More on the master...

As promised in my last post, I took some pictures of the master bedroom now that its completed. Of the Matisse hung (and yes, Twin, we did take off the corner guards before we hung it up...silly), and the new shelves we ordered from Target for the east wall of the room.

Sometimes, I worry about whether we're cluttering the space with too much stuff. But I don't feel like it's cluttered. How do I know if we've gone overboard? Is there a general rule? My husband wanted to get art for the remaining walls once he'd seen the photos up on the west wall above the bench. But I didn't want photos, photos, art, art all over in the master. It just seemed contrived to me, for some reason.

So that's why we bought the substantial piece for over the chest of drawers (instead of the collage that I was thinking we might be able to do).

We placed the top stripe on the wall at what is approximately my eye level. It's at 63" on the wall, as I recall. It's where I planned to hang the art around the room, and it just seemed like a good idea at the time. And when we bought the shelves, we searched for something that would top-out at that same line.

Lo and behold, those narrow bookshelves from Target's Hudson collection were perfect at a 61.23" height. See?

I like how the effect of leaving the back off the shelves makes them seem less imposing on the room, overall. And I've managed not to clutter them full of stuff (shock of all shocks, seeing as books are my achilles heel when it comes to decorating this house...we need a library, dammit!) which helps as well. I don't know. I really need to take some classes so I can figure all of this out through the help of a professional!

The holidays slow me down...

Its my plan to post here more than once a week, just for future reference. But its hard this time of year, trying to keep up with work, car repairs, parties for friends, buying presents, etc, etc...I promise to be better about it in the new year.

Right now, there's still so much that I'd like to do to the house, its scary. But it also involves money we just don't have right now, so I'll just have to wait. And in the meantime, focus on the things we have been able to do.

The master bedroom, for example, is finally complete. We have the art up, the shelves in, and the rug down. There is only one more thing that needs to happen in there, and we can't do it until Spring comes...that is to stain the side-tables by the bed.

































They were side tables that I inherited from my older sister, long ago when I first moved to Kansas City. They're barewood pine that have always sort of gone with the decor in the bedrooms they've been in up till now, because nothing was as designed as it is now. And while I'm all for a mix of woods in other areas of the house, the bare pine doesn't lend itself to the Contemporary Traditional style we have going in the bedroom at. all. So we'll be staining them a darker cherry once the weather warms a bit, and we can do the project in the garage.







The stain will match, somewhat, to the stain on our dresser we have in our master. Seen here. Underneath...THE NEW MATISSE! Ok, ok...its just a copy we got from ZGallery, but we LOOOVE it.

We have very little art in the bedroom. I'm not big on covering every surface with a frame of some sort, so I put up the black and white landscapes that I've carried with me for years on the west wall of the room.









We have a bench on that side from the "Hudson" collection at Target. On the opposite wall, next to the door to the master bath, we have two of the narrow bookshelves from the Hudson collection as well...they weren't exactly what we wanted there, but they fit the budget, and they look substantial and very pretty in the side-by-side set up we have them in. (We put them together without the back on them, so the paint on the wall would show through and make them less imposing when placed side-by-side.) I haven't taken a picture of that yet...maybe this weekend I'll manage to find the time.

Once we had the color up on the walls in the bedroom, we decided that it would be nice to carry it out into the hallway as well. We had some leftover paint from the bedroom, and I'm so glad we decided to make the change! It looks wonderful from all angles, and breaks up the color from the living room being carried into the front guest room.

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything about the house addition here yet! It's what got me all into the whole interior decorating kick that I'm into right now, so I really should get more info up here, eh? I'll work on that over the next couple of weeks.

Right now, I'm off to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Yay! The mall! Ugh...

New stuff!

I just bought this plug-in chandelier for the living room. We probably won't be putting it up until after Christmas, seeing as I have the living room all decked out in red, and this is, well...not red.

But I can't wait for it to come! Eeee!

I've been very lighting-centric around here as of late, havent I? Maybe its the season, but I just love lamps and chandeliers and lighting in general, and I kind of kicked off the theme earlier this week with my post about the glacier lighting trend in 2009. Ooh, which, btw, I found some relatively affordable options online for people, if they are so inclined to follow said trend in the future year...

This is a lovely colored-glass option from Anthropologie. It's the most expensive of the 3 I found online when I looked around a bit, at $1,998. But it is really pretty. So I think it's damned-well worth it, if you have the cash to spend on it!

I didn't even think about looking at Lamps Plus for lighting until I was searching for a mini-chandelier for our master bedroom remodel earlier this past summer. So now I have it saved in my favorites on my computer, because they really have some great lighting options of all shapes and sizes available for super-affordable prices.

This mini-pendant, for example, costs a whopping $180. It's the James R. Moder Granada mini-pendant, in case you're interested. While it has a traditional feel to it, I think it's crystaline nature and acorn shape add a special twist to the glacier trend. It looks like a pretty little ice cube to me...

And then there's this jazzy number. LOVE! Looks like the ball that drops in Time Square at midnight on New Year's Eve. It's middle of the road for these three options cost-wise at $1,280. It's the Schonbek geometrix Clear Geodes Pendant. And I think it would look wonderful in the corner of a more upscale Contemporary Traditional styled living room. Or over my dining table in the kitchen...whatever.

Regardless, my point was to show that this trend is achievable on any size budget. And don't ever, ever count out Lamps Plus. Seriously, check out their website. They have a ridiculous amount of options available to choose from.

(Photos courtesy of Lamps Plus and Anthropologie's websites.)

If I could, I'd have chandeliers EVERYWHERE.

It's a sickness, I think. My love and desire for pretty lights hanging all over the house has to be some kind of cureable illness, no? No, huh? Shoot.

Well, anyway, I LOVE this trend for 2009. Glacier style lighting that adds a special level of "cool" to any room they're placed in. These pendants and the following hanging chandeliers are both from the Belgian design firm Spiridon, and were featured at the Maison et Objet Show in Paris.

If only I had a proper place to put them in my Kansas ranch home. Hmmm...maybe in that corner in the guest room that we aren't sure what to do with.

(All photos are courtesy of Elle Decor's Design Trend Forecast 2009 article found here.)

I love my new lamp...

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the fact that I'd been able to pick up a lamp I'd had my eye on at Pottery Barn for a while. I put it in its new home, on the Venetian mirror table I bought from Target a while back (it was intended as a possible side table for the guest bedroom, but my husband didn't like it in there, so I put it in the living room instead - ha!), and placed the festive red shade on it for the holidays. (I also have the taupe colored shade to put on the lamp during the rest of the year.)

I just love the way the lamp and the table look together! And the mirroring between the two means that light bounces all over the place, which is why I love the fact that the lamp has a built-in dimmer on it - so I can change the level of the lighting and dim the relative harshness that seems to develop once night sets in, and even the 40 watt bulb we have in there seems as bright as the sun.


I think the two items are just gorgeous together...I'm so glad they've come to live with us!

Up and coming trends for 2009

Since the new year will soon be upon us, I thought I'd take some time each week to look into the upcoming design/decor trends for 2009 that have been shared via Elle Decor's Trend Forecast for the coming year.

As should be the case for everyone, some of these trends don't blend well with my personal taste in decorating. I'll share those ones as well. I'm not that petty when it comes to my inspiration! ;)

Mustard and Plum colors
These colors are pleasing in certain palates, and frightening in others. I don’t think I can get on board with this one…a lot of it reminds me of something I recall from the Laura Ashley colors of the 80’s. Can’t quite put my finger on it.

Caravan

The trend under the "caravan" moniker concerns pieces that have bold prints, color, as well as Russian/USSR-styled objects and pieces. These pretty canisters can be used for holding dried flowers or branches, or even spare change.

I loooove this chair, possibly tucked into a corner of a modern library under a good reading light.

I'll share more trends next week, so keep your eyes open for something that might inspire you, too!

(All photos are courtesy of Elle Decor's Design Trend Forecast 2009 article found here.)

Their favorite time of year...

This past weekend, I put some of the finishing touches on the decorating for Christmas at our house. I purchased some red pillows to match the new lampshade, as well as an ubersoft blanket (it is ridiculous how soft this damned blanket is...) and an additional strand of lights for the tree. Which I did not get a picture of, I just realized. Oh well! Further updating to come, I guess!

Imagine a tree where the shiny mirrored table is, and you'll get the idea of what the space looks like now that the decorating is complete.

We moved the table and the lamp to the side of the couch in front of the mirror, and now there is light that just bounces all over that corner, boy! Good thing the lamp has a dimmer on it. Which was a pleasant surprise to me after I finally figured out how to turn it off the first night we had it. (Shut up! It was weird, and goes the wrong way than it should, so I was confused...)

I'm all for keeping the theme to the current red and gold accented decorating that we've been building on over the last few years. This might be the last year for the current tree and the globes we have for it, though, but I'll save that discussion for when I have actual pictures of the tree.

I did manage to find some stockings that I liked at Target, pictured to the right. So cute! I don't know why I didn't think of that bookcase as being the perfect spot to hang some during Christmas last year...I guess I'm just so used to the traditional over-the-fireplace location for them, it just never even crossed my mind.

We don't decorate a lot more than the living room and the outside of the house, though. I'm not one of those types that goes all out and buys linens for the bathroom, or special comforters for the beds in the house. My mother-in-law did make us a lovely Advent wreath for our kitchen table, so we set that up every year now.

But other than that, we keep things pretty basic. I think eventually, once we have more storage, and possibly a larger house to entertain in, we'll get heavier on the holiday decor. But for now, this suits us just fine.