one room challenge: week 6

welcome to my final reveal of the one room challenge!!!  what a whirl-wind it has been designing, sourcing, styling and photographing my living and dining room in 6 short weeks.  this was my original design/mood board.  modern with lots of glam and gilt and a tad bit edgy.  

then, my design was heavily influenced by my love of french furniture, the great gatsby and other images that were on my instagram feed.  i also wanted a lot of white space, a minimalistic-french design.  

the obligatory before shot.

so, here is my final design (note the heavy use of white and my current obsession with it...i like to dream that my kids will always wash their hands upon entering the room, and behave like little obedient angels too...lol!)  the room is really not complete as i will still search for a larger vintage and gilded mirror for the mantle, more antique tables, and i'm waiting on the replacement slipcover for the sofa in white.  some things take time; and i'm on a budget for this as it's not our forever house.   

 i love french bergere chairs.   i tried finding a vintage pair within my budget without success. these, i think, work well within the space and are neutral as well.

the much anticipated reveal of my craigslist $20 lucite chandelier.  i also scored a duplicate with 4-tiers that will go somewhere in my condo.

those chairs...oh, those chairs!  they were my diy for the design.  talk about a time consumer, i now have a whole new level of appreciation for furniture paint people.  truly.

these pillows add warmth and are so cozy...they'll keep my family warm for the winter.  the sofa is supposed to be white, i received an off-white one just yesterday.  i'm so happy it was delivered yesterday though instead of after the reveal (many thanks to the design account manager at wayfair, one of the orc sponsors).  this is the "compromise with your kids sofa", one that they can lay on with lots comfort and arms that won't make their necks shaped funny over time.

i've always wanted a gilded coffee table, i found this one with a mirrored top that will reflect and make the space seem even larger.

the antlers my kids found on our old property, and my younger sister gave me the lollia candle.  i just love those matches in that sweet little box!

found this pretty lady at a resale shop.  love mixing high-end with low-end.  the table is antique, purchased over 10 years ago; solid walnut with a checkerboard inlaid pattern on the top, and gilded accents on the legs.  a true louis xvi side table.  

new mirror from my second favorite place in southeastern michigan, westside furniture consignment emporium in ann arbor.  if you shop there, ask for joe or peggy.

let's discuss this art, it's from denise bassett and she lives and paints in the south of france.  she's a former interior designer, now retired,  and paints in glorious france.  i just love her use of vibrant color.

a little styling and a bottle of bubbly to pop, drink and celebrate.  life is just too short to not live to the fullest.

and lastly, a big huge mucho grande thank you to linda of calling it home who runs the whole show and has trademarked the one room challenge.  it is truly a great slice of pie in the grand ol' blogospere.  the uber-talented designer reveals were yesterday and can be viewed here.  check out what my other 90 or so talented designers have for the final week here.  

and, that is a wrap!  xx, dana

if you'd like sources for furnishings, please feel free to email me.    

one room challenge: week 5

is it really week 5 already?  i'm gonna have to buckle down, roll up my sleeves, pull my hair back (unwashed), go sans makeup and get this room done in the final week.  no primping allowed my dear friends.  

last week was my diy time.  i tackled painting those diamonds in the rough cane backed dining room chairs. all six of them!  never again.  after getting it in my hair, and walking through the drips on the sheet used to protect my carpet, it took all my might to not throw those chairs off the balcony.  i am. over. painting. projects. forever.  it took much perseverance and endless trips to the fridge to eat off my frustration to get them done.  here's what they look like now.  

so happy to be done with those babies!  

my coffee table landed this week and i'm really starting to love it.  that's a mirrored top, not so fun to keep clean but it sure is pretty.  the candle my sis gave me and the magnificent (the feel of the fur on skin is amazing) mongolian fur throw pillows are in.  there's lots of white space in my living because the sofa is still not in,  they assure me it will be here on november 5.  living on the edge is always fun folks. 

keep up with the 20 uber talented designers here and the talented linking participants here.  xx, dana

afterthought.  added this for visual impact and i love this artist.

  

one room challenge: week 4

welcome back to those who are following along each week.  this week was all about pro.cras.tin.ation.  yep, that "dirty" word was the theme this week.  little details need to be done like hang the curtain rod, move and arrange furniture, finalize art and such but they didn't.  not to worry as there was progress made too.  the bergere chairs were delivered...and, they are the right size and scale for my living room.  the coffee table also came in and ditto with the scale too.

if you've followed along on my journey and this blog, you know my love of fashion and furniture (especially french) comes from within as i have been "doing" design work from a very young age.  i started out making replica chanel clothing and arranging my childhood home from a wee young age and then went to a private school to study furniture design and fashion design right out of high school.  these things still heavily influence my designs today and will show up in this orc design.  

my weekly inspiration for my living room design came many months' ago when i attended the detroit institute of arts.  this marble sculpture is quite spectacular; i only captured the bust but it is a full-size human form.  the beauty and details of this magnificent piece resonated deeply within me and i knew that it would be transferred into my home somehow.  

she's the beauty i found on one of my weekly jaunts to resale and vintage shops in search of sconces for a client.  i'm hoping she will make the final styling and reveal for this orc.  

here's some ugly going on this week

the louis xvi dining chairs i'd like are way out of my budget,  even though i'm one to wait for the right pieces to show up for my designs.  but, i'm on a timeline with this challenge and this set of 6 chairs popped onto my radar via craigslist.  they need paint and new fabric and i think they'll work just fine for now with the help of a big facelift.  

my biggest score this week is a piece of art from one of my favorite artists i've been following on instagram

a mixed media original art piece arrived from france!  i'm super excited and love having original art.  and this one from france i think infuses the energy from the artist, denise bassett and the south of france where she creates her master pieces.  

the other wonderful 90 some linking participants have more to view here, and the other 20 talented designers revealed week 4 yesterday and can be viewed here.  xx, dana

one room challenge: week 3

well, well, well...here were are at week 3 of the one week challenge and the middle of the 6 weeks.  yikes!  the first two weeks sort of flow nicely, full of creative ideas and lots of shopping for the right items, and this week is all about wonder.  i wonder if i picked the right sofa, did i get enough fabric for the curtains, will my furniture arrive on time...wondering...it's where i'm at!  

there's not a whole lot going on with my room, the chandelier was put in but i want to save the beautiful photo for the final reveal.  this was my original obsession choice for many months

a vintage brass and crystal baby by gaetano scolari.  after many romps to every high and low-end resale shops in south-eastern michigan to no avail, i settled on another mid-century number that i found on craigslist for less than $25 (insert happy dance here).

a pair of these chairs should arrive this friday!!! super excited to place them and have a pair of bergere chairs.   i also searched for a pair of vintage french bergere chairs but most were either the wrong fabric/color or priced too high.  

these babies from ballard design have a nice, neutral fabric to work with and the price was right.

i ordered a couple of coffee table books from a great one king's lane sale because i thought it wouldn't look good styled to have liam's stack of superman comics on the new coffee table anymore.  this one is so pretty and i cannot wait to view it.

my inspiration this week

quite stunning...everything about this space makes me happy.  the natural light coming through, the molding, the amazing paintings on the walls and those floors.  i would love to replace my flooring (it's carpet) and add either a wide-plank wood or a do a traditional looking herringbone pattern but practically once again reigned me in.

i found these drawings on pinterest by a super talented artist and it seemed relevant to share these here since going waaaaay french with my inspiration

and that's a wrap for this week, but stay tuned via instagram to see my mid-week finds and progress.  also, check out the other rooms from my super talented counter-parts here and the invited designers here.  xx, dana

one room challenge: week 2

having jumped in at the last moment, i'm happy to report some really big progress since last week.  

if you followed along last week, my design started with this mood board  for my living room.  still true to this design , it is now infused with more of my love of all things french (louis legs on furniture makes my heart skip beats), gilt, and maybe some additional pops of color.  i found a great pair of yellow velvet dining chairs during one of my obsessive jaunts to my usual vintage and resale shops last week.  

now on to the visual delight and some images inspiring my design this week...

neiman marcus

via pinterest

moda operandi

this coat is feminine yet strong, structured and modern all in one, and i'm in love with this shade of pink!

one big improvement...the farm-house chandelier is down!!!  i'm so happy to move forward and release this piece of my life...no more farm/rustic tuscan for the city condo

crown molding was on my mind for a blip of a minute...but my palette just didn't work with this idea.     and, my budget is blown for this project (i bought some chairs too and figure this will all be good for selling the condo when the time arises).   a new sofa was ordered but it is questionable if it will make it here on time!  if not, it's time to pop some corks for sure.   til' next week.  xx, dana

p.s. follow the progress of the other super talented designers here and quick updates from my end on instagram

one room challenge: week 1

ok, i'm back!  a little late to the draw today as i hemmed and hawed about doing the challenge amidst all that is going on.  i'm finishing up one client's kitchen and bedroom and learning to balance work and home life along with being the class parent representative at my son's school.  balance is and always will be important to me; and having enough "free" time to be creative or just to veg out.  i'm just amazed at all the working momma's out there that seem to do it all.  it seems that the only way i will actually work on my condo is through this challenge!  my energy goes to other projects; my love of freedom, of discovering cool places to eat and shop, and cool things to do.  so, this challenge is good for me; to reign me to create the space i dream of (literally all the time)!  

the wonderful linda at calling it home created this event.  20, very talented design bloggers will revamp spaces and post on their blogs on wednesday over the next six weeks.  and, others like myself, will link up our designs every thursday. 

my space this time around is my living area/dining area.  i live in a condo (didn't want to do lawn work!) so the living and dining area are combined into one large area.  here are the before photos.

 this is the whole space.  a new couch and chair are desperately needed.  my kids do not want me to get a new couch.  they love the soft, suede-like micro-fiber and comfort of this couch...but the time has come.  it is really beyond time and i cannot wait to put it in the sofa graveyard!

 this was taken when i had the carpets cleaned.  i love my farmhouse table that was custom-made and has 200 year old wooden planks, hand formed wrought iron nails, and hand-turned legs.  this baby will stay.

this is such a horrible shot!  i think the light coming in isn't helping.  a corner needing much attention.  the lazy-boy chair may be recovered but i think it's a bit too large for this space...we love to recline in it and watch tv though.  the windows need treatments of some sort too. 

here is my design inspiration board for the space:

my love of white, feminine yet edgy and gilded is coming through in this design.  these are the colors, textures and overall design look i'll draw from.  my budget isn't huge enough to for all these great pieces (i'd die for the aerin console table), and most of it will be eaten up by the sofa, but it is always fun to create on a budget.  stay tuned to see what comes of it!  and visit here to see what all the other designers have in store for the next six weeks.  xoxo, dana

week 6: one room challenge | reveal day

welcome to the final week of the calling it home one room challenge.   if you have followed along, i worked on transforming my teen daughter, alexandra's room.  she is edgy, built her gaming computer, loves harry potter and dr.  who, and is quite the individual.  this design contains some of my design influence with plenty of her design choices and requests weaved in.  it is bold, bright, and full of energy and edge, just like her.   this was done on a tight budget, remember the salamandre zebra fabric i chose?  you will see the $80 less per yard version in the custom pillows on her bed.  i opted to invest in the zebra rug instead.  

modern jungle funk final reveal  

these are my amateur shots of the room all styled and accessorized...

for the before photos, click here.  the area is large and had to include a desk/computer/gaming area, a reading nook, a sleeping/bed area and a place to store her gaming and youtube video designing supplies.  

in lieu of ordering art from minted, one of the  one room challenge sponsors, i opted to float frame two of alexandra's pastel feather art pieces.  these are hung above her chest of drawers (she also wanted to keep her childhood bedroom set).  check out the minted site, you can get high-quality art prints frames or not at really good prices...i plan on ordering minted art for my next room/project.  

 her desk!  i painted this one from world market in a black, industrial paint that takes on the look of lacquer.  i've found a source for a campaign style, gold drawer pull but have it hasn't come in yet.

 this mirror was graphite before i sprayed it gold.

 love, love, love this all white wall to the entry of her bathroom (another project for another time!).

 some of her favorite books styled on this ikea bookshelf...

just a tiny sample of her book collection and a dr. who tardis she sculpted from clay.  

the reading nook and the chair she found at marshall's...and, my sloppy "i am tired of styling and photographing" writing on the blackboard wall.  

a styled side table.  vintage, brass vase with a vintage blue willow dish full of her coins from all over the globe and a gold target sunburst sculpture. 

 the replacement salamandre print zebra fabric all crafted (the wonderful upholsterer at snip/tuck) into pillows.  the owner is amazing, she grew up sewing, it's her passion and she can do just about anything you wish.  the bedding set we bought long ago from ikea and alexandra wanted to keep it.

 a little nook...found this awesome table at a resale shop and these stools (they open and solve my storage issue for her gaming/computer supplies) at target!!!

 a monstera leaf (i guess they are named this because they are huge...this was the medium size).

the major purchase was this zebra print rug from joss & main.  we layered it over a sisal rug trimmed in black that we had from our old country house.  those shoes...aren't they great?  alex is taking a trip to hawaii and will wear these through the airport...comfy and she can just slip them off and on again through security.  

lastly, thank you to linda at calling it home and all the bloggers for the support and kind words.   here's to all the fun and countless hours designing our spaces; and on to the next project.  much love, dana 

p.s.  i'm on instagram...i have yet to figure out how to code the darn gadget into this blog.