Swoon Interiors

interiors that make your heart skip a beat.

March Madness

Whew! While those words mean something else to my husband and oldest son, I feel like I’ve had my own March Madness going on … good madness, of course … but it has left me little time to show my blog and loyal blog readers some love! I apologize. Kristy and I have been busy, busy, busy with some great collaborative projects this month. Then, throw in my sweet 9 year old’s 3 day birthday extravaganza … getting ready for Spring Break … and there you have it … madness.

So, today I thought I’d do a little catching up …

A few things that have made me swoon lately …

Is it wood or is it tile?

I LOVE the look of this new tile from Walker Zanger’s new Nature Collection.  Yes, it’s tile, “made with state of the art glazing technology” creating an antique wood floor look with the durability of tile.

 

Very “farmhouse chic” don’t you think? I’d love to see these used in a kitchen or mudroom.

And they’ve also just introduced their AnTeak Collection. It’s made from teak wood reclaimed from construction projects in Indonesia. The teak grain is visible on the tiles, which come in several stains and shapes, including herringbone, hexagon and chevron. It’s already cured, because it’s been exposed to the elements for 75 or 100 years, which gives it a wonderful pantina.

Is it wallpaper or is it paint?

 
It’s paint!  We are working with a wonderful artist to achieve the look of high-end wallpaper in one of our client’s homes. 
 

 
These are just a few samples of her work … amazing. (And of course, an iPhone doesn’t even do them justice.)
 
 
If you are interested in having her create a “masterpiece” in your home, contact us and we can set up a meeting.

Next up, have you heard? Nate Berkus is back with a new TV show! 

It’s going to be call Renovation Nation and will air on NBC in the fall. Read all about it here.

I blogged quite a while ago about my love for these Classic Penguin Book Prints here … and I was excited to see when one of my favorite bloggers, Stefanie of Brooklyn Limestone, created a variation of them for her daughter’s adorable nursery.

 Even better, she has just announced a giveaway of these prints to readers of her blog.

Well, that’s it for now!  Be sure to share your favorite swoon worthy things with me … I’d love to feature them here.

Our Date With Nate

So, like two giddy school girls, Kristy and I headed into the city last night for a date with the adorable Nate Berkus.

Ok, so, we weren’t the only ones, (there were hundreds of others) and it wasn’t really a date (more like a book signing party for his new book takig place at Jayson Home and Garden.)

But still …

 
We’re up next!!!!
(And check out that amazing lucite desk.)
 
Just as charming and adorable as we expected. He smiled, shook our hands and knew our names … (They were written on a post-it on top of our books.)
 
He even asked us if we wanted to meet up after the book signing party.
(Just kidding.)
 
 
But see that exclamation point?  Clearly, he was sooo excited to see me.
 
Sadly, they wouldn’t allow pictures with Nate.
 
This was the best we could do …
 
 
Is it creepy?
 
Ok, maybe we look like Stalkers.

 
But we are friendly stalkers.
 
That’s his face behind one of the strict Bouncer-Lady’s hands …
 
(If you’re wondering how we got these oh-so-sneaky pictures, it is the work of our friend Karen, who is not just an undercover photographer but an amazing seamstress as well. If you need curtains, bedding, pillows or upholstery, she is your gal!)
 
Anyway, we thought it was nice that Nate had champagne waiting for us …
 
 
Champagne in cans … to drink with a straw! It was almost as adorable as he is.

 
And some amazing food …
 
 
(The pork belly was our fave … we won’t talk about how many we had.)
 
 
With Leeland, one of the amazing designers at Jayson Home and Garden.
 
So Nate … wherever you are today … thanks for a wonderful evening. We’d be happy to come to New York next time and stay in your new digs.
 
 
(Have you seen the pictures of his Manhattan Duplex in Architectural Digest? Swoon! Yes, there IS a guest room.)
 
 
 
 

Catching Up with Nate

Who else loves Nate Berkus?  My seven year old once declared, “I think Mom has a crush on Nate Berkus,” to which my husband chuckled and rolled his eyes.  He kind of knows it’s true.

So, I’m usually never home at 2 in the afternoon when the Nate Berkus show is on, so I’ve set my DVR to tape it everyday. I don’t always find time to watch every episode, but if I have a little time and somehow am able to gain control of one of the TVs in our house, I’ll fast forward to the segments I’m most interested in.

This past rainy Sunday was the perfect, lounge-in-your-sweats, watch-TV, and make comfort-food for dinner kind of day. While the males in my house were watching sports and Tom & Jerry, I actually was able to sneak upstairs and get caught up on some of last week’s Nate Show episodes. 

My favorite was when he showed the before and after of his newly remodeled Greenwich Village apartment.

Let me just say, it is extremely swoon worthy!  I was a complete dork and had to stop and rewind multiple times just to take it all in.  It has such a warm and eclectic feel while still keeping a cool urban vibe.

I went on the Nate Show website to look for “after pictures” to post but they only have close-ups of some of the accessories around his home. I’m sure it will be featured in one of the design magazines sometime soon, but for now, if you want to see, you’ll have to watch the video itself …

One of the things Nate talks about is how it’s the small details and accessories that really make a house a home, and of course, he has quite a collection. 

I particularly love how he uses gold throughout his house. It has all of the sparkle of silver but with even more warmth.

How beautiful is that big chunk quartz?  I love how he brings so many natural elements into his home …

 As the weather begins to get cooler and we spend less time outside, I’m always trying to think of new ways to bring nature in. What are some of your favorite ways? And who else has a crush on Nate?

My quest for romance with a kitchen rug …

Up until two nights ago, we did not have a rug under our kitchen table. I’ve gone back and forth on it for a long time.  Of course, I thought it would look better with a rug, but since I spend inordinate amounts of time on my hands and knees wiping up what seems like half a meal after each breakfast/lunch/dinner, I have been afraid to put a rug down in fear of what it might look like after just a few meals.

Then I thought that perhaps if I found one that wasn’t too expensive, I wouldn’t feel so bad about it if it didn’t hold up for very long. Several fine candidates crossed my path.

First there was Mr. Nate Berkus Rug. It was love at first sight when I saw it on the set of his daytime talk show when it first aired. (Swoon.)

At the time, I didn’t even know that he was selling it on HSN.com. Sadly, by the time I figured it out, they were all sold out in the size I needed. 

Now they are no longer available at all. (I go on periodically to check, but no such luck.)

With that in my head, I was attracted to other bold stripes. I love how Nate himself used a boldly patterned rug in his own Chicago pad.
So then along came Mr. Wisteria Rug. I loved the soft green color and the thin dhurrie-style. My heart fluttered when I saw it in the catalog. The price was right, but the size wasn’t. A 9 x 12. (I needed a 6 x 9.)

It’s been a while and I have searched around but nothing else made me swoon. Sure there where some handsome ones, but they may have been too fancy for my kitchen.  I needed one that wasn’t afraid to get a little dirty. I found more stripes but not in the soft colors I was looking for.
Then maybe just a month ago I opened the latest Ballard catalog and … 

Perfection.  Suzane Kasler’s Wide Stripe Jute Rug.  I loved the durability and texture of the jute.  And, he had stripes to boot!  The paprika-orange would tie in nicely with the rug and some of the pillows I have in my adjoining family room. And, there was even a 6×9. (Which, I discovered, are somewhat hard to come by.) 
Ok, so with the start of summer, the weeks began to fly by.  Finally, one day I had a free moment, sat down at my computer and pulled up the rug online with my credit card in hand.  Choose color. Choose size. But wait … there in parenthesis next to 6×9 were the dreaded words I hate to see. NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
Ugh!
Surely this couldn’t be so! He was my perfect match!  Right away I called Ballard just to make sure. Nope they were all gone. Sold out quickly. Won’t be making any more. 
Really?  Are you sure they won’t be making any more? I mean, if it was so popular, couldn’t they … pretty please … make some more?
Sorry. No more information.
Where to turn? Now that I had been thinking about that rug for several weeks, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. And while I had been unsure about getting a rug at all before, I was now determined that my little breakfast area was definitely in need of a rug.
Hmmm.  Okay … so none of those other rugs were meant to be. Usually things happen for a reason. Maybe I just wasn’t supposed to get stripes.  But jute … one of the things I loved about the Ballard rug was the natural jute.  Maybe I should just look for a plain jute rug.
So I started looking again. But I was a little like Goldilocks … a 5×8 is too small. An 8×10 is too big. A 6×9 would be just right. But no one seemed to carry a 6×9. 
When I run out of places to look, I often check on Overstock.com.  It is hit or miss, but they have such a large inventory of, well, everything at such great prices so I figured it was worth a look.
And that’s where I found him. A beautiful 6×9 jute rug for under $200!
  It was meant to be.
I didn’t want fringe (too hard to get crumbs out of) and I didn’t want binding. So it was perfect. The reviews were great too. Done.
So the rug arrived last Friday and sat all rolled up through the weekend since we were out of town.  I was excited to get back and lay it down (after a thorough cleaning of the floor below the table) … but of course, as often happens … I was still feeling a little nervous that I had made the right decision.  After all, it is not easy to send a rug back. 
Back home, I was reading some of my favorite blogs and came across this one by Emily A. Clark all about finding the perfect rug for her family room.  What did she decide on? Jute!
And in her post she mentioned how another of my favorite bloggers, Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home had influenced her decision with her post comparing all of the different kinds of natural rugs.
I clicked on over to Pure Style Home and was so pleased as I read Lauren’s words …
“1) MAINTENANCE: laughable. I took the WORST care ever of our jute rugs & they looked fine. They kind of eat your dirt. You can just vacuum them. I’ve had ours in the kitchen & even spilled salsa (I know, gross!) in ours and just wiped it with a rag & then blotted it with a wet rag to get the stain out.

2)PETS: Great for pets. Like I said, these things eat your dirt so they just sort of suck up the hair & you can vacuum it off.
3) SOFTNESS FACTOR: There are a lot of jute-chenille blends that are actually very soft but full jute isn’t as soft. Jute is thicker than sisal & seagrass and also softer, but still not super-soft unless it’s a blend. Ours is full jute and it is more like a foot-massager (which I love to walk on) but I wouldn’t recommend it for a kids’ play area or somewhere that you want to hang out on the floor.

4) STYLE FACTOR: I LOVE the look of jute. It’s so chunky & warm-looking and adds so much texture to a room. “

A foot massager that eats dirt?  Who could ask for anything more? I think these two ladies were sending me a sign.
So we rolled him out and yes ….
… he makes me swoon.

And two breakfasts, two lunches and one dinner later, he still looks good.

He might actually save my sanity because I can no longer see (i.e. obsess) over every little crumb that falls. Yes, I know they are still there, and I will still vacuum … just maybe not after every meal.

My favorite vintage finds … Part One

I love looking for little vintage treasures … not so much large antique furniture, but fun little things that look like they have a story to tell.

Even if your decor is more contemporary, try sprinkling in a few vintage pieces here and there.  I guarantee you’ll get compliments. They are conversation starters; the things that make people say “Wow, where did you get that?” They are the things no one else has or seen in all the stores.

Here’s a few of my favorites:

I picked this up shortly after we moved into our house when I realized we lived a couple minutes away from Old Plank Road … one of Nate Berkus’ favorite shops.  (Sadly, they have recently relocated to the city, but I am dying to go down and see their new space.)
Anyway … Swoon! Since then, I’ve seen other ones in NapaStyle or even Pottery Barn. But they  aren’t as curvy and don’t have the cool vintage label.

I’ve also collected an assortment of vintage copper cookware that I have hanging over our kitchen island. I have loved finding different sizes and shapes. How cute is that little butter warmer in the front?

It’s just a little thing, but I love this book!  If you’re an avid reader of home decor magazines you’ve likely seen it in numerous tablescapes of well-styled living rooms. It makes an exotic addition to any stack of books, don’t you think?

I move mine around the house periodically. I bought it at one of the stands at our local outdoor “French Market” (kind of a Farmer’s market).  Doesn’t every husband want his wife to have a book called “I Married Adventure?” I once saw one on ebay selling for $90 dollars!  I just checked again and there is currently one for $23 … go snatch it up now if you can. (Then please come back and keep reading!)
I love this little chair I found at a local store called Vintage Charm. I wasn’t crazy about the fabric so I recovered the seat with a remnant I found in the sale bin at one of favorite fabric stores, Les Tissus Colbert, which sadly has also closed up shop.
It’s really weathered and, well, it just made me swoon. It may get moved around the house over the years as well. I can just change out the fabric.

Also in my bedroom is this old Gardener’s toolbox.

It is perfect for holding large earrings and chunky bangle bracelets.
It would also be great in a kids room to store craft supplies, Lego’s, race cars, or other trinkets.

I love these old tins I found at the Randolph Antiques Market that’s held the last weekend of every month from May to October in the West Loop of Chicago.  The big one is an old hot cocoa tin. I usually put it away come spring and bring it out again right around the time you want to start drinking cocoa in late fall. The other three are say cloves, ginger and mustard. I love the pop of color they give to this shelf in my kitchen. They were very inexpensive, too!

Do you have some favorite vintage pieces in your home?  Where are your favorite places to go “hunting”?

Stay tuned for more of my favorites, as well as some online sources for vintage goodies!