Fun Friday ~ Soak Anyone?

Mimomoss Designs

And now for a long leisurely soak after a long hard week...

Ahhhhhh.................

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday's Room

Today, I have an update on the tweens' rooms... In room #1, the pendants are up!

This is Mike. He's my 'Chico' except much more grumpy...

Love them! The turquoise light will function as her night stand light. It has a remote so she does not have to get out of bed to turn it off.


I love the way the light casts onto the wall. This will be particularly striking at night.

Here is the room #2...

The fan is up. I love the hand carved blades but I do not like the color. They are supposed to be a white wash. Well, they are about as yellow as they can be. The white will pop off the purple ceiling. No worries ~ I will have them painted white and perhaps add some detailing to them but I will wait until the room has more of its furnishings to determine. The art, fabrics, and wallpaper are very important elements that won't be fully appreciated until installed. I'll decide then on the blades.

The jewelry armoire and desk are placed...

as are a couple of the accessories.

Patience, patience....

So far, the girls are loving their rooms. Of course, I worked very closely with the tweens on the designs. I think they, as do many adults, had difficulty seeing the forest through the trees. I love seeing them smile with each new addition. It completely makes my day!

So far, so good??

Conversations with Lauren

This is my daughter, Lauren, and I. She's my heart. Tonight we were having a conversation about a little girl in her school that has a rare form of cancer. The school is rallying around her and the family. It is both sad and inspirational at the same time. Sad for the little girl and her family ~ lovely to see the school as a whole providing emotional and financial support.

We speak occasionally about cancer as we have quite a bit of it ourselves in my husband's family. Grandma Tootie, Jim's mom, died one month after we got married from kidney cancer. One month after that, I was pregnant. Not only that, Jim's sister became pregnant three weeks after me. What are the odds of that??!! I firmly believe Tootie decided in heaven that she wanted more of her descendants on earth so she whispered into God's ear and voila!

Our talk about the little girl in her school naturally brought us to speak about Grandma Tootie. Lauren said, "I miss her." Lauren never met Grandma Tootie of course. I told Lauren that Grandma Tootie is with her every day watching over her. Lauren said, "I know, she tells me she loves me. I hear her voice in my head. Sometimes she helps me in school. She'll tell me answers in my head." "That's wonderful," I said. Wow! I thought.

This is not the first time Lauren has told me about such things. My dad died in 1989. We speak about him too. One morning Lauren said to me, "Grampa Bogdan came to see me." "Really," I said. "Yup, he came to me last night. He was there and I saw him. I saw him and I sat up in bed and smiled at him and he smiled back. Then I went back to sleep." "How did you know it was Grampa Bogdan?" I asked. "I just knew," she said. Wow!

I don't show Lauren my astonishment when we have these conversations. I'm just happy that we have them... and happy that she has conversations with our parents no longer with us. It makes me feel like they are truly watching over her especially when Jim and I are not right by her side. They are by her side. Wow!

Timeless Tuesday Number Twelve

Welcome to Timeless Tuesday #12! Today I celebrate one of my favorite designers ~ Barbara Barry.

Her signature style has unsurpassed elegance in my book. Her product designs are flawless. Each one of her designs seems to be a timeless classic. Take a look at some of her rooms...





Here is just a small sample of her products...




Always lovely, always timeless ~ Barbara Barry.

Now it is your turn to share your posts about classics or trends you hope become timeless...

1) Add your permalink below ~ not your blog's address in general but the specific post you want people to visit. To obtain the actual post link, click on the title of your post once you have published it and copy and paste the URL into Mister Linky.

2) Leave your name and say a couple of words to describe your post (e.g. "Coco Chanel suits" or "Classic interior design for children" or "Delicious meals in a snap."

3) Copy and paste the Timeless Tuesday logo button (on my right sidebar) to your Timeless Tuesday posts. This is a sure way for your readers to know you have joined in the party.

4) Link back to the host blog, that's me ~ Paula Grace Designs Blogspot Timeless Tuesday ~ so all the bloggers that joined the party will receive many interested visitors.

Monday's Method

Welcome to Monday's Method! This is the day of the week I answer interior design questions. Today we have two for the price of one :) Sweet Sheila (wonderfully sweet ~ she's the type I'd hug upon meeting!) of the lovely blog, Note Songs, writes in with this question...

Hi Paula,

Well, I got to thinking about us asking you questions, so I will. My living room is still a work in progress. I love my Ralph Lauren sofa. It was a discontinued line and we got a fabulous deal. Anyway, I have two winged back chairs covered in a tapestry fabric that I was going to have recovered. I've changed my mind and am going to keep my beloved wings and put them in another room. I'm going to be on the lookout for new chairs for the living room. Well, to make my long story short, I would love an accent color for some pillows on the sofa and am having a hard time deciding. The walls are painted a soft mossy green, I made my drapes in here and like them. I have a center entry with the living room on one side and dining room on the other and this color of green is on both walls. The drapes are the same also just a different beaded trim. I'm not finished with the wall behind the sofa either. I'm thinking of hanging a couple of small prints on either side of the big picture or maybe hanging some little wall shelves I have.Any advice you can give me would be great.

Be a sweetie,

Shelia ;)

The photo at the top if of the beloved Ralph Lauren sofa. Here are a few more photos to give you a sense of Sweet Sheila's style...

Sheila, you have a lovely traditional style. The color palette of reds and greens is classic. Beautiful! I see how an an accent color may be a bit tricky. If you accent in a darker green, it may look a bit Christmasy all year round.

My choice for an accent color would be blue. Fabrics that incorporate a hue already in the room and blue would be an excellent choice. Here are a few samples from Robert Allen / Beacon Hill to illustrate...

The two are a rich, highly saturated blue. The left is a Beacon Hill fabric ~ Arno in the colorway Berry Blue. This fabric has the red and the cream of the sofa. The right one is from Robert Allen ~ Aigrette in Navy ~ but also incorporates a nice green hue. Note that the patterns are an organized geometric yet traditional. This would be a nice contrast to the curvy motif on the sofa fabric.



These two are a medium tone blue. The left is from Robert Allen ~ Barnyard in Twilight. It incorporates the green and the cream plus the toile-like motif would marry well with your style. The right is Betty in Navy. This is a lovely, sweet fabric incorporating all three color in the room (red, green, and cream) plus adds the blue.

With the addition of a blue, the accessories that you spoke about adding may incorporate blues. This will enhance the harmony in the room. You already have fabulous unity with style and color. Adding blue would bring in a pinch of diversity for added interest. How wonderful!

This is a French Country design I did for a lovely family. The color palette is yellow, red, blue, gold, ivory, and a hint of green. The pillows incorporate most of the colors. The green comes in the form of topiaries and lamps. What do you think? Do you like the way the pillows marry all the colors and then there is a different hue ~ green ~ in the lamps? That just gives the room a bit more interest. By the way, the lumbar and chair pillows are reversible. See how the chair pillow has an ivory background and the lumbar ones on the sofa has a gold background? Each has the other fabric on their flip side. This is an easy way to get more bang for your buck. You may change out the room based on season or your mood by simply flipping the pillow over.

I hope this helps Sheila! I'd love to see what you do!!

Jane also writes in...

Hello, Paula --

How kind of you to offer decorating help! I have a family room sofa that sits off center on the wall. I have a small group of large canvases I would like to hang on that wall ... do I center them on the wall or specifically over the sofa?

Thank you for giving some thought to my design dilemma.

Jane

This is a very good question. One that many struggle with. The art needs to be in relation to the sofa ~ meaning that canvases need to be centered over the sofa. Also, they should not sit to far above the sofa either. Take a look again at the French Country design above. See how the art follows the line of the sofa back? The art is in relation to the sofa. Here are some other examples from my portfolio...

Note the art centered over the sofa and practically sits right on the chair rail as these pieces are quite tall...

Again, not too far off the back and centered on the long side of the L shaped sectional...

This vignette has the art as the focal point. Literally all other pieces surround the art.

Centering it over the sofa may then leave the room feeling off balance. You may need to augment by adding a tall furnishing(s) to the side of the sofa that has more exposed wall to provide balance. This would be an asymmetrical balance done by the eye. In the last vignette ~ the floor lamp was placed first. There was a wall expanse to the left of the art so I added the large scale vase. The lamp backed by the ivory silk drapes is nicely balance by the large scale textured ivory floor vase.

There you go Jane! I hope that helps. Let me know how it turns out.

If you have interior design questions, don't hesitate to leave it in a comment. If you have questions about a specific room or space, email me a couple of pictures to paula@paulagracedesigns.com. Please note 'Monday Method Question' in the subject line.

I am linking with these fabulous blogs. Each deserves a nice, long visit...

Monday ~
Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Little Red House Mosaic Monday

Tuesday ~
A Soft Place to Land DIY Tuesday

Thursday ~
The Shabby Chic Cottage Transformation Thursday

Saturday ~
Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special

See you tomorrow for the Timeless Tuesday link party!

Fun Friday ~ Dressing Rooms

For Fun Friday, I thought a good time would be had by all taking a look at the variety of dressing rooms out there. So naturally I tapped Architectural Digest on the shoulder for elegant and over the top ones. I was not disappointed. Just take a look at the one at the top. The restoration architecture was done by Richard Manion and the interior design completed by Craig Wright. Wow ~ that is quite a decadent vanity. A well placed sun lamp and one would tan from head to toe.

There are a few rooms that belong to the famous in this post. Can you guess whose dressing room this is?? Take a look at the colors. Who do they remind you of?? He also likes blue.... If you guessed Ralph Lauren, you are correct.

Another famous person. This time a songbird. This lovely creation by designer Mario Buatta is the dressing room of Mariah Carey. I think it needs a chaise with a small drink table. It certainly has the space for it!

Isn't this one magnificent?! The chandelier and lounge give it an extra special pop. I adore the piece in the middle. Love the floor. This is radial balance in all its glory! Samual Botera did a wonderful job designing this room.

Oo la la for Jackie O. Yes this room belonged to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. She remodeled it as soon as she moved into the White House. Even though this room was done decades ago, it really is quite timeless.

And now for the classic elegance of Barbara Barry. I love everything about this space ~ the palette, the furnishings, its gentleness ~ magnificent!

Last but not least...

Can you guess who this room belongs to?? Another songbird ~ this time a man. The designer is Monique Gibson.... Yup, Sir Elton John. He has a room just for all his artful glasses. I have seen shoe closets like this but I must say, this is my first glasses one. It just makes me smile :)

Do you have a favorite? They're all wonderful in different ways. I must say though ~ I can see myself living in Barbara's room most of all.

Next week, I'll have more pics of the tweens room in process. Stay tuned...

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday's Room(s) ~ A Couple of My Own

For this Thursday's Room, I thought it would be fun to show you a project I am working on. The designs are done ~ they loved them. Furnishing and fabrics are either here or on their way. The work has begun! Remember the tweens rooms I wrote about? I wrote about it on Facebook and twitter for sure. I love doing kids' rooms (although, if I call a tween a kid, they may roll their eyes:) I'll show you a bit of each room's design. The reveal won't be for a bit as we are waiting on wallpaper and one piece of furniture (boo hoo). Both rooms will complete in June and I'll post before and after pictures.

The first room is for a chic young lady. She told me her color palette ~ turquoise and red ~ I added ivory and a pinch of chocolate. The Robert Allen fabric at the top is in her room. Here are a couple more also from Robert Allen...



Here is her furnishings plan...


And a couple pieces going in her elegant, sleek room...



Both from Worlds Away.

Right now ~ the room looks like this...

At least someone is enjoying the mess...


The color palette the other tween chose is vibrant ~ I love it too! The girls are very different, which their rooms will reflect. The ceiling will be purple. She also likes landscapes so naturally I turned to Byron Jorjorian for inspiration. Here is a piece of art from Byron that will be in the room (among others)...


Here is her furnishings plan...


She was very clear about wanting a comfortable seating area. Well my dear ~ you have one ~ a very comfortable chaise. Here are some of her fabrics...



The first two are from Robert Allen ~ the flower one is from Silk Loom.

Now for a couple of furnishings...



The lamp is from Arteriors; the etagere ~ Worlds Away.

And here is the room now ~ yikes...

You have a glimpse of the purple ceiling.

Truthfully, I had so much fun doing these rooms that I am as excited to see them done as the tweens are. I love that part of what I do! The anticipation of the full reveal ~ I get excited every time.