Ocean Waves Ombre Dresser: Before and After

By | Published May 13, 2013

Today, I am back from my trip to Cancun and feeling refreshed. There is an abundance of fantastic work around my studio to dive into. One piece that I recently finished re-imagining, is the Ocean Waves Ombre Teal Dresser. I chose the original vintage piece for the solid structure and unique mid-century style slant of the drawers.

I created this piece through gentle sanding, painting and restoration. I have perfected the art of finishing furniture through experience and over time. I always use a basic primer and generally 3-4 coats of paint, so that the surface is protected.

The colors are hand mixed paints in gradient that was partly inspired by our recent trip to Cancun, the clear blue waters and the waves. Can you believe the depth of those blue green hues!?!

After this vacation, I finally felt free from stress and relaxed! I vowed to visit Cancun (or Hawaii:) more often.

In the same spirit of summer, I have created a white belt wrapped mirror. It is beachy and mid century and touch of vintage, mostly modern, simply how I like my decor to be.

I get a thrill out of looking for the perfect vintage belts to accent these pieces. I like the texture and age of the brass studs on this one, along with the way that white and gold look when paired together.

Lastly, I discovered this neat European publication called  Re.flect magazine, for those of you overseas. I am really proud to have my ombre dresser alongside many cool products featured here this season.

Do you have any vacations on the horizons this Summer? What summer trends inspire you? Please share!

Posted in Furniture Design, Home Decor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cool Blue Living Room Refresh

By | Published April 15, 2013

As a part of my vow to refresh our living space this Spring/Summer, I have also promised to do a quick spring cleaning of my blog as well. (ahem! anybody notice the new banner?!) That was all me;) I guess fiddling around with Photoshop for the past 5 years has started to pay off. Although, I do need the expertise of a pro graphic designer for the remaining look and feel.

Many of you have asked to see the results of a client home restyle that I did this Spring. I am happy to finally share the results of the photo shoot with you.

All photos are credited to Amelia Tabullo photography.

 

Originally, this mirror was a tricky one to find. In fact the search for a round 24″ mirror inspired me to create this hanging leather belt mirror.

DIY explained here.

In this case, all of the waiting and hunting around really paid off in the end, when I came across this metal porthole mirror. It is steely with a tinge of blue and really reminds me of something from the side of a ship. I just love how she captured the reflection of the books in the mirror peeking through.

In my opinione, the juxtaposition of the warm walnut and cool blue is what makes this really work.

This project was all about working with we had and streamlining the look with accessories. For example these custom walnut sofa wraps can be made to fit any size sofa and really added warmth and interest to the IKEA KIVIC sofas that my client already owned. The wide arm works so well with a wrap!

Other accessories included custom slipcovers, pillows and throws. I really like the combination of cobalt blue with the brown walnut wood.

If you’re looking for more living room design ideas, head over to see the almost completely updated version of my design portfolio here.

I will be sharing some clicks of this fruitful photo shoot.

Have an inspired week!

 

 

Posted in Consulting, Interior Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Vintage Beachy Bathroom

By | Published April 8, 2013

Click here to see how the bathroom looked before.

It still needs some styling…perhaps a Mason jar with some fresh picked flowers. I’d love to do a cafe curtain on the all wood window in white to kind of break up the moulding a bit.

I know it still needs that je ne sais quoi…perhaps a little shabby farm table to right of the pedestal sink to hold Turkish towels or baskets full of bath accessories.

I am very happy with how the tiling came out: warm and modern.

We found the original ornate switch plate in the attic…the house that keeps on giving:)

I know it kinda doesn’t match everything in the room, but it IS special and original so I went with it!

Overall, I am very happy with the update. Now, on to style the bathroom and do some photo editing.

Posted in Interior Design | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Home Decor Spring

By | Published April 1, 2013

In Spring, I love to refresh my living space, start a new workout plan, and definitely begin new projects. It’s part of the New Year’s energy, even if it really began a few months ago;)

Over the weekend, I curated this Modern Baby Treasury to help you find all sorts of cool products for Spring.

Next, I hit the ground running last week with a vow to sew one-pillow-per-day. It was surprisingly fun and a challenge to look around my studio and use fabrics to form a collection of pillows that could be used together.

Green Zag Pillow

Waverly Arts and Crafts Pillow

Here is the Tribal Pillow styled with other new products from my line of Interior Home Decor. These rustic walnut  coat racks are something new that I am creating in custom sizes.

You can see these items and more of my week of pillows in my online shop!

For more pretty gifts for birthdays, baby showers, and your home, the Lovely Clusters catalog is here! I am very proud to be a part of this beautifully curated magazine by Rachel Follett.

There are too many great artisans inside to count!

I am looking for quality Home, Decor, and Travel guest bloggers while I am on a vacation this Spring! Please contact me, if this sparks an idea or you have something to share.

In a few days, I will be posting the results of the Beachy Vintage Bath refresh.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Home Decor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Beachy Vintage Bathroom

By | Published March 26, 2013

This is one of 3 bathrooms that I am renovating over the next 3 months. In fact this one should be complete by this weekend. I was inspired by a crisp white palette with beachy tile undertones. This bath is the largest in the house, so I guess you could call it the master. Although, it is pretty small, I thought adding a classic pedestal sink and lightening up the space could make it feel larger.

The home which is over 100 years old has classic influences mixed with modern updates. The windows have an all wood trim and I am thinking of doing a cafe curtain here to minimize the warmth of the brown…still not ready to go for painting out the trim completely white.

I hope it will come out really beautifully. I will be sure to post photos early next week when the renovation is complete.

Maybe some sea green color or pattern somewhere? What do you think?

Posted in Interior Design | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Crescent Hill Shotgun House Project

By | Published March 8, 2013

Many of you may be wondering what happened to my posts!

You may have asked yourself, “Is she still designing?”…or perhaps, “She ran off to the Netherlands with her husband like she’s always planned,” or “maybe she’s on the banks of the river Seine in a houseboat painting”…you would be partly right, I am still designing… although I did fall off the face of the planet for about one month of negotiating, documenting, and planning this historic home renovation.The fact is, I am still catching up on sleep;)

We are embarking on a grand new project over here at PinkPianos design…and outside of having beaucoup design work in Los Angeles to dive into…I have found a sweet little project in my home town of Louisville, KY.

At the moment, I am preparing architectural plans and drawgins for the City’s approval. As it turns out, the home that we are buying is in a quaint historic neighborhood…meaning there are many charming and quaint guidelines about what can and cannot be built.

Here is how the how the front porch looks now along with a bit of inspiration for how we hope it may look soon.

I hope you will come along for the ride! and share your opinions and insights with me on this renovation.

Posted in Interior Design | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Organic Modern Residence Restyle

By | Published January 20, 2013

Some homes are really fun to work on. Some clients are very cool to work with. This project is both! I love the Spanish style architecture of the Alexander Residence. I found the clean palette of the all white walls enticing.

This project was all about working with the existing pieces that were functioning, then adding a simple modern organic decor elements like the coat rack above and the bench below. We also added the long and narrow denim runner and basket to store additional shoes or bags.

This gorgeous and modern mirror will be hung to the left of the coat rack.

This home is still a work in progress, but I couldn’t resist sharing a few more process pictures. I will have pro capture the true beauty in a few weeks with me.

I’m loving the glow that the x-base chrome lamp gives off in the corner of the living space.

I am proud of the custom walnut sofa wraps that I had made for this project. I have decided to carry them in my shop in a variety of hardwoods! I do think the walnut will be the most popular and love the dark wood with the blue printed pillows that we had custom made.

The blue and white fabric comes all the way from India and was the last on the roll, they are very special to me.

In keeping with the calm blue theme, we decided to paint an accent wall in the kitchen, which faces a mirrored backsplash that we are going to install. I can’t wait to see the pretty blue wall color reflected in the mirrored tiles.

These linen roller shades are a soft and clean touch to the room. I am so pleased with how the cream colored linen looks on the white kitchen walls. The metal and wood stools are a new addition as well. We noticed they are child friendly and do not wobble the way that some tri-pod stools do.

Since, natural wood is one of my favorite elements in design, so I’ve decided to offer this custom coat rack my shop too!  It is available in various lengths and hard woods (walnut is pictured here).

I will try to save the big reveal of this residence for when I have the pro photos and the mirrored backsplash installed.

Hope you all are having a fun and blissful new year!

 

Posted in Consulting, Interior Design | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Swedish Greys - a WordPress theme from Nordic Themepark.