How to Bring Color to a White Room

When I took over decorating my friend Connie's beach house,

 all the upholstery in the living room was white.

The Previous Designer (TPD) 

had chosen a screaming coral for the kitchen cabinets.

Soooooo.....

I used that as the accent color for the whole downstairs living area.

Here's a shot into the kitchen....

So you can see the color.....

Connie wanted the flavor of shells and fun Florida stuff to be a decorating jumping off point, 

so we chose this shell fabric as the patterned fabric for the space, 

since it had touches of the coral we were highlighting.

Connie and Chris have grandchildren...... 

Lots and lots of grandchildren.....

So the white fabric that was selected (by TPC) was  Sunbrella out door fabric 

that would be somewhat impervious

 to the perils of little bodies, fingers and feet.....

Then I lucked out!!!!!

I wanted to bring splashes of the coral color around the room.....

but I wanted a fabric that would hold up.....

SUNBRELLA HAD A CORAL 

JUST THE RIGHT SHADE!!!!!

Sooooo.....

I covered the dining chairs in it.....

These are the host and hostess chairs.....

the side chairs have the coral on the seats....

I was able to find a beachy feeling awning stripe with the right tones for some toss pillows.

Along with some embroidered branch coral ones we found at a local store.

It's like

 they knew we were coming

and made these babies up for us!!!!!

Connie was going for a little more contemporary feel in this house than the one I did for her in Vermont, 

sooooooo.....

The art work was by contemporary artists.

I know folks claim that good art doesn't need to match the sofa.....

BUT I SAY, SAY I.....

"Why the #$% not?????!!!!!"

I liked this painting because it picked up the rooms colors and had an ocean vibe to it.

This painting is actually 

two!!!!!

They are horizontal rectangles that I hung one over the other to create one image.

This is probably not what the artist had in mind.....

but what the hell!!!!!

Betsy's proverb #152....

"A sold painting is a good painting"!!

I wasn't thrilled with the finish on the game table that TPD had chosen.

Soooooo.....

like a ton of other pieces that I inherited in this design,

 I had it painted white.

Then I flanked it with a pair of chairs from Milling Road, and had a really funky fun fabric cover the seat cushions.....

I continued the coral shell vibe into the entry......

These chairs were originally natural wicker,

 but I was trying to unify the design.

TPD had had a field day with using different finishes and styles of furniture.

Now, I love eclectic as much as the next guy.....

maybe even a little more.....

but throwing in every thing but the kitchen sink, 

is not necessarily a good eclectic look,

 there has to be some unifying feel to the furniture.

Soooooo.....

I ended up needing to replace some pieces already chosen,

and as previously stated ad nauseum....

   I had other pieces painted white for a more cohesive feel.

(I couldn't figure out how to spell ad nauseum, and google kept telling me I was spelling it wrong....so I went to dictionary.com, and they couldn't even tell what I was trying to spell, so I had to call my sister.....

who knew it was two words???????OY!!!!!)

Soooooo.....

the chairs above were painted, and then I added the fabric cushions.

These go on either side of the entry table.

I showed that to you in this post.....

but I still need to go into more detail.

I am jumping all over the place in showing off this house.........

Another punch of pinky coral color comes from the seashell mirror that hangs in the entry across from the white wicker chairs.

Now, to give credit where credit is due.....

This mirror was purchased by TPD.....

She used the color of the shells to inspire the pink of the downstairs.

As I showed you guys last week....

(or the week before that.....)

I also brought the coral color into the room with the pottery and shell collection I arranged in the hutch.....

Which was another piece that I had painted white to work with the scheme.....

OK, so now, I am exhausted.....

I hope this has helped someone out in blog land understand a little more about how to add a lot of color to a room while still keeping the main upholstery pieces and draperies white.

Jeesh.....

Later, Gator

A Bar By the Ocean

OK campers.....

Let's get back to my buddy Connie's Florida beach side home.....

Connie and her hubby Chris entertain a lot.....

Now..... as I am somewhat anti-social.....

I don't understand their need for company......

but I certainly understand their need for a bar!!!!!

Sooooooo.......

I wanted to find something that had wheels....

Something in dark wood......

Something with shelves.....

and something that wasn't 30" high, 

because I wanted it to be different from the end tables in the room.

I like to have different height surfaces in a space.

I think of space and color and form mathematically and musically....

I think of rhythms in the spaces I do.

I am very weird.....

Soooooo.....

I found this tea cart on ebay.....

I looked and I looked and I looked.....

and found it!!!!!

I was very excited!!!!!

Connie thinks I'm out of my mind.

Well.....

she be wrong!!!!

I really need to go back to her house and shoot more pictures, because

 I don't have the explanatory shots I need......

So you can't see how this relates to all the other tables in the room.

(I am very sad.......)

Wait!!!!

I just found one!!!!

It's really blurry......

so deal with it.......

I'm not perfect, ya know.....

My hand must have moved when I took the shot.

Probably my mouth was moving at the same time......

Anyway.....

Let me show you more details!!!!!

Connie bought a duck!!!!!

He be stylin'!!!!

He keeps the other one company....

OY OY OY OY!!!!

I don't have a picture of that!!!!

But...

I know I do!!!!!

It was in Traditional Home....

where did I put that?????

OK I found it,

 and had to blow up the detail, so it's not very clear either.

I AM DOING A BANG UP JOB BLOGGING TODAY!!!!!

OY.....

that's the duck wearing a striped T-shirt.....

We really lucked out with this little guy, 'cuz the stripes match the coral color used throughout the downstairs!!!!

I normally don't like "cute" accessories

(unless they're vintage, and were someone else's stuff...)

but I just love this duck.

On the top of the dining area hutch I added accessories to bring some height to the piece.

We found this cool rusty iron urn which I filled with shells.

Next to the urn I arranged a collection of three wooden terns.

I rhymed!!!!

We found these at a local store.

These shots are all blurry because I blew up the little details.

I really have to get back to Connie's and take some decent pictures.

OY!!!!!

So the last blurry picture is the suitcase that we found at a local antique/junk/horrible store.

It was the only decent thing in the place.....and the building was GINORMOUS!!!!!

Setting a decorative suitcase on its side like this is an easy way to add height to an arrangement on a piece of furniture.

Just a little trick of the merchandising trade......

I'm starting to blather now.....

So I'm going to end here.....

See you guys on Tuesday!

Later, Gator 

My Bangin' Closet Light!!!!

I know I keep saying I'm going to continue with my friend Connie's house.....

but....

things keep on happening....

exciting things.....

mind blowing things!!!!!!!

I got  a new light for my guest room closet!!!!!!!!!

Now......

SOME of you may feel that I have no life.....

SOME of you may feel I need to get out more.....

but.....

you don't know what you're talkin' about!!!!!

This closet used to be for my guest's clothes and linens.

but.....

since I discourage having company.....

and felt assigning such a lot of space 

to such an insignificant amount of time

didn't make no sense!!!!!

Sooooo.....

I changed the purpose of this little walk in closet to my housing my sewing stuff....

my fabrics....

my threads.....

my stuff...................

Only problem was....

the light wasn't working so good....

actually, most of the time it wasn't working at all.....

It was fluorescent, 

and if it went on at all, it only flickered in a feeble attempt at lighting.

This is my Flerida guest room, for those of you new to my blog.....

(I still need to cover the little footstool)

Off the guest room is its companion bath....

Soooooo.......

I wanted to find a hanging light that would give off enough illumination, 

have a vintage feel,

and work with the design elements in both rooms.

Sooooooo......

of course I went shopping at my favorite international high class boutique!!!!!

ebay!!!!!

I started looking last year.....

I am running out of things to do on this house, so was not in too big a rush to solve this problem.

BUTTTTT.......

I did need light in this closet.

Last winter, I had gotten tired of my cutting table always being in the way in the guest room.

(I kept it at the end of the bed)

(not a great look)

(no it wasn't)

Soooooo.....

I rearranged the guestroom closet, and was able to store it there.

I had 

no idea....

that it would fit in this closet.

I never thought to measure it.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out where to stick the damn thing.

It's embarrassing to think that I'm a professional space planner.

Luckily, no one knows I had this problem.....

Just you guys........

No one sees anything posted on the internet anyway.....

right??????? 

I eliminated hanging space in this closet and added lots more shelves!!!!

I went to home depot and had the nice guy there cut me several more.

Making sure that they were not too tight!!!!!

WHAT IS IT WITH THE SHELVES ALWAYS BEING SO CLOSE TO THE WIDTH THAT YOU CAN'T GET THEM IN OR OUT WITHOUT BANGING ON THEM WITH A HAMMER?????

AND THEN YOU END UP CHIPPING THE DAMN THINGS!!!!!

Soooooo.....

I was the one to measure....

and I was the one to install them.....

and I am very smart and good at this kind of stuff!!!!!!

Since I got rid of the hanging space for my guests.....

I added some hooks on the back of the door that can hold a couple of hangers.

My guests shouldn't need any more storage space than this 

because.....

they can't stay more than two nights!!!!!

Since I was organizing the closet.....

I went to Walmart to look for storage stuff.....

AND FOUND THIS GREAT THREAD CADDY!!!!!

So I sat it on a shelf next to some little drawers that hold my needles and button and other goodies....

I have a weakness for fabric covered boxes.

Home Goods sells these on occasion, and I have more than I know what to do with.

the striped one is my sewing box that I bought from Joannes.

The fabrics clash.....

but only you guys will see this.......................

On the other side of the closet, I created a space for my bolts of fabric.

This is where I keep my lining fabric and left over runs from my projects.

I ALWAYS over estimate what I need.

always!!!!!

 Look at how organized I am!!!!!

But this is not what I set out to show you guys!!!!!

I wanted to show the new light I just installed!!!!!

Soooooo.....

this is what I had......

and this is what I replaced it with......

Ok, Ok, 

that doesn't look like much....

Here's a close up.....

A little 1940's flavor with a tropical feel!!!!!

It took me a year to find this!!!!!

I really milked this for it's entertainment value.

I found one in pink, 

loved the shape and leaves,

but the color didn't work in my scheme....

So kept looking, knowing that these were mass produced,

and there had to be 

one

out there that was clear!!!!!

So now we have to spackle the holes in the ceiling.

I need to figure out what I want to do to the walls.

I would like to wallpaper them like I did in my master bedroom closets,

remember????

I'm running out of rooms to play with, 

HELP!!!!!

Later, Gator

A Funky Painted Table

OK Kampers!!!!!

This is the dealio!!!!!

I am going back down to Flerida on Thursday for two weeks,

(unless I need to rush back up again.....)

So.....

I am going to hold off on showing more of Connie's beach house until I'm sitting in my air conditioned home down where it be hotter!!!!!

My dad's doing great, but for this year, I am going to stay closer to him

(and my mom)

up here in the big old north.

but!!!!!

I'm taking a little tropical vacation to help me handle all this #$% snow.....

Sooooooo.......

Today I'm going to show off something else I made for my niece Miriam's living room.

I found this little metal table for her on ebay.

And convinced her to buy it, telling her I could paint it up and make it look

 cute!!!!!

Well.....

Miriam has wanted to add lots of different colors to her new living room.

I have been stuck in blue, white, cream and brown.

We found this pretty fabric for toss pillows, that would add some more color......

The blue background is the color I chose for them for their walls.

The sofa and chair slip covers are going to be off white.

You guys know what the bench looks like.....

Soooooo.......

Miriam wanted me to bring some more coral into the mix.

WELLLLL.....

She now be married.....

She can't go throwing a lot of pink and frills around the house.

I know I was pushing it with her hubby, Ross, by adding the pleats to the piano bench.....

But I love my niece.....

(don't tell her I said that though.....)

So I tried to do this table in Scandinavian Pink chalk paint.

This is how it looked with one coat......

OY OY OY OY OY

It hurts my eyes even to look at it..... 

Soooooo.....

I calmly reminded myself that I had gotten out of

 worse design situations like 

this!!!!!

So, I did what any self respecting chalk painter would do.....

I grabbed the Old White!!!!!

and painted over some of the pink....

I started breathing a little easier.....

I really didn't feel like repainting the inside of the magazine holders,

but it was

ugly...

After one coat, I realized I wasn't out of the woods, and it would need at least 1 more coat to cover the pink....

I had mixed up some green a while ago, and still had it kicking around, so I pulled that out and attacked the book holder rack.

I started liking where I was headed!!!!!

Then I got out my little brush and cleaned up all the overlapping paint.

I wanted clean lines where the colors met.

Then I waxed it with clear wax.

I thought about using some dark wax, but decided I liked the crisp freshness of this little table.

Here it is up out of my dungeon work room.....

When a project is going down the tubes.....

just take a deep breath and realize that this happens to 

everyone!!!!

I love the way it turned out.

I just hope it isn't too girly for Ross, 

'cuz

I'm not redoing it!!!!!

Here are side by sides of before and after!!!!

 I think I am da bomb!!!!!

Later, Gator