Swoon Interiors

interiors that make your heart skip a beat.

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?
 
 
 
 

Statement Piece

As I was looking through Instagram photos the other day … amid all of the kid and vacation pictures, up came this cute lampshade!
I love it … who’s is it? I thought. When I looked further I saw that my beautiful niece Mallory had posted the picture.

I quickly commented on it … “Mallory! Did you make this?”

Indeed she did! She wrote me back …
The lamp is from Target and was about $10. I used a fine point sharpie and
got used quotes from movies, celebrities, & songs! Just wrote the quotes in
cursive around in a circle and worked my way down, very easy and took about
45 min! I made it for my new house at school because we needed some cute &
cheap decorations!

How great is that? Talk about Design on a Dime!  Mallory is going to be a junior at Mizzou and I just love that she came up with this great way to turn a plain lamp into such a statement piece … literally!

I think you could adapt this in so many ways … favorite poems, meaningful songs, lullabies or nursery rhymes for a child’s room. You can really personalize it any way you want.
Thanks to Mallory for letting me share her brilliant idea! (And thank you too for such blog-worthy photos … these are great!)

A New “Lady” I Love …

Yesterday was a day of family cooperation. My husband needed to drive by and take pictures of various retail sites in the city for his job, on a day when there’s not so much traffic. So we promised the boys a yummy breakfast downtown … strawberries and cream pancakes, fresh squeezed pear juice, and crispy bacon … at a place that used to be a favorite of ours when we lived downtown. Then I drove around while my husband got out at various points to take pictures. It was a gloomy, dreary morning with sudden sporadic downpours. 

Then I got to do a little “work” myself. I’ve been dying to get to what is being called the Grand Ave. Design District.  So many unique interior design stores have taken up shop in the old storefronts and warehouses lining Grand Ave. both east and west of Damen that it has become a destination in and of itself.
So my three boys graciously allowed me to go in a store called The Painted Lady on Grand Ave. while they sat in the car with all of their various iPad, iTouch and Nintendo DS paraphernalia.
This is the kind of store that literally makes me swoon upon entering. There is just so much visual interest … things I haven’t seen before, so many one-of-a-kind pieces. It’s like ahhh … where do I begin?  I’m kind of like a dog … I have to circle the place at least 3 times … sniffing things out and making sure I haven’t missed anything.
You know how there’s a lot of stores you go in, you see something you like, you pick it up to “casually” glance at the price tag, are quite startled by what you see and then you try to just as casually set the item back down?
Well this store is so NOT like that!
Quite the opposite actually.  Every time I picked something up and saw the price I thought “Really?!? Wow. I like it even more!”
Besides all of the interesting accessories and furniture, I fell in love with much of their lighting. 
Especially these vintage looking lights with what I like to call Thomas Edison lightbulbs.

They come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Ok, now isn’t this one just adorable?

(I don’t know if I’ve ever called a lamp adorable before.)

What a great nautical lamp. I’d love it for my son’s room.

Anyway, I did purchase a few goodies for a client I’m currently working with. (If you are reading this and know who you are, you should be very, very happy!) But after the amount of time I spent in this one store, I didn’t want to push my luck, so unfortunately I didn’t make it to any of the other stores on Grand Ave.
This will definitely have to be a future day trip for me!