Swoon Interiors

interiors that make your heart skip a beat.

Patience Makes Perfect: Part Three

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!

artwork by Jacquie Gouveia

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!

artwork by Kristin Blakeney

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.

Pillow Talk

First of all I want to thank everyone for the amazing amount of cheering and encouragement after launching my new endeavor this weekend. I am truly thrilled and overwhelmed by the kind words, phone calls and heartfelt notes.  I hope you’ll keep reading and enjoying my little nook in the interior decorating world.

And so … it’s on to a new post about something that makes me swoon … pillows! Yes, I have a thing for pillows.  What a great pair of shoes does for an outfit, pillows can do for a room.

Imagine the following rooms, without the pillows …

via Lonny
Twinkle Living Poker Rug

findings

via High Gloss
Nice, right?  But the pillows really give them that pop that makes them interesting.  (Ok the artwork and lamps are also pretty awesome in the room above.)
I wish I had more sofas and beds in my house just so I could pick out more pillows! But that’s the great thing about pillows … you change them or rotate them out as often as you like … with the seasons, when you find something new.  If you love pattern, (which I do!) it’s a low risk way to bring it into your room.  Unlike wallpaper, window treatments, or upholstered furniture, if you get tired of the pattern or color after a few years (which, let’s face it … is often the case when you look at something day in and day out) … you can simply trade it in for a new model.
Of course, I see a lot of great pillows out there that break the $100 price range. If you’re getting a pair or more, it adds up and you’re less likely to change them out, right?
That’s why I’m always on the hunt for more affordable pillows.
Here’s a few of the favorites I have around my house …

I fell in love with this bird fabric from French General and knew I had to do something with it. I bought a yard of it for $35 and asked my dear mother-in-law if she could make me two pillows. (I love her!)  I also bought a little of this peacock blue fabric for less than $10/yard at my local fabric store to use on the back … they make me swoon!  (And the pair cost less than $60!)

The other pillows on my family room sofa I had custom made through Walter E. Smithe and cost a pretty penny … although they are of great quality and stand up to all the jumping and smashing they must endure by the three men in my life. But the birds are still my favorites! 

Found this floral on Etsy and the French linen one at an antiques fair (well before similar ones started showing up at Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn!)

For the settee in my living room I just wanted to give it a funky mix of modern pillows … kind of an unexpected juxtaposition of old and new. The large ones are Thomas Paul … the solids are from Pottery Barn and the leopard one was one I found online by just googling leopard pillow.  (Although I can’t remember the source.) 

I must admit, however, that the before-mentioned pillow addiction has me eye-ing up a new mix …

What do you think?

I got these pink ikat pattern pillows on ebay after swooning over this Madeline Weinrib pattern.
The pair of pillow covers cost $25! Check these similar ones using her fabric that cost $450!

I just tried to go back and find the shop where I purchased them with no luck, but I still remember when they came in the mail it was such a delightful surprise. It was a carefully wrapped package with a handwritten Uzbekastian return address, sealed the old fashioned way with a colorful spot of hardened wax that was stamped with an ornate design. They are beautifully sewn and the silk fabric feels wonderfully luxurious.

Which brings me to my favorite source for great pillows in designer fabrics … Etsy.  Have you been to Etsy.com?  For me it is decorating heaven! … I promise, there will be many posts dedicated to my favorite Etsy shops … but for now let’s just take a look at some if it’s great sources for pillows.

Purple Pajamas has a beautiful yellow ikat pillow, as well as many others. Here are some of my favorites.

I bought these next two for my son’s bed … I am loving a bold chevron pattern lately.

(I made the “B” pillow myself by stenciling the B on one of the pillows that came with the settee in my living room.  That’s one of my number one rules, by the way … take the throw pillows that come with your sofa and either use them in a different room or donate them to a good cause. Life is too short for predictable pillows!)
Some of my other favorite Etsy pillow shops …
This is where I found the pillows I want for my living room.
I think these are fun for kids rooms or a “basement” family room …
This where I got the floral one on my bench.

For some lovely linen or burlap pillows (swoon!) check out Petit Coterie. They are a little more of a splurge, but just one of these would make a fun statement on you sofa or bed …

I bought this one on Etsy to put out at Christmas …
I just did a search for linen Christmas pillows. 

Keep in mind … these are usually just the pillow covers.  Some of the shops do sell the inserts, but you can also get your own for cheap at Ikea, Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann fabrics or your local fabric store.  I like to buy a pillow insert that’s one size larger than the cover to make it extra fluffy.  So I put a 20 x 20 in an 18 x 18 cover, etc. It takes a little work to get it in there, but it really fills out the covers nicely.

So, what do you think?  Could your sofa use some new pillows? A little ikat, or chevron stripes?  Don’t be afraid to mix and match!

That’s it for today … getting ready to watch the Superbowl with my three boys … homemade pizzas are on the menu (we love to buy Trader Joe’s refrigerated pizza dough …)  I must admit … I’m more interested in the ads this year… still an advertising girl at heart!