Swoon Interiors

interiors that make your heart skip a beat.

Catching up … and a new addiction

Happy New Year! (Um, 22 days late …. sorry!)  Where has this month gone?  Buried is the catchphrase for this month … I feel like we’ve been buried in snow and buried in work.  Lots of new client deliveries that have come in after the lull of the holidays and lots of new projects too. This is the time of year when we’ve all been inside so much that we can’t help but look around our homes and get an itch to make some changes, right?

One thing we finally got up and running is a Swoon Interiors Instagram account! We are still in the process of working on a new website design (if we could ever find the extra hours to focus more time on it … ) and this will be a cool part of the site. But for now, if you’re curious about the little day to day things we do and things that inspire us, be sure to follow swooninteriors.

Instagram

So have you heard of the newly launched Hunter’s Alley? Just in case you don’t already spend enough time on Pinterest, Houzz, Keep, and One Kings Lane … here is a new place to spend all your extra time (and $$$)! (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

 
 
Hunter’s Alley is from the team behind One Kings Lane  … think Craigslist’s fun, worldly and glamorous little sister.  Hunter’s Alley features a great selection of one-of-a-kind, pre-owned decor, some vintage, some handmade and some contemporary.  And unlike sites like Craigslist, where buying and selling your things can be a pain and you have to sift through a lot of junk to find the good stuff, every item on Hunters Alley is vetted, ensuring that you’re seeing only the best items.
 
 I like how the site also showcases the sellers … you get a little peek into their personalities and sometimes a good story on their items for sale. Shoppers can comment, “heart” the items they love, and see what other people are obsessing over.
 
Here are a few of my “hearts” …
 
 

 
Can you tell I am loving brass lately?
 
Have a good rest of the week and weekend everyone! I promise not to be such a stranger!
 
 
 

The things we keep ….

Ok, don’t hate me.  I’m about to introduce you to another potentially time-sucking website. I’m warning you. Continue reading at your own risk.

So … maybe you want to take a little break from Facebook or Pinterest and to try something new?

Enter Keep.com. Keep is the place to go when you want to discover AND BUY the latest trends in fashion, decor, accessories and design.

Yes, the idea is similar to Pinterest.  You install a “Keep It” button on your browser and whenever you’re checking out your favorite online stores and see something you like, you can click your Keep It button and save the item to your Keep collections. (Lighting, rugs, pillows, art, boots, beauty products … you decide.)

Let’s face it … Pinterest, frankly, can be a little exhausting, right?  Even a few minutes on it can leave you feeling like you need to get up and make 3 casseroles, paint a dresser, wallpaper your bathroom and make your kids their own organic finger paint.

With Keep, there’s no need to get that busy. You simply keep track of all the fabulous things you want to buy, today, tomorrow … three months from now.  No more thinking to yourself “Shoot, where did I see that antiqued brass sconce I loved so much?”  If you kept in on Keep … you’ll know exactly where and can click right through to buy it.  Yep, that’s right. Every item on Keep has a nice big BUY IT button.

But here’s the rub.  You can also check out what other people want to buy. Yes, that’s where the addictive part comes in. Your screen is full of lovely items that others have already discovered. You don’t need to ask or wonder “Where’d they find that fabulous sweater-purse-rug-pillow-fill-in-the-blank?” Just click on Buy It or Keep it for your own wish list collection.

Above is a screen shot of my Keep home page. If you follow me, or check out some of my collections, you’ll see a handful of things I’ve added in just the last few days since I discovered Keep myself. If you’d like to start Keeping all your wishlist items in one place … click here to join. But don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Speaking of shopping … this is Kristy and I after a particularly “exhausting” day of accessory shopping for some very lucky clients. We are surrounded by our purchases!  (Yes, we love our job.)

We spent literally hours inside the new Classic Remix which recently relocated from Lincoln Park to River North. ( I blogged about the original location here.) If you go and see the size of the store, you will wonder how we spent hours there, but we did!

Fabulous finds everywhere you look …

Check out these incredible chain link shelves which the owner designed herself.

Does your home need an accessory spruce up before the holidays? Contact us to set up a consultation!

Cozy up your pad with these great fall finds …

With the kids back in school, football on TV, and a chilly rainy Sunday like yesterday, it definitely feels like Fall has arrived!  I think this season is so conducive to great design … cozy materials, great textures, rich colors.  You don’t have to be overtly “fall” (pumpkins, gourds, turkeys) to give your home an elegant autumn feel. Instead, I like to add in things like plaid, burlap, leather, brass and feathers ( a great way to fill your vases when your outdoor supply starts to dwindle).

Check out my favorite finds for fall below!



From top left to right:
Prescott Leather Lantern, Harvest Plaid Pillow Cover, Burlap Vase, Fireside Throw,  Brazilian Cowhide Rug, Indian Summer Photograph, Birch Log Bundle,  Emilion Bucket, Oro Tray Set,  Metal Starburst Mirror, Gold & Brown Natural Feathers, Art Nouveau Chenille Throw Pillow, Vintage Brass Candlesticks, Abaca Balls
 
 

A few winter tweaks …

I don’t know about you, but after so many hours indoors at home, I really get the itch to change things up a bit around my house. Some changes are small … some a little more involved (ask my husband and father-in-law). But I thought I’d share a few here …

#1 Simplifying the top of our entertainment center

 
 
Before I had a few more things up top … but I decided to go for just 3 bigger objects this time. These were all things I already had in my house but now they kind of have a new life in this very focal point of our family room.
 
I always think it’s a great idea to shop your own house and move your accessories around. Store some things away for awhile and then bring them back out when the mood hits.
 
#2 I painted my rooster! 
 
 
I’ve always liked my quirky rooster but he used to be red.  He kind of blended into the cabinets … so I took out some of my leftover Annie Sloan Chalk paint (I wrote about here) and gave him a makeover. I’m always looking for ways to brighten up my dark cabinets, so this gives a nice pop of creamy white up above the cook top.
 
 
#3 New Chandelier for my dining room (!!!!)
 
 
This is what my dear husband and father-in-law spent a couple of hours hanging for me on a recent Sunday afternoon. It makes me very happy!
 
 
You might remember the old when that came with the house …
 

 
It just felt heavy … our dining room is not all that large … so I knew we needed something a little more delicate, light … and sparkly …
 
 
#4 More sparkle … to the fireplace.
 
 
Decorating a mantel can be tricky … because I have bookshelves in this room that already hold a lot of different decorative objects, I wanted to keep this mantel a little more uniform. A collection of mercury glass votive holders in various sizes, shapes and textures did the trick. Plus, I like the juxtaposition of the more rustic fireplace with the glamour of mercury glass.
 
 
#5 A few purchases from One Kings Lane
 
In wintertime, when I can’t physically get out to wander around outdoor antiques markets, I have to get my fix browsing the Tastemaker Tag Sales and Vintage shops of One Kings Lane. 
 
So many one-of-kind treasures … it’s a great way to score some unique pieces for your home. My recent purchases …
 
 
This gray and white French ticking body pillow …
 
 
… this white ceramic pitcher and vintage French bottling tray:
 
 
I think the tray will be pretty come spring & summer to fill with vintage glass bottles and fresh cut stems from my yard.
 
 
So that’s it for me … how are you beating the doldrums of winter? 
  
 

Roping me in …

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break. We enjoyed a lot of downtime, games, laughs and sleeping in.

I’ll admit there was also some kicking my feet up next to the fire with my laptop, favorite magazines and catalogs, filled with eye candy for the home. (That was after I devoured “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn … have any of you read it?  It totally sucked me in … I couldn’t put it down!)

Anyway, one of the things I seemed to see a lot of was  … rope! I know it’s not totally a new idea … we’ve all seen nautical rope mirrors before …

Martha Stewart
 
 
But what about using rope for something as simple as filling a bowl or vase?
Belle Maison
 
It gives a fun, easy-going vibe, yet still brings texture and drama to what otherwise would be an ordinary bowl.
 
How about the glass domes and cloches I always see and love in stores and on bookshelves? Do you ever wonder what to put in one?
 
Veranda
What about a big chunky, curvy piece of rope? It’s kind of interesting and whimsical, don’t you think?
 
Speaking of cloches … how fun is this one?
 
Arteriors Home
 
 Here are some other fun ropes I came across …
 
Pinterest
 
 
 
These could transform a basic dresser or nightstand, don’t you think?

 
And this guy, plopped in a corner of a room … just hangin’ out?  Love.
(Both from Anthropologie.)
 
How many little kids would have a field day with this …
 
 
or these …

 
via Remodelista
 
I’d even like to try to make something like this on my own …
 
 
The chunkier the rope, the better.
 
I did a little searching online … it seems that this natural colored rope that I like is called Manila Rope.  Home Depot sells it, but only in thinner sizes (3/8 inch was the largest unless you’re willing to buy over 100 ft.)
 
I found this great site named, aptly, Knot and Rope, that sells it by the foot in every size imaginable.
 
 
 
Snowy day project, anyone?