artwork

Patience Makes Perfect: Part Three

November 9, 2022

Back again today with Part Three of this lovely home’s transformation. In case you missed them, here are links to Part One and Part Two … the Kitchen and Family Room.

Today we are heading into the Master Bedroom! This room started out with pink walls. The bedding was a pale blue with shades of pink and sage green in a kind of Chinoiserie pattern that featured Chinese lanterns. Drapes were sage green, and there were two bergère chairs in off white against the windows. One side of the bed had an antique pine chest and the other side was a skirted table. On top were two large Cornflower blue lamps. While I don’t have a Before photo of the whole room, below is a picture my client had on Chairish to sell the existing bed, It gives you some idea of where we started.

And here it is today!

It feels so elegant and serene. With all of the bold colors and patterns of the original design, the goal here was to keep things soft and quiet and I think we achieved just that.

With tray ceilings like this, my preference is to take the paint color all the way up and to the ceiling to avoid a harsh line as in the first photo. We painted this room Sherwin Williams Alabaster.

This shot shows a few of my favorite elements. First, the bedside lamps from Circa Lighting … that shape is so good! Next, the lovely rattan and wicker bench at the end of the bed adds some warmth and texture.

Also, the gorgeous rug from Loloi (one of the first things we got and the colors were really our jumping off point for the room. Sadly it is no longer available.)

And let’s talk about these dressers we used as nightstands …

From Noir Furniture, the Daryl dresser is just gorgeous with the reeded fronts and vintage-inspired brass pulls. The white-washed finish was perfect for our soft breezy look while still leaning traditional which was important because we wanted to keep this beautiful traditional armoire that my client already owned …

I just love this corner vignette. The chair and ottoman are from Highland House. The fan is the Maverick from Circa Lighting. We were so happy to find a BEAUTIFUL fan!

The gorgeous abstract landscape is by Jacquie Gouveia and brings our soft color palette to this corner perfectly. The pharmacy lamp is from Circa and the side table is from Wisteria (no longer available). We loved the basket weave texture.

artwork by Jacquie Gouveia Pillow from Jolie Marche

The lovely sheer drapery panels you see in the background were custom-made by Karen Flanagan of Sew Special Designs.

Here you can see how they flank the windows and soften that far side of the room.

The bedding we selected is from Pom Pom Home – a beautiful white linen with subtle frayed edges and one of their lovely throws to add some color at the end of the bed.

We decided on a fun combo of decorative pillows from Chloe and Olive on Etsy and Jolie Marche. I love this set up of three large pillows in front of the sleeping pillows with one long lumbar. It feels special but not excessive.

The bed is the Lawson Shelter bed from RH and was chosen for it’s extra tall height, eliminating the need to hang anything over the bed.

Instead we hung this fun abstract entitled “Swirls” by Kristin Blakeney on the large wall next to the bed. My client is hoping to secure another piece by her to hang with it – but her new releases go fast!

So that’s the Master Bedroom! Such a calm and soothing place to retire at the end of the day. That was the goal! Thank you for following along on this three day journey of this beautiful home. And thank you once again to Marina Storm of Picture Perfect House for her wonderful photography.

Patience Makes Perfect: Part Two

November 8, 2022

If you missed yesterday’s post, Part One, click here to read the background story and see the Kitchen Transformation.

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s post. Moving into the Family Room … this is the only picture I have to give you a feel of the “Before” look …

(This is sweet Chloe, who greeted me at the door every time I came over. She passed away this summer and it felt so sad not to have her there for Photoshoot Day.)

You can see a little bit of some of the previous elements … traditional furniture, rug, window treatments in shade of red, green, gold.

Here is the room today …

Such a transformation! We definitely lightened things up but with those tall ceilings and white walls I wanted to bring in some warmer-toned elements. Two-story rooms can be tricky, the architecture is beautiful but as a Family Room, you still want it to feel cozy.

One of my favorite features of this transformation was adding this beautiful wood paneling to the ceiling. And of course, this stunner of a Chandelier naturally draws the eye up. The existing skylights bring in lots of light.

Here is the view from the Kitchen …

While most of the pieces in this room are new, we were able to incorporate some things from the previous design.

We reupholstered this chair from the first picture that is oh-so-comfy and solidly built.

We painted this brown-stained wood Built-in a crisp white to match the trim, added new doors and hardware.

This gorgeous cabinet was not touched but we added a modern lamp, accessories, art, and mirror.

Layering art over a mirror is a favorite look of mine. This collage by Renee Bouchon is beautiful.

Speaking of art, let’s go back to this beautiful piece over the fireplace.

I shared a peek of this beauty on Instagram awhile ago. We commissioned it from Jennifer Daily and were able to really customize the colors we wanted.

The red brick fireplace was painted white and we added a reclaimed wood mantel.

All of the other furniture in this room was thoughtfully selected. My client previously had a matching sofa and loveseat and the layout worked well for TV viewing. But this time I suggested doing two different sofas. With sleeker arms, we could get more seating. When doing two different sofas in the same room, I like for them to be as different as possible. So … fabric+ leather, light+dark, bench cushion + three seater.

I love an eclectic mix of pillows – these are from Susan Connor and McGee and Co.

The coffee tables required thinking out of the box. A single coffee table, even some of the larger ones, was not working to fill this large space and serve booth sofas. I was worried it would feel too dinky. I suggested using two rectangular coffee tables and my client loved the idea. Not only are they functional, but there is even more space for styling all the fun and pretty things!

A few other favorite elements we added. This gorgeous wool rug from Loloi Rugs …

This adjustable height side table from Noir Furniture …

And of course, a room with these high ceilings and windows called for a tall tree. This beautiful Fiddle Leaf came from English Garden Flower Shop.

Ok, that’s all for today. Thank you again to Marina Storm of Picture Perfect Photography for her photography. Come back tomorrow to see the transformed Master Bedroom!

Patience Makes Perfect: Part One

November 7, 2022

A beautiful transformation years in the making …

I am so excited to share photographs of this project with you today. I first started working with this client exactly five years ago. When we first met, she walked me through the house they had built 20 years ago. It was a beautiful traditional home on a grand scale filled with lot of antiques and furniture they had invested in. As in so many homes built and decorated at that time, there was lots of red and gold, formal custom draperies, honey oak floors and overstuffed upholstered furniture.

She explained to me that they wanted to start updating things. But in a house of this scale, they knew it would not be an overnight process. They weren’t interested in “quick fixes” and changes. She wanted to take time to make the right selections, save for pieces she really wanted, invest in custom pieces, sell many of the investment pieces she had collected but no longer fit her style, and have fun in the process.

I am kicking myself that I did not take more “Before” pictures – but at the time, it didn’t feel like a typical Before & After project. We were on a journey and the destination seemed far off. Throw in a worldwide pandemic and the resulting product and shipping delays, and the years stretched on.

My client is also an avid art collector – and she had already purchased quite a few pieces she had fallen in love with. Many were abstracts, modern, light and airy with bold and fun colors. These certainly didn’t fit in with the traditional Red, Gold, French Country vibe of the rest of the house, but they became a jumping off point for our overall vision.

So floors were refinished, walls were painted shades of white, things started to be sold on Chairish, we decided what pieces could be incorporated into the new design (I still love a mix of vintage and modern) and started searching for the perfect … sofas, tables, lamps, rugs, nightstands, bedding … each and every item was very thoughtfully selected.

Of course, paint and furniture can only take you so far … what about an outdated kitchen? Well, of course, we brought my favorite kitchen designer, Stephanie Frees of Plain & Posh in for that!

And so that is where I will start with the photographs. I am going to break this up into three posts of my three favorite rooms. Part One today is the Kitchen. We did take photos right before demo started and this is what it looked like.

And here it is today …

Can you believe it? And this was not a full gut remodel. The perimeter cabinetry mostly stayed but got new doors and height added at the top. The island and tall wood stained cabinet to the left of the sink are new and custom built and Stephanie hand-drew the design of the new range hood. Isn’t it gorgeous?

The beautiful reeded detail came from our idea to add this special element to the new island and cabinetry. Bringing it over to the hood just tied everything together, don’t you agree?

Here is that same view before …

Lets talk about that sink, shall we?

We were so in love with this stunning Quartzite we chose for the countertops we wanted to feature it further in a custom apron-front sink.

We scoured Etsy for vintage runners and this one was our favorite for pulling in colors from some of the artwork we commissioned for these spaces … such as this whimsical piece by Marissa Voytenko.

After falling in love with her work, we realized Marissa is local to the Chicago area. She graciously hand-delivered this piece to my client, saying it isn’t often she gets to see in person where her art will hang in someone’s home.

This area used to be a small desk – common in so many kitchens for many years, but no longer needed or practical in a modern kitchen.

The new cabinetry by Plain & Posh is a beautiful replacement, don’t you agree?

Some other special features of this kitchen – the lighting. That picture light above (a favorite), the pendants over the island and all sconces are from Circa. (I actually have those same Goodman pendants in my own kitchen – I love them so!)

Styling this new kitchen was such a treat!

Of course, I must talk about this backsplash! There were so many times in the design of this house that my client and I could almost agree on things telepathically. We were both in love with the look of Zellige tile and it seemed that all of our favorite kitchens we had Pinned or saved pictures of used Zellige tiles … so it was just one of those … “Well obviously we are going to do Zellige!” moments.

Zellige Tile is a variety of glazed terracotta tile originally handmade in Morocco. It is kiln-fired over olive-branches, giving each tile a unique glaze, color and texture. No two tiles are exactly alike, so every application ends up being a unique tapestry of color and texture.

Once again, rather than make a quick decision, we got samples from a few different companies. And then, because there is inherently so much color variation, we ordered more samples over time to get an overall feel for the variation. Ultimately, we chose Clé Tile’s Zellige in Weathered White.

Installation of this tile, especially in the herringbone pattern we wanted, is not for the faint of heart! It took 5 days of labor and many hours of going through boxes to mix the colors. But definitely worth it!

Another way we added texture … these beautiful stools from Restoration Hardware.

As we get ready to head into the family room in tomorrow’s post, these shots below give a good example of how we were able to incorporate the old with the new …

The dining table and chairs were custom well-loved pieces my client had invested a lot into years ago and wanted to see if they could still work.

The chairs were so unique I definitely wanted to be able to keep them. We had new cushions made of faux ostrich leather by Sew Special Designs and a custom rug made by Carpet Showcase to break up the wood-on-wood. I think the setup ads a lot of unique character to the space.

A huge thank you to Marina Storm of Picture Perfect House for capturing this space so beautifully. Be sure to come back tomorrow to see the Family Room. It’s a beauty!

True Blue Art

November 9, 2016

Do you remember when I shared a picture of these vintage blueprints we found at the Randolph Street Market this summer?

They are blueprints for the iconic Brach’s Candy Factory that stood in Chicago from 1923 to 2014. We bought a book of them and have been trying to decide what to do with them. Not only are they are a cool piece of history from our great city, once known as the “Candy Capital of the World,” but the deep indigo color is gorgeous. (A bit of trivia for you: in 2008, the factory made a cameo in the film The Dark Knight, where it served as Gotham Hospital. Part of the factory was destroyed for a scene where the Joker sets off a large bomb at the hospital.)

I really wanted to use more than one of the prints – since they are each unique to a different floor or part of the factory, and they are big (!) 35×24 – so doing so would require a big wall. (I actually think that 6 or 9 of these hung in a grid pattern would be amazing in the right space – a huge two or three story wall.) We decided to hang them above our staircase – the biggest blank wall we have! Voila!

Now, I apologize, as these are extremely difficult to take pictures because they are so reflective. Here is a better angle but you can see our kitchen table and chairs reflected in the bottom one.

I am so happy with how they turned out! I wasn’t sure at first how I wanted to frame them. I really didn’t want anything to take away from the prints themselves. I had seen this pretty brass hardware on Etsy from a shop called Highland Hardware. They are designed to hold together sheets of acrylic. Clean. Simple. Perfect!

I brought them to my local frame shop, (Boulevard Fine Art) along with the prints, and they had the acrylic cut for me and even assembled it all.

Brass and Navy is always a winning combo in my book!

And here is the view looking up from our kitchen …

I love when artwork has special meaning to a family. Both Dan and I come from a long-line of Chicagoans and are always fascinated by our city’s great history. Dan’s career in commercial real estate has put him in front of so many of Chicago’s old buildings and together we love driving the neighborhoods and checking them out. Not only that, but we have been going to Randolph Street Market for over 12 years – it’s kind of a tradition for us every year and we try to go at least a couple times each summer to treasure hunt! These prints are definitely one of our favorite treasures!

If you’d like to do something similar with your own photographs, I suggest checking out Artifact Uprising. They offer a similar float frame and you can upload your own photograph to their site. Because I was working with original pieces – this option didn’t work for me – but I would definitely consider it for favorite photographs.