I am loving the use of clam shells in design these days!
via Dwellers Without Decorators
Decorno via Matters of Style
When I was recently trying to find a centerpiece for my dining room craft project, I searched high and low for an affordable clam bowl to no avail. I ended up with something similar (but not really) from Pottery Barn. Who knew that Z Gallerie has two options at an affordable price point. What about you, do you like the idea of bringing a clam into your home decor?
I loved the dressing room in this Miles Redd designed home which was featured in the August 2010 Town & Country magazine.
Town & Country via The Love List
And, while we are not all fortunate to have the space for a dressing room….let alone the budget for the carrara marble and Fortuny wallcovering…the framed fashion prints would be easy enough to recreate.
A search for “fashion illustrations” on eBay yielded these results (and 100s more).
image from here
image from here
Here are a couple from Art.com….
Etsy also has some nice options….
from this seller
from this seller
Of course, 1stDibs has several options as well, but they get up there in price. However, as you can see from above, a quick search of the web will yield a plethora of affordable results.
I am headed to the Big DC Flea Market (with Eddie and Jaithan as my tour guides!) in a few weeks and may keep my eyes open for some prints. One of the homes we are looking at in Dallas has his and hers bathrooms in the master (joined by a large double headed shower that our realtor has coined the “party shower,” kind of funny). So, I may just be able to pull off something similarly girly in my new space!
I’ve already let you know that all decorating in our home has ceased due to our impending move. In fact, our house lists the Thursday after Labor Day (need a new home in Northern Virginia anyone?). My living room really never got too far off the ground. I managed to paint, do grass shades and drapes and a sofa. But, that is where it all stopped.
I had intended to do a glass top/metal base cocktail table with some patina and some appropriate end tables and lamps……but never got around to it. This is, by far, the least used room in our home.
Recall, I had been working on a custom rug for the space but just couldn’t get motivated to sit down and review the artist’s renderings and select my colors (maybe this should have told me something). And then, once I learned we were moving, I decided to go with seagrass instead….far cheaper and sure to be used somewhere in our new home.
And then, I finally settled on a wool rug to get the natural look but to achieve a better sense of comfort….in case I want to use it in Maddie’s room or a more family friendly space in the new home. Several weeks ago I picked up our new rug. I think it looks quite nice in this room….rather understated and subdued.
If the rug were going to stay in this room, I’d have had it made larger. But, I wanted maximum flexibility for its new home. The oversized slipper chairs (and probably both end tables) will be on Craigslist soon–like the day our house goes under contract. The chairs, I had to have these while visiting Dallas, of all places, about 9 years ago….and never liked them once they were delivered. Not sure why. The coffee table is a hand me down from when my parents had a place in FL…..It doesn’t fit in this space but it cannot be all bad. I had a woman in my home recently purchasing a mirror I’d sold on Craigslist and she asked me to call her if I decide to sell it!
Here is another view of the room. I love the fabric (Suzanne Rheinstein for Lee Jofa- “Folie Chinoise”) and how it looks with the Conrad shades.
Speaking of hand me downs from my mom. I LOVE this lamp…..and am seriously lobbying her to allow me to take it to Dallas with me. I think it looks so great with my drapes and the color of the sofa! Mom, are you reading?
I hope you have a great weekend. My husband has been in four states for work this week….and got home last night. I am looking forward to some serious family time (mixed in with two toddler birthday parties)! Cannot wait!
You may think me a fool. After all, I’ve used my blog space lately to whine about how tired I am at 31 weeks pregnant and how overwhelmed I am getting our house here ready to sell while simultaneously trying to locate a new home some 1000s of miles away.
So, last week….what was this busy woman, with a terrible cold, doing to get ready for the virtual tour photographers who arrive tomorrow? Making moss balls, of course.
I bought the moss roll at a local nursery and the rest of the supplies at Micheal’s and JoAnn Fabrics. Make sure you use special “foam” glue or else you might end up destroying the foam. But, in all this was an easy project.
It’s funny, I have no problem paying good money for a custom rug or a to-die-for fabric, but for a commodity like a moss ball….just couldn’t get my brain around dropping $20 or so for something I could easily make myself. (Yes, this is the CPA in me shining through.) I’ll admit that I tried to make a version with beans….but couldn’t get them to stick with my glue…..anyone with any recommendations on that front? I would love to hear them. I think I need some sort of tacky glue that dries quicker than this stuff.
In any case, here they are all finished.
And, below is my dining room as it now stands. This is as good as it is going to get….given we will move in November / December. I never quite got a mirror of the right scale or pictures up on the walls….oh well…what can you do?
My little project is probably a little underwhelming in the company of so many talented DIY bloggers out there. But, I am not the handiest so I was quite proud of my little craft!
You may recall that I blogged here about my quest to find a sunburst mirror I had seen in a past Veranda feature.
Design by Kathryn Ireland
Photographed by Miguel Flores-Vianna for Veranda
And, a close up of the above mirror…..
Photographed by Miguel Flores-Vianna for Veranda
I then found an image of a similar mirror used in Suzanne Kasler’s home…..
Suzanne Kasler via Matters of Style
And subsequently awaited the introduction of her new line for Ballard Designs…..hoping a reproduction of this mirror might surface…..but alas, no luck yet. At one point, I located a reproduction through 1stDibs. But, the mirror was manufactured in China and the price tag over $2,000…..I was not keen on spending the money not knowing the vendor or the manufacturer…..
I’ll have to admit that once I learned we were moving, I slowed down on my search for this mirror. Who knows if it would work well in our new place. But, on a recent look at the Lonny site, I came across this image. The mirror looks similar, no?
So, I emailed Lonny and quickly received a reply back from Michelle Adams (how’s that for great service?). The source of the mirror above was John Rosselli & Associates. And, they carry a painted reproduction version meaning that there is more than one available.
Round Painted Starburst Mirror from John Rosselli & Associates
I like this version…..and while I do not know if my new home will have the perfect place for it I wanted to share it. I’ve gotten tons of emails from readers who have found me while searching for this same mirror…..so hopefully it will help someone out!
Feel free to contact me with questions on pricing / ordering.
Things always seem to come in threes…..
1) I posted about Scalamandre’s Aviary Fabric here.
2) I saw the wallpaper version (see below) in the girl’s side of a jack-n-jill bathroom in one of the Dallas homes we toured last weekend.
3) This week, a customer requested a quote on this fabric, and I subsequently learned the fabric is being discontinued and that remaining stock is limited.
I love the combination of pink and green for a little girl. And oh how I am in love with this paper! Despite the fact that the fabric is being discontinued, the wallpaper remains available in 6 colorways. And, if you need a ton of the fabric, Scalamandre will print the fabric…..but the minimum order of 100 yards…ummm….probably not happening very often!
Emily A. Clarke
