Swoon Interiors

interiors that make your heart skip a beat.

My little gallery …

I finally did it.

If you read my post, Creating Your Own Gallery Wall, you may remember that I have been collecting pieces to create my own art gallery-inspired wall. I recently had a few things reframed and yesterday I decided that they have been languishing up in a spare closet for too long. So I got out my hammer and nails and got to work.
I’m really happy with the results.  It’s just a mix of things that make me happy … travel and nature inspired, Venice, Paris, a vintage postcard here, an old map there, a childhood sketch of mine … 

It didn’t even take all that long … I roughly laid them out on the floor in the layout I wanted, hung the two largest pieces first then played around with the rest.
I see this wall right when I step out of my bedroom in the morning and now it makes me smile.
It can also be seen from our main living area as you look up the staircase.

To read about some of my favorite examples of gallery walls and my sources for great art, click here.

Complete Randomness

So sorry for the lack of posts this week. Now that school and fall are both in full swing, it has been a busy week of school activities and new client projects. So please excuse the complete randomness of this post but I thought I’d just share a few things a came across this week that made me swoon.

Grand Wingback Chair
giant typewriter keys.

Taken with my iphone:
Calvin Klein rug
A pretty new collection at Serena and Lily …

table linens
Love the simplicity of this line drawing. Feels like something you’d find at a great flea market or estate sale …
Jockeys
Oooh … how about the color scheme and wallpaper on the cover of House Beautiful that came in my mailbox …
Spotted this on Pinterest …
At this time of year, we all tend to take on too much … I often need to remind myself that sometimes it’s all right to keep things simple.
Hope everyone has a wonderful (and simple!) weekend!

5 years ago …

I was blessed with this little boy …

Braden Christopher
Yesterday was his birthday …
We had a party in the park …
Thank goodness those aren’t real ants!
It was a little hot …
… but we still had fun.
Braden loves to sing and this is one of his favorite songs to belt out …
The Ink Society on Etsy

Aren’t these prints from Etsy so cute?

His “Mimi” (my mother-in-law) taught that song to him and it melts my heart every time he sings it in his sweet voice. He is definitely my sunshine, keeping me on my toes but always able to make me laugh and smile.
In honor of my Birthday Boy, here are some other fun kid’s art prints that remind me of him and that might just be able to brighten up your kids’ playrooms or bedrooms as well.
Studio Mela
Braden’s a Leo …
Parada Creations
(Check out the other cute zodiac signs.)
He LOVES animals …
Marla Sea
And especially sea creatures …
Wall Fry

Speaking of fries … Braden loves ’em. (Is there a kid out there who doesn’t?) 

Studio Mela
Happy Birthday my sweet Braden.
(That’s his new dog, Vanilla. Our poor cats think he’s real.)

Out of the ordinary art …

I love coming across new ideas for what to hang on the walls.  Here are some of my favorite yet not-so-traditional things that have been elevated to artwork-status with a simple frame.
Illustrator Alanna Cavanagh recreated this old book jacket into a vibrant piece of art. Of course, the title here has a meaningful tie-in to a bedroom, but other favorite or classic book titles could work as well.  I would love to have a series of these lining a wall in my office.  The hardest part would be deciding which books to feature … Hmmm.

Alanna Cavanagh via Elements of Style

I love old maps and I have always wanted to do something like this in our living room. This one is a map of Paris, but again, a favorite city that has special meaning to the family would make it that much more personal.

The writer in me loves this giant hand-addressed envelope turned on it’s side. Maybe it’s a long lost love letter …

My dad has boxes of the letters my grandparents wrote back and forth to each other when my Grandpa was in Europe during World War II … I would love to blow one up and frame it just like this.

I know lots of people have chalkboards or are painting walls in chalkboard paint, but this one really feels like art to me.  I would have fun finding inspirational quotes to write on here.


via Style at Home

If you’re anything like me and collect swatches of fabric (I have a box full that I just like to pull out and look at … they’re so pretty) this might be a fun idea … especially in a hallway where the colors and patterns don’t have to compete with anything.


New York International Gift Fair
How about you … what have kinds of things have you deemed frameable in your house?

More Vintage Finds …

There was an interesting article on Houzz the other day about 12 ways to achieve a “collected” look in your home. I love the word “collected” as it applies to interior decorating, because to me that is the fun of decorating … finding and collecting things that I love over time. Rooms that look like they were all put together at once or from one or two stores are not interesting to me. Becky Harris, the author of this article, loves the word “collected” too and explains that “the ability to edit and curate diverse pieces, eras and textures needs a worthy name.” 

One of the best ways, I think, to achieve the “collected” look is to incorporate vintage pieces from various eras into your decor. Did you read my earlier post about some of my favorite vintage finds?

As promised, here are a few more favorite vintage pieces from my home.  The first is a wonderful little federal style convex mirror I have hanging in my front entry. 

Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home recently did a blog post featuring federal style convex mirrors and I was even more excited about my little one, especially after seeing this in her post … 
Mount Vernon Federal reproduction Convex Mirror by the Friedman Brothers  $3200
I’m pretty sure I paid less than $50 for mine. I also love some of these rooms she featured with similar mirrors.
Eddie Ross in Lonny

via Elle Decor

This one is of her own beautiful bedroom.

Next up is an old globe that has been covered in vintage ledger paper, old postcards and vintage brooches. I love it’s uniqueness and the idea of worldly travel it conjures up. The globe itself just rests on an old iron base with caster wheels. A beautiful twist on the traditional globe, don’t you think?

I also love this vintage jewelry holder …
image from Etsy
 Not only is it pretty, but very functional! I use it to hang the necklaces I wear most often. I like to imagine what other necklaces and jewels it proudly displayed in a former life.

What do these three things have in common? I bought them all from a wonderful Etsy shop called Blue Bell Bazaar. The owner, Gosia, collects interesting objects, antiques, oil paintings, industrial art, you name it, from a variety of places, including trips abroad.  She is a favorite of catalog stylists at Anthropologie.  Visiting her Etsy shop makes me feel like I am wandering around a quaint little flea market. She carries everything from vintage Scandinavian designs, old store signs, and laboratory and apothecary bottles, to modern china, vintage chalkboards, industrial lamps, vases and giant metal alphabet letters.

I feel lucky that she is a Chicago-based gem, as on several occasions when I have ordered something online, she has personally brought it to my house.  I’ve even pointed out certain places or walls where I am looking for something to put there and she will email me some ideas from her collection within the week.

If you read the post on my master bedroom, you may remember the vintage Paris prints hanging above my nightstand. Yep, I got them from Blue Bell Bazzar.  I’ve also purchased a number of other pieces of art from her. Here are two of my other favorites.

Still waiting to hang the one below … I am working on collecting pieces for a gallery style art wall to go up along our main staircase. (Stay tuned for a future post.)

Best of all, she and a partner have opened up Architectural Anarchy in Chicago’s historic Pilsen neighborhood.  I am dying to get down to their amazing 7400 sq ft warehouse showroom to see her latest collection of vintage furniture, lighting, artwork, and other wonderfully quirky pieces. 

Have a great weekend everyone!