Bright Ideas

I found this pendant last summer when I was working on the project in NYC. My client has a round stairway that is fully enclosed, I thought the shadows of the words on the wall would be awesome.

 I also thought someone with good handwriting could give this one a DIY try.

I have been a long time fan of the DWR Random Pendant

Several months ago I gave an unsuccessful shot at creating my own knock off version.

Jen did a much better job. See her tips here. I may give it another go.

I am aaaamazed by how simple Ashley makes this Anthro knock off look.

How fun are these DIY Warhol Pendants?

And when I read this fixture was made out of a paper lantern and coffee filters I almost died.

Amazing!!

Inspired to make something yet? I am

The Nursery: Chapter 6 {DIY art}

Last week I tackled some DIY art I had planned for the baby's nursery.  My very, very talented and creative friend Laura was the originator of this DIY. She posted pics of her baby's nursery on Facebook several months ago and I immediately emailed her to see if I could commission her to paint me the same painting she had hanging over her changing table. Laura is beyond a crafter like myself, she is an artist. One time after Mr. Sabbe and I had visited with she and her husband at their house, Mr. Sabbe made the comment "I think she might be better at this design on a budget stuff than you are." We almost divorced that day:)

When I found out that Laura's art was not a painting, but a manipulation of free online clip art paired with a bottle of decoupage, I decided I would give it a go. First I purchased a 24x36 canvas at our local art store for $8. Second, because I knew that the orange that I was trying to pull from in my rug would not come in an acrylic tube, and I am not a professional paint mixer, I matched the orange in the rug with a color in a paint deck. Then I took it to Home Depot and had them make one of the $3 sample paint jars in that color. Then I painted the canvas.

For the tricycle I took the same image Laura used into Illustrator and ran the live trace tool. Then I flipped it because I wanted my tricycle facing the opposite way on the canvas. I took the image to Kinkos and had them run a 20x30 black and white plot for around $3.50. HERE is the image if you are interested in giving this DIY a try.

I cut out the tricycle, covered the back in decoupage, and laid it on my dry canvas. Then I painted all around the edges of the image with more decoupage. You have to be pretty aggressive about smoothing out all of the bubbles during this stage. And because I wanted the tricycle to look as integrated as possible on the canvas, and the fact that decoupauge dries a little shiny, I then covered the entire canvas with a coat of gloss varnish (which I already had). And whaalaaa, DIY nursery art, for less than $20.

 See how well it goes with his rug.

I really like it. Our little guy does not have a window in his nursery, so I really wanted to do something bright. For a little girl I thought it would be cute to use the same image and have colorful ribbons, that looked like streamers, coming off the handle bars. Let me know if you give it a try!

The Nursery: Chapter 5 {crib sheets are easy}

Attention anyone who can turn on a sewing machine. You can sew your own crib sheets! This was such an easy project. I got the idea from this tutorial but then as usual, went rogue. A couple of weeks ago I found this Robert Kaufman fabric for 40% off at a local fabric store. I thought it be fun with the rug, so I bought several yards.

Step One: I laid the mattress over the fabric, left the full width and cut the top and bottom to match. Then I pinned the corners together and sewed. We went with a foam mattress, which is super light, and made this part of the project very easy.

Step Two: Once I had the fabric squared up on the mattress, I did a zig-zag stitch around the raw edges. I do not have a surger. I did this in lieu of folding a hem because the fabric is only 42" wide. I needed to maintain all the width possible or I would run the risk of it being too short on the sides.

Step Three: I cut four 10" pieces of elastic and pinned their center points on the four corners of the sheet. I sewed with a zig-zag stitch ,starting from the middle, and worked my way out in both directions. I stretched the elastic as I sewed, just like in this project. The result was a nice, fitted corner. And that is it!

The skirt was even easier. It still needs some tweaking. I will come back to that later. But the moral of the post: do not spend a billion dollars on cute crib sheets! If you can turn on your sewing machine, you can make your own crib sheets! And with all the fun fabric out there, the possibilities are endless!

Another Bonus: I like it so much, I'm no longer sad about going sans bumper.

 

Recent Work {bathroom}

It's snowing here again, which really does not make me excited to venture out to the tile showroom today. I am working on a master bath renovation in Arlington, which is right outside of Boston. My client has a very eclectic personal style, she likes orange, and is a huge outdoors woman. This is my abstract spin on a modern bathroom in the woods.

And, as most projects do, it has evolved quite a bit from the first go round above.

Did you notice it got bigger!? We decided to move a wall out 3 feet to make it more of a "master bath" feel. The house was built in the 20's, when there was no such thing as a master anything.

We tackled some major decisions this past week, but there are still more to be made. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can get it all documented and off to the contractor before this baby comes. Construction administration wearing a Baby Bjorn should be interesting. Just kidding.

Super Size Me {Wall Stencil}

I think I love it.

The only think I'm not loving is the fact that it was impossible for them to hang the two black and white photographs on the same area of the pattern. It's really throwing things off for me. I would have left out the guy on the right. Fred's chair is kind of creepy in a cool way.

And who would have paired those lampshades with those crossbones?
From the photographer, I'm guessing this is in New England and I love anyone who would do this in New England. We need more risk-taker-designers up here.

What do we think?

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Mega Wall in the Making

Our mega wall's name was inspired by The Office's mega desk. As I have discussed previously, older Boston apartments do not come with storage. period. I have been pretty proud of our efforts to create storage in both of our apartments, but this one little wall has by far been our greatest creation.

Enter Mega Wall...

It may not seem that impressive, but look at how this wall (and room) was used before we moved in.

Boys lived here. One day I will give you the full tour. But you see now, much more efficient.

And it may not be obvious at first glance, but Mega Wall houses a ton of junk, everything from craft supplies, to design samples, and more. It is constructed of standard KV brackets from Home Depot and cut to fit MDF boards (also from HD). The entire wall was less than $100 to install. Remember our trip to Plymouth last summer? Those are the crates I got for $2.50 each.

And continuing my nesting efforts, I decided last night the crates were doing no good in terms of me staying organized if I had to dump them every time I needed to find something. So I made labels.

Organization really is bliss. My husband calls me a tornado...i.e. I'm not naturally the most organized person.

I stapled the top of the ribbon to the box, but left the bottom piece open in case I needed to switch out the label. Below is what I used if you want to make your own.

And here are some circles you can print.

You know what I love more than organization? Efficiency! Maybe it's years of space planning corporate office buildings, but when I can make a space super efficient, without compromising comfort or aesthetic, I am one happy designer.

My Latest Challenge

For months now I have been trying to get into an upholstery class at the Eliot School here in Boston. Why is every school, including pre-school, hard to get into in Boston? A couple of weeks ago I had Mr. Sabbe drive me to some town in Rhode Island to purchase two wing back chairs off of Craig's List. $70 for both, pretty good deal. I had intentions of re-upholstering them.

When people come over they never want to sit in the little wooden chairs I currently have around the table, they are not cozy and squeak like they might break. So I would like our little tiny dining area to have a table, two wing chairs, and eventually an awesome high chair that I also scored for an amazingly good deal on the ole' CL. It's hard to explain, so here is a progress shot from December, don't judge.

So I bought the chairs and could not get into the class. Luckily the BCAE will always have me, so I signed up for an advanced sewing class. You can bring your own project. I decided I am going to give tailored, white slipcovers my best attempt. I've only been to two classes, and being very obviously pregnant, the instructor thinks I'm crazy for making white slipcovers. But I'm pretty pumped about it. So far, I'm just a few steps away from finishing the seat cushions.

I have covered cushions before, but never with on hand, expert guidance. I'm really enjoying the process. Do you see the little blocks I added to the bottom of the legs. Creative? I could probably think of another word. I needed to raise the chairs a bit to make them comfortable dining height. I plan for the cover to go all the way to the ground.

So step one is almost complete. Step two is the actual body, which terrifies me. I like tight, fitted slipcovers. But I have no idea, other than a stack of books and the Internet, on how to do so. And I unfortunately cannot drag my chair to class.

Have you seen this one?

Amazing right? It looks upholstered.

And this lady seems to be the queen. I plan on spending a lot of time on her blog over the next couple of weeks.

 

Have you seen any helpful tips or tutorials floating around? Hold me to it, this project will be finished before this baby comes.

Found Things....fast

I love creating spaces with found things. I believe good interiors are curated, like a museum. One day in a big box store or even a high end retailer just won't do it. To make something unique, or one of a kind, takes time. But sometimes in the real world, time is not on your side. Sometimes clients come to you with a party scheduled at the end of the month and "it just needs to get done." One of my favorite found things stores in Boston is Mohr and McPherson. They do a great job of curating their pieces. No two things are alike.

I love this x-base table.

 This sofa was on sale last week and if we had just a couple more square feet, it would have come to live with us. Mr. Sabbe loves some chesterfield sofas, as does his wife.

They work with the trade, but also sell directly to the public. If you are in the South End you should check them out.

Before and After: Stripes!

When you enter our apartment, you enter a hallway that serves as an artery to all of the other spaces. At first I thought it was wasted space, but over time I have realized that this space is awesome. It's a contained area to shed boots, coats, hats, etc. so that the New England winter, and all it's glory, does not have to make it's way into my living room, on my sofa, and all over my dining table. It's also my first impression room and other than a couple of coat hooks and some framed calender pages, it was pretty boring.

The hallway also contains a billy bookcase from Ikea. This is where I keep most of our glasses and plates. Maybe one day I will show you how ridiculously small our kitchen is.  You will not be jealous.

So I had been thinking about an easy way to spruce up this space. One that would be A. Cheap and B. Mr. Sabbe would be down for doing. Last year I was super impressed with Hannah's striped hallway on a budget and it just so happens I was walking through Home Depot a couple of weeks ago and spotted a gallon of oops paint in a similar shade of gray. So cheap part...check.

Next I had to convince my husband it would be easy. I love my husband, but he is no John from Young House Love. So I designed the stripes so that he would not have to paint next to the base or the ceiling, and not around the tops of any door moldings. There are about a billion coats of paint in this place and we learned from our living room that trim is so incredibly tough to get right because of all the bumps and bulges. I taped everything. Secret...a quilters ruler makes measuring and taping wall stripes so much easier. If you are considering this project, I would invest in one, waaaay more accurate than a measuring tape. And the easy part...check. So I put the man to work, see how happy he looks. Ladies, it's all about equipping.

I didn't stick around to watch...ie. keeping baby Sabbe's brain cells in tact. But this morning I work up, peeled the tape down, and smiled out our new jazzy hallway. I love how it turned out.

Much better don't you think? All for a roll of tape, a $5 gallon of paint, and 1 hours of my sweet husband's time (the taping took me about 2 hours). He told a nurse at the hospital today that he helped me paint the hallway last night. She replied "the hallway? that's not even a room." He said, "she's pregnant and she's an interior designer, I do what I'm told." The nurse told him she predicts he will have a long, happy marriage.

The last touches for the hallway will be a durable floor runner and a fun light fixture. And the Ansel Adams calender pages (which is a great/cheap art idea if you are looking) will definitely go when we get some cute photos of our little guy.

Note: I would not actually recommend horizontal stripes on old plaster walls to any of my clients. It definitely reveals every bulge and imperfection, which I knew going into it and was ok with. But I'm a little more particular with clients than I am my own house, which, to my husband great joy, I refer to as my test lab. All 700 sf of it.

The Nursery: Chapter 3

I am a pretty decisive person, I really am. You have to be when you own your own design business. But I have been so indecisive when it comes to committing to design decisions for my little guy's nursery. I think it must be stemming from my nervousness about becoming a mother in general. Here is what I have committed to so far.

The paint color has been the paint color since we moved here this summer. It's Sherwin Williams, SW6211 Rainwashed. When we found out it was a boy, the first thing Mr. Sabbe said was "yessss, I do not have to paint the room." I'm not joking.

He did do a fabulous job of setting up the crib last week.

I am going to have to do the same drapery panel thing I did in the office. I may add some trim or ribbon around the entire perimeter on this side of the closet, we'll see.

I ordered the rug yesterday after emailing 8 different designer friends to confirm that I was making the right decision. What is my deal?

I have had my eye on the chair for a couple of weeks now. If you remember, I returned the Target glider after they sent the wrong color. I have a friend who has the Rena glider above. It's by Best Chair. She loves it and I loved the fact that you could choose from 300+ fabrics. I ordered it from a local store on Saturday with the "all natural" stain proof treatment, which will probably be best decision I will make for the entire nursery. With tax it came in right around $500. I was pretty boring with my fabric selection, but I figured this way I can use it for all the little Sabbe nurseries.

There are a million other things to consider. One big one is lighting. I have a floor lamp that I will probably stick in a baby proof corner. But I also like the idea of doing a couple of wall sconces instead, seems super baby proof. My sweet husband built the 9' tall shelf two weekends ago, it still needs to be painted, but I can't wait to put all of his cute stuff up there. Could you not stare at baby shoes for hours?

After reading this tutorial, I have decided to give a go at making my own crib sheets. I have already received a couple as shower gifts if that project goes totally awry. I am leaning towards something like this fabric, but I'm not 100% sure yet.

I will make a skirt out of the same fabric and we have decided to go sans bumper.

I may be aborting my wall graphic idea. I did a test sample in the corner and it was a little too busy. Although after seeing Britt's sharpie marker wall, I might have to give it another go. If you have not visited her blog, do not walk, run. It's awesome.

The only other thing I know is there will be bunting in some shape or form. There are some things I think I will always love.

That's it for today.

Some Like It Dark

I know, I'm two days in a row with the super dark walls.

 The walls look black in these images, but they are actually a deep chocolate brown. I really like how dark walls make everything else pop. Although this room, in sticking with only super dark colors and shades of white, reads so much differently that the one from yesterday. Does it not?Would you ever paint your walls a color this dark?
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More From New York

I love iphones. Along with the wallcovering below, we are also installing our draperies, slipcovers, and more fun things from our seamstress (we love you Julie) this week. And because I teach on Mondays, I could not make it to New York for this installation. But with my iphone happy client clicking away, I feel like I am right there.  

Do those orange velvet slipcovers make you as excited as they make me?

Retro Camo

Remember my project in New York? Well, it's still a work in progress. But I wanted to take a moment

 to give our wallpaper installer a shout out. He's not quite finished, but Hello!? My original design just called for the face of the murphy bed to receive the paper, but my client decided the whole thing needed a new skin.

Where did the bed go? It's a little something we call retro camo.

 

I want to live here.
p.s. This particular client is looking for a professional organizer in the NYC area. If you have any referrals please email me.

Hook It Up

Last week I was making a mad dash through IKEA before a client meeting and spotted these little hooks on display. Mr. Sabbe has been requesting coat hooks by the door since we moved to Boston. I have been politely ignoring him. As a designer I try to ride the line right down the middle on form versus function. In our last apartment you walked directly into our living room and it was just not my cup of tea to have 4 poofy jackets hanging in my living room 24/7. In our new place you walk directly into a long hallway. At first it seemed like wasted space, but over time I really like the idea of having this "walk off" area before you actually enter any of our main living spaces. So I folded and bought the man some hooks and to my surprise, I like them very, very much.

 I love anything lined up in a neat little row.

Man, that green living room sure does make the hallway look drab. We might have to do something about that. He owes me for the hooks:)