Swoon Interiors

interiors that make your heart skip a beat.

This is where I want to be this weekend …

Well … considering that it might get into the 80’s here this weekend, I will gladly choose to be outside. But if this were like any other rainy April weekend, I would love nothing more than to retreat to this room with a good book, a stack of magazines, my favorite pjs, my laptop and not much else.

It’s aptly named The Hideaway, and it is designed by the super-talented Lauren Leiss of Pure Style Home for the Washington DC Design House.
Everything about this room makes me swoon.
Take these chairs … called The Mad Hatter chairs, they are from Lauren’s new furniture line.  I have been dreaming of a little space like this in front of my large living room window and have always thought it would be great to have a patterned fabric on the backs of the chairs that could be seen from the outside.
The drapery fabric is also from her new line.  Not only do I love the print, but also the name. Hapikat.
(Happy + ikat =Happikat … get it?_
And how about that reading lamp? To. Die. For.
(I am officially on a new mission to find another one just like it.)
Not to mention the quirky yet somehow perfect assemblage of art on the walls.  I am desperately working on something like this for my own home and I will tell you that it is not easy!
Have I ever mentioned how much I love the color green? Well, I do, and I think this room shows how to incorporate the perfect dose of it.  (Another killer lamp.)
I also think a great way of bringing life to a space is with flora and fauna. In this case, she has managed to inject just a wink of humor with those green birds and these llama lamps hanging above the window seat. (The llamas are smiling.)
Speaking of the window seat …
How badly do you want to take a nap there?
And the stacks of old books! I know I’ve mentioned how much I love old books.
I am also a big fan of woven wood blinds like the ones she used here. We have them in our family room and I think they are a great and easy way to add another natural element to a room.
I am also a total sucker for a whole mess of mismatched pillows and this combo is just my cup of tea.
If you want to learn more about Lauren and her resources for designing this room, be sure to check out her blog here.
In the meantime, have a great weekend.  Is a nap on your to-do list?
(Nope. Mine either.)

Who needs cushions?

Lately I’ve had quite a few people ask me about getting bench cushions made … for window seats, mudroom benches or breakfast nooks.

We have a large bench in our mudroom as well as a small built-in bench in our master bedroom closet and for both I ordered the cushions online from a site called Cushion Source and I couldn’t be happier with them.  You can customize everything about them, from size, cording options, shape, depth, rounded corners, you name it. And they have an amazing selection of fabrics.

Here’s what I did in our mudroom.

(Please note that the picture is tightly cropped so as not to reveal all of the shoes and backpacks that somehow got dropped on the floor.) The walls of the mudroom are a dark, kind of espresso brown so a I wanted a bold punch of color in there. I had this made from an indoor/outdoor Sunbrella fabric so it would stand up to lots of little dirty shoes and hands.
I love this little bench in our closet (more as a place to lay clothes on than to actually sit) … but nonetheless I knew I wanted a cushion there. (Again this picture was taken quickly and cropped in tightly so as not to make you bear witness to a closet that is still recuperating from post-vacation stress disorder.)

I opted for a fun fabric that speaks to the writer in me. After 3 years, it still makes me smile.

Here’s a sampling of some of my other favorite fabrics from their site:



Bangladesh Stratosphere




Cat’s Cradle Lacquer



Crystal Lake Amber

Dandelion Eaton Blue Linen

Leigh Lemon

Mazework Azure

Nora Kelp Linen
They also make cushions for patio furniture … hmmm. That’s got me thinking …..

Simple Silhouettes

So we’re just back from a fantastic week in Scottsdale where the sun was warm, the scenery was beautiful, the food was good and the uninterrupted time with family was precious.


Day trip up to Sedona.

After a looong day at the pool.

While I did check email and got online occasionally in the early morning hours, (the two hour time change meant we were all up … literally … at the crack of dawn, I must admit it was nice to kind of take an internet break. I read a great book (Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger who also wrote The Time Traveller’s Wife) and, of course, flipped through my fair share of home decor magazines and catalogs, swam, went to the Cubs last Spring Training game and just enjoyed being outside while it was in the 30s back at home. Anyone with little, little kids knows that vacations with them aren’t very relaxing … but the boys are getting old enough now that we all  truly did relax and enjoy ourselves.  My parents were with us too for most of the trip which was an extra treat. Many laughs and happy memories. And even though temps reached 101 while we were there, we spent the entire day in the pool and lazy river. Since I always get cold in the pool, this was perfect swimming weather for me!

Even though it is so sad for a great vacation to end, there is something about walking in the door of your home for the first time. Doesn’t it feel so good, like a big hug? Do you ever feel like it causes you to look at your house in a new light?  To notice some of the little things you hadn’t really paid attention to in awhile? Distance does make the heart grow fonder, and every time I’m away from home and come back, I love it a little bit more.

So now … back to reality.  While folding my second load of laundry, I flipped on Secrets from a Stylist that I had DVR’d while we were gone (love how that’s now a verb).  The living room/dining room transformation Emily created was certainly swoon worthy and I especially loved her idea for creating family silhouettes.

She took a silhouette picture of each family member, blew it up, then placed each picture on top of a sheet of blue paper, took a pair of scissors and cut around the silhouette of the face …cutting through both the photo and the blue paper.  She then took each blue silhouette and laid it on top of a white piece of paper and framed each one.  I love the look.  And it’s a nice variation on the traditional black silhouette.

(On a side note, that chandelier totally makes me swoon!) Anyway, in the first “look” she had these on a wall in the dining room surrounding a vintagey mirror. I loved them there … but when she moved them over the mantel, I agreed it was the right call.  They look clean and fresh, a nice contrast to the old fireplace.
I know there are places that will do this for you, but now I am thinking about trying this by myself. I have been spotting similar silhouette art in many a chic room lately.
 

domino eclectic home office
I even like just one silhouette nestled into a salon-style art wall.
1
All three images via Houzz
I do have one silhouette portrait of my boys when they were one and three that I cherish. It was from a photo shoot we did, and while I loved the picture itself, what I loved most was the shape and position of their bodies angled together, so I asked the photographer if she could turn it into a silhouette.  
Now, I think I’d like to try Emily Henderson’s technique for myself with just their faces … I’m thinking really small ones that I’d mix in with some other art I am collecting for a gallery-style wall. Stay tuned for a future post!
If you’re not sold on silhouettes of people, perhaps try a botanical silhouette. I saw a DIY tutorial on DesignSponge for this beauty. It’s kind of like a Rorschach test … makes you think a little.

You could create something along the lines of this space in Kate Spade’s New York apartment.

Well, that’s it for now … (I’ve got more laundry to fold!) For everyone else returning to the real world after a spring break vacation, good luck with your re-entry!

A Little Geometry

I have been spotting a lot of bold, geometric patterned rugs lately and I kind of like them.

Live Creating Yourself

Domino
Black & Poole via Elements of Style

Decorpad

Decorpad

Nate Berkus

It’s a nice way to update a room, giving it a fresh modern feel, even with more traditional furniture.  It creates an interesting juxtapostion, don’t you think?

I found a few favorites online.

I like that these all have a fresh feeling for spring.
Speaking of Spring … I’m taking the week off from blogging while my boys are on Spring Break! Hope everyone has a good week … more swoonworthy ideas to come!