For the Comic Book Lover in All of Us !

Hey There !

Nothing to do today?  Head downtown to Comic Con at the convention center.  Lucy and Keith (my two comic book junkies) have had this event on the calendar for months and this past weekend, Kate and I followed behind those two, no knowledge, but eyes wide open watching and learning a thing or two.  Not only is it a place for endless people watching, all decked out in costume, it is the place to find, trade and collect.  But the most impressive thing I saw were the rows or artists.  New, veteran, famous to some.  Their talents simply blew me away!

The Heroes Convention was founded in 1982 by Shelton Drum, owner of Charlotte's Heroes Aren't Hard to Find comic shop.  Fans can mingle directly with the professionals and exhibitors and it boasts an incredible guest list built by reputation and goodwill.  It's known nationwide as a "must" for drawing fans and creators from every region of the country.

A few pics I snapped yesterday . . .

Loved seeing the artists at work.  This is the creator of Dick Tracy - Chester Gould.  Kate met Derek Hunter, background designer for Adventure Time - one of her favorites.  It was awesome to show my two art lovers just where all their drawings and talent could go !

Love that this Mom came all decked out with her son !

Keith and Lucy worked on her costume - she was pumped to sport it at the convention !

I was drawn to the somewhat tame . . . loved these by Drew Blank who's tag is

"Think Inside the Square"

Yeah - this will date me . . 

Was amazed at the detail by this artist, Scappaticci.prosite.com

And love this collage look by Andrea Fluty .  I am a huge Iron Man fan myself.

Scott Snyder couldn't make it . . . I am thinking he's kind-a busy with the new Batman Movie . . 

Such a fun Saturday, and loved seeing my Bat Girl, Lucy in her glory !

Next time you are in the Elizabeth neighborhood, stop by Heroes Aren't Hard to Find, you know you want to.
Read more . . . Charlotte Magazine wrote a nice article last year . .  check it out here.

Art filled day - and last day to go to the Convention Center - oh, and pause to check out
Paul Russo's amazing piece on the way in. . .

Happy Sunday !

Install of the Day!

Hey There . . .

Road trip, and a quick one.  Nichole Hasan, I believe we only have 2 rooms left in your home, an office and a spare room.  We have tackled, long distance at that,  your living, dining, den, kitchen, powder, master and media and it's been so easy and fun working with you !!!  I thank you for your complete trust.  With Nichole, it's generally a complete surprise.  Check out the other spaces in her home we installed (here).  In the past two trips to Atlanta we installed spaces and welcomed them home to reveal, very "while you were out" style.

Now that I am so familiar with the home as a whole, I pulled together a guest room just in time for out of town company this coming weekend.  Maggie and I drove it down yesterday for a quick set up. Everything was crammed in my car and Keith followed in the truck.  Poof .. done.

Take a look at our eclectic guest room.  We had a completely empty room with beige walls.

I hear it a lot, that a dark color will "make the room look small."  Beg to differ if all the elements in the space are light to bounce off the dark.  I love the contrast, warmth and coziness a darker color can achieve.  This space is small and packed with eclectic things.

We created a tall "waffle" style headboard.  This light color against the olive walls kept the space from looking too heavy and dark.

The bedding and pop pillows mixed in purple, olive a touch of blue (I have used in the downstairs and down the hall) and of course, a little black which every space should have in one way shape or form.

A graphic purple and white curtains to soften the walls as well.

 A pair or really pretty lamps and black studded side tables.

Two of my favorite finds.  A small side chair I had recovered in plum with green piping and a mid-century blond dresser with black accent drawer.

The very small bathroom was painted purple with an olive, floral shower curtain from Thomas Paul.

photos by beth keim

Love this space, and love the no drama install.  We drove down in the morning, installed in 2 hours and made it home by 8!

Happy Day.

Install of the Day !

Hey!

While installing at the lake last week, we also installed a tween room.  A blank slate that needed a bed, dresser, desk and some accessories to pull it all together.  A very clean and crisp look with nooks and zones perfect for a pre-teen.  My client was very clear in the colors she wanted.  Green and blue. She fell in love with this floral as well as a tree fabric that we chose to hand paint in the walls.

Take a look at what we installed while they were off at the beach . . . 

We had numerous angled walls and niches, each painted a different color but all work together creating zones.    There is definitely a theme here, but not too overdone.

Can you say #TBT?  This space reminded me of my, or should I say Keith's early days.  I asked (begged rather) him to recreate a pattern on the accent wall in this tween's room.  A pattern my client loved and had to have.  She found it in a fabric, but it was not available in a paper, so out the paint brushes came.

photos by beth keim (reason they aren't the best !!)

Fun, quick install.  Rachel was so surprised when she got home !

Install of the Day !

Hey . . .

While up at the lake, we installed most of Grace's room.  This kid - artistic, creative, adorably polite, needed a bigger bed.  Twins are great, but the room has an odd shape which was only conducive to odd furniture placement.  Much like my own master bedroom, the window wall was the biggest and the focal wall as you entered the room.  We placed the bed right in front of those windows and created a wall of curtains as a backdrop.  With her framed artwork as the focal point in the room, we painted all the walls white, this fabric added pattern, interest and punch.  Easy to draw closed, my seamstress' once again did a beautiful job and they are made to perfection.

I love the combination of black and navy, especially with crisp white walls.  Stray Dog was the perfect choice for fixtures to punch it up even more and the black and white flocked, dog paper was a must.

Jonathan Adler's graphic pattern was our fabric of choice.

Don't you love this lamp !  Stray Dog's Shelly.  The shade is hand embroidered, created by the Otomi Indians in central Mexico.  Love it !

Simple yet striking.

 photos by mekenzie france

Stay tuned, that killer navy dresser in the design board - back ordered of course - will be here soon and I'll give you a full look !

Install of the Day !

Hi !

We are back on the lake, and thrilled to be wrapping up the first floor for one of my favorite clients.  It went off perfectly last Thursday.  My thanks to Bree and Maggie for going ahead of me to meet our various subs and transform this empty, painted room, filling it with new, much anticipated goods !  The designing is the fun part, the work is the installation and I am so grateful for the crew that makes it happen.

The design . . .

It was time to get ride of the dated window treatments, wall paper and fixtures from the previous owners and bring the color scheme I started throughout that floor into the master bedroom and bath. Where did we start?  Fabric.  In the living, dining, foyer and family room on this floor I used a cohesive combination of grey, navy, Wedgwood blue, white, cream and a touch of kelly green.  In this space we continued the palette, but added a bit of yellow in place of the green.

I worked on the design boards, to give Joan an idea of the overall look.   The dresser and side tables are pieces that will stand the test of time.  Beautifully made and styled, high quality with looks as well as function.  Joan and I met and played with various fabric combinations.  We wanted a sophisticated look, yet not too too serious.

I arrived with Mekenzie to this . . . thank you Maggie and Bree.

I love this space.   We flipped the bed in the design to the wall between the two short windows.  While putting the dresser on that wall would seem like the obvious place, your options in softening that up would have been more difficult.  No long curtains on short windows, just don't do it !  So we flipped it and designed a headboard shape to scoop around the windows.  The two side tables fit perfectly under those short windows. Very symmetrical and the first thing you see entering the space.  

We now have the long wall for the large dresser and flaking chairs.

 This fabric, Joan fell in love with and I pulled everything from it.  Not too traditional, not too girly, with great color combination.

I layer rugs.  The floor is your fifth wall.

This is one of my favorites !  We splurged a bit and covered to occasional chairs with it.

Fun, eye catching side lamps atop these gorgeous side chests !

The windows overlook the lake.  Beautiful.  If you have to work a bit, this is the perfect place for it.  Calm quite, with a peaceful view.  Hum... maybe that would be a total distraction !  The great part about this desk is the ability to look out or in.

I chose, yet another pattern for the coverlet on the bed.  I do like a multitude of patterns!

Two large king size boxed shams, two 22" decorative pillows with applied capiz shells, and a bolster of the same window fabric.

Just off the living room, the transition compliments.

The slightly more formal living space walks into this family room with like colors, and . . .

The dining room, with it's amazing pattern Ikat grass cloth add just a little whimsy to this floor.

We did a little tweaking to the master bathroom as well on this install.  Originally covered with a dated vertical striped wall paper, we mudded the seams, primed over and painted it a simple cream.  That color matched the cabinet and tile work which instantly made the space seem bigger.  Don't kill yourself striping paper.  The oil based primer acts as a sealer and does the job.

We added new sconces, this adorable side chair, new blinds and cornices.

I made them large and hung them high to give the windows even more drama.

photos by mekenzie france

Great day, the sun was out, the lake was gorgeous and there were no glitches.  

Master bedroom . . done.  Stay tuned for a little transformation we also did that day.

Happy Sunday.