House Beautiful

Archive for the 'Art' Category

FOR SALE: Vintage Paris Framed Print (HUGE)

Paris Frame

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55.5″W x 42.5″H | $350 | San Diego pick-up

Email: stephanie.m.ballard@gmail.com | Craigslist Post: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/hsh/5152830016.html

It is with a heavy heart that I put this bad boy up for sale (sniff sniff).  It’s a vintage print of Paris and the Seine – taken in the 50’s – that I had professionally framed when I bought my first house 10 years ago.  Was perfect over the mantle because of its size (most everything you put over a mantle looks dwarfed), loved it over the console in the dining room, did me proud over the sofa in Chicago (we had 10 ft ceilings in our walk-up and its large scale also worked great) and I never hung it in my bedroom BUT – right over a bed with all white bedding in lieu of a headboard?  So chic.

Asking $350 which is far less than what it cost to have professionally framed.  Mint condition.   2 hanging hooks on back.  Shoot me an email at stephanie.m.ballard@gmail.com or hit up the craigslist post if you’re interested!  San Diego local pick-up only, unless you want to arrange for freight.

PS: all the similar sized framed prints with similar subject matter are $1500+ at Restoration Hardware.  So there’s that.

xo!

Steph's Scanned Signature

Oh, the Water.

This summer, there will be a revolving door of guests coming to stay chez nous. And there is n-o-t-h-i-n-g like company coming to light a fire under your a$$ and set you off on a decorating & vacuuming frenzy.  I always want people to feel welcome, relaxed and pampered when they come to my house.  Like a little vaycay! And long story short, the upstairs hallway and the guest room need a BIG face lift, cuz they do NOT look like vaycay right now.  They look like the island of misfit toys.  Also, my paintbrush slipped the other night and accidentally painted the hallway hot pink after a cocktail or two.  Whoops.  I may not have a sound mind when I’m tipsy, but at least I still have a steady hand.

That’s the same Jaipur Pink I painted my closet in Chicago last year…  and while it’s super fun and super shocking in a yum-yum-Bubble-gum-Barbie sort of way, it really doesn’t rap with the rest of the house, which is super airy and calm.  More importantly, I want to stand at the foot of the stairs, look up and see something super soothing (exhale).  Like a pretty light fixture against a really serene backdrop.  Enter inspiration shot:

Have you EVER seen anything more gorgeous than this bedroom by Will Wick of Wick Design…  or more gorgeous than that oversized photo of the ocean? Because I have not.  How do we DIY that look at home??  Welp.  Like this:

Farrow & Ball in Slipper Satin | Ralph Lauren Regent Metallics Paint | Moroccan Lantern | Etsy Artwork

Quick word on the paint:  Farrow & Ball is wonderful, but super pricey.  Like, entire right arm pricey.  If you’re on a budget, match it to a Lowes Valspar color for $16/gallon.  The Ralph Lauren Regent Metallics paint is a metallic glaze that goes over your base coat with a textured roller.  I used the Champagne Toast color in my old bathroom, and it seriously looks like the walls got painted with a subtle, luminescent pearl.  Heaven.  Speaking of heaven…  those photos of ocean water.  I could die.  I did this Marta Gil photograph over my living room mantel and I love it so much I can’t stand it.

Anyhow, for the upstairs hallway, here are a few others I like…  which one should I do??

OPTION 1

The Sea.  Super simple.  Source unknown but pinned here.

OPTION 2

As seen on Amber Interiors last year.  Love.

OPTION 3

Really soothing…  but I look at it and I’m also terrified that Jaws is right outside the frame of this shot.  Really beautiful, but maybe not this one.

What do you guys think??  More importantly, who wants to come visit??

xoxo,

PS:  Raise your hand if the title of this blog post made you start singing Van Morrison.