TAGGED: my house

Powder Room Reveal (Yes, Another One!)

I had the powder room re-wallpapered over 3 months ago so this post is long overdue. But hey, better late than never, right? So without further delay, ta-da:

You may recall that about a year ago, I proudly showed you this room, which was our first attempt at wallpapering. Well, I loved it for a good 2 months and then was ready for a change. I’m sure subconsciously it was just an excuse to shop for more wallpaper …..

So for months I had a ball looking at countless papers and after waffling between a few (as usual), I finally decided on Kelly Wearstler’s Fern Tree. Here’s a closer shot of the paper:

And this time, I called in a professional to hang it. All that stuff about what I learned about wallpapering and how I would do better the next time – fuggedaboutit. A wallpaper hanger is the best money ever spent.

Look how perfectly the repeat on the pattern fit in the space. It’s almost as if it were made for this room. I am so, so pleased with it. Oh and I should let you know that even after 3 months, I still smile every time I go in there. (Just in case you’re worried that I’ll quickly tire of this one too!)

If you missed the “before” and the “before” the “before, you can see them here.

(Photos: FROM THE RIGHT BANK)

 

Sneak Peek: Family Room Mantel

I style and re-style the mantels in this house all the time. I just can’t leave them alone! As I’m in a very Swedish mood lately, I wanted the one in the family room to be really simple and white. And since it’s Swedish Week here at FTRB, what better time to show it to you?

I was also reminded recently that I never showed you where I installed those wall sconces so now you can see where! This light look is making me really happy right now. But you know it won’t stay this way for long. I already have a few ideas for switching it up! I also have more photos of the house so stay tuned for all that.

And if you like Swedish interiors, don’t miss tomorrow’s Hotel Pick FROM THE RIGHT BANK. You will die. It’s so good.

For people who want the details: the wall sconces are Circa, the sketches are from Florence, and the pottery is from (left to right) Jonathan Adler, I think Ikea (but I don’t see it on their site), Nordstrom (no longer available). I have no idea where the little leaf plate is from. It’s old.

(Photos: FROM THE RIGHT BANK)

Kitchen Office Gets Tord’d

Remember when I decided to move my office to the basement? And remember when I moved my old office art wall to the kitchen office? Well, the one thing I hadn’t gotten around to moving was this Tord Boontje light that was in there:

I finally got to it this weekend:

I also shuffled some things around …..

again.

So what tweaking did you do around your house this weekend?

(Photos: FROM THE RIGHT BANK)

Corner of My House + a Fig Tree Status Report

Hi, everyone, how was your weekend?

One of the things I got around to doing was hanging more art around the house and I wanted to show you one corner of the family room. The top painting is of a Paris street that I picked up at a local antique mall a while back and the bottom one is of a Seattle street by Julia Hensley, a fantastic artist based in Seattle. The clover shaped ceramic stool is also a local antique store find and the planter is from Ikea.

I know a lot of you were concerned for my fiddle leaf figs that I brought home a couple of months ago. (I was too given my history with plants.) The good news is I haven’t killed them yet – they’ve actually even grown some – but I am a little worried that the new leaves are spotty on the ends. If any of you plant experts have advice, please share.

(Photo: FROM THE RIGHT BANK)

***Don’t miss this week’s giveaway of the book Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan***

Ladder for Dressing Room Found!

unnamed

Last week I mentioned wanting a lightweight ladder for my dressing room and a very kind reader (thank you Brandon @ d.coop!) pointed me to the Inreda from Ikea. It was exactly what I had in mind so I hightailed it down to Ikea the next day and voila, here it is now in my dressing room:

It’s a silver/gray which I want to zhuzh up at some point but for now it’s great just having a ladder! Thanks again, Brandon!

Sneak Peek of the Art Studio

Being shut in for a week does have its benefits. (I did make it out this weekend for those who asked!) All that time in the house allowed me to actually finish a few of the countless paintings I have lying around. So, today I thought I’d give you a small peek of my studio.

I still need to do a lot in there, like get a rolling cart with shelves for my supplies but for now they’re all spread out on this table. I hung the homasote board from my old office to hold sketches, favorite images, references, etc.

Many of you have been asking to see some of my art. For some reason I’ve been reluctant to post them here but I finally decided what the hell. So, for the very first time, here are some of the paintings I’ve been working on:

I hope it’s not too disappointing for those of you who’ve been waiting(!) I like both figurative and abstract so I’m always doing a little of both. I should really focus on one but it works for now. (On the wall are just some ink drawings from a life drawing class years ago.) I’ll be hanging most of the paintings in the house and I’ll post pictures when I do so you can see them better.

So that’s it. It’s just a tiny sneak peek today because like I said, I still have a ton to do. Stay tuned for another look soon!

(Photos: From the Right Bank)

Sneak Peek of the Kitchen Office + FTRB in Lonny!

I have a quick sneak peek for you guys today. We have a small office on one side of the kitchen and for some reason it seems to be the place where all the junk ends up. So it was looking like this for a while:

A hot mess. I couldn’t take it anymore so it was one of the things I tackled over the holidays.

The first thing I did was to get rid of the doors on the upper cabinets. That gave me more display space (which I don’t have much of in the kitchen). That little bulletin board was also getting on my nerves so I tore it out. Then it was just a matter of decluttering and organizing.

If the art wall looks familiar, it’s because it’s the one from my old office. You may remember I moved my office to the basement. I have different plans for the walls down there so this collection of travel photos and posters needed a new home. If you want to know about the individual pieces, you can find it in this post. I just got the “Tara” sign when I took my parents to visit the Margaret Mitchell House over Christmas. (You know, one of those touristy things you do when you have out-of-town visitors.) I like to have a souvenir of all the cities/countries where I’ve lived and I couldn’t resist the kitsch factor. Interesting side note: Did you know that 2011 is the 75th anniversary of the publication of Gone With the Wind? Or maybe frankly, you don’t give a damn. Hehehe…..

So, shall we take bets on how long it’ll stay this neat?

And for those of you who weren’t on Twitter or Facebook last night: Yesterday, I dove into the fantastic new issue of Lonny (like I always do the minute it goes live) and I was completely immersed in the very cool home of Angel Dormer, style manager for West Elm, when lo and behold what do I see but this:

A lot of squealing ensued. I mean a lot. Thank you, Angel and Lonny!

(Photos: From the Right Bank)