Julianne...call me!

I don't know about you but after reading this month's Domino (oops, last month's now!) I have a little crush on actress Julianne Moore. This article about her decorating talent hit all my buttons.

She advocates smart design; nothing she chose had to be extravagantly expensive or seen everywhere to be worthy of being in her friend's home. She created a lovely and comfortable home that was remarkably affordable.



She sourced items from places such as IKEA, Crate & Barrel, Flor, and Benjamin Moore when she could have easily used DWR, George Smith, Knoll, or Bertazzoni-Italia, as other articles referenced in this issue did.

I say Yes! to more articles like this one influenced by a well-paid actress who doesn't have her head stuck in the clouds.

An About-Face

For years I had planned on painting my armoire/sewing cabinet a nice solid spring green color. In fact, I've used the fact of not finding the perfect green as the excuse that it still hasn't been done. However, now I'm starting to think differently.

Why or why have I been scared to do this for so long? Scared of making a mistake? Yes, even though other DIY-ers have painted pieces over and over again in the same amount of time that my piece has been the same with only an addition of a clear poly coat. I do know that I will never feel that my apartment is 'ready for prime-time' until I get this last piece of furniture painted or otherwise "finished."

Years ago, I had decided that although the majority of the piece would be solid green I wanted some sort of design on it to make it different.

a) I had been thinking of an image taken from a greeting card to go on the boards inside the doors

b) or perhaps a design from a friend/graphic designer*/new mom to place in those same places.

Well, a month (or so) ago I saw this piece by Lucas Rise on the design*sponge blog, fell in love, and became increasingly intrigued with the thought of not just one color that would go with my living room but perhaps a myriad of different colors that would work with everything in my apartment, now and into the future?

One look and I was in love with the illustrated and painted furniture of Argentinean artist Lucas Rise.

Flower park, Circus

Nigeria

Even his site design is incredible, right?I

Potala Palace $500

After seeing his work I then came across this Pier 1 wine cabinet in person and became even more convinced that pattern was the way to go.

So the plan now is to buy the green paint that I've liked the best (no more deliberations) and paint the cabinet. Now it will at least be respectable. Then I can take some time (not too much!) to decide on the design. I am just going to start sketching more, something I don't do much of anymore. Wish me luck!

* She is currently designing a new header for this blog!

As I lay my head down to sleep...

I have been tempted to make a quilt for years now and just can’t seem to find the time when two-hour shirt projects seem to take me FIVE (!) months to complete. When would I ever find the time and motivation to pieces together a quilt that I would be happy with? Then there is the fact that it could not be just any quilt, I would want it to have the look of one of these new modern country type quilts, you know like a Denyse Schmidt-type.

Well, as of a few days ago (via Decor8) I now know what the next quilt on my bed is going to look like. This one.

Just happens that this is 'cheater quilt*' fabric from none other than Ms. Schmidt herself, made into a quilt, and it will be available next month. Guess who will not be putting off this purchase? I will of course add my own touches to it, perhaps reverse appliqué some other prints onto it using the Alabama Stitch method, and embellish it with yarn tufting and some hand embroidery touches. That I think I can handle, especially since the embroidery could happen after it’s actually done and laying on my lap.

Hurrah!

*Cheater's cloth is fabric printed with a finished quilt block design, made to look like a pieced or appliquéd quilt top. You add batting, sew it together, and you have a quilt or perhaps more correctly, a comforter that looks like a quilt.

No comments about the Small Cool Contest?

Wow. I'm surprised.

I spent quite some time putting together my thoughts on this year's Apartment Therapy Small Cool 2008 contest entries this year. My goal was to pick out some details from spaces that that I liked and I ended up surprised with how many I ended up listing. I originally was thinking just one post for all but the shear numbers made that impossible. There were so many cute spaces.

After my comments about AT's earlier contests, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with the lack of interior designer and architect showrooms this time. Last year's contest seemed more like free advertising for company design portfolios. This year, most homes seemed to be inhabited by real people, were lived in, and possessed actual points of view.

So, come on...what did you think?

Yup, it's about that time...

Mid-century building designs are now considered "historic." With most of these designs fifty years old or older we now need to start preserving these gems before they disappear.

Please read this great article from the Dallas Morning News on how mid-century designs are attracting preservationist efforts from all over the country. As quoted in the article, "...tearing down a building triggers a new appreciation for what is lost. Absence, as they say, makes the heart grow fonder. And it can spur political action."

Small Cool Contest 2008: Part III

More from the Midwest and finally, the East Coast where AT started it all.

Midwest #8 - Abbe's Lil' Abode Loving the kitchen cabinets and walls!

Midwest #10 - Stephanie's Simple Sanctuary People were actually giving her grief for not having more stuff (or at least having more stuff from places other than IKEA!) I would love to live in her place, just like it is now. Did you see her phone niche?! Excellent.

Midwest #14: Annie's Logan Square Home I like the red, yellow, blue, with a tiny bit of lavender color story she has here.

Midwest #21: Carla's Grand Ave. Home Way to go adding a sense of permanence to a rental!

Midwest #22: Blythe's Tiny Treehouse I was already a fan from seeing her photos on Flickr.

East #2: Chris and Elayne's Greenpoint Hideaway Loving the true Boho vibe AND the guts to enter this particular contest.

East #8: Trilby's New York Minute Retreat This one is notable because the voting was so close on all three levels: Super Cool! (142), Cool (156), and Not my bag, baby (120). Interesting.

East #11: Eddie's West Village Studio LOVE the colors; blue, white, red, and grey.

East #34: Gaastra's Mini Residence Not my style but lovely just the same.

East #16: Heather's Leafy Oasis Love this shot of the bed.

East #14: Kristin's Cozy Village Studio Incredibly feminine studio.

That is that for this year, until the Color contest that is.

Small Cool Contest 2008: Part II

Here are some choice entries from the South and the Midwest states.

Southwest:

Southwest #9: Gretchen's "The Place I Call Home" Digging this “headboard.” (Even though those curtains have shown up three times in the contest I still think I need to go and buy them again. There must be some way I can use them. With my color scheme, they are just made for my apartment. Hmmm....)

Southwest #16: Courtney & Alex's Eccentric Pad Another creative headboard idea. These electric light-up branches are still available at World Market. I hope we can get a tutorial from them on how they worked that with all the plugs involved .

Southwest #17: Matthew's Cartoonist Corner I am in love with the floor plan for his apartment! Also check out the Kermit phone, his cool 1970s phonograph, and the infamous Italian “Fragile” lamp. Southwest Finalist

Southwest #30: Jordan's Ordo Ab Chao Another great drawn floor plan! This is similar to the ones I draw but I haven't mastered the second angled 3-D-like look yet. Southwest Finalist

Midwest:

Midwest #6 - Rachel's Grad School Getaway Midwest Finalist

Midwest #2 - Lizzie's Cozy Chicago Hideaway Love the toys and the rug.

Midwest #13: Kelly's Ghost Lounge This is probably my favorite entry this year. Just plain beautiful.

Small Cool Contest 2008: Part I

I really wanted to do a timely piece on Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Contest, but they already have their finalists listed and I just finished looking at all the contestants. So, in the order of how I viewed them, here are my thoughts.

International:

International #12: Ise's London Pad

International #13: DHJ's Honey House This apartment really wasn't ready for this contest but they did have an incredible backsplash worth noting.

Northwest:

Northwest #3: Lana's Coffee Capital Digs Attractive, yes, warm, no.

Northwest #13: David's Designer Digs Nice, but sterile.

Northwest #12: Xing's Apartment for a Wanna Be Artist This guy used four of his five photos to show off: one room with two mid-century furniture pieces and his photography equipment. Besides the acquisition of the furniture, it doesn’t seem as if any design was imposed on this space. It looks more like a separate work studio than his home. According to the comments, I’m not the only one who thought that either.

Northwest #7: Shannon's Sumptuous Studio She has an adorable bed alcove.

Northwest #24: Emmy's Apartment S Nice use of color.


Northwest #1: Ana and Bob's Bay Area Nest I could totally see myself living here, love the very simple divider between the living room and the bedroom.

Northwest #10: Lydia's Leisure Suite Points for the DIY cork divider that I can SO see in a Wary Meyer-designed room, can’t you?

Northwest #14: Allison and Bo's Bantam Roost Cute, and she has a blog about living in a small house!

Northwest #25: Ginger's Spicy Downtown Loft This one is a bit too dark for me but I love how in a one-room space she used her color plan cohesively throughout the whole space.

Northwest #21: Courtney's "The Story of Me" (See top photo) Great objects in cute vignettes. This could have been my favorite; however, she only shows the living room!

I hope that next year they can feature a small photo with each entry on the submission page, making it easier to go back and view a particular favorite, instead of having to remember, first, which region, and then the name of the entry.

Oh, well...

My dream house has been sold or taken off the market for the time being because it is gone from the realtor's site.

If it sold, I wonder for how much? I still can't believe I never made it over to see the inside, but I would have felt like such a phony.

Paint Everything By the Numbers!

Note: A few weeks late, but here's the second part to my post about paint-by-numbers. This is a solution for affordable yet custom home-made art for your home. Make your own! Use this software I installed more than a year ago, Paint by Numbers from the Color Wheel Company. It's incredible, a really good idea. I wish I had thought it up. You can turn a digital file into a paint by number diagram complete with the corresponding paint colors derived from three craft paint companies partnered with Color Wheel. You can even choose how difficult to make the project, by adjusting the amount of detail you want to capture which effectively limits the number of colors the software assigns to your image. After you've made those adjustments, the program will spit out a shopping list of which colors to purchase in order to make the combinations needed to complete your custom piece. My original plan was to use this kit to create canvases for my living room walls, much like this project from Better Homes & Gardens publications. I saw on a website that this process would be good in replicating a photo into embroidery or needlepoint patterns. How cool. This software could be used to make great gifts. Imagine, you could create a painting from a picture you took of a friend's new baby, the quick shot you took at a wedding, or a picture you took at your last get-together. Or you could go one step further (or back, depending on your point-of-view) and make this into a "gift kit".

• Choose the photo or use a friend's favorite picture.
• Buy a stretched canvas, create the diagram using the software, and transfer the design.
• Print out the shopping list and buy the assigned paint colors.
• Package these up with brushes, a little plastic palette, an easel, Handi-Wipes, and a nice frame.

Voila! A decorative gift and relaxing activity all in one.