had great luck at a tiny little flea market called the Golden Nugget in Bucks County. Later we stopped by Stable Tables to place an order for a custom farm house style dining table made from reclaimed barn wood. (so excited about this!)



At one point in the trip we swung into a little antique shop in Flourtown, PA. There was a completely stunning white trellis folding screen that jumped out at both me and my client. Unfortunately it wasn't for sale, but since then the idea of using a folding screen won't seem to get out of my mind!

Here are a few inspiration images that I've had saved forever (and, as always, I love getting help from readers with the image credits for the many unknown sources).

I really love the dimension a folding screen brings to a space...

via Domino

Jonathan Adler screen via Mrs Blanding's Blog

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Nuevo Estilo

My House Ideas.com

Munge Leung

via Domino

Fiona Weeks

Eric Piasecki

via Domino

Source Unknown - isn't this a cool idea for hiding the tv??

Cottage Living

There are lots of beautiful options out there, if any of you are in the market.

I love Ballard's ($349) upholstered divider. I wish it had more panels and wasn't so pricey. The nailhead detail makes me so happy though...


Craigslist never lets me down. This $100 screen on Phili's CL would look great with some new fabric and a coat of glossy paint...


And some paint on this eBay screen ($128, includes shipping) would make all the difference. Love the little quatrefoil design!

This screen ($320 on eBay) looks like it came straight from Pieces.


And, of course, there's always the DIY route! This Old House has instructions (complete with a video) for making your own folding screen posted here.

The Question of the Week Is...

How did people get ANYTHING done before the internet?!??

We are still offline at my house and will be through next Monday if you can believe it. {Comcast is ridiculous sometimes}

In better news,

Little Green Notebook was on the Washington Post BlogWatch again today (so fun!)

And this cute little (well, big) French poster arrived in the mail and made its way upstairs into my girls room. It's absolutely adorable in there - the colors are perfect.


I fell in love with it after seeing in a house tour on Cookie...

image via Cookie Magazine

Also I've been starting on our dining room in my no-internet-so-I-can't-do-client-work down time. Lots of fun projects to share with that, so I promise that your patience with all the radio silence around here will be greatly rewarded.

See you Monday night.

PS Thank you for all the extremely kind comments on my girls room redo! I'm going back now to try and answer your questions in the comments section. Please comment again if I missed yours. Thanks!

Easy Pelmet Boxes

Many of you asked about the pink pelmet boxes in my girls' room and I’ve been so excited to share the mini-tutorial! It’s an easy and inexpensive one!



Two of the three windows in the bedroom were obstructed by furniture, so curtain panels (my default window treatment) weren’t really an option. I thought about transforming the mini-blinds into fabric shades, but I was really hoping to find a way to make a structured valence or pelmet box.

In the early planning stages, I was going to buy some plywood at Home Depot and use an electrical saw to cut out a fun design. That was intimidating for me though, and the price of the wood and a new saw (or a carpenter) was going to add up. Then I realized that I didn’t need anything fancy in this room – just something flat that could be cut easily and that was sturdy enough to hold up some batting and fabric.

Enter: foam core board.

I picked up three sheets at Michael’s for $1.99 each. I carefully drew one half of my pelmet shape on to the foam core, cut it out with a box cutter and used that piece as my template. I also cut some short pieces that would be my sides.

I had bought some L-brackets, screws, nuts and washers to assemble the corner pieces, but I ended up just duct taping the whole thing!! This project was SO easy!!

Duct tape holding the two halves together (above) and the side/corner pieces (below)

Then, using ¼” staples and my trusty PowerShot Pro, I upholstered the pelmets with some batting and pink linen left over from a client’s project. I ended up using only about a yard of fabric for all three pelmets.

After stapling, I used Fabri-tac to glue on ¼” navy blue bias tape as a top and bottom border.

I don’t have a photo of this step, but to hang the pelmets, I simply epoxied some wall hangers to the back of the foam core, and hung the boxes on the walls with nails.



And that’s it! It took me about two hours to do this project - from design conception to hanging the three pelmets. So fast and so easy!



--P.S. Our internet has been down all weekend (I’m posting this from my husband’s office), so if I owe you an email I promise to have something to you as soon as possible. We’re hoping to have the situation fixed in the next couple days. Thanks!!