Create a Mood, Create a First Floor.

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.

Small Home Town Charm, Brevard NC

Hi There . . .

This past weekend I dropped off my 9 year old at camp.    To me (and she, after spending last year), knows it's a little piece of heaven.  There are some things that should never change, and this is one of them.  Now-a-days you can't turn around without trying to catch up on the latest "thing," and this is the one, little bubble of timeless charm, that doesn't change.

Rockbrook is just a few miles off Main Street, Brevard, North Carolina.  Brevard is small town USA.  Quaint and rustic, you immediately find yourself sliding into "mountain time."  That expression has always makes me laugh.  My parents have a place up there and once, while waiting on a contractor, heard a transplanted local refer to the lateness as "being on mountain time."  Everything moves slower, just one of the reasons I love the 3-day camp drop off.   I drive up and from the minute I see the mountain ridge line, I loose cell phone reception, bummer, but not really.

We have started a new tradition of spending a night or two at the Sunset Motel, a quirky, retro, old school model in Brevard.  We dumped our stuff and took a stroll.  Thought I'd share a few Main Street sights . . .

A lot of local artists, galleries, and great restaurants.  If you time it right, chances are you can hit a festival or two.  The 4th of July is big, as is the White Squirrel Festival in May.  Yep, white squirrels, known to love Brevard.  There is, of course, plenty of music and a Box Derby.  Halloween isn't forgotten either.  Being in Transylvania County, it's only natural to celebrate.  Home to the world renowned Brevard Music Center, during the summer, the Center will host over 80 concerts !

Our tradition also include the early drive over to camp.  Kate likes snagging the best bunk in the cabin.  Driving up, I can "smell" camp in all it's dewy, clean glory.  It has been raining a lot, so everything was extra green.  The cabins, covered in their grey, green age and the hillside loaded with welcoming counselors.  

I spotted a little piece of loomed art I so wanted to snag, frame and slam on my wall at home.

If you are even pondering a great summer camp for your daughter, Rockbrook should be high on the list to check out.  It will create all types of memories that will (obviously) stay with you, as it has me !

Check out last year's post for more Rockbrook pictures.

ok . . . back to reality . . 

Spotlight: Janus et Cie - Outdoor Living !

Hey . . .

I have the beach on the brain I guess.   Want to share a great line of outdoor furniture I became pry to a few Market's back called Janus et Cie.  I love their well diverse line and was delighted to meet Paul Fogg at their showroom on our last visit to High Point.  Paul is the residential sales specialist who spent some time with us showing off the well made construction, available colors and gorgeous styles all available.  Janus et Cie offers the best in interior and exterior, residential, hospitality, contract and site furnishings.  Their styles add a distinctive look to homes, estates, gardens, country clubs, restaurants, hotels, offices, lobbies, parks, shops and meeting places . . . anywhere !

See in Elle Decor's What's Hot page, Coastal Living, House Beautiful, Architectural Digest's Green Room at the Oscars, Veranda, Luxe and California Homes.  They have won Editor's Choice awards and have been the "go to" for countless designers who want stylish, unique and well made pieces to use both indoor and out.  Their Facebook page is full of their accolades . . . products, information and inspiration.

Janice Feldman, president and CEO of Janus et Cie has been a leader in the design industry since the company's founding for some 35 years ago.  Trained artist and interior designer, she is a visionary in the field of sustainability and material innovation.

Janus et Cie has a very diverse line.  Take a look at a few of my favorites mixed in with a few of my favorite outdoor fabrics, all available at www.lucyandcompany.com.

Inside or out, Janus et Cie offers elegance and timeless style.

above picture compliments of Jan/Feb 2013 Veranda issue

They inventory more than 150,000 pieces in their 175,000 square foot production facility and are ready to ship a single piece or outfit and entire project in a matter of days.  A leader in the industry, their expect staff offers elegant solutions to any design environment.

See the full product line here

Happy Monday . . . and I guess it's time to get back to the office . . . .

It's Official . . Summer Is Here !

Hi All . . .

I ran away . .  for 4 days that is . . .  to one of my favorite beaches . . . Folly.  It's the perfect beach, close to Charleston, SC, pretty laid back and a morning's drive from Charlotte.  I am secretly looking for a shack on the beach and wanted to take a look around, but mainly just a quick break with the husband and kids for nothing but fun.  Now while I did "unplug" for 2 days, I couldn't resist pulling out the lap top and sharing the colors and feel of Folly on our last night.

If you've never been to Folly, The Tides, is the only visible big hotel in this tiny beach town.  It's a little quirky and I loved it.  I hear it was originally a Holiday Inn but now re-vamped with fun colors and some pretty nifty details.  Great restaurant and outdoor bar.  Last night in true Folly form, a huge movie screen was out on the beach showing a surf movie.

The pier connects to the hotel and there's plenty of surf watching, fishing and strolling around. 

Restaurants line the some 5 block strip from the bridge straight into The Tides.  Great variety of eats and plenty of local color.

We have a surfer in the making.

And I couldn't leave without a stop at Angle Oak.

It was a nice couple of days to welcome Summer !

Back to it . . . on Monday.

Super Modern with a Rustic Edge . . .

Hi There . . .

I love when I have a new project.  Always look forward to doing something interesting.  This project has several requests.  1. Super modern, yet rustic chic . . . great combination right !  Also certain colors were requested - Charcoal, terracotta, blue and green . . . and one more request - white leather . . . hum.  I was up for thinking of an artistic, modern look, with warm earth tones, a punch of teal, a splash of "Aspen Lodge" and . . . white leather . .  all in an entry living space.  It needs to be a show stopper.  The room is full of windows on two sides and it sets the tone for the entire house!

Oh - and I have a rock fireplace to incorporate as well.  The look I am heading for is clean, crisp, modern, somewhat sparse with interesting elements, textures and shapes - mainly shapes.

I have these amazing chairs.  I saw them at market a while back, ordered one for the shop and could not want to use them on a job.  Wood back, white leather front - great shape.   This space is visible from the front entry and is "sunken" with a ton of windows.  Floating my chairs in the room with these amazing backs should be perfect !   I also have a very tall wall.  To big to be left alone.  I plan on bringing in a huge mirror grouping.

The request for green, blue and terracotta will be incorporated in just the art and pillows!

  I am adding a new paper to the left of the fireplace.  It's amazing . . . can't wait.

The front entry door is very modern and wood.  I plan on adding all the family photos to the right of it with a curved, teal velvet bench and hand cut wood pendants shooting down the hall !

Should be good . . . . stay tuned.  But this week it's all about installing a handful of projects - my mind is spinning a bit, all so so different.  

Happy Sunday.

What's a Style.ma.ker?

Hey there . . . 

This month's Charlotte Urban Home Stylemaker page gave, not only me a nice shout out, but showed the works of Amanda Talley.  Love her work and wanted to show off a few pieces . . .

I remember not too long ago I was speaking with Rebecca Brooks and she was about to receive a custom piece of Amanda's work.  She was most excited, and after taking a look at her work, I got excited as well !

Amanda's studio is located in New Orleans, in the garden district of downtown.  You can visit the studio and go on a tour.  Too far away?   Go visit Hidell Brooks Gallery here in Charlotte to see her work.

I see these pieces and think first of all - amazing color, graphic patterns and movement.  While abstract, which I love, the style and colors would pop in a transitional space, commercial space or frankly anywhere.  Visit her site, she creates beauty.