Hey There . . .
What is with . . . all the cool new clients I have as of late !!! They are embracing some edgy designs and vibrant colors! I just finished meeting with two such clients that will be rocking black dining rooms! Both very different, both equally full of style. Are ya scared? . . . don't be. Dark floor-to-ceiling color can cause you to pause and say "it will just be a big hole," but I promise you, it's dramatic, inviting and when used with the right accessories to lift the black, it's amazing.
If any of you local Charlotte girls know Jill Pleune, co-owner of Sloan (with her sister Courtney), she is one such client. Take one look at her and her own personal style tells it all. Fashion (and her husband and 2 boys) is her life. While I am in NYC for market scouting the latest in fabrics, papers, furniture and accessories, she is up there at shows like Coterie picking out what will fill our closets. I love having her shop a few blocks away. She knows her stuff and while I appreciate her letting me roll with my plans for her house, I would do the same with her . . and just let her dress me.
I knew the minute she called I would have fun with her new home. She waited a long time for this and I am really excited for her. I wanted to give her a "plan" for the downstairs. With a plan, we can tackle the first phase, and know what we want for the next, we'll be ready. With no time to waste, she closed and gave me the key. I advised her to paint immediately, and we had a week to do it before they moved in. Mission accomplished thanks to my great painters. The existing colors and dated faux finishing had to go and all the kitchen cabinets were B-A-D bad. After we painted those it was a whole new room. Jill loves all things white, cream, and eggshell - which is gorgeous.
A plan is key. Only the rare few can pull the trigger on an entire house at once, it's great when it happens, but the rest of us need a plan, and a little time. What a plan does is show my clients the entire vision, thus making things like a black dining room make sense !
I suggested neutralizing all the walls in all the rooms with creams and pale greys. I then started layering a pop here and there for a little drama. The one diversion from our white palette is the dining room and I can't wait. With all the adjacent rooms in creams and pale greys, this space will pull you in. When I saw this paper I knew it was the one, the peacocks had a touch of teal and yellow, the exact colors I am using for accents in the family room. Done. Take a look.
The dining room is dramatic. All the other rooms, jive in their feel and have dramatic pieces yet are creams and whites. The living room is opposite the dining room, separated by a 2 story all cream foyer. I am filtering all sorts of re-claimed and collected things. This old yellow / green leather chair is a perfect and simple pop in this all cream room and ties perfectly with the green in the paper in the opposite room. We now have a plan for the front room, an eclectic mix of furniture, textures in the grey seagrass rug, the formal baby grand look and elegant greek key window trim. The whimsy of the art is my favorite touch.
The family room and new addition sunporch is my first phase. Big and empty, with a dramatic coffered ceiling. I painted the entire room Ben Moore Navajoe White. Semi-gloss on the wood ceiling, eggshell on the walls. Cream rug with a slight graphic thread, cream sofa and chaise. Not to worry I have a great fabric treatment to keep them clean. My accent color is teal and yellow so we are recovering 2 chairs and adding in art and 2 lamps for pop. Cannot wait.
This sunporch will be the funnest part of the project. The 2 side walls are currently the home's exterior stucco (it was an add on). With the rest of the space in a clean, smooth cream, the bumpy, cracked stucco was killing me. I've decided to bring the outdoors in and cover the walls with faux boxwoods !!! Yep that's right. Hedge walls. I kinda love and cannot wait!
I have been wanting to cover the entrance of my building, and now that I have someone game, I think I will tackle both at once !
Stay tuned, work is underway. I have found several unique pieces to filter in along with new pieces on order.
My other fearless client, Mary Frances Parker, recent Nashville transplant, knows what she likes. Afraid of color, not so much, she loves it. I was happy to help her find just the right fabrics and papers to make all this color work. It'a all about the scale and tone. Her new home need repainting, all of it, from the outside in. It's a new home, with fabulous moldings and wainescotting everywhere, but the existing color just isn't her. It's a weird pale, grey/green.
I am also working on a design plan for her entire first floor. We started right at the front door. The dining room is going a gloss black with these dramatic curtain panels which will be hung flat and off the windows in 3 places. They are art in themselves. We will mix in new chairs with a grey back and lime green front, a more traditional chandelier compliments her gorgeous dining table and takes it all down a notch.
Take a closer look at the amazing panels. So gorgeous.
The dining room flows into the foyer. We are painting all the wainscotting bright white and look close . . . the paper on the walls is a subtle white on white snake skin. Subtle but dramatic. What makes this look work is the influence of a few warm, wood antique pieces mixed with whimsy and bright.
With a straight shot from the foyer back, you land in the family room and kitchen, an open floor plan. The walls will continue in a gloss white. All the fabrics and art will add the drama ! Pulling the colors from the floral dining room window panels and working with an existing charcoal sofa, we plan to add a wall paper on the back of the built ins in a pale dirty lavender. The pillows will punch up the sofa and a new chair in the perfect black flannel with plaid stripes of hot pink, lime green and grey. Take a look.
All these saturated colors bounce off the white walls. It's definitely a "look" and only works because it will fill the entire first floor and flow from one room to the next.
With designs complete, it's time to get them rolling, painted and installed . . .
stay tuned.
