Swoon Interiors

interiors that make your heart skip a beat.

What’s on your ideal bookshelf?

Looking for a unique gift idea?  What about giving that hard-to-buy-for someone their ideal bookshelf?

I can sense your brow is furrowing.

What?

Wouldn’t that be … expensive? … heavy? … hard to wrap?

Not this kind.

I’m talking about these fun prints by artist Jane Mount which you can find on her website Ideal Bookshelf.

 
Do you know someone who loves to Travel?
 
 
Fashion?

Cooking?

A Jane Austen buff?
 
 
Harry Potter fanatic?

 
What about this collection of children’s books for a nursery or playroom?
 
 
There are many different collections, including the ideal bookshelves of many “creative thinkers” in all fields, such as Alice Walters and David Sedaris.
 
Just pop it in a frame and you’ve got a great, personal gift.
 
 
How about this one for your pal who moved here from NYC?
 
Many of these prints are also available for a limited time on the site 20X200.
 
Perhaps you don’t see your ideal bookshelf among the many options. That’s okay too. You can order a custom print where you choose all of the books to be included. Or purchase a gift card for your recipient to do the same. How fun is that?
 
 
 
 
 
 
It kind of gets you thinking … what would be on your ideal bookshelf?  And more interestingly, what does that say about you?
 
 

As promised …my living & dining room makeovers

Before Thanksgiving I gave you a couple of peeks into my dining and living room … our “fall projects” I suppose you could say.

I thought I’d elaborate a little more on them for you today.

First up, Dining Room.  This is what it looked like before.

 
Everything was pretty much from our very first condo in the city.   I still loved our sideboard and table from Mig & Tig but I just longed for a more elegant and polished look. The rug is only a couple of years old, so that was going to stay too.
 
So, with new chairs (I wrote about them here), a new paint job (I wrote about my decision process here) a new top for my sideboard (read all about it here) some new curtains, and a little rearranging, here’s what I have now …
 
 

 
And this was it all set up for Thanksgiving …

 
I am still wanting to replace the chandelier the builder put in with this one that I have loved forever …
 
 
 
 I moved the small hutch I painted with chalk paint last year (read about it’s transformation here) onto this wall and hung some pretty but simple plates I found at Anthropologie  around it.  I still wanted a soft look with out too much pattern or color.
 
 
I had struggled to find the right spot in my home for this desk/hutch ever since I painted it, but now I think it’s finally found its home. It’s become a great place to display some of the pretty, smaller pieces that seemed to get lost inside the big sideboard.
 
 
 
I also did a little lamp swap … I switched these lamps with the ones in my bedroom.
 
 
 
Voila!
 

 
 And I kinda like these on my nightstands …
 
 
On to the living room …
 
Perhaps you remember what it looked like before …
 
 
 
I’ve liked the red … in fact, we’ve had a red room in our last 3 homes … maybe that’s why I was up for a change. Something a little softer and more soothing.
 
I’ve also struggled with the large wall behind the settee …
 
 
I had started out hanging my collection of Sid Dickens Memory Blocks that I’ve accumulated over the years … each one is different and symbolizes different times or occasions in our life. You can read more about them here.
 
While I love them, they just felt a little sparse on that huge wall. I’ve already got a large piece of art above the fireplace and that large mirror in the dining room so I wanted to find something different.
 
 
The other issue was that besides the settee, we had no other seating in there … we always seemed to find other priority items to purchase and I never really found the right chairs.  I wanted something pretty AND comfortable. A place where I might curl up with a magazine while my “men” are watching sports … or a place to relax and chat with friends, a fire and an after-dinner drink.
 
My solution for the big wall was inspired by these pictures …
 
 
 
 
 
 
Those first three are from Nate Berkus’s Manhattan apartment and the last two are coincidentally, also from a Manhattan apartment designed by Phoebe Howard.
 
What I love about all of them are the big airy metal shelving units.  They really fill a big space with out feeling too heavy.  Nate Berkus always talks about creating a space that feels collected over time,  and with shelves like these I think you can really elevate objects that are special to you into pieces of art.
 
So … when I spotted these shelves on one of the design blogs I read, I thought they could be perfect for my living room … and I couldn’t believe where they were from.
 
Yep … these babies are from Ikea! And at $70 bucks a pop, I could get 2 and fill the entire wall.
 
And that’s exactly what I did.
 
 
(I picked up 4 of the baskets from Ikea as well … I love the texture they bring and the hidden storage, since all of the rest of the shelves are so open.)
 
SO, while Dan painted, (Benjamin Moore Wolf Gray) I built bookcases … and I LOVE them!  They are very sturdy and the glass shelves make them look much more expensive than they really were.
 
And now I have just the place to put all of the pretty stuff I collect that makes me happy … you know … antlers, pieces of coral, vintage trophies, my favorite coffee table books … I’m sure this arrangement will change often …( especially after the summer antiques market season!)
 
 
Notice the little lamps? How cute are they?  I spotted them in the Ballard Catalog and knew they’d be perfect … especially since the bronze finish is the same as the shelves.
 
 
  They actually clip on and I just ran the cords down the back of the posts … so you can’t see them at all.  I have them set on a timer, so late every afternoon they come and fill the room with a nice soft glow.
 
And for the rest of the room?
 
 
 

 
Anyway, that’s it … new paint, new shelves, a couple chairs and a new lamp … and the room has a totally different look.  It has become just the space I envisioned it to be … the “girls” sat in there and chatted on Thanksgiving Day, the boys and I have sat in there reading “The Sixty Eight Rooms” (the book everyone is reading at school) and I have enjoyed it as a quiet spot to catch up on my latest issue of Traditional Home.
 
 
(Ok … so I’m still playing around with the pillows … what do you think? Given my pillow obsession it is always hard for me to commit. )
 
Do you have a room that just isn’t quite working for you?  Here is proof that you can transform it with just a few changes.
 
Have a great week!
 
 

Hangin’ out …

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I’ve been taking a little bit of a blogging break to hang out with these two …

We’ve been busy and lazy all at the same time. Lots of presents, food, a night in the city, family get togethers, board games, movies … all the makings of a perfect Christmas Break … except no snow!
I’ve been drooling over some of the pictures in this new book Dan got me for Christmas.
Would you believe … that is NOT wallpaper. It is made of burlap fringe and plaster!

Just a very small sampling … I’ll have to scan in some more favorites for you later.
I also finally got the new hardware for the little desk that I painted with chalk paint back around Thanksgiving, so I’ve been working on a post to show you how I did it. 
Look for it next year …
Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year’s Eve!

Rules … what rules?

So in last Sunday’s paper, I read an article about a new book out called Undecorate: The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design by Christiane Lemieux, who is the founder and Creative Director of DwellStudio, a vibrant collection of fabrics, textiles and furnishings for the home.

I was intrigued … so I bought the book, and this weekend from my couch,  I vicariously “visited” the homes of 20 different families who’s homes are decidedly “undecorated.”  The book is kind of like a documentary, as none of the homes were “styled” as they normally would be for a magazine photo shoot. 

The homes are not perfect, but they are full of surprises and warmth.  To be honest, ninety-percent of them are not really things I would do or purchase for my own home, but that’s okay … because they are not mine anyway.  They are so full of spectacular details and pieces that have been collected by and are so personal to each family. Each is it’s own nest and no one else’s.

But what I love about this book is they way it can inspire us all to take risks and not always be so concerned about if these things “go together” or if this is the “right” way to lay out a room. It shows how filling a house with things you love, things with memories attached, things you bargained for, traveled for, or stumbled upon can make a home that is not only wonderful but memorable and uniquely yours.

So don’t be afraid to hang large bird diagrams in your kitchen …

Or push your bed in front of a window …

… to leave decorations up permanently,
(Those pink flowers are left over from a baby shower.)

… to use mismatched chairs

… to have a ticket booth in your family room.

to hang a giant fish on your wall …
… to paint your dining room a bright color and turn it into an office,
… or to combine antlers, an ostrich and a crystal chandelier in your dining room.

IF it makes you happy.

(All photos from Undecorate, taken by Melanie Acevedo).

Mother Nature as Artist …

Since my first post on creating vignettes and tablescapes around the home, I’ve had numerous requests to come and style bookshelves in different homes.  In grouping various objects together, I always like to incorporate something natural … bringing a little bit of the outside in.  Flowers or plants are an obvious choice, but I also like interesting or colorful pieces of coral, rock or shells.  I have been wanting a large piece of coral for my own bookshelves for quite sometime.

My parents were in southern California last week, a favorite vacation spot of ours since my grandparents lived just north of San Diego when I was growing up and we would spend 2 weeks with them out there every year. There’s a little home store in Laguna Beach that we love called Tuvalu. It’s got a great beachy yet elegant vibe.  I told my parents to see if they had any nice pieces of coral.  My Dad emailed me a couple pictures of coral he took with his phone when they were in the store.

Each piece cost $34. Hmmm … they looked awfully similar to this coral I saw on Ruzetti and Gow for $150 and $200 respectively. I asked them to snatch up the first one for me! 
One week and lots of bubble wrap later, it is sitting on my bookshelves and makes me swoon!
I love it’s sculptural qualities and amazing texture.  It also brings another nice pop of creamy white to a dark bookshelf. I think something like this would look great in any style of home. It doesn’t have to be a beach house or be relegated to a bathroom. By just using a single standout piece, it becomes a piece of sculpture … one that just happens to be created by Mother Nature herself.
(As much as I love it, however, the little boy in the picture next to it makes me swoon even more.)

Are you going on Spring Break anytime soon?  Are your parents?  Would they be willing to bring a large bubble wrapped piece of coral on the plane as one of their carry-ons?  I am awfully grateful that my parents were so gracious.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!
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