Cabbage White

I have paint colors on the brain today. The landlord is paying to have the whole brownstone professionally painted, which is awesome (and was a bit unexpected to be honest). I'm just so, so glad I don't have to paint the 20' high stairwell on the parlor floor myself (YIKES!).

I'm probably going to go with a very pale gray for all the common area walls (I LOVE Benjamin Moore's Pale Oak), but I'm super-duper tempted by Farrow and Ball's Cabbage White. It's this really bright, clear greeny-bluey white. I think it would be so fresh!

image from Lonny

Off to grab some sample pots to throw up on the wall this morning before the painter needs my final choices. I'll be sure to share on instagram (my handle is @jennykomenda).

Bedroom Planning

Thanks for your patience with my light posting this week. It's been a rough one, but we're on the mend and I think this weekend we'll be ready to get out and get some desperately needed fresh air!

I loved reading your feedback on the dresser handles. I think I'm going to try salvaging the zigzag handles and see how I like them when they are nice and shiny again. Lots of people commented that they're sick of seeing ring pulls everywhere, which surprised me! I think they are such a classic design element I doubt I could ever get sick of seeing them.

Another thing I won't get sick of? Tufted headboards! :) I've been working on my bedroom redo. We have this bed still, but really our bedroom is too small for a footboard. I'd rather trade that floor space in for a narrow bench this one (DIY on the way!).

House and Home

Since I'm trading in our bed frame for just a headboard I think I want to do a tufted version here. I'm debating between lots of small tufting...

domino

Or more spaced out tufting with a rounded shape.

domino

Either way I'm planning on doing velvet. Maybe leather on the bench?

I spied this green headboard on Pinterest yesterday (follow me here). I'm in love! Wouldn't this color be amazing?

this month's House Beautiful

Here's hoping today is our last sick day! Lots to get done!

I hope you have a great one! xoxo

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Seeking Simplicity

I love this kind of simplicity in a room. Quiet, but definitely not boring.

Don't you love those demure little frames on the botanical series? Do you think these are custom frames?

And I like how the books are stacked on the shelves here. Also loving the little side table in front of the bookcase. And animal print is welcome in any and all of my rooms.

How was your weekend? Poor little Evie is sick - she's very congested and is having a hard time keeping food down. I'll admit that yesterday was not the most glamorous Mother's Day, being covering in spit up and rocking a very sad little one most of the day. The nice thing was we all had an excuse to take it easy this weekend - lots of naps and movies. It was awesome.

A Sectional I Could Get On Board With

Let's just face it. Sectionals are more for function and comfort than for looks.

While I still prefer a pair of sofas, there's nothing like a little roll arm and kick pleat action to make a sectional beautiful. Sarah Gilbane is a genius.

PS Check out the mirrored wall! They're everywhere!

Apartment Inspiration

In between taking care of kids, working and blogging, I like to find time to dream about decorating our next place. As you can imagine, that ends up being about 0.005 seconds per day.

I'm starting fresh with our home decor (good for me (and you!), bad for husband). I love to change up the fabrics in our home often (pillows, drapes), so this go-round I'm making all the foundation pieces super neutral - gray, white, black or beige for the rugs, sofas, chairs and tables and many of the case goods (though, I still love me a red credenza or two!).

The color will come in with lamps, art, painted mirrors, curtains, pillows, skirted tables, things that are easier (relatively) to switch up when I get bored.

Remember Domino Editor in Chief Debroah Needleman's apartment? Yeah, sort of like that. But a little more color thrown in, cause, you know, it's still me.

I'm not looking to copy the apartment exactly, but in case you are, here are some ways to achieve the same look:

1. Crate and Barrel's Petrie ($1599) or Custom Sofa Design's Paramaunt (starting at $599)

2. PB's Henley rug (on sale now!)

3. CB2 Peekaboo coffee table ($249)

4. Pretty Pillows
John Robshaw for a splurge (this one's on my list)

Fabricadabra for affordability

5. Bergere chairs (don't forget to check eBay and Craigslist first). I love how these chairs look in velvet.

6. Python tray (12"x19", $38)

image via MA Belle; originally from Domino

7. Don't forget the baby grand piano. Oh, yeah, I would do it. And my neighbors would hate me.

Florals

I LOVE floral fabric. Like, really love it.

I know it's not everyone's bag, so I thought I would post some images of vintage or vintage-inspired floral fabrics used in big and small ways in different rooms. It's not always overly feminine.

If you like your florals loud and proud, try using them on some bigger projects, like upholstery, drapes or a skirted table:

Palmer Weiss


Joe Nye


House Beautiful


Kate Spade


domino







Jim Thompson


via Absolutely Beautiful Things

Maybe you're not so bold? How about a floral pillow or two?

style court




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Kristen Panitch


style court








domino




lonny

{Psst! I've got yards and yards of floral fabric in my stash that I'll be putting up for sale on my side bar today or tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that.
Post coming soon...}

Good Bones, Great Pieces

I am really loving the blog Good Bones, Great Pieces, which is authored by a mother and daughter design team. (hello, dream!)

Together they decorated this beautiful little apartment in Brooklyn Heights, which was recently featured in Traditional Home. You can read the article here. It's a good one, full of great tips.

I am so, so in love with this little settee from Mitchell Gold. I can never get enough of ticking stripes. That mirror is to die for. And the pop of yellow from the lamp is just perfection.

I think what I love the most about this apartment is that it doesn't look overly decorated. There is a sense of purpose and history with each piece and nothing is too matchy.

That gorgeous cream chair with the brown velvet piping above and below was a $25 Craigslist find.

White is such a good choice when painting furniture for small spaces.

I love the black matting in the framed art series above the bed.

And what a beautful vanity! I think it was clever to give the side table double duty as a vanity.

If you're not already reading the Good Bones, Great Pieces blog, you're really missing out.

Contact Paper "Wallpaper"

Another temporary wallpaper material? Contact paper!

I loved this project featured on Design*Sponge, and had planned on posting about it. And then Stephanie emailed me about my happy tape wall. She is so nice and has a lovely blog.

Check out her chevron wall tutorial here.

{Please note that Stephanie suggests using/removing the contact paper with a lot of caution on drywall. She says it works like a dream on plaster walls though. Good to know!}

Does anyone else have any experience with using contact paper as wallpaper? What are your tips?

Just to see what it would look like, I cut some strips of white contact paper for the backs of my bookshelves before they were relegated to the basement. Sort of fun, I think. And such an easy project because of the cutting guidelines on the paper backing.

Renovating a House in the City

I'm coveting this book, found via the awesomely talented and ever-creative Katy Elliott.

Who, incidentally, tweeted about the song that first plays when you click here. Both Evelyn and I love it, even and especially at 3:00 am.

hugs,
jenny

Master Bedroom in Rhode Island

The arrival of this baby is imminent (Michael is timing my contractions as I type this). There were plenty of false starts this weekend though, so we'll see when she actually decides to grace us with her presence!

My own bedroom is coming along, but it's not finished like I hoped it would be after this weekend. It's probably going to take another week or two to finish it now. As a consolation prize, I'll share photos of a bedroom I decorated earlier this year in Rhode Island. There hadn't been an opportunity to take the 'after' photos until recently. My INCREDIBLY talented photographer friend, Terese, took these photos for me. Seriously, Boston friends, if you need a last minute family Christmas card photo shoot, Terese is your gal. She is especially amazing with children.

Now for the room play-by-play.

The inspiration for this room began with this fabric from Calico Corners.

I love the colors - magenta, peacock blue and chartreuse!

My (unfortunately now retired) Boston seamstress sewed the lined and interlined pinch-pleated panels for $50 each - a total steal. I found her through craigslist, asked her for pricing and for pictures of her work. She was so great to work with.

The polished nickel curtain hardware was a sale find at West Elm. I love the bit of sparkle they bring. The woven shades were a clearance item at Home Depot.

The vintage love seats were a total eBay score. They are made by Henredon and are super high-quality. We got them both for $560 total. The existing green trellis fabric works well for now and my client has grand plans for reupholstering these gems at some point down the road.

The cream rug is from IKEA. The hanging pendant lamp is Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams. The large mirror on the wall to the right of the love seats is a vintage mid-century find from Craigslist. I love that mirror so much - it was hard to part with!

The artwork above the sofas is by Molly M. They are very affordable laser cuts. We framed the pieces in my favorite Target frames, which were painted out in magenta craft paint.

My client had a carpenter add a window seat and a seamstress made the seat cushion and skirt out of some fabric from JoAnns. The small black side table was a clearance find at Target.

The monogrammed linen pillow is from the Shabby Chic store and the green and peacock blue pillows are from Crate & Barrel.

I bought plain white fabric shades at the Christmas Tree Shoppe (which is very similar to a BigLots, for those of you not familiar) for just a few dollars each. The shades have a fun scallop detail at the bottom, which I loved. I simply used about a yard and a half (for two shades) of this fabric from Calico and glued on (Fabritac) the yardage directly to the existing fabric shade.

The headboard was something my client purchased on clearance from Pier 1 - it was a dark and heavy wooden piece. We wanted to add more fabric and texture to the room, so we simply added a 2x4 to square off the headboard,


and then wrapped it all up with an egg crate mattress pad (cheapest foam out there!) and batting and some peacock blue velvet and stapled everything into place.


Here's a 'during' shot from installation day:

And the 'after':

The bedding is Barbara Barry's 'Pearl', available here on great sale. My client found her entire set, brand new in the package, on eBay for about 1/5 the retail price. It pays to stalk eBay!!

The side table lamps are from Restoration Hardware (no longer available, though these are close), and the shades are custom silk from a local lighting shop.

The side tables are my favorite part of the room. We really wanted a pair of mirrored nightstands, but found that those are either cheapy looking or crazy expensive. So we went the DIY route and silver-leafed over some seriously ugly clearance side tables from Home Goods. I need to dig up the photos on this project and will do a separate post on that later.

The knobs are vintage lucite from eBay. The peony art is from the extremely talented photographer and etsy seller, Kari Herer. The black and white photo of pots (below) is from West Elm, currently on sale in stores for $30. The clock is from Pottery Barn.

This was such a fun project! A huge thanks to my wonderful Rhode Island client, Ms. K. And many, many thanks to Terese for the photos!

Okay, wish me luck! I'm just PRAYING that I go into real labor soon. I'm so DONE!!

lots of love,
jenny