House Beautiful

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Kitchen of the YEAR

Published on December 10, 2010 in Decor and Stuff We Love. 4 Comments

…or, my LIFE, rather.  That may be a bit overzealous, but I literally GASPED when I saw this earlier today over at La Dolce Vita, then proceeded to sit & stare at it for about 30 minutes.  With my mouth hanging wide open, whilst I drooled on my peanut butter toast.

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….EH. MAH. GAH.  Where to even begin?!  I would straight up roll out my Care Bear sleeping bag and LIVE in this kitchen.  It’s breezy, and cheerful, and full of color and life – all against a quietly traditional backdrop of subway tile, herringbone floors and café latté walls.  (BAH!) That RUG with pink raspberry hues…   those HICKS PENDANTS from Circa Lighting…  those VINTAGE CHAIRS with ikat pillows…   that glossy black table top that you can see your reflection (and probably pick your teeth after breakfast) in….  that gorgeous, bright Caribbean turquoise bowl on the counter…  the exposed beams and those rustic sconces over the work area…  that beautiful scroll-post-thing supporting the end of the counter (not to mention the fact that they repeated the door’s gorgeous blue color on the beaded board)…  and, for heavens sake.  Do I spy a WINDOW SEAT?!  I feel like ROYGBIV just made sweet love to the black & white kitchen from Something’s Gotta Give.  And then made post-coital friends with cool vintage pieces and ikat.

The rest of this home will be featured in the first issue of High Gloss – LDV creator Paloma Contreras’ brand spankin’ new online magazine that launches in January 2011.  I don’t know about you, but I’ll be chomping at the bit waiting to skim the glossy pages of High Gloss‘ first issue.

Have a great weekend!

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DIY Pillow Project

Published on December 8, 2010 in Decor and DIY. 2 Comments

After ooh-ing and ahh-ing over Calico Corners here and here, I finally scared up a few yards of my faaaaaavorite, swoon-worthy fabric – Thom Filicia’s City Square in Mistymorn – and busted a move on some throw pillows.

I whipped ’em up chez Bud & Ruth (the GP’s) over Thanksgiving.  As you can imagine from the photo below, a trip to their house is never anything short of entertaining.  Bud taught me a lot of neat tricks when I was a kid, like “pull my finger.”

I had 2 yards of City Square, but instead of using all of it to recover two oversized throw pillows, I used an inexpensive, faux charcoal velvet (that feels like butt-ah) on the back of the each one.

This is a smooth move for two reasons:

1.  If the fabric you’re working with is pricey, “backing” it with a coordinating, less expensive fabric means you only have to buy half the amount of fabric, or can save some for your next project.  This also works with upholstered pieces, like the ones below.  Designer Kristen Cox used Quadrille’s Contessa (about $200/yd) only on the backs of these slipper chairs.

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2.  “Party-in-the-front/business-in-the-back” pillows are also a cozy (and practical) move, because come nap time, you can flip ’em over to the part that feels like a Snuggie.  Plus, you don’t have to worry about drooling on the pretty side.  These pillows are currently making the living room in my little Chicago greystone so happy.

Now, for the SEWING HOW-TO:  I’m deferring to THESE D*S INSTRUCTIONS for THE best (and easiest to follow) ABC/123 for pillow-making that I have ever run across, because those are the ones I follow.  They do this whole sew the fabric together with a loose stitch and seam rip it after the zipper is in thing that’s totally genius.  Grace Bonney and the crafty girls over there know what they’re talkin’ about.  Click here to bounce over to Design*Sponge’s step-by-step instructions.

And check it:  my silly goose of a dog, Gus, is already putting them to good use.  CLEARLY he didn’t read the part about flipping it over to the velvet-y side and not drooling on the Thom Filicia side.  But seriously, who cares – look at that little nugget!

Goodwill Hunting note:  that little white gourd lamp (on the right in the photo of my apartment) was $4 at my top secret favorite thrift joint in Muncie, IN – the Walnut Street Baptist Mission.  Hollar.

XO!

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