Interior Design Rewind: Wallpaper on walls, furniture and ceilings?

Remember the Apartment Therapy gig I tried out for? Well I didn't make the cut, but I am still gonna show you my submission as promised, I am very proud of this post as it took a lot of work, esp. if you have no clue about Photoshop(and trying to get it done in an hour).....lol

"Interior Design Rewind" is a column entry, I was hoping to explore and write for Apartment Therapy to demonstrate to readers how a lot of design is simply recycled. Not that designers aren't original, just many items are recycled ideas, with fresh new fabrics  or materials, which is ok. How do you think Duncan Phyfe started out? Yup, COPYING! That is until he created his own style. His style was then copied, but hey it's, flattery, right?

Here was my submission

Apartment Therapy article: 

You know how you see wallpaper on walls and think ok, that is where it is supposed to go, so no big whoop? What about on furniture? (Hmm maybe…..)  Ceilings? Yes, ceilings, I know what you are thinking a little daring and how do they do that? All upside down, sideways, and junk...

Well here are a few pictures of walls, furniture items, and ceiling designs...

image via Design Geek

image via Domino magazine

Wallpaper on table below

What do you think? Now, before you start to judge, let’s rewind and take a look at the same concept only used back in the 60‘s...

Table with wallpaper on it- UH-HUH!

Walls with wallpaper(of course)-UH-HUH!

Hey! Me thinks this kind of looks like Kelly Wearstlers work, huh? I'm just saying, if ever wallpaper was a rewind, it is this orange sherbet, lusty, frequency wave monster...and this blue and yellow, ocean frequency wall. Now look at the blue pic really close? Do you think we will go back to carrying all of that “wallpaper love”, onto furniture?

Another, idea from the 60’s was covering the ceiling with fabric (yeah I mention fabric now, but we will discuss fabric ideas a bit later) Check out this illustration of some, purple wall/ceiling love! Yes it was a concept from the 60's!

I am not much for florals, but it would look good in someone’s home, right? The more I stare at that purple picture, the more aesthetically pleasing it becomes. I haven’t found a designer who has done that(done what Kindle??? see what happens when you are in a hurry?). If you do let me know….

-End

So that is all for my Interior Design Rewind for wallpaper. Your assignment (should you accept)... look at more pictures from the 1960’s and see if you can, perhaps, spot another idea they are using now, where is it? Post on your site and link back here I would love to share it here! Let’s discuss! In the meantime, Ms. Erika of Blu Label Bungalow posted her design rewinds, which reminded me of this entry.


Have a safe weekend!

Some inspiration in the meantime...

I am working on a project that is on hold for about two weeks. So far it has been one week and I have one more to go. Waiting for me is hard people...real hard. But here are some accent pieces for the room, I will share with you, as they make me smile, when I see them.

Krylon "Pumpkin Spice" spray paint was responsible for that refreshing transformation.

And that one....and this one.

meanwhile, here are some of my latest finds,

I am in love with these chairs, only I am torn about replacing the fabric. It is still in good condition. Any guesses on this style? I can't figure it out.

This next chair is uber comfy with a broken leather strap arm...AAAAWWWW! It is leather, vintage something, I just have no clue...any guesses?

And these are just too cute! I found them on different blocks on different days, and they match!



One is leaning a bit, but a leftover coffee table leg will solve that problem. Do you think I should refinish any/all of these chairs? If so, which ones?

Thanks

Green chile

I have been extremely busy and have not posted in over a week (shame on me). Sorry peeps. but here is a quick diddy, as I am a stuck on my current design project. Can I occasionally share some of my favorite meals with you? Background:  I moved here to NC, barely knowing how to make mac and cheese, now 8 years later, I can BURN!...(at least I have been told so).

I am from the Southwest originally,so I prepare a lot of Mexican food dishes. I love authentic Mexican food and cannot get enough. I am one of those people who cannot eat Taco Bell, without thinking of the injustice to authentic burritos, tacos, and chicken enchiladas, that food does.

Aldi, has these plants for sale,for only $7.99

last year I purchased the Habanero and Jalapeno plant...MUY CALIENTE!!! Yeah they were both way to hot for me. For entertainment, I payed my sons 18 year old friends to eat them...cheap entertainment, but true I have never laughed so hard...I still chuckle when I think about it.

This year I played it chill and bought the bell pepper and banana pepper plants. They're so huge! They are 4 foot tall and full of peppers already with promising blooms on top.I brought the pepper plant home and put it into it's laundry basket container pot,

 that is now its home (just line the sides with newspaper so the soil stays put).


 Here is what I had for dinner last night, as I could not wait to have some homemade oven roasted pork green chile.

I use an authentic (simple)pork green chile recipe, that I made up based on my families' taste. You can buy green chile in a can, but I prefer to know what is in my food, so I make my own.  I eat this with chips, on scrambled eggs, burritos, enchiladas, and tamales.


I just poured it on top of some leftover turkey burrito mix I had in the fridge, coupled it with a tamale, added a dollop of sour cream, threw on some veggies from my gutter garden(I know I haven't blogged about it, but there it is below) and voila! Authentic Mexican food.

 I had it with breakfast this morning, on top of some pork chops, grits, and eggs....yes pork twice, in 24 hours....it was the bomb!!

 Oven roasted green pork chile sauce recipe:

 5-6 banana or green chile peppers

1/2 lb of pork(or chicken) diced

5 cups of water (divided)
2 tbsp chicken bouillon
1tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp crushed red pepper

1/2  (firm) tomato diced
black pepper for color
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup corn starch
salt (optional)

Roast peppers in the oven @ 400 degrees for 15 minutes (the outside will be nice and brown). Remove from oven.

Add 4 cups of water, bouillon, crushed red pepper, and garlic to a medium sized pot on medium to medium high heat(from lo to 10,use 6)  until it comes to a boil. Add the meat. Let it continue to boil for three minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low (4) and add the tomatoes and black pepper.

Mix the cornstarch with the remaining cup of water (it will still be runny and look like milk). Stir into pot.

Peppers should be ready, and cooled by this time. Slice them open lengthwise, and spoon out the seeds. I leave a few in for aesthetics and authenticity. Dice them. Add to mixture and let cook for 30 more minutes. Add salt if desired. Serves 4

Leave covered overnight, on the stove, for better flavor.

If you try it let me know. Back soon with some decor things!

This is my first recipe I am sharing, so if something is unclear...let me know.

Lamp Love!

Found some more pics from the Furniture market this Spring...I was so inspired, I took a ton of pics and will share them as they are relevant. I am redesigning an office right now and the need for an original lamp is strong. I had lots of inspiration at market and needed some ideas so...I wanted to share with and maybe inspire you?  I hope you don't mind....

Here is what I saw a bit of this year that was hot! Over sized lampshades.

The circumference of this thing is equivalent to a beach ball, the big ones! Or better yet a 6 light chandelier. I didn't measure, but it is the biggest lampshade I have ever seen! They hung them over tables like chandy's too! In the pic it doesn't look so big, but trust! it was! I have access to three of these and am thinking of matching one of them, with fabric to the curtains I made, today (we will discuss those in another post).

Here are some smaller ones, I found grouped together in a tween showroom, I think is it a very cool idea!

The next lamp is simplistic at best, and amateurish for a High End store (my opinion). But if you put it in a high end store and call it "high-end" somebody will pay $240 for it...

Glued on artificial leaves ..really? Wonder how much they would pay for my peacock feather one?...Hmmm?

The next are a few that reminded me so much of Adrianna's transformed lamps*(yes I am still ranting about how hers turned out, link at the end of this post, stay with me people).

I really like the elegant, casual undertone this lamp sets.

Can you say pink alligator LOVE...whah??? DIVAS!!!!

I love it when designers think outside the box. These lamps translate: elegant chick meets bohemian chick (not chic)and says, "hey, let's do this!"

Nothing says, "I couldn't care less, let's have some fun, because I know it is cute", like the above lamps.

(see again with the ginormous shade...)

After exiting the store the last few lamps were from, we spoke with an interior designer on her way out. She really likes the lamps too. However, she ordered her lamps 6 months prior (at the Fall market) and still had not received them...Hmmm? These are handmade, here in the US, so maybe they are looking for new suppliers?...

This one is the bizness! If you can duplicate this...we need to talk!

Have we seen enough of these yet? The style I mean...YAWN!

Here is a close up of what the little balls are...

Looks complicated...and brillo padd-y-ish, but I give it a b+ for creativity.

As you can see, lighting comes with so many possibilities, which is your favorite?

*As promised, Adrianna's lamps , hey leave a comment before you go!

Kitchen Drawer Knobs and Pulls

I got my first reader help request a while back and never posted it, so here goes:

Lynn wrote:

I noticed that you reuse just about everything.  Ok, I am re-doing my kitchen and I want to change the hardware (knobs and drawer pulls) that are on the cabinets.  I want to use something that does not cost an arm and a leg.  Those drawer pulls can run over $5 each and sometimes even more than that!  Well, I have a ton of kitchen cabinets and drawers and I need something cheap.  I would love to use something that no one else would think of using, which is why I am emailing YOU lol.   The cabinets are golden oak and right now I have white enamel knobs on them and brass hinges.  I need something that goes with the brass hinges because I am not crazy enough to change those out too.

I had had several things suggested to me, ranging from wooden balls, old silverware, etc.  I can't seem to think of anything that would really look good and at the same time be cheap.  I was wondering if you had any ideas.  I shop at thrift stores, habitat for humanity stores, flea markets, yard sales, etc and I can't seem to find anything that would work.  I am open to any suggestions.

My house is basically country, eclectic, lived in, nothing fancy.  The kitchen is mostly cabinets with a white fridge, black stove and black dishwasher, white microwave.  The color scheme (ha!) is mostly wood, black and white, slightly bluish/gray walls and I have touches of red throughout the kitchen.
My cabinets look very similiar to these:

After asking a few more questions I discovered that Lynn's kitchen was in fact eclectic. The color of the floors, appliances and hardware told me that. Although it was really hard to come up with something (color), without having an actual picture of her kitchen. I had a few ideas, including bottle tops and silverware. This is the one I finally decided to send.


Proposed idea:

Because there are touches of red in your kitchen I would go for something super low cost but add flare to the kitchen with more red. Here is what I came up with. Wine Corks! They are in abundance and come free from almost everywhere they sell lots of wine.

Instructions:

Join two wine corks together, vertically (side by side) with quick set epoxy, then glue another cork as a spacer(wine corks can be cut with a regular serrated kitchen knife, cut it width wise to your desired size,be sure your spacer is long enough to leave adequate finger room between the corks and cabinet) on the back side of them(position it between the two corks evenly, if there is a slight space between the corks fill with wood filler). Spray paint the entire knob a semi gloss red from Rustoleum(if the idea of red freaks you out, then use black), then screw into the cabinet.

For the drawer pulls, join two of them horizontally(do not rush this step and add corks that line up perfectly together or it will not add interest, but chintzy), add corks to both ends, so they match the holes in the cabinet(use your old pulls for an accurate spacing reference) and spray paint.


At this point, you may be tempted to use the old screws. However, I would not do that. I would spend a few dollars on "driver" screws* to be sure the knob stays put.

*Take your original screw to the hardware store and have them give you a driver screw that is the same size. Driver screws have points on the end and are used to pierce through objects.

Thanks for asking Lynn, I wish I could do this project now...

What about you...? If you would like a low cost solution for decor, ask me I would love to help out!

More Furniture market photos

I am not good at uploading and sharing photos on my blog. I have at least 20 projects and 1000 pictures I could post, but the "waiting for the right post" bug always bites me! Then his cousin, "procrastination wasp" runs me off and it takes a while for me to get back to it. Does that happen to you?

Here are some more photos from the market.There are lots! These are from C Guy's showroom.

 Adrianna, can you say purple! (where is she btw)

CG loves him some big chairs! and so does Ms. Kindle!


Here is the chair listed in the High Point Spring Trends Fashion Report



After seeing the legs on it, I had to find this piece. 

I had to sit on it too, either it was small or my butt is big, I think it was a little of both! But let me tell ya, it was comfy.

For all you chaise/mirror lovers out there!








This is my favorite it is trimmed in natural wood pieces.


Next, check out his leg designs


Not sure if you can see it, but the table has a slit in the middle of it, just like the chairs have a slit in the backs, the set is so sexy!



Can you say lil' dressing couch? Cah -ute!
and finally more Guy-awe-some-normous chairs!



So now, my camera thanks me and you for getting a load off of it, What say you?