Do you remember this room, which is Tobi Fairley’s master bedroom?

photo by Werner Straube for Traditional Home

Besides the fact that the room is georgous….the fan caught my eye.  You see, my husband is ADAMANT that we must have a ceiling fan in our room….and the guest room.  Ok, since we had a whole summer of temps well over 100 here in Dallas last year….I really don’t have much of a leg to stand on to argue.  So, I have been on the lookout for an option that will work in terms of both function and be as little of an eyesore as possible.  (Oh, and recall we’ve got 8ft. ceilings so this is a concern as well).

The fan that Fairley used was discontinued a while ago and I didn’t love any of their acrylic options in the current catalog.  Finally, I landed on this fan from Artemis.

When ordering you can chose between two down rod lengths….the one I chose is similar to the above….perfect for our low ceilings.  Here is a room shot from Artemis….showing the fan with the longer down rod.

When decorating for a family, one has to pick their battles.  While I would have preferred chandeliers in these rooms….this wasn’t a battle I was willing to take on…..I save my chips for things like pink curtains in the kitchen.

What do you think?

Acceptable Compromise?

Last summer I got an email from Janell over at Isabella and Max  looking for samples of Clarence House’s “Vase” wallpaper.  She ended up ordering the paper to use in her family’s bonus room.  While in the process of working with her on her order, she asked if I’d like to write an article on the paper for her magazine, House of Fifty.

One thing Janell requested for the article was that I find some new images of the paper…..ones not already plastered all over the web.  (I had actually done a post on a Dallas home where it was used here and had hoped to get permission to use the image but alas, never heard back from the photographer.)  In any case, I purchase the paper through a fabulous showroom here in Dallas, Culp Associates, so I contacted my rep and asked if she knew of any local designers who had used the paper and might be willing to share.  Wouldn’t you know this landed me on Kerri Goldfarb, a talented young Dallas designer who had just finished papering a kitchen with the paper.

Don’t you love how she added a light blue on the ceiling….it really works with the other blue accents in the room.  She also used Quadrille fabrics on Sunbrella ground for the kitchen seating.  This family has two little ones so this was a great idea.  In any case, to see the full article check out House of Fifty here.  And a big thank you to Kerri Goldfarb for working with me on this project.  She is doing lots over at this house and it was in process so I really appreciated her taking the time (and allowing me to peak at all she was doing) for this project.  I don’t think we’ve seen the last of her!

I had planned to do a ghost chair in each of  Maddie and Harry’s rooms…….until I spotted this beauty!

Tobi Fairley

Harry may still get a ghost…..but I am ordering one of these (George II Chair by Plexi-Craft) for Maddie and one for my little desk I am setting up in the nook between the kids’ playroom and our laundry room.  They are fully customizable.  And their pricing is the same for all….no trade discounts. 

Love it!

You?

Do you remember a long time back I fell in love with a fabric and put out an SOS to find the source? 

I get a fair number of emails asking if I’ve found the fabric….and a bunch of people pinned it on pinterest. Originally, I wanted to use the fabric in Maddie’s room….but found a solid alternative and am dressing it up with some fun trim.  In any case, a couple of weeks ago I actually found the source of the fabric so I thought I would share.  It is Robert Allen’s “Bold Sconce” in Peacock.

In case you are interested, the fabric comes in four colorways.

Peacock

Poppy

Pearl

Citrine

I still really love the fabric….

You?

Well, I think the weekend was successful in that we finally settled our paint color dilemma.  We are going with Benjamin Moore’s “Winds Breath” which just happens to be the color we painted our master bathroom.

Benjamin Moore’s Winds Breath (OC-24)

It is the color on the left in our swatches on the house.  On the house, it is going to be light…..but won’t read white…..it is a beigy grey.

At the moment, I am leaning towards a charcoal color on the shutters…..with possibly an accent door with a blue/grey….maybe not.  I have to be honest, I really wanted to do the grey/french blue combo…..but nearly every house I gravitate towards (other than the stone french style homes….that mine is sooooo….well, not) has darker shutters.  Over the weekend we drove around again with our paint samples in tow….looking for homes that are close to our selection.  We widened our net and I swear we have seen every home in a 10 mile radius of our own.  We took our sample up to this house and it is a near match.  I like the base color (shutters, not so much for our house)…..and we were sold and off to the park with our patient kids….who are troupers with all of this renovation stuff.

The big decision this week….floor color. The floors are being sanded today and I’ve picked a stain (a dark combo our builder concocted).  We are working on the level of sheen….Never a dull moment around here!

I’ve got decorating on the brain these days…..and namely the kids’ rooms.  They have waited so long to have their rooms done….and each has built in’s over their bedroom desks.  I think finding the drapery fabric and furnishings for a space can often be the “easy” part of the design.  It is the accessorizing that I think is often most neglected and difficult.  Yet, it can be the difference between an “in process” and “done” look.  This month I rounded up some favorite accessories for completing a little one’s bedroom / nursery / playroom.

To take a closer look and see the sources (all retail) behind these products, hop on over to Houzz.