My Decorating Process - Fabric and Color Inspiration

One of the projects I've been working on here in Arizona is my parents' bedroom. A few of you have asked me about my design process, and since this project will be in major fast forward (less than a week, start to finish), I thought it would be fun to document and report on the project day by day.

When I'm decorating a room from scratch, I always like to start with fabric. I am so inspired by pattern and color. Put a piece of pretty fabric in front of me and I can dream you up a room in about 30 seconds flat!

So when a couple weeks ago my mom asked me to start brainstorming ideas for her bedroom, I knew I needed to look for some fabric inspiration. Right bef0re we left Delaware, I stumbled across about 18 yards of remnants of this gorgeous Barbara Barry for Kravet linen, "Poetical', and that was the starting off point for the room.

It's gorgeous - a little bit modern, but still with a floral and feminine feel. The gray and creamy white colors are perfectly neutral and were a great jumping off point. I emailed my mom a photo of the fabric when I found the remnants and she gave me two big thumbs up.

I brought all the fabric with me to Arizona. When I got to my parents' house, mom and I sat down with my new collection of Ralph Lauren paint chips, and we brainstormed color palettes.

We decided on a very pale blue/green/gray for the walls, called 'Mountauk Driftwood'. My parents four poster bed would be painted a dark and moody slate, called 'Smoked Glass'. The en suite bathroom walls would be a dusty gray called 'Hopsack', cut 50%. Other accent colors would be a gray green called 'Kauai' and a deep aubergine called 'Persian Violet'. These colors would be used on bathroom cabinets and other accent pieces.

Next step: Painting!

Give Away Winner: Monogrammed Hand Towels

Thanks to all those who entered the monogrammed hand towel give away! The chosen at random winner is Shannon!

Shannon, please email me with your address. And, Annmarie, if you're reading this, please email me your address as well. I would love to send you your book! Thanks!

And for those of you who didn't win this time, don't forget to check out the beautiful monogrammed products at A Slice of Life! Thank you for supporting the LGN sponsors!

Sofa Upholstery

I'm a big fan of buying the best quality sofa you can afford in a neutral color. Pillows can be the pop of color and pattern and can also be easily changed.

Both my mom and I are in the market for fabrics to reupholster our sofas and, while I think the neutral sofa idea is pretty sound advice, I am finding myself sort of drawn to colorful or large-scale prints. I'll probably still go with a kid-friendly linen-look fabric in a solid color (chocolate, navy or gray most likely), but I like looking at these pictures and dreaming of being a little more adventurous in the meantime.

elle decor


Cottage Living

Martha Stewart Living


Kristen Buckingham


Timothy Wealon

via coco kelley

domino

Annie Schlecter

Mary McDonald

domino

domino (Amanda Peet)

Good Bones, Great Pieces

I am really loving the blog Good Bones, Great Pieces, which is authored by a mother and daughter design team. (hello, dream!)

Together they decorated this beautiful little apartment in Brooklyn Heights, which was recently featured in Traditional Home. You can read the article here. It's a good one, full of great tips.

I am so, so in love with this little settee from Mitchell Gold. I can never get enough of ticking stripes. That mirror is to die for. And the pop of yellow from the lamp is just perfection.

I think what I love the most about this apartment is that it doesn't look overly decorated. There is a sense of purpose and history with each piece and nothing is too matchy.

That gorgeous cream chair with the brown velvet piping above and below was a $25 Craigslist find.

White is such a good choice when painting furniture for small spaces.

I love the black matting in the framed art series above the bed.

And what a beautful vanity! I think it was clever to give the side table double duty as a vanity.

If you're not already reading the Good Bones, Great Pieces blog, you're really missing out.

Ralph Lauren Paints

Did you hear that Martha Stewart paints will be sold at Home Depot beginning April 1? I'm really excited to see her new line (assuming it will be different from the Valspar/Lowes line).

I am bummed though that the Ralph Lauren paint line will be discontinued to make way for the Martha paints. I guess that Home Depot will keep all the RL formulas in their computers and they will also keep a fan deck of the old line behind their paint counter for color matching.




This morning I was at Home Depot picking up some supplies for a project at my mom's house, and I had a few minutes to spare so I stood in front of the Ralph Lauren paint chip display and took one of each chip. I would have felt silly, but I've done this before (with the Martha line for Valspar) and knew it wasn't that big of a deal. I have those MS chips hole-punched and stored on rings, but I think I want to figure out a better, more protective solution for my Ralph Lauren chips. I'm just so glad that I didn't miss that chance to get the paint chips before they are gone. Now when I want a RL color, I can just bring in my chip and Home Depot will color match for me in a Behr brand paint.

And speaking of the actual paints, the RL bases are all 50% off right now, so be sure to take advantage of the sale if you need any paints this month.



Now I'm off to work on some projects, but here are a few photos of rooms or projects featuring Ralph Lauren paints to inspire you:

Erika's daughter's crib, painted in 'Golden Candlesticks'




Thom Felicia used "Palais Royal" in this showhouse bedroom featured in House Beautiful.





In another showhouse bedroom featured in Southern Accents, RL's "Bitter Orange" covers all the ceilings and walls.

Thom Felicia painted these great chairs RL's Mango Gold for the showhouse featured in House Beautiful.

Eddie Ross used Ralph Lauren's "Brompton" for this pair of vintage chairs.

Domino featured this beautiful dining room painted in RL's "Purple Embassy." I love how rich this unexpected color is here.

I love "Galvenized", a really rich chocolate brown, and used it as a base for the silver leaf night stands,



and for the legs of my coffee-table-turned-ottoman.

We used "Abassador Sterling" from the Regent Metallics line on the backs of the shelves on my mom's dining hutch. And recently she painted her ceiling another great color from the same line.

Family Command Center

Hi friends,

Happy Monday! I hope you had as much fun as I did this weekend. I'm home with my family in Arizona. We had a mini family reunion here and it was so wonderful to see almost all my siblings and their families (though we missed you, Heather!).

As a side note, I'm shockingly behind on emails. I won't be back in Delaware until March 3, and won't really be working at full speed until then. If you need an answer faster than that, please email me a second time. Thanks!

One of the fun parts about coming to see family is they always let me experiment with their home decorating projects. I usually get to do four or five projects or rooms each trip.



My sister moved to a new house this year and I think we're going to try this project from Southern Living in her kitchen. She has an end cabinet that looks just like this one in the picture.



Right now it's painted with chalkboard paint, which we'll keep, but I think some of these suggested additions will do just the trick, like a piece of cork, a magnet board and some trim to finish off the look.


Thanks to a tip from an LGN reader, we will order some over-sized nail heads from this site.



And for the ribbon border we'll be making a stop to one of my favorite little shops in Mesa - Ribbons and Lace.


We're planning to pick up a roll of cork at Michaels and we'll get some metal sheeting cut at Home Depot for the magnet board.

images via Southern Living

Layered Mirrors

I love to use vintage or antique mirrors in decorating, but if there is a time or space constraint, I always point my clients in the direction of Ballard Designs.

I've been eyeing this mirror (on sale for $150).

I would get a pair and recreate a version of this bathroom featured in House Beautiful.

But, since the small size of this mirror is not very practical, I would probably opt for a layered look, like how this Venitian mirror was hung.

design by Tricia Huntley Zend, image via My Notting Hill

GIVE AWAY Monogrammed Hand Towels!!

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LGN sponsor, A Slice of Life, is kindly offering up a pair of monogrammed linen hand towels for one of you lucky readers!

Check out all the thread color options:

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