but I love this!   Can you tell from the photo that the "ottoman" is made of cast stone?   I think that would be sooooo fabulous in the right outdoor space, preferably in multiples!  I am definitely going to need to spend some time browsing Coleen & Company because I know that there must be more treasures to be found.   

How sad is it when you see one single art piece (or photograph or framed memorabilia ... whatever) hanging on a big empty wall?   Without other items grouped around it, or without even a single piece of furniture to ground the art piece, really, the wall just looks lonely.  For the past few months, I have been helping The Neighbors as Mrs. Neighbor redecorates Mr. Neighbor's new office.  One of our first orders of business was to decide what to do about the empty hallway wall!  Mr. Neighbor had a couple of framed newspaper articles randomly hung on the wall, but with too much empty space, the wall just looked sad.  I suggested creating a floor-to-ceiling grouping of photographs of houses that Mr. Neighbor, a general contractor, had built or renovated.  We finally decided that the photography itself would be too difficult and time-consuming, and Mrs. Neighbor came up with a great alternative - photocopying and enlarging house plans of some of Mr. Neighbor's past projects and framing those.  After selecting the plans to photocopy and enlarge and choosing appropriate frames, we were ready to go.  Today was hanging day!   What do you think? 

Here's the wall before (note the one picture hook still on the wall) -

And here's the wall after! 

The perspective of the photo is weird, but I think it looks pretty great!   There is plenty of room for The Neighbors to add more frames.  Should The Neighbors decide to go that route in the future, it would be super looking to mix up the sizes of the frames and create a seemingly random but carefully planned floor-to-ceiling grouping. 

One other perk to today's project - I figured out a few more things to keep in my "emergency kit!"  I always, always, always have a tape measure and a level in my car (in addition to the tape measure in my purse).  You just never know when you might need them!  But now I think I'm going to add a hammer and my fabulous multi-head screwdriver. It doesn't hurt that they are both painted in a leopard print ... Even utilitarian tools can use a little panache!  But an electric drill might be taking my kit a touch too far ...  

I am absolutely in love with this Royere-inspired firescreen by Carole Gratale.  Unfortunately, you can't see much of the detail in the photo - you'll get a clearer photo if you click the link - but the frame of the firescreen is iron, the crisscross bars are silver, and there are small plain bronze "rosettes" at each crisscross intersection.  I have had my heart set on this screen for years after spotting it in a magazine.  Unfortunately, it is very $$$$$.   Really, I should have added a few more $$$ but you get my point.  Of course, I have one additional problem - my fireplace is oversized, which means I would also have to pay extra to have the firescreen custom-sized.  OUCH.  I even visited an ironworks shop in hopes of having the screen replicated for less, but - as I expected - there is no cost-effective way to replicate the screen ... and any replica would pale in comparison to the original.   So, my hopes dashed - and no lottery winnings in site to pay for the original - I set off to find another solution. 

Voila, this "Campaign Hearth Flat Screen" by Restoration Hardware - on sale for $138.99 - is what I came up with. 

With a little bit of work, I think you could make it look quite a bit like the original -- just order it in satin nickel, paint the frame black, and paint the center rosettes bronze (with fire retardant paint, please).  You'll have the same panache of the mixed metals without the extreme price tag!  I would have taken a stab at this little "do-it-yourself" project myself, but - of course - the screen is too small for my fireplace.  I thought painting the frame a different color than the crisscross bars would simply emphasize that the screen was too small.  I bought it anyway (I refuse to pay for a custom-sized screen until I get exactly what I want), but left it entirely in antique brass (chosen to coordinate with some lamps in the room).  What do you think?   I'd love to see photos if you give it a try!         

In a previous post, I discussed my attempts at living a "greener" (yet still design-savvy) life.   Really, I try very hard ... but one area in which I fall short is my semi-refusal to use CFLs (Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs).   Yes, yes, yes, I know all of the facts.  One CFL can save over $30 in electricity over the life of a lamp and save many times its own weight in greenhouse gas emissions.  They are more expensive than standard bulbs, but allegedly last many times as long.  (I'm somewhat dubious about this because I had a couple burn out super quickly ... within a month or two.  I was really baffled by that.)  "Soft white" CFLs are the best and they aren't all that different from standard bulbs.  Please notice the emphasis on all that!  

 My favorite light bulbs - since their introduction - are the GE Reveal.  GE Reveal bulbs filter out dull incandescent rays so that you are left with only clean, beautiful light.  I love them!!!   At one time, every light bulb in my house was a GE Reveal.  In a continued effort to be more environmentally conscious, however, I did replace many of the light bulbs in my house with CFLs ... including the bulbs in my recessed cans.   I was already annoyed with them because CFLs have to "warm up" - after you turn them on, they take a while to reach their full brightness.  Well, I move rather quickly around my house and I'm really peeved when I turn on the light to do something but have to wait several minutes until I can see.  But I was willing to deal with that minor inconvenience.  Big of me, I know.  But here's the straw that broke the camel's back.  I was sitting in my living room looking through the door to the master suite ... when I noticed that my beloved Caffe Creme paint from Restoration Hardware looked distinctively green.  It's a cream paint, but it had a distinctively green cast to it.  Really?  It had never been green before!   This baffled me for days, and I chalked it up to the contrast between the Caffe Creme in the master hallway and new paint in the living room.  Finally it dawned on me that the CFLs in the hallway's recessed cans were casting their funky light on my cream paint, causing it to look greenish.  A few new GE Reveals later and my problem was solved.  I have so far resisted replacing all of my CFLs with GE Reveal bulbs, but I must admit that I am very tempted.  I'm sorry!  I know I shouldn't feel that way.  I promise to always bring my reusable shopping bags and to turn off every unused light in the house!    

 One side note - another downside to CFLs is that there are very few that are dimmer-friendly.  So despite my initial replacement strategy, the chandelier bulbs in the dining room remained GE Reveals ... and at this rate, will continue to do so.  

My last issue of Domino arrived in the mail today.  I'm trying to decide if I should rip it open with anticipation or savor just knowing that I have one last issue to enjoy.  I hope it's a good one, as opposed to a "we can't stop the ship from sinking but we should at least throw a life preserver" effort.   

 Apparently, I am not the only one mourning the demise of Domino.  I had seen posts on other blogs that I read, but I had no idea that the uproar was broad enough to inspire a piece in The New York Times ... to be reprinted a few days later in the Charlotte Observer.   (By the way, I love the Home & Garden section in The New York Times, and you can view it online for free!  Check it out here.) Anyway, click here for the complete story about Domino.

I'm interested that the cover story is "great style at every age!" given that the typical Domino reader is in her twenties or thirties.  Was it a last ditch effort to broaden their appeal?    I am rather depressed by the idea that -- according to the New York Times article -- the most likely candidate to fill the rest of my subscription is Architectural Digest.  I've already told you about my love-hate relationship with Architectural Digest.  That's the one magazine I am able to resist even a quick thumb-through when it arrives.  I get so many magazines already that I've thought about not renewing my AD subscription when it expires ... but I guess now I will have at least until June/July 2010 (when my Domino subscription should have expired) to make up my mind about that!  

Have you heard the term "greenwashing"?  Basically, greenwashing is when companies use marketing to portray their products as "green" when - in effect - they have done nothing to make that product more environmentally friendly.  As a mom who considers herself "a light shade of green" - I use environmentally friendly, non-toxic household cleaners, we are recycling fiends, we rarely use paper towels, we buy organic when we can, and I try to pack waste-free lunches for my preschoolers - it really angers me when a company "greenwashes" its products.  I'm trying to make the best decision for my family and for the environment, and misleading marketing just muddies the waters.  Well, when flipping through a magazine, I found what I consider to be the most egregious example of greenwashing ever.  Check this out - Natural American Spirit, the only cigarette made with 100% organic tobacco.  As the advertisement states, "[w]e started our organic growing program 20 years ago and we are proud to be the only brand offering cigarettes made with 100% certified organic tobacco."   Seriously?  Are you kidding?  Do you really think that a smoker - who, in today's world, has to know that smoking pollutes the environment and endangers the health of herself and those around her - cares that the tobacco is organic?   Is organic tobacco any "better" for you than non-organic tobacco?  Unbelievable.  Anyhoo, please discuss.  I'm curious what other people think.     

By the way, I do consider this topic related to design and all things chic!  It's amazing how some "green" practices can really amp up the elegance in everyday life.  For instance, my Neela Bags are much chicer than plastic grocery bags. 

I'm so pleased to have gotten that paper towel holder off my kitchen counter.   And we are trying to give up paper napkins entirely in favor of cloth napkins.  My twins love to pick the character on their Fabkins!   A big thanks to my friends at Charlotte Smarty Pants who introduced me to both Neela Bags and Fabkins.  If anyone discovers non-iron cloth napkins, however, please let me know ... That is a serious void in the marketplace!

I was very excited when a friend of mine asked me to help her with a "big girl room" for her identical twin girls.  Her girls - let's call them The Darlings - are absolutely precious and were ready for a room that reflected their sweet and sassy little personalities.   We started off with a lot of things already in place.  The Darlings' cribs had been converted into double beds, which were staying.  Mommy Darling had recently made adorable duvet covers - reversible with a fun pink, brown and lime paisley print on one side and a pink, brown and lime stripe on the other side - for the beds.  A striped cornice board graced the window.  Matching dressers and bookcases were also staying.   Finally, The Darlings' room is relatively long and narrow, with a sloped ceiling, that limits the placement of furniture.  The large room would also continue to function as both a bedroom and a play area. 

So off we went!   We first rearranged the furniture to create two separate areas, one for sleeping and one for playing.   That really helped to break up the room so it didn't look as long and narrow.  Plus, each piece of furniture was able to better relate to the other furniture (instead of hugging the walls).  The next thing was to pick a new paint color.  The existing paint color was more of a soft, sage green - exactly what you are used to seeing in a nursery - and it didn't compliment the lime in the duvet covers.  We needed a color that would reflect The Darlings' exuberance!   So the walls were painted lime green, and some existing, more baby-ish murals were painted over.  We added pink tulle dust ruffles (inspired by ones in Posh Tots, www.poshtots.com, but found at a much more affordable mass retailer!) for a princess-like feeling.   A girly "monogram" over each bed added a focal point and gave that wall some much-needed balance.  While the existing striped cornice board stayed, a chocolate brown roman shade and striped panels replaced the sheer sage green curtains.  A chocolate brown slipcover was made for the futon.  New throw pillows - all precious, but my favorite is the lime green/chocolate brown polka dot - added some extra pattern and pop to the beds and the futon.   Last but not least, the very talented Mommy Darling, who sewed all of these new accessories, created a striped lampshade and picture frame for a dresser.  How lucky are The Darlings to have a mommy like that!    

Before - 

After -


 

 

What an adorable room The Darlings have!  All in all, the changes were relatively minor (and, thanks largely to the skill of Mommy Darling, budget-friendly), but the difference in the look is remarkable.  If The Darlings are feeling very sassy later on, they can add stripes to the back wall or some color (polka dots?!) to the sloped ceiling.  Love it!  To steal a line from one of my favorite songs in "Hairspray" (the musical), "Mama, I'm a big girl now!" 

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this fabulous, very modern house nestled in the heart of Eastover.  I've never really noticed it before, although I must have driven by it at least several dozen times.  It's just soooo very surprising to see a house like this in Charlotte!   Personally, I love it.  It's not for everyone, but it's a really great look.  If this house belongs to you, I'm dying for a tour inside.  I anticipate that the decor will be just as unexpected as the house.  Pretty please????