Client Project Reveal - Classic Blue and White Dining Room and Powder Room Refresh

What an exciting day!  I have a recently completed project to share with you, and this dining room is one of my favorite projects to date.  If you're visiting today from The Pink Pagoda, surely you're a fan of classic blue and white interiors. I'm so glad you stopped by and thank you Jennifer for featuring my work!

First, I want to share a little background info.  We've taken the slow, steady approach to decorating this home.  It's a big brick Georgian style home - very traditional - which suits my clients' aesthetic.  They love classic design elements and the husband has a keen eye for antiques.  One of the concerns and challenges we addressed was their desire to keep their home from feeling too formal. They're a young family and they wanted their home to have a relaxed, fresh feel.

Here's the inspiration photo.  The only inspiration photo. The wife knew exactly what she wanted.

 

No argument from me..This is gorgeous!

When the project began, I had this antique china cabinet and their dining table to work with. Here's a "before", as a reference point.

And now:

Blue and White Bliss.

My clients loved the Farrow & Ball Lotus wallpaper but were hesitant to wallpaper the entire room.

So I had the walls painted (Benjamin Moore's Niveous), which is the same color we used in their entry  - it's a pretty, ivory white.

And then I had the walls professionally stenciled with this pattern.  The blue we used for the stencil design is Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue.  If you look in the top right corner of the photo above, you can catch a glimpse of  Palladian Blue on the ceiling. 

The antique sideboard is a Scott's Antique Market find, as is the Persian rug.  My workroom made the sheer linen shades and I sourced the Italian silver candelabra, lamps and other accessories for them.

The husband found the chairs at auction (10 of them!) and, after some debate, I had them lacquered with Benjamin Moore White Dove and had the seats recovered with blue faux ostrich.  The fabric choice was met with a little hesitation, but with 4 small children it's a practical choice that they should enjoy for years to come. The ironstone pots and pitchers and the silver tray they're sitting on are family pieces.  I love their simplicity and pretty form.

We also recently refreshed their powder room off of the foyer.  My client loves blue and white, so again we went with this classic color combination - but in a modern context.

In this room we added a chair rail with box molding below and a fun blue and white geometric print wallpaper. They opted to keep the white pedestal sink and brass fixtures. 

There was just enough room behind the door to add this lucite console and a few baskets under it for easily accessible storage.  I think every room needs something natural so the baskets and the framed pebbles add some soft, organic texture.  I love the juxtaposition of the natural elements against the modern print of the wallpaper.  Do you agree that contrast creates interest?

Once again, I thank you for stopping by to have a look at this fun project.  And thank you to Jennifer at The Pink Pagoda for featuring the dining room on her blog.  Have you visited her online shop?  Lots of opportunities to add some classic blue and white!

Have a great week!

If you live in the Chattanooga, TN area and are looking for an Interior Decorator, please visit my website to learn more about the services I offer and to see my recently completed design work.

When my schedule won't allow me to post to my blog, you can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Follow along!

One Room Challenge - My Hall Bath Reveal

It's done!  For the most part.  I know you're visiting lots of blogs today so I'll be light on the words and heavy on the photos.

Before we get to the "after" shots, I thought I'd share a photo of my hall bath when we bought our house 3 years ago.

Not so cute. And while we did tear out and replace the tile in the bathtub surround and the floor before we moved in, our little makeover stalled out until the One Room Challenge came around.

So, though the magic of wallpaper, paint, a little vision and the husband's renovation skills, I'm thrilled to share my hall bath "after" photos with you!

 I repurposed an antique buffet I've had for a while but had no use for until we decided to transform it into a bathroom vanity.  We only lost the use of the top drawer so not only is the piece unique, it offers plenty of storage. 

I'm so proud of myself for getting this shot (above).  I literally set the timer on my camera, held it against the opposite wall and hoped for the best.  But wait, first take a moment to bask in the glory of that flame mahogany.  So gorgeous!

The shower curtains and valance were made from off the rack curtain panels.  We added grosgrain trim to the curtain panels and my workroom made the valance out of a third panel. The bamboo shade came with me from a former house.  Lucky fit!  The palm frond chandelier is vintage - I painted it gold myself.

So you know how I love a good mix, right?  Since my buffet/vanity (buffity?) is so classic, I wanted to contrast that with a little bit of mod, and I knew this mirror would be perfect. Isn't it though?  It was dark wood when I bought it but I sprayed it gold then painted over that with Liquid Leaf.  

Thanks to all of your input I decided against the vessel sink, because lots of you warned me that they were not so user-friendly - so in this case functionality won out.  I went with a polished chrome faucet because it's timeless and transcends trends.

And I love the little glimpses of my antique mirror wall. 

Most everything in this shot I've had.  The stag sconce is antique.  I've had it for at least 5 years but never could find the right place for it.

The turquoise lamp is vintage too.  Floor tile is readily available from the shelves of Home Depot and it's budget friendly.  I chose it because I like how clean the white looks in a bathroom and the geometric pattern feels old and new at the same time. The wallpaper is Brunschwig & Fils Le Grand Palais.

Thanks for taking the time to visit today.  I'd love to know what you think about my bathroom makeover!

Thank you to Linda for creating and hosting the One Room Challenge.  You can find links to all of the participants here and here.

The Green  Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

One Room Challenge Week 5 - Finally Wallpaper

I bet you thought I was going to be a no-show today.  The reason I'm posting so late  is because my wallpaper ladies finished hanging my bathroom just moments ago and I wanted to wait until they were done so I could show you pictures of something more than sheet rock dust and a toilet.

But before we get to that, I want to thank you for checking in on my week FIVE (!) progress of the One Room Challenge.  In case you're not familiar, it's the internet sensation (if you like this sort of thing) where bloggers make over a room from start to (hopefully) finish in 6 weeks posting their progress every week either on Wednesday or Thursday. The entire concept for this event was dreamed up by Linda and you'll find links to all participants here and here.

Now, on to my bathroom situation.  If you follow me on Instagram then you already know I got cold feet where my wallpaper was concerned.

 Because although that damask pattern is pretty, it's also super traditional, kind of gigantic,  and somewhat formal.  So I did what any insecure, self-doubting decorator would do.  I put it in front of my Instagram followers to decide.

Yes, the damask had a formidable opponent in this latecomer. I mean who doesn't love a good bamboo treillage wallpaper?  I certainly do and apparently my Instagram followers do because they voted for the treillage paper over the damask.

And after all of that input and indecision,  I followed my heart and took a leap of faith with my original choice.

iPhone 4S photos cannot accurately capture the magnificence of this paper. And I also have to say that in this world of seamless glass and showers and understated finishes, my heart will always belong to pretty color combinations and interesting pattern mixes.  

In other bathroom news, I hinted last week that I was considering painting the wainscoting blue, yet I decided to keep it crisp and go with white. But now I think I want to paint my boring door black.  What do you think?

So there is lots left to do to get ready for next week's reveal.  We haven't even begun to convert the buffet, much less pick out  a sink and faucet. We are tired and somewhat overwhelmed.  But the good thing about week 5 is that the finish is in sight and it kind of gives you the shot of adrenaline you need to bring it all together for the reveal.  That's what I'm hoping anyway.

So I'll see you back here next Thursday.  If you absolutely cannot wait to see more bathroom tidbits or you just want to show some love and devotion, I suggest you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.  I can't wait to show you my finished bathroom!


The Green Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

One Room Challenge Week 4 - A Little More Progress

Welcome to this week's installment of the One Room Challenge.  In case you're not familiar, this is the event created by Linda from Calling It Home where participants make over the room of their choice in six weeks sharing their progress once a week along the way. I have been linking up with the makeover of my hall bathroom.  Week 4 is always tough,  and I feel like I haven't completed nearly as much as I had hoped to at this point.  

Remember last week when I shared that I was planning to do a wall of antiqued mirror tiles behind my vanity?  The good news is I got all of the mirrors successfully antiqued and I'm  pretty happy with how they turned out.

The not so good news is that we haven't had a chance to install the tiles on the wall yet.  :-( .

In other news, the wall repair has been a huge undertaking.  There has been sanding and more sanding followed up by more sanding. And you know how awful that superfine sheet rock dust is. My husband came out of the bathroom on Sunday looking like a powdered donut.

Here's something positive. The box molding has been added to the lower third of the walls (Yay)

and I'm thinking that rather than painting it out white, I'm may just paint  the wainscoting a shade of blue that's slightly darker than the blue in the wallpaper.

Benjamin Moore Buxton Blue in particular.  What do you think about that idea?  Do you like the idea of painting the wainscoting blue or would you paint it white?

I'm also struggling with whether to go with a vessel sink or a drop-in sink for my antique piece turned bathroom vanity.  Originally I had planned go with a drop-in sink but after consulting with Professor Pinterest, I think the vessel sinks look so much better in this situation. Look:

Don't you agree?  I think the vessel sink looks so much better.  

This is all of the progress I have to share with you today.  Things should really start to come together next week (really!) as the mirror wall will be installed, the rest of the trim will be installed and painted, and I'm hoping to get the paper up and the vanity placed. It's an ambitious list.

Say a quick prayer for me and be sure to tune in next Thursday.  To find the links to all of the other participants, click  here and  here .

One Room Challenge Week 3 - Not Pretty Yet

Hello and welcome back!  Today I have a little update for you on the progress of my hall bathroom makeover as part of  The One Room Challenge Linking event - the one where participating bloggers make over a room in 6 weeks posting weekly updates along the way.

I've made a little progress in my bathroom and unfortunately it's not the type of progress where the pretty has started to happen.  It's the kind where we've done more of the behind the scenes work that will allow us to layer on the pretty.

You may recall my bathroom still had the original 1972 vanity complete with it's limey green cultured (fake) marble top. Well, that thing is so out of here!

and soon will be replaced by this old sideboard as new vanity.

That's the best pic I could get since it's currently somewhat buried in my holding area. And no, the flame mahogany will most definitely not be painted upon.

But before the buffet/vanity can get installed, I've got to finish up this project-let that's underway

Those are 12x12 mirror tiles purchased from The Home Depot that I'm attempting to antique so they'll look something like this.

If all goes according to plan, this antique mirror wall will be happening on the wall behind my vanity.

So that's all I have to share today. I'm feeling a little nervous about our slow progress thus far, but I'm determined to get this finished up in time for the reveal in three weeks!  

Thanks for checking in on my progress and please make sure you visit the other participants too!  You can find links to all of the projects on our hostess Linda's blog here and here.

Follow along with me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!

ORC Linking Event - I'm Doing My Hall Bath

It's time to clear the cobwebs off of the ol' blog and start cranking out some serious decorating posts.  As you may have guessed, I've decided to join in on the internet's biggest decorating sensation - The One Room Challenge.

I'm participating in the Link-up event which airs for the next 5 consecutive Thursdays, so for goodness sake please come back to check in on my progress!  I need your feedback and encouragement! Mostly because of this ridiculousness:

Enter aforementioned hall bath in its current state.

As you can see it's crying out for help.  In a big way. Those walls.  They look like this because a few weeks ago I spent hours stripping off the top layer of wallpaper only to find ANOTHER layer of old wallpaper combined with unsized skim coated sheet rock in other areas.  Holy. Wallpaper. Hell.

This is what happened where the wallpaper was applied to a skim coat of bare sheet rock mud.

It totally damaged the sheet rock underneath.  I know what you're thinking.  "Thank goodness you have that pretty mirror".  True, but a lot of hard work needs to happen before we can revel in the goodness of the mirror.

And rather than do up an inspiration board, I'm going to drag you down this road with me one post at a time because some decisions have yet to be made.  

Before you go, let's have a look at some bathrooms that are inspiring my little makeover shall we??

Yes, there will be wallpaper in the damask category. And it's super gorgeous because that's what Brunschwig & Fils does.   I gave you a sneak peek here.

And no ORC makeover of mine would be complete without repurpose-ing a piece or two of vintage furniture.

This is so gorgeous it takes my breath away. And it makes me wish I had been born with the "understated" gene.  But let's not kid ourselves.  We're more likely to see something with more color, pattern and layers. 

and I'm okay with that.

So, same time next Thursday???

You can find links to all of the other participants on Linda's  (our hostess and mistress of ceremonies) blog here.  And in case you missed the ORC participants that posted yesterday, find those links here.  Hours of entertainment.  Literally.

PS.  I'll likely be posting little updates on my Instagram feed so let's buddy up.

Client Entry Before and After - in Neutrals

Hello out there readers of design blogs!  Today I have a postlet to share with you of a recent foyer makeover.  This is one of the "afters" because I think it best to open things up with some pretty.

So now we'll back up to where it all began.

The thing is my clients' home is at the top of a mountain on the most gorgeous wooded lot, and we didn't think this particular arrangement honored the natural loveliness of its surroundings. Although the console table was a step in the right direction, the three shelves with the two mirrors and chairs felt busy.

My clients wanted something rustic and sophisticated.  And they did not want to repaint the walls.

Sorry for this horrifically blurry shot, but its the only one I have the shows the "before" of the feature art piece painted by my client's son.  I immediately knew we should make this painting the focal point of the long wall of the entry.  I had the painting reframed with a wider creamy white mat and a simple black frame for a cleaner, more updated look. (see below)

Here's what else.  We added some whitewashed planks to the aforementioned long wall, hung that pretty painting, put a long chunky console table under it and styled the whole thing up. With some nature-inspired stuff like those twigs I got out of their side yard. And, to keep the look from going all Cracker Barrel on us, we added some modern glam with that amazing Drexel Heritage glass prism lamp and crisp white accessories. 

We also painted the French Doors to the outside living area a rich charcoal gray, which we repeated in the family room on the book cases and exterior doors.  It gives them such presence, doesn't it?

Before

 In this slightly wider shot, you can see we also replaced the fussy wool rug with a black & white cowhide.  Oh how I love it!  And we replaced the generic chandelier with something a little more whimsical. A tall leaner mirror further simplifies the look and is perfect for checking out your head to toe look before heading out the door.

And that's the end!  Thanks for stopping by and having a look.  And did you know if you were following me on Instagram then you would have already seen it? Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and on Facebook!