Along the lines of my love/hate relationship with ceiling fans, I often take issue with covering a beautifully painted or wallpapered wall with a lightswitch or outlet cover.  I know many just paint them but I am not a fan….because the paint inveitably scratches and chips and one is left with a bit of an eyesore.

So, you can imagine how excited I was when I first spotted these great products from Forbes and Lomax which are now availble for US voltage!  Yay!

Need a dimmer?  Yep, they have that covered too.

Don’t mind a switch becoming a focal point with the right finish?  You can do that too!

I will admit I have not looked into pricing yet.  And I am sure they do not come cheap.  But, assuming they do not break the bank….these are going to find their way into our home.  We have a terrible hodge podge of outlets and switches (read: brass, wood, chunky child safety, etc.)  I want some continuity for sure.

Have you seen this product before?  Anyone with any experience (or another similar source)?  I’d love to hear about it!

If you look at our home, behind that round window you will find our powder room.  Currently, it is more like two rooms….when you first enter you will find the sink and then behind a little partition is a larger room with the toilet and currently nothing else.  I believe the previous owners had a chest under the mirror.

If I liked either the toilet or the sink in that room I’d leave it well enough alone.  But, the sink base is a black chinoiserie chest with a black basin and I have to admit….it isn’t me.  The toilet is also black and I really just cannot stand it.  Yuck.  So, since I am going to replace these fixtures anyway, and because we have a pier and beam home…meaning changing plumbing isn’t that big of a deal…we are going to re-work the bathroom in the remodel.

The first part of the bathroom will become a coat closet….the door to which will face the foyer.  This will leave a narrow hallway to get into a new smaller powder room.  It will still be ok in size and after all, how much time will people spend in this space?

I am picturing a nice sink situated under the window.   Here is my inspiration image.

photo by Erica George Dines

I’ll situate a mirror on the wall (ensuring there is no view of yourself on the toilet!) similar to the image here.  I also want to find some type of window treatment to allow in light but to provide some privacy in the bathroom.  I always feel funny about that window in there!

What do you think?  Would it bother you to not have a mirror over the sink in a powder room?

I have a love/hate relationship with the ceiling fan.  I think they are ugly….and I usually opt to remove them whenever possible.  In fact, the movers hadn’t left our house before the fan was taken down in Maddie’s room and the chandelier from her old nursery was installed.

But, it is only April in Dallas and I can already see that they will become my friends in the coming months.  As I work on Harry’s nursery I am starting to think that I have to find a way to work in a ceiling fan (and not the wooden one that is in there) for practicality.

I have been thinking of having a drum shade made for a standard fan à la Dwellers without Decorators (image below).  However, with 8′ ceilings I am a bit nervous that they will look a bit out of scale (not to mention that my husband will bump his head!)

Funny enough, in the last week I have seen two ceiling fans that I think I could live with.  The first one is from the 2011 DC Design House that is currently open.  I like the acrylic blades and how the fan almost isn’t there.

image via My Notting Hill

A few days after spotting the above fixture, I noticed another acrylic fan in the bedroom of designer Tobi Fairley.  If it is good enough for Tobi, it is certainly good enough for me.

photo by Werner Straube for Traditional Home

In case you are interested, the first fan is by LucePlan and the second is by Quorum International.  I found a “retro” acrylic version on Quorum International that may work for Harry’s room.  What about you?  Do you have ceiling fans?  Any good sources for ones that look better than most?  I am always interested in hearing of a new source!

Update–The fan used in Tobi Fairley’s home pictured above came out in 2002 and has since been discontinued.  They do have some other acrylic options but you will not find the same fan.  Sorry! 

My obsession love for the Niermann Weeks Annecy chairs are well documented here on my blog. 

Last fall, the folks at Niermann Weeks posted on Facebook that they were selling off some showroom floor samples.  Just off the cuff, I commented that I’d love to see some Annecy Chairs in that sale.  (Because you know, when you are 8.5 months pregnant and about to move…..you need to buy furniture!)

In any case, Eleanor Niermann saw my comment and emailed me.  They didn’t have any floor samples to sell….but they did have a few frames they’d be selling in their annual sample sale (which was right at my due date–no way I could make it).  She offered to let me buy them and was even kind enough to hold on to them until I figured out what fabric I wanted to use for upholstery.

Long story short, I still do not know where these will go in the home and I think they were getting sick of waiting on me and gave me the much needed gentle nudge to get moving on my fabric decision.  So, I finally popped over to a local fabric warehouse here and found a very affordable (e.g. $10 per yard) fabric that pulls the cranberry and greens from the curtains I posted about yesterday.

Here are my frames…

And here is the fabric (sorry, very bad photo…it’s all I’ve got at the moment).

I just got a call yesterday from my local receiver that my chairs have arrived.  I am so excited to see them!  I feel like it is Christmas morning and I am 3 years old.  (Sad, but true!)

I am a big fan of Suzanne Rheinstein’s “Hollyhock” fabrics for Lee Jofa.  In fact, I used her “Folie Chinoise” fabric in the living room of our old home.  I brought the panels with me and they’ll be repurposed somewhere in the new home.

“The latest collection from Suzanne Rheinstein for Lee Jofa, called Hollyhock II, is comprised of beautiful prints, weaves and embroideries inspired by antique textiles in Rheinstein’s own collection. Refined silk, mohair, linen and cotton provide the perfect foundation for her modern interpretation of centuries-old designs from around the world. Combined with her signature palette of blues, greens and neutrals, this collection features soft grays, yellows and lavenders which are new to her color repertoire.”

So, enough about the collection….below is a preview.  I cannot wait to go see these fabrics in person!

What do you think?  See anything you like?

Update–The collection is in showrooms now, but they are still working on getting all of the fabrics photographed for the website so keep checking back (I will do the same!)

As  we continue to think about how we want to spruce up the exterior of our home….we drive around these days with a camera in the car….and it is ever present in the stroller as we stroll to and fro the park in our neighborhood (always taking a new route).  So, here are a few new inspiration photos from the last few days.

The house in this image looks similar to our home.  I like the coloring and the roofing material on the front porch.

On this next one, we really like the coloring and some of the thoughtful architectural details, such as the hardware on the shutters and a bit more of a prominent entrance into the home.

This last house, below, was actually on the market when we were house-hunting.  It was way too small and way overpriced but I loved the curb appeal enough that I looked at it more than once and had to be convinced by my mom and my realtor that it wasn’t the home for us.  I really like the coloring and the overall feel.  The roofing over their front bay window is again similar to what I want to do over our front porch.

And how fun is this?  When I started my blog early last year (without a clue I would ever move to Dallas) I blogged about a home in Traditional Home magazine that I loved (see here and here).  Well, the door must have made an impression on me because while out walking last weekend I spotted the home….about 3 blocks from mine.  I am now volunteering for our annual neighborhood holiday Home Tour fundraiser and I am hoping we can get this fabulous home on the tour.