Sunday, May 19, 2013

Betsy Answers a Couple of Questions.......

Even though.....
I am no longer doing a Q&A.....
Folks still ask me questions!!!!!
Every now and then,
 the questions are broad enough 
that the answers could help more than just the writer, 
who is asking for free advice.

SOOOOOO.....
Today, I will answer two that I think the class could benefit from.
(from which the class could benefit?????)
(is it snooty to not end in a preposition?????
(grammar rules keep changing.....)
anywho.....
If you don't find anything useful in these answers.....
I DON'T CARE!!!!!
(well, that's not entirely true....)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First Question!!!!!

Hi Betsy,

From your blog I see that you are a dog lover.  So, hope you can help
me with my doggie / decorating dilemma.

I have a collection of Staffordshire dogs.  My favorite has been an
only for very long so I finally went hunting for his mate.  After
months of searching far and wide, wouldn't you know it, a woman who
lives about 40 miles away from me has what I needed!  Now I want to
display them on the wall on either side of a very ornate French
mirror.  My problem is what size and what type of wall bracket should
I use?

The dogs are 10" tall, 7.5" wide and project from the wall about 5 ".

I have attached a photo of my one dog (his friend is still in the
mail).  I have also attached a photo of the wall where I want to
display them.  ("Hang" sounds too cruel.)  There is lots of wall space
to cover.  The walls are 10 feet high and 17 feet long.  The mirror is
48" high.

I found the following brackets:

Bellacor: Palm Leaf  11" wide x 12' high x 6" ext
Bellacor: Acanthus Bronze  15.5" wide x 10 3/4 high x 5.75" ext
Bellacor: Capital Shelf  16" wide x 13" high x 7" ext

IBG Stores: Leaf Scroll Bracket 11.5" wide x 9" tall x 5.5" ext

I have even thought of buying the large bracket from Suzanne Kasler on
Ballard Designs and adding a larger shelf.

Any advice on proper proportion of statue to bracket?  Any other suggestions?


Thanks,  Charlotte Des Fleurs




Welllll.....
a good example is what I did for my friend Kris.
Below is her living room
First I hung the brackets over the prints.
Then we added more pictures to the wall, and I lowered them to under the prints....
Sooooo
there are many ways that your brackets could be hung.
In my den in Massachusetts, I hung them with a print leaning on them with the dogs in front....
So, there are lots of options.
As to the size of the bracket.
They should just be a little wider that what ever you are placing on them, unless it is a picture, and then you can have the picture wider than the bracket.
It's all about scale.
The bigger the item, the more room you should have around it, otherwise it will look top heavy.
In your case, since the dogs are 7.5" wide, I would want the brackets to be around 9" or wider. But not too wide.
Jeesh.

I really love the brackets from Ballard Designs, 

But the style of the palm leaves may be more in keeping with your room.
If the finish is crappy,
just paint them!!!!!

Hope that was helpful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next question!!!!!

Hi Betsy,

I found your blog yesterday and have spent the last 24 hours lost in all your posts. I love it!  I remember seeing your Sunapee cottage years ago in a magazine and am so happy to have found your blog and see a bit of what you have been up to decorating wise.
I have a question which I have been struggling with since we bought our house 5 years ago and I would love your opinion.  We have a large pretty master bedroom with 7 windows. The windows all have half shutters that are really pretty and also functional as they provide just enough privacy.  My issue is that the room just is not cozy and I am wondering if it needs window treatments or the issue is something else. I am afraid of the cost of window treatments as we all know custom treatments no matter what are a lot.  I am sending along photos of what I have done so far in the room and would appreciate your thoughts on the window issue and how to make the room cozier.  The room is long, maybe 18 feet and has a small attached room and the the closet and master bath. Any thoughts you have would be great!
Thank you.
Jennifer


Then she added some more furniture, which helped.


OK.....
First I have a question for all you guys out there who buy big houses, and then don't want to spend the money decorating them.....

HUNH?????
If you have a house with a lot of windows.....
YOU HAVE TO SPEND SOME MOOLAH!!!!!

This is a lovely room.
But you're right....
draperies will make it much cozier.
If you don't want to spend a lot of money,
why not get simple sheers and sew them together for a fuller look.
One panel looks too skimpy, but two together are nice.
If you can't sew, just hang them together on a rod, and that would probably work too.
This is what I did for my friend Lissette, 
(however, I sewed them together.)
We got the sheers form Pottery Barn.
Then we got the poles and rings from Lowes.
Then I sewed the pinch pleats at the top and sewed the rings on.
If you do some of the work, you can save buckets of money.
To see the whole project....look here.

I think you would be amazed at what adding draperies would do to this room.
I can't feel at home in a place until all the windows have some fabric on them.
I still need to do a valance in my sewing/project room.
But my needs come after my niece Miriam's, and I'm sewing her draperies for her at present.

Was this helpful?????
I hope so.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, campers...
That's it for today,
I pulled my back this morning just pulling up a crummy little weed.
I just turned the wrong way.
So, I can't sit any longer at this blasted computer.
Sooooo
on that note,
Latah, Gatah
Photobucket

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry about your back Betsy :( Great "lessons" today ! Thanks

Scribbler said...

Sorry your back hurts. Misery.

I once told my cheap MIL that I thought you should spend as much on furniture and furnishings as the house cost. (I do) I though I would have to call the paramedics.

Thrifty Southern Pilgrim said...

I just love your blog and love your attitude! Although I am not a fan of dogs (he he) I love that you don't like open spaces but like rooms (I think you posted about that regarding your florida place?). That is exactly how I feel, but never could put it into words why.... Anyways, I always learn something while reading your blog, and always either laugh, or at least smile, at your humor. Thank you!

Charlotte Des Fleurs said...

IMO one should plan to spend AT LEAST 15% of the cost of the house on interior decoration. People should also budget an additional 15% on the landscaping. Most of us, especially young, new homeowners have never been told that by their parents or by their real estate agents.

Of course, this is based on the assumption that you want to have a lovely home not just "roof over your head".

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you on decorating budgets. People really need to budget decorating cost for their home when they're financing their home's purchase.I'm not saying you can put this into your mortgage, just remember you will probably be spending money on decorating in your new/different home. I recently was asked to decorate three rooms of a rather large home in the $400k range. They allowed $1000 for the whole thing!!! Yup! You read that right. Needless to say, I didn't do the project. They needed more than that amount in furniture and fabrics alone.

So, listen to what Betsy's says: If you've got a big home, you're gonna have to spend some money! (To that I would add: If you've got a home of any size, you're gonna have to spend some money...especially if you want a decorator's help!)

I too would have added sheers in that pretty bedroom with shutters. Love your idea Betsy.

Karin said...

I agree with Charlotte. We moved around quite a bit in the early days of our marriage and each new house required a different dining table (among other things, but always especially a dining table). You can't deposit your old furniture in a new space and expect it to work every time. My husband didn't understand this concept in the beginning, but I was usually lucky to find really great pieces at estate sales and consignment stores and eventually, he understood the concept of "having stuff to suit your space." Anyway, thanks for the great lessons, Betsy. You are hilarious, as always. Hope you feel better.

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Hope you feel better, Betsy!

I enjoyed this very much. Great advice.

XO,

Sheila

sweet violets said...

Go for the sheers, you can find nice ones in K Mart for goodness sake!!! Or add a valance, those are inexpensive......don't make the mistake of trying to fill up a large room with lots of little pieces of furniture to save money....just my take....

Victoria said...

ice the back girl and feel better!
great information
I always enjoy a visit here

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