Painted Ceilings

Back in the day when I was a child of the 80's we had painted ceilings. Not white mind you , but the same color as the walls. Though back then most of the colors were a coffee and cream color or something pastely not the bright or dark hues we do now.

In time the trend was to paint the room a color and paint the ceiling white. Which works really well. My whole house is painted in that manner.

This spring I will repaint my bedroom and living room and I'm thinking that there is no reason to keep the same theme of colored walls and white ceilings going. My friend had her place painted a dark taupe and the ceiling the same color but a shade lighter, and it looks AMAZING. Granted she has high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows, unlike myself, so that's probably why she can do a dark color.

I have been collecting these images form around the web for a while, if one of them belongs to you please let me credit you. I think I might venture into painting my ceiling a complimentary color or even a lighter shade of the same color. If I had the ability I might even try the painted stencil on the ceiling, although I think it looks best with very simple walls.

What do you think? will this be a deterrent in this market if I decide to sell the house and my ceilings are something other than white?

How amazing are these examples, I esp. love the one that looks like its a mosaic, I first thought that someone tiled the ceiling. That's dedication.

Love to hear from you all  on all and any subject, comments make my day.

Jayson Home and Garden

Before the holidays I went to brunch with a couple of girlfriends. We decided to hit up Jayson Home and Garden afterwards.

This store is always amazing, the displays and furniture constantly changing. I love this place in the spring when they have the outdoor garden plants out already. This time around the theme was christmas, obviously, but a country christmas. I snapped a couple of pics with my phone so sorry the quality is crappy but you get the idea.

They have my favorite chair in a raw linen with nailhead trim, not like I can shell out 1,900 for a chair but hey, they have it. When you sit in and speak it sounds as though your speaking through a cardboard megaphone. The sound vibrates in your ears, it's really surreal.

What a cool concept with the brass pom pom flowers. To make an impact you have to put up a bunch of these on a wall. I wonder if there is an easy way to make these yourself? I think I feel a project coming on. 

If anyone has any good suggestions on how to make these, please feel free to comment. I always love reading your comments, they make my day.

Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble -Shakespeare

Halloween has never been my FAVORITE holiday but with the influx of non-kitchy decor and I'm starting to like it more than for it's doorbell ringing madness!

I think this year I'll get in the mood and paint my nails and toes in the fab colors from NARS, although purple has always been a staple for me, I don't have this one from NARS yet. And maybe I can order the silk scarf in time for Sunday - although I can see myself wearing it through the season indefinitely. 

1. Skull ring - I know its pretty pricey but a girl can dream right!
2. NARS colors in Versailles and Purple Rain
3. Skull votive - These are pretty large but how cool would they look scattered along the pathway to your door or on a table scattered among other decor, or food.
4. Skull Candle - Don't hate me cuz I like skulls, they just evoke a more grown up halloween instead of pumpkins everywhere. I bet this smells very musky and heavy.
5. Black crepe paper wreath
6. Crackle Balls Lighting - This looks like a full moon, I bet you can use this for a bunch of other occasions too.
7. Vintage Skull Print - BlackBaroque has a bunch of different designs but you know my thing with skulls and all.
8. Dark moody flowers, like flowering cabbage, black calla lilies, monkey tails and ebony leaves - I help my mom doing flowers for weddings so it rubs off.
9. Bat Bunting - How fun!
10. Silk scarf - I couldn't decide which one I liked best, there are several that struck my fancy.

Hope you find some inspiration here to make your own spooky chic halloween.

Pipe Dreams

Maybe I'm late on this trend but I've been keeping an eye on this for a bit wondering if you can pull it off and it not look homemade but chic. I have come to the consensus that it's pretty plausible that it can be chic if used sparingly. There isn't one piece that stands out more than the rest, I love them all, but I don't think that you can do the whole house in this style. Just too much. Now if only I could get my hands on some  beaten old wood and some old pipes, that would be fantastic. Add that to my list of to do...

Rue the day!

At least I hope you won't have to rue the day you missed checking out rue magazine. It launched its premiere issue this week, unfortunately there is only an online version but I can still pull up my chair with a latte and flip through the pages with my mouse. Here are a couple of my favorite spreads and color combos - the navy and gold I'm lovin' that combo!

Market after the Street Market

After we came from the Randolph Street Antique Market we went and got some lunch nearby at Market. I had never been there before but the food was delicious. We had a tuna tartar with crispy wontons and rare tuna and spring rolls which were ok but the bomb were the truffle french fries. I wish I didn't feel stupid taking picture of the food cuz the fries man they are something to write home about. They come in this cone that has two little cups one with ketchup and the other with something I call magic sauce. Yum it was so good, they are just the right kind of crispy and salty and soft inside, everything you want from a gourmet french fry and they have truffle oil on them. Hence the name truffle fries.

Ok so here is a pic I pilfered from their site of the tuna and one with the fries in the background. (wipe drool of chin)

And here is a pic of their awesome roof top, imagine what fun it would be to be up here at night with the chicago skyline on a nice summer night.

But what I really wanted to showcase was the magnificent tile work that was done in the basement on the way to the restrooms. The hallway was done in a long narrow tile and the wood covered the walls and ceiling but at the end of the hallway there was an alcove made of Carrera marble that Im not sure if it comes in this shape or you need someone to lay this way, but wow what a  statement it makes. 

Can I sing "LOVE IT", makes me want to run my hands over it. Although I don't know if its practical inside the home so many peaks and all must be a Be-atch to clean and all. But then again when is anything that's done in a commercial space practical for the home. It's the wow factor that makes you want to come back to certain places just for the ambiance.

Oh the lights in the hallway, they aren't just normal lights they are x-rays of body parts. It looks cools except I have no clue why or how it ties into the rest of the restaurant? Go figure. Anyhow if you are ever visiting Chicago I highly recommend a visit to Market, if you want to skip the crowd go in the day, at night it gets pretty busy as it is a bar and lounge.

Antique Market in the heart of Chicago

Sorry I was away but summer had us pretty busy so I hope I can play catch up now with some of the things that we were up to.  A couple of weekends ago we went to the Randolph Street Antique Market, which happens once a month on Randolph in the heart of Chicago.  There is an assortment of junk and treasure depending on who you ask, but one thing that my friend and I both thought was true was that the prices were pretty fair for an antique market in Chicago.  Usually things are soo overpriced that I feel like I'd rather go out and buy the thing brand new and save myself some money instead. Granted there were a few things that were WAY overpriced. Like an edged tin 7' mirror that the guy wanted $1400.00 for, and he wouldn't budge. Not even one bit. No sale on that one.

But then there was a vender that was selling letters from signs that were for a pretty good price. I bought a few stainless steel ones for $2. a pop, and she had brass ones that were about 8" for $12. She also had a couple of moroccan tables I wish they were a foot smaller or if I had the room for a side table that big, sigh... need a bigger space.

Then there was this great cart although it was pricey but I can see someone putting  stuffed animals into it or if you had a large enough bathroom a bunch of colorful towels. What might be other ideas, I'd love to know what you would put into or do with it. 

Also there was a vender that had an old work table, I can see that as someones new workspace with a sleek laptop and high modern stool or maybe if you had a large enough foyer that can serve as the entrance table or even a buffet in a dining room. There are endless possibilities. She also had old railway lights that she was selling with the blue glass and she had a few that were in other color glass as well, although I don't remember which color those were. No matter, they were way to pricey for me. 

Check out these Chanel doors, I don't know where they came from but they were heavy. That might work nicely mounted behind a bed as a headboard on a dark painted wall possibly? Any other suggestions?

We ended the day with an impromptu jam session, Ari had spied some drums a xylophone and a little stool and once she started she roped my friend into playing along with her while she sang. She started to get a crowd of people checkin' her out, I mean wouldn't you watch if there was a kid singing and playing with no abandon. I should have put out a hat for some change, cuz I ended coming home with the xylophone in the end. 

At the end of Sept is the last Randolph Street Market for this year, they start again next year and if your here you should check it out; treasures/junk, food, and music all with a backdrop of Chicago city skyline.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Pantone Fall Color Forecast

I live by Pantone colors. I love picking through the Pantone picker to decide on a color. It's not to say that the clients always have the extra money in their budget to print with spot colors, but I like picking through those first and then changing them out to process color system after. Sorry for the shop talk.

So when Pantone each year comes out with their forecast for the year I always take notice. I mean not only does Pantone set trends in advertising, this reaches far more – to fashion, interior, design, etc...

What do you think, anything strike your fancy? Sometimes we think meh, but after seeing the combos gel a bit, I can see myself using those colors.

What do you all think, can you see yourselves using these colors in your next home project, if so I would love to know which ones and where.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Botanic Garden Antique Show

This saturday my girlfriends and I, along with our kiddies, went to the Botanic Gardens in Glencoe. It's a beautiful garden by itself but this weekend was the antique show and sale. Lets just say, I probably won't be coming back for the antiques anytime soon, or ever, but I want to come back to the gardens again when everything is in full bloom.

The antiques were for the most part, pretty mehh. And pricy$$$$$. There were a couple things that I took photos of that were a bit unique but even the more modern things were way too overpriced. I think I'll stick to the thrift stores and Broadway Antique Mall instead.

These were a few that caught my eye.

A great idea for any type of sports paraphernalia, maybe old football helmets, the ones that used to be leather, or golf shoes granted the shadow box would be thicker but I think it could work. 

I don't know for sure if that perforated looking egg is a garden stool, it looks a little fragile to sit on. The orchids, well they are just plain lovely, but the shell box that they were in was priced at $750.00 sorry, I think I'll pass. 

This installation has to be my favorite, for the kites. I believe that those are a permanent fixture in the gallery space and the table might have been temporary.  This would work if you had a large skylight in your home or maybe a sunroom, how pretty would that look with the filtered light coming through? 

Overall, it was a wonderful saturday, time spent with friends was worth it even though nothing was of particular interest or affordability.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

I should not laugh at this but my grandma got her drivers license taken away, for good reason. I swear the last time I was in the car with her, and she had a license still, I was gripping the handle until my knuckles turned white. So yeah, I can kinda relate and I think this quote is funny.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Steel Drum style in the Windy City

My awesome friends, Ann & Vince, have a house in with a back deck. When they bought the house they intended on tearing down the deck and making a huge multi-level wraparound porch. It seemed that the deck always went on the back burner as they got busy with other projects. But last spring, Ann decided that enough was enough and with a caribbean inspiration, a little of Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffet she decided to bring the caribbean to Brookfield. I know she talked about this project for awhile and people kinda thought this was going to look horrible, but she's a designer as well and I think her vision was really thought out before she went along with this. Plus I think she had to get her husband on board so this had to look phenomenal.

This is the before, pretty sad looking when the sun isn't out don't you agree. Especially with all the dead plants and bare trees.

The procedure was pretty simple, the first step was to clean the wood. They applied this deck cleaner and left it on for a couple of hours, washing it off to reveal nice, clean wood that was ready to get stained, once the rain went away.

You can't tell, but it made the deck fresher not so gray, as it tends to get with rain and snow covered for several months out of the year.

Next it was time to stain. They went with a product from Sherwin Williams Deckscapes. They have a ton of colors to choose from and three different finishes.

After staining the deck with the help of a couple of extra hands and drying time it was finished. It doesn't hurt that the sun was out when this photo was taken since it gives it that extra feeling like you might be somewhere tropical.

Can you hear the steel drum playing? Well if that doesn't inspire you to turn a dingy, gray heap of wood into this wonderful and marvelous concoction I don't know what will. I know some neighbors were thinking this was going to look like a Vikings Deck when they were told that it was going to be stained in purple and yellow, but after it was complete, they were all pleasantly surprised that it came as well as it did. 

Now take a look at the finished product, the all weather wicker deck furniture with the turquoise cushions and the light-up palm tree totally ties this thing together. 

How wonderful and gorgeous is this deck? I love the vibrant colors of it set against the white. I think if the white stain was not there it might be a little loud. But I think it has the opposite effect, very calming. They did an awesome job and I think everyone can take a page out of this and not be afraid of trying new and crazy things. After all its only paint (stain in this case). Now get me a daiquiri.