I love this French Country style chair that my client and I found at a local thrift store. We needed a simple piece for the entryway of her Mediterranean style home.  While the original black and white did pop to begin with, we wanted to alter it to make it a better fit with the home’s earth toned interior and I pictured it as a Scandinavian piece.

The blue gray paint by Dunn Edwards is called tarnished silver and the fabric is a gorgeous block printed linen from Deco Home, one of my favorite fabric sources in LA!

Surprise! I have been working on this piece for the longest time. I didn’t love the old finish on this all wood credenza. I found it visually heavy to look at and the top was in a less than perfect condition.

Initially, I had considered leaving some of the wood finish in tact, but gradually decided to commit to an heirloom white and black piece. I am finally finished and very pleased with the results.

Happy Friday~I hope you’re gonna have some fun tonight!

Summer is off to a productive start! After being the day of coordinator and stylist for fabulous Bat Mitzvah at the Four Seasons hotel….this became my next big design project!  I had worked with Marca, my client and neighbor on the fish tables in 2009 and this project had been in the works for a little while.

Marca has a gorgeous place and she wanted to get the look of Namibian blue granite around her fireplace and to create a focal point in the room. To achieve this finish I had to work in layers. Here is the mantle after one coat of silver metallic base and sponging the deepest blue shade.

Next, I added the midtone paint, which was grey. Then, I dabbed in the highlights in white. While the layers dried, I worked on a faux metallic finish on the ornate white carved pieces across her mantle.

On Day 2, I took all the sponging a little further and it was dramatic!

After that layer dried. I came back and balanced out the colors to achieve and even and beliveable finish like the one below.

Here is a glimpse of the final project! The faux metal pieces were softened with a gray-green glaze. I was pleased because everything turned out just as we had pictured it. In a few weeks, we will snap pictures with her mantle and the cool painting that hangs above it, so that you can see how the cool hues of blue granite really balance the warm yellow walls of her living room.

What do you think?

Happy Friday folks! Here is the latest and greatest…

from my Etsy shop with love.

Plus an artist, that I stumbled across, MaiAutumn and just fell in love. She is a May birthday girl (just like me), and is hosting a birthday sale.

Have a beautiful weekend!

These affordable nighstands were such a good find. Although the orignal finish was a little too dull for my teenage client:)

We updated the nightstands by painting them in a cooler tint called Barrier Reef by Dunn Edwards. I love this color sea foam green with a hint of gray. The semi-gloss finish makes this pair super chic and shiny!

I could not be happier with the way these look after a powder coat of paint.

I can not wait to see them in the room layered with pink paint, bubbled glass knobs, white sheer curtains, and small lucite lamps.

If you are considering doing custom paint on a pair of nightstands like these, I recommend buying them in the Country Brown which is the least expensive finish. Plus, they are well made. Then, you can do whatever you want with the color. They are a blank canvas, have fun with them!

I wanted to share with you a quick little redo that I have been saving in my studio until my show had wrapped up! Here it is before on the left. All white and totally retro…

and on the right, a whole new modern look! I just love the Corallo printed wallpaper by Cole and Son. The print kind of reminds me of trees. I used the gold and silver version, but here it is up close in red.

The Fornasetti Collection is something that has caught my interest for quite some time.
Happy Monday friends.

Heres is a picture of my new toy, the orbital sander!

I went for this one because up until now, I did all of my sanding with a palm sander. I liked the little mouse for tough to reach corners and still use it for that. The orbital sander buffs off layers of varnish fast and I like how it’s random orbit ensures that no tracks are left behind in the wood.

Since I love to refinish vintage and antiques I bought this with restoration in mind. I have had this American of Martinsville table for a while now. I knew that I wanted to restore the top and legs to show off the beauty of the rosewood and satinwood.

I even loved the nickel drawer pulls, which are unique to the piece. They could easily be re-plated but I decided to leave them for now.

The drawer looks shiny because I had just applied a fresh coat of wax!

It is my newest piece in shop!

I am so glad to be back from our little excursion. I will post trip pics on Tumblr later today.

Happy Monday folks!

Remember when I told you, that I fell in love with something other than a dress?

I literally noticed Swarm last week when I bumped into one of these chairs at Anthropologie. I became instantly enamored by this inventive furniture, which for me is like a dream come true! I felt like shouting in store, look everybody there’s a cloud on this chair!

Then, I did some digging around online. As it turns out, Swarmhome conceived by Leslie Oschmann is a home furnishings and accessories studio based in the Netherlands. Just look as this charming applique dresser she has created. I think I’m actually blushing.

Not only does Leslie update furniture, but she retouches vintage paintings by adding patterned papers and fabric.

I just love this next picture of the whole collection of chairs made by laminating paintings onto the surfaces. I wouldn’t mind taking home the dog as well.

Bow wow! Seriously.

Well, I’ve been working on this Little Red dresser all week! While, I liked her charm and character, I wanted to create a more feminine piece. Plus, she was really banged up!

I opted for a dusty violet paint color that I mixed by hand. I also taped of all of the iron detailing and buffed it gold using Rub n’ Buff. I prefer the antique gold because it is less shiny!

The piece already had great curves. Wanna peak inside the drawer?

I found these knobs at Anthropologie and chose them for the shape, color and texture. There are tiny bumps on each one, which kind of reminds me of a sea urchin! This picture shows how plum-y she can look depending on the light.

I’m still workin’ on her. What do you think of the new shade, is it a keeper?

So, I bet you would’ve never guessed that I’ve been hiding out in my studio all week, since I’ve been back, working on this vintage, soon to be antique, Secretary’s Desk. When I got it, it was a sight for sore eyes! My neighbor thought that I would enjoy restoring it and fixing it up more than he would, so…I got to work!

I loved the shape of this piece especially. I thought of a dark wood Jacobean desk with shiny gold knobs, I had seen a while back.

Inside there is plenty of built-in storage, aplace to hold papers, letters, books, a envelopes. For a stationery lover or a writer, this would be a dream!

I almost put shiny gold knobs here, but when I came across these brass pulls, I changed my mind. I had to include this photo because of the blue light in the background. I buffed and shined the surface of the wood with Howards Feed in Wax. It is a natural way of sealing wood and does not emit any harsh fumes. The wax simply penetrates the grain of the wood and hardens. Then, the surface can be polished to a high shine! I prefer this method of finishing wood these days.

Overall, the color of the desk is dark, rich, and stately; but in direct sunlight the stain becomes warm allowing the wood grain to stand out.

Why don’t they make more beautiful carved wooden furniture these days?

I would buy it;)