by Jennifer Farlin | Nov 6, 2015 | Art
Darn you inconvenient budget. Darn you fickle design trends. And darn you expensive-complicated-high-maintenance-picture-framing projects. I was trending once. Several years ago I carefully framed all of our family pictures in white mattes with wide black frames and artfully hung them on our stairwell in a manner that would make Pottery Barn proud. Then we moved, twice, and everything went into boxes. Now the whole mess sits in two large dish pack size moving boxes in the basement. Those heavy black frames are sooooo 2005. Insert eye rolling. I almost started replacing the frames with white wood but that would have been SO 2012. It’s maple now. If you don’t have maple on your walls then just quietly keep your drapes drawn.
Zillow.com
Pottery Barn
West Elm
Found on elle.es
It’s not maple but I will look the other way-
Found on lunchlatte.tumblr.com
If you want to see more love:
Inspired Decorating, Your Walls are Boring, Paper Source
by Jennifer Farlin | Nov 1, 2014 | Art, Inspired Style, Interior Decorating
Yes. I love The National Gallery of Art.
I, also, love posing like the art. Hard to tell which is Degas’ Little Dancer and which is me, isn’t it??? It’s a joyous thing to go mid-week with friends. It was quiet, uncrowded, and none of the guards were asking me to remove my children from the sculptures.
I get so excited and inspired about all the colors—and then I start building rooms in my head….
Mary Cassatt
Mix and Chic
Mix and Chic
Celerie Kemble
Nancy Vintage
Mix and Chic
Vincent Van Gogh
Mary Cassatt
Mix and Chic
George Bellows
Dorothy Draper Design/Greenbrier Hotel
Remodelista
Andrew Wyeth
Momtoob
Thomas Sully
thevisualvamp.blogspot.com
Claudiablonde.tumblr.com
(Love this new blog I found Mix and Chic Interiors! Check it out.)
OUTTAKES:
by Jennifer Farlin | Aug 19, 2014 | Art, How To, Interior Decorating
Tweaked.
This poster was ripped. I didn’t like all the black. It needed custom framing because of its nonstandard size. And so it has sat in a poster tube for several years.
This was a framed article that was no longer relevant. So it has sat in a box. But–I loved the green custom mat, plus it had glass and a decent frame.
So I combined the art from the poster and the nice mat and frame of the article and made new art–for free. Thus, eliminating the need for custom framing, a poster tube, and a framed article taking up storage space.
Tweaked.
by Jen | Apr 14, 2014 | Art, Happiness at Home, Home Staging, How To, Interior Decorating
www.squido.com
Today I hauled out a desk I’ve had since college and painted it white. I’m getting ready for our new home in DC. The to do list that I’ve been staring at suddenly doesn’t have me beat anymore. I’m ready for some change. Sunshine and warm weather do that after a long, long winter. I’m ready to tackle some projects and ready for action–says the sedentary girl sitting on the couch with her laptop with a cup of coffee and the Today show… I’m currently living in a house that is up for sale. Last June I was living in a different house that was up for sale. Golly, it would be awesome if I can spend every spring prepping for buyers. Not to brag, but I sort of kind of a little bit always have a nice house. I follow my own advice. At least I do. My kids, not so much.
EVERY single house I stage the owners always say the same thing—I wish we had made these changes earlier so WE could have enjoyed them. I make it my mantra to NEVER say that about my own houses. I want it to be nice NOW, not just when it’s on the market.
So here are my Top 10 Spring Staging and Redesign Decorating Tips that are the backbone to any good looking house-and well, what I do inside my house.
1.Pare down. Declutter. Remove. Purge. Pack it away. Abolish. Dispose. And stage a coup of your stuff. Here are some links to previous posts I’ve written on the subject: The Home Purge Game, Prime Real Estate–Inside Your Home. Remember that an organized home sends a positive message. If your knick knacks are smaller than a football rethink them. They just add to the visual clutter factor. Bigger is better. If it is something that brings you joy and is teeny tiny then by all means keep it out. There’s a difference between a room full of meaningless stuff and a room that makes your life better/happier.
www.apartmentherapy.com
2.Clean it. Buyers and even yourself may excuse dated if everything is clean and bright.
Real Simple
3.Open your curtains and blinds. Sunshine makes everyone happy.
www.ninainvorm.punt.nl
4.Add greenery and flowers. This is HUGE. Pretty flowers and plants in trendy pots (go to TJ Maxx) can work miracles towards making a room more inviting and cheerful. Game Show Decorating–What Do These Have in Common? And, Plants Make It Pretty.
Southern Living
5.Get rid of dingy throw/scatter rugs. Show your floor off.
Bread and Olives
6.Spruce up your front door. Clean it up. Scrub the area around the door bell and the moldings. If you want to take it up a level try to polish the metal. Really feeling crazy? Paint it.
Southern Living
7.What about your front hall? Take as much out of your front hall as you can. A table, mirror and nice vase of flowers are perfect.
www.thenestinggame.com
8.Be greeted with style. What door do you enter from? (What Door Do You Use? And One Door’s Journey, Or…A Follow Up) If it is through the garage does it depress the heck out of you because there are so many piles and so much chaos? You deserve to be greeted with love. Make this is a priority. Set the kitchen timer and give yourself 20 minutes a day to work on this until it’s “done”. No excuses! Less is more.
www.centsationalgirl.com
9.Think spa when it comes to your bathrooms. Fluffy white towel, a white fabric shower curtain, white accessories–keep it fresh. Then add a plant. Sick–Or A Tour of Bathrooms.
10.Hang big art on your wall. Bigger is better. Less is more. It’s easier AND it’s less visual clutter. You Gotta Have Art.
Benjamin Moore
Happy Spring!
Joy to You~Jen
by Jen | Apr 10, 2014 | Art, Fun Style, Happiness at Home, How To, Interior Decorating
It’s time for the Top 5 Decorating Tips for Fabulous Rooms that Look Like YOU—or how to not be boring. I so hate boring. Who has time for boring? Life is too short for boring. Let’s put some zip in it. Let’s put some fun with it. So without further ado…
5. Something Old. Ever walk into someone’s perfect house and feel like you are in a furniture showroom? Or a model for new construction? I get the willies just thinking about it. You know what would shake that off? Something old. Something old and painted with chippy paint is awesome. Something old and quirky is awesome. Something from a junk store or flea market that is random and old is awesome.
Something with some history…something with layers and time and grit and experience. Something that says I have seen life man and I have survived. Got it?
Great grandma’s chest and old toolbox from junk shop make for great office storage. That’s Leo on the right.
Second (or third) hand table and my 19th C stick back desk chair a la chippy paint.
www.sydandharper.com
I had a treasure map painted on this dresser for my boys.
My House. Something Old–the snow shoes and the apothecary. Old and quirky;)
4. Something New. Now if everything in your room was old and gritty and chippy and quirky–it would just be weird. It would be too much. It would be the opposite of a furniture show room and just as bad. It would be a room in a junk shop or in an antique store. You need balance man.
So a little trendy is absolutely perfect.
West Elm
This is nice. But it does kind of look like a furniture show room.
But what if you added Something Old? Like below.
The picture above does a nice blending with Something New/Trendy (the chairs, sideboard, and chandelier) with Something Old (plate rack.)
Home Office by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Katie Leede
The above picture is definitely Something Old and Something New. It’s got style. It reminds me of someone…YOU, you stylish devil. Where have you been hiding?
3. Something Black. I think I heard Nate Berkus on Oprah say this years ago. I like it. So it’s on the list. Every room should have at least one black accessory in it. Black gives some depth. Some class. Some foundation to all the oomph. It’s just baaaad (meaning good.)
www.sageatelier.com
I just love this room. And you know what? The black makes it bad ass. This room rocks. Above and below.
2. Art. I really can’t talk to you if your walls are bare. You might as well be naked. For the love of Pete hang something on your walls. If you are overwhelmed I’ve written about a bajillion posts on it. You can start reading here, or here, or here, man.
Thrift store frame. Art cost $3.50
Thrift store. Vintage travel poster.
Bowls. They aren’t just for meals.
This is beautiful art waiting for a frame. Original photograph by Parul Patel captured in India. Love the title~ Morning Prayer.
1. Something that Tells Your Story. Who lives in your house? YOU do. Live authentically and let it extend outward. Every room should have something in it that speaks to you. It could be a picture of your favorite place. Maybe an ashtray that you nabbed from Old Glory in Georgetown when you were 21 that says ELVIS LIVES~OLD GLORY (Ok I’m not proud but it was over 20 years ago). That ashtray made a super soap dish. Maybe it’s a Barbie board game from when you were a kid that you use as a placemat on your desk. Maybe it’s something simple like a pretty plant that your little son planted for you for Mother’s Day and the masking tape with his name is still on the pot. It makes me smile every time. Framed photographs of fun memories is an obvious choice~but where are yours?
Picture of one my favorite places, Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island From Above 2, Kathleen Chaney Fritz
Barbie Board Game doubling as my desk blotter.
These are my wooden shoes, obviously.
This little plant was started by chubby hands and a teeny cutting.
Good times.
So that’s my Top 5 Decorating Tips for Rooms that Look Like YOU. What do you think? What’s one of your favorite things that tells a story about you?
by Jen | Feb 3, 2014 | Art, Fun Style, How To
AFAR Magazine March/April 2014
I don’t know if it’s tooting one’s own horn or validation that motivates this post. Regardless. While flipping through the pages of AFAR, a travel magazine that I love, there it was…matchbooks are trending. And what did I just make a month ago? Matchbook Art!
See?!
Want to do know how to make it yourself?
I bought two 18 x 24ish inch matted frames from Michaels. They were buy one get one free. $20 total.
I bought 4 pieces of turquoise 12X12(?) scrapbook paper from Michaels. Spent about $1.50 max.
I had a matchbook collection from way back filling a large gallon ziplock bag. I went to a vintage/junk store and found another bag of matchbooks from the 50’s and 60’s for $12…which is what inspired this whole project.
I sorted through matchbooks for hours at the dining room table–each of the old ones had something funny or unusual about them. So many of mine had hilarious and fun memories associated with the places. I edited and laid them out based upon their merits–pretty, unique, memorable–on the scrapbook paper with the white matte around them (so I knew exactly how much room I had to work with.) I ripped the excess matches and cardboard out so the matchbooks wouldn’t be too bulky. I moved them around. I edited. I replaced. I rereplaced. Some I kept opened–some I kept closed. I moved them around some more. I tweaked. Then I Elmer’s glued the whole lot. Pretty sweet art. Definitely make two framed pieces if you decide to do this. Companion pieces of art make any room look good…or in this case striking. Get it?
