Richloom's Invigodk in Confetti

I received all kinds of emails about the fabric that reader Banks used on her pelmet box:


Banks also used the Invigodk pattern to line her freshly painted china hutch.


She also had some of the fabric laminated and upholstered her now kid-proof dining chairs!

Banks was kind enough to hunt down the maker and name of the fabric. It's milled by Richloom, called Invigodk in Confetti. She bought her yardage at Forsyth Fabrics in Atlanta. For those of us not local, the fabric is available online at Orien Textiles.


And in related news, I found myself in Pier 1 a few days ago and remembered that Banks had mentioned that there was a chair there in the Invigodk pattern.


I think it's pretty. Even though I think you lose a bit of the pattern with the tufting, I still like the details.


It's a pretty small slipper chair and would be perfect for an apartment or dorm room. Or a nursery. It's on sale for $199.


Thanks for all the investigative work, Banks!

pve design

Patricia van Essche hardly needs an introduction in the world of design blogs, but I'm thrilled to welcome her as the latest LGN sponsor!


It has been a joy getting to know Patricia a little better as we've emailed each other over the past few weeks. She seems like such a lovely person, inside and out!


Here's a little about pve, her work and what inspires her, in Patricia's own words...

Some favorite images of mine are actually from when I first began to draw...which my Mom has. I never stopped drawing, painting, illustrating - I have always been passionate about art and other creative types. One thing I wished I had learned early on is that style is not in copying, it is finding what works, what is unique and what comes easy. If things are forced and they do not come naturally, then it usually leads to disaster.
That said, it all takes tremendous courage to be different, to stand out, to be unique. I was always drawn to "lifestyle" - be it a farmer, or a prince, deep down we are all people with hearts. I love those that live a life full of passion, making a house a home....on and on.

Having worked for Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and other top designers really helped me to see how they took their vision and made it a brand.

I see lifestyles in my "pictures" - I love fine lines, a bit of wit, color and to laugh at life.
My three kids and husband keep me motivated and are great critics when I am knee deep in artwork. I am juggling my work and my family and some days are wonderful and then there are the occasional blips which keep me firmly grounded. I think "faith" and "hope" always guides me to stay the course with my work. I work from home and there always seems to be something to handle, a broken dishwasher today, a pile of laundry the next and a pile of artwork too! I feel totally blessed with a full life and the gift to do my art every day.
(To those of you who are waiting for work, please know how I value each of you.)

I can just see me like Lucille Ball, eating the chocolates on the conveyor belt....well I cannot eat my artwork, but I can draw pretty fast. :)
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Patricia's beautiful work has a very loyal following, and rightly so! Wouldn't you love to own an original pve design? I think a custom illustration of a home or interior with special meaning would be an amazing gift for a loved one!


Please contact Patricia here for rates. And don't forget to check out her blog, if it's not already a daily read.

Thank you, Patricia!!

Rethinking My Bookshelves

As much as I like the look of books arranged by color, this images has me seriously rethinking my approach to bookshelves...

I would love to have a colorful library just like this.



Image via See Saw Designs.

Dining Room Projects, Part II

Next up in the dining room project tutorials...

I had a very old (and not particularly special) oil painting that I got for half a Euro at a flea market in Brussels. I thought it would look nice in my dining room because it's mostly neutral, but has a little pop of orange-red. It really needed a frame though, and since European canvases are not the same size as American standard sizes (and it's old, I think before there were standard sizes), I knew I would have to get a custom frame.

These two options from Michael's were along the lines of what I wanted - small and somewhat understated. Guess how much though, even with a 60% off sale? $175 each. For just a little bit of moulding! Custom framing is crazy expensive.


I saved myself all that cash by picking up a set of these framing slats on that same trip to Michael's. There are several finishes to choose from and then it's just a matter of buying the correct length and width slats for the painting. With my coupon, the frame was $10 total.


I stopped by Home Depot on the way home and picked up an 8-foot length of decorative moulding for $5. I liked the rope moulding (below) a lot and it worked well for this project because it was the exact width as my Michael's frame.

When I got home I assembled the frame according to the package directions, with a little bit of wood glue. While that dried, I laid out my moulding on top of the frame and marked the corners off. {Note: I probably could have used a miter box here, but I'm lazy and knew I was going to fill the corners}


Then I just used my very favorite $7 coping saw and easily made the corner cuts. I used wood glue to attach the pieces to the frame front and then filled in the gaps in the corners with wood filler.


Once everything was dry, I spray painted the new frame with Krylon's Grecian Stone spray paint. I was going to gold leaf the frame, but I ended up really liking the gray in the room. The frame is not museum-quality, but it was only $15.



Next project! Who doesn't love a good gourd lamp? I found this one at TJ Maxx on major clearance for $4.50. I think it was so cheap because the brand is Amy Coe, which I'm pretty sure is a nursery line? Yeah, so were not talking about a Christopher Spitzmiller lamp here, but I thought the shape was pretty.


First, after taping off the cord, I spray painted only the base gold.


After letting that completely dry, I taped off the gold and spray painted the body of the lamp a nice peacock blue color from Sherwin Williams' clearance aisle. Unfortunately the color is much less teal in actuality, and more of a true blue, but I think it's fine in the dining room.


I finished off the lamp with a few coats of Wipe On Poly in the gloss finish, to really shine the lamp up.



The last project to share today was really simple. I reupholstered the drop seat of this little side chair with some leaf green linen that was pretty, but a little boring as it was.


So I taped off stripes with some frog tape and spray painted the seat (a la Eddie Ross) with the same blue that I used on the lamp.



I think the stripes are a fun pop of pattern in the room! And they don't look spray-painted on, even up close.



I'm off to do some fabric shopping with my mom and sister, who are in town visiting for the week. Hope you're having a great Tuesday!

Dining Room Projects, Part I

There were lots of fun little projects from my dining room redo that I have been anxious to share with you all! I started writing this post thinking that I could get it all in one long entry, but I think this is going to be a two-parter!!

First up, I've had these little brass and lucite lamps for a long time now. They are sort of a little too...fancy for my taste, but I liked the scale in the room.

When I found these square lamp shades at Target, I knew I could make the lamps work.

I wanted the shades to have a little color and texture so I ordered some grasscloth wallpaper samples to use for covering the lamp shades. But, thankfully, the order got messed up, and I was able to find this grasscloth for $3/yd at a fabric store in Philadelphia (BTW, if you live anywhere near Philly, please go check out Fabric Row! It's one amazing fabric store after another, with great deals to be had.)


{And yes, that is my big baby belly popping into the shot! Whoops.}

This was a really simple project. I just cut a strip of the grasscloth long enough to wrap around the entire shade. Then I used my trusty fabritac glue to attach the grasscloth, one side at a time, pressing and smoothing all the while.


Once all the side were covered, I trimmed the grasscloth down all the way to the edge of the shade.


Then I glued pale aqua cotton twill tape trim (also from the fabric store) very carefully around the outside perimeter of the shade first. Make sure your lines are straight and uniform here.


After some drying time, I carefully glued and folded down the edges.


Pretty, right? I think black trim would have been very pretty next to the grasscloth, but I felt like I needed the aqua with my orange shelves...


Speaking of the orange shelves...


These ugly shelves were freebies. To freshen up the brass rails on the side, I VERY lightly sprayed the metal with some Krylon gold metallic spray paint. Then I wiped down the shelves really well for a super clean surface for the contact paper to adhere to.

I randomly found about 3/4 of a roll of this croc contact paper on eBay. It is pretty expensive if you buy it new, but the rolls are HUGE and you could easily put up the remnants of the roll on eBay after you finish, like my seller did. Or split the roll with a friend.

{PS if you're looking for snakeskin, zebra or leopard contact paper, check out this much cheaper site}

This project couldn't have been easier - just trim to size, peel and stick!

I think it's a fun pop of color and texture. The shelves still need some better styling, but I like the piece a lot.

The artwork above the shelves was seriously lacking. In my storage I had two frames from an Aarons Brothers sale that were the perfect candidates for this project from Martha's new Crafting book.

The directions in the book (pg. 183 - can't find them online) aren't very specific. And there aren't templates for the patterns in the back of the book, so I was a little nervous about doing the pattern myself.

But it was actually pretty easy to just eyeball the design. The basic idea is to use bias tape trim to make a pretty border for picture mats. All you really need is a ruler, pencil, glue and a paint brush. And the bias tape, of course, which is available at fabric stores. Martha also carries a couple of colors in her ribbon line for Michaels, though you pay a premium for those! My trim was $0.30 a yard on Fabric Row.


I used a great paper glue called Zip Dry. It dries perfectly clear and if you mess up and go outside the lines, it rubs off sort of like rubber cement. Make sure to apply with a brush for a thin and flat application. And work in small sections because the glue dries pretty fast, as the name suggests.


Again, the basic idea is to draw a few straight lines with a pencil to act as a guide as you glue and smooth down the bias tape. The only sort of tricky part is the folding on the corners, but that got much easier after a few tries.


Here's the finished result. I decided to use a peacock blue and a chartreuse green and I love the contrast.


I was able to put together this entire wall (lampshades, orange shelves and trimmed out frames) in an afternoon. So please don't let my long and probably confusing instructions stop you from trying these projects!! They really are easy, I promise.



Come back for a few more projects on Monday. Have a GREAT weekend! Happy Halloween!