The Drawing Board…

I’m terrible about projects sometimes… You’ll remember how a few weeks ago, I showed you the lamps I bought that I wanted to do the neon + neutral bottle wrap project on? Well, when I went to Lowes to pick up the masons line (neon yellow and pink nylon) and twine to do the project, I didn’t like it! So now, I’ve got to back to the drawing board on that lamp project. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it now. I definitely want to paint it because brown is not a color I’m fond of (even though the brown on my lamp is a dark, glossy chocolate brown and not at all ugly). Since I’m bankrupt for a solid idea for the lamp, I’ve decided to try and do some planning for the desk I bought a while back:

Craig’s List desk.

It needs serious work! At first I thought that I wanted to do a standard white or ivory paint job on it but after seeing this room by Kimberly Ayres design (thank God for Google image search, btw! I actually first saw this picture on a blog without a photo credit and it took me ages to figure out who designed the room).

The main inspiration for my CL desk find is this room by Kimberly Ayres Design.

High gloss mint would look great on my desk, don’t you think? I think it would look awesome. I’ve been gathering paint chips for the perfect shade of mint green. Today I started looking for drawer pulls because I don’t really like the original pulls. I found these at Anthropologie:

Sardinia Knob, $12 each at Anthropologie.com.

I’m hoping to find some decent sized unpolished square brass backplates for the knobs to sit on. I think that’d look nice on the flat edges of the drawers. I’ve also wanted to use some of the metallic fine papers from Paper Source to line the inside of drawers for a while… I’m thinking this marbled gold would look good:

Gold on Natural Marble Fine Paper, $6.50 per sheet at Paper Source.

Well, that’s my wish list for my desk project. I’m hoping to find some inspiration for the lamp project soon as I think I’d like to tackle the smaller project first. Any suggestions for my lamp?

Totally Inspiring Room

So, I’m doing another inspiration room this week! I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share this gem of kitchen with you:

Lindsay Reid’s Pasadena cottage kitchen from the June 2011 issue of House Beautiful.

This room is so elegant and simple. I love the dark gray cabinets, the coolly linear backsplash, the warmth of the textiles on the window and window seat… and the complete lack of upper cabinets. I’ve seen some really beautiful kitchens but I think this one is definitely vying for first place on my list of favorites.

What do you think of this kitchen? Love it or hate it?

Single Serving Sunday

Eye candy for your lazy Sunday viewing enjoyment:

Glamourpuss.

Wow.

Amy D Morris kitted out this fantastic room for Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Magazine Showhouse… and what a stunner! This room is so beautiful, glamourous, brilliant… and sexy. I keep coming back to the photos and just drooling over the dark, blingy  richness of the room’s scheme. It is definitely too good to keep to myself!

Check out the rest of the AHLShowhouse, there is a TON of design inspiration. Enjoy!

Floored.

I’m a fan of wood floors. Probably because I have some mild allergies. Or maybe it’s because while I was growing up, I lived in apartments and I always had to look at and live with cream colored carpet (the often ignored or forgotten plane of the ubiquitous “plain white box”).

Wood floors have a look and feel that can’t be achieved with any other material. For me they look warm and have so much more depth and interest than wall to wall carpet. And though, generally speaking, I love wood floors of all colors and configurations, my favorite is a herringbone floor… Crisp, beautiful chevrons laid out side by side, creating an almost 3D effect when viewed from the right angle. I don’t think there is a more beautiful style of wood floor pattern! So, today I’m offering some favorite pics of this beautiful style (including one that I tore out of a Met Home years ago and lost the clipping of. I found it again online last night!).

Do you have a favorite type of flooring material and layout pattern?

Around Charlotte: Dialect Design

I have modernist tendencies. I know that might be hard to tell from pictures of Miles Redd rooms and the Marmouset Jungle cabinet but… I do. In fact, my interest in interiors stemmed from stumbling across a picture of a John Pawson designed house. My taste has evolved quite a bit from his strict minimalism but I still have those tendencies: clean lines, streamlined ornamentation (if there is any), and embracing the function in forms. Now that I’m in Charlotte I’m starting to look for signs of other modernists. The signs are subtle… but definitely here.

Local design/build firm Dialect Design offers stock plans, architectural and general contracting services, and also holds a salon featuring local talent on a regular basis. I discovered them when design principle Toby White commented on a status about modernist architecture on Facebook started by niche realtor, Gail Jodon, of ModernCharlotte. Check out Dialect’s stock plans when you give their site a whirl; I’m especially taken with Pod 1, an expandable plan that is designed to be built locally for $105/sqft!

Got Rug?

So, rugs…

I kinda have a love/hate with them. See, rugs can be really cool. Frequently they are not. When I see a rug that is a) cool, b) colorful, and c) wallet friendly… well, do I even need to say anything about happy dances?

So, why ( you may well ask) are you on about rugs, Jo? I just got CB2’s new catalog and there are some serious charmers in it.

Above, in order:
Dangerous Liaisons
Tango
Doce Caras
The Way You Move

Now that’s more like it!

One day my bedroom will look this good…

Inspired by this bedroom (which I found out, after drooling over it for awhile, was designed by Miles Redd)… some pretty things I’d like to have for my dream bedroom.

Farrow & Ball – The Lotus Papers wallpaper
Carini Lang – Mums silk rug
Anthropologie – Italian Campaign canopy bed
John Reeves – Louis Side tables
West Elm – Fluted Glass Lamps (in the iridescent grey color with custom shades)
Atmosphere print – JKLDesign (@Etsy)
Viviana print – Sandra Suy on (@Etsy)
Manon Lescaut bust

Still on the lookout for the perfect bedding, though I’m a fan of Dwell Studio, Thomas O’Brien for Target, and, occasionally, Anthropologie’s bed linens… I need ideas for a cool lamp shade fabric too. Have you got any suggestions for my pink, grey, and silver dream room?