Suzanne Kasler

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending the afternoon with 

Suzanne Kasler 

(along with 100 other designers). 

It was lovely to hear her thoughts that go into the interiors she designs.  She highlighted several pieces of her work including her own home from her book, 

Inspired Interiors. 

This is the entry to her home which she had faux painted stone on the walls...beautiful. She loves the idea of a non-traditional entry, I think this says 'welcome' immediately.

This really grabbed me, I love the runner on the stairs and the mix of art going up the stairs. 

Suzanne bought this lovely tapestry at the Paris flea market and rolled it up and stuffed in in a 'roll-on' suitcase to get home. It became the focal of her family room.

Love this corner, note the mix of art.

This is a fabulous corner that she designed with a John Saladino settee.  I love the screen.  I can imagine sitting and having a glass of champagne.

Suzanne loves stripes and you will see them in many of her designs.  If you will notice, many of her walls are white, but there is no sense of a 'white' room because of her use of textiles. 

This project SK worked with Keith Summerour Architects. This area sits above the living area and was open, the architect designed the lovely wall of windows to envelope the space...beautiful.

Notice again the stripes, I love this space.

Suzanne also adores the 'X' motif that she also uses in much of her design.

I am enamored with this room.  I don't know that I would have the guts.  Walls and drapes the same color, note the mix of chairs at the table...love that!  SK told the homeowner that if they did not like the color she would pay to have it changed.  

Of course they loved it!

I most definitely was inspired.  Her parting words were 'be true to yourself'.  Love that!

Thank you Suzanne, you are lovely and ooze with talent.  You inspire Me!

♥

Do you want to make your house a lovely home?

Contact MD for online or in person design!

A Gift for Moi?

There are so many gracious bloggers in blog land that occasionally have give aways. 

Tamara who pens Nest by Tamara

hosted a lovely give away by 

Molly Coddle who  produces a line of French and Italian tiles that can function as a trivet or decorative art piece. 

Very few times do I put my name in the hat but I liked Molly's work...

well guess what? 

I WON! 

I love the way Molly wrapped the gift...in burlap with a pretty ribbon and a sweet note!  

Be sure and go to Molly's website...

...and see her wonderful work.

Molly takes her love of France, Italy and photography and has created a line of decorative and functional tiles. You can purchase directly from her!

♥

Do you want to make your house a lovely home?

Contact MD for online or in person design.

Soho Loft NY

I have been to SOHO once in my life.  Enough time spent to know I could spend more time there.  Hey...can you say 'girls road trip'? I came across this lovely loft and thought I would share. 

Bright vibrant colors on a pale backdrop, perfection in my view.  An eclectic mix of goodness.  I spy me some tufting, you might recall I have a thing for it.

How about that mirrored screen?  The large scale theatre prints hung in gallery style brings balance to the screen and provide a great backdrop of colors.

Bird's eye view of vintage mixed with contemporary.

Don't see any toasters on the counters, thank goodness! I might style a wee bit though.

This has a cozy appeal..., a mixture of steel, wood, leather and fur!  

Hmmm, surprised you eh? Defining space in 'room like' manner, just what a loft needs. A lot of natural light wafting through the windows, although I might like something light blowing in the breeze. 

Clean!

What do you say friends....road trip?  Think we could find one of these little numbers to drop our things while we go out exploring and shopping and eating?

♥

Would you like your house to be a lovely home?

Contact MD for online or in person design.

Interiors by ABC Dragoo, NY, NY

Banquettes

 The old days of faux leather banquette's are gone.  

They are being featured everywhere out there in 'design land'.

Tracery Interiors

 Some are of the untraditional nature by using a love seat to give the feel of the banquette.

Other's are built in.

Fun fabrics.

How about a quaint space for reading or dining?

Extraordinary wine cellar, love the tufting.

Clean contemporary lines...

...or more traditional flare.

Making the best of a small space.

Elle Decor

This is my favorite....the sense of sitting in a tree house.

Another fabulous setting. As an aside, how about those windows and door?

I'm a sucker for tufting.

Tufting (again) draws me in..., great curvy sofa, not really a traditional banquette, but it has the feel with the table set close.

I spy black doors!

My sister's lovely space.  Perfect for sipping champagne!

♥

Do you want to make your house a lovely home?

Contact MD for online or in person design.

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Unless noted, all photos are from Houzz and Pinterest.

Project Monday

Well...really 2 Mondays

and every single day in between.

A little back story....

I spent many (30) years as a military wife and making the best of each place we lived.  A few times we owned, many times we leased and a couple of times, base housing.  In every situation (except on the base) I painted after getting the owner's approval.  I made my nest my own as best I could and there were many things that I knew were just 'temporary' so it was ok to deal with.  I realized the other day that I was still in military mentality.  We have lived in our home in GA for 3 years  now - the longest most of our tours were - and I realized I am not moving and what has been ok is not anymore, such as wall colors, upholstery (while I have done some - there's more to be done), cabinet hardware, etc. I don't have a custom built home so there are 'builder's grade' finishings on the home than need to be upgraded.

So here we are:

Door Painting for Dummies

These are just a few of the 23 that I did, 

well of course I miscounted and at first thought there were 'only' 18, and then I forgot a set of double doors, and a few other closet doors.  Oy.

I opted not to take the doors off since there was no way in jelly beans that I was going to get them back on...Mr. MD is gone (the best time to get these types of projects done...hehe). I just taped around the knobs and hardware.

a few things I learned....

1)  I got the Behr 'Black Forever' paint and the feller at the sales counter talked me into the one with the primer, don't waste your money, it goes on like Elmer's glue.

Ok so tell me which one has the primer and which doesn't?

EXACTLY.

You can't tell either? 

 Because they both look the same with one coat.  

2) My house has warm tones and I really wanted a black with a hint of brown so I got the SW 'Black Magic'.  By the picture above you can see the chocolate, once two coats are on honestly you can't tell the difference.  

Oh...and this is VERY important.

this stuff is worth it's weight in gold...

I got more than one spot on the carpet...imagine that?  It also take it off skin...and door frames....and tile!

2) don't use the canvas drop cloth because when you DO drip it goes right through right onto the carpet.  Lovely.

3) make sure to put your feet UNDER the drop cloth because then you don't step in a drip and then walk on your carpet.  Wonder how I knew that?  :) 

The bottom two pictures (above) are the master bedroom bath and I used 'Forever Black' (Behr) here, the rest of the doors are the SW 'Black Magic' (6991 all surface enamel).

4)  paint a single coat on each side, move on to another door or two, go back to the first door for a second coat. 

Let dry overnight and then go back for touch ups.

5) I used satin finish, watch your brush strokes, keep them long and follow the grain of the wood.  

I am really happy with how they turned out, lots of work (it took me over an hour for each door) but worth every stroke.

I also did the powder room vanity 

AND

a double vanity in the MB.

Tell me what you think.  

ADDENDUM August 2012

I have since painted all of my walls 

Sherwin Williams 7647 Crushed Ice.  

AND finished 7 more doors in the basement.  Whew!

What home projects are you up to?

♥

Do you want to make your house a lovely home?

Contact MD for online or in person design.

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