In the frame

I written before about empty frames and how they can be a nice design feature. If you’ve got a blank wall just begging for attention, there aren’t many easier ways to adorn it than simply by using a grouping of interesting frames which can often be found on the cheap in bulk at yard sales and auction houses.

Here are two great examples — the first, white frames on a white wall — honestly something I would have never thought of doing myself but I love the effect.  I think this could be a really funky way to decorate at an office building which can often be pretty soul-less.

The second takes a completely different approach – more color, less uniformity and a combination of frames and mirrors.  And of course, I love the addition of the furry companion.

Thinking bathrooms

I’ve been thinking a lot about all the bigger spaces in Tilly’s Cottage (not big, because there is no such think in this house…) and how I want them to look.  For the most part, I’ve had them designed in my head for a year now.

What I haven’t thought much about are the bathrooms.  I have been to a couple of shops and looked at the show home last year at the Ideal Home Show in Dublin for inspiration but so far, I’m just not feeling it. Here are a couple of bathrooms I like – the first is a serious power shower but not at all practical for the cottage.

The second is from West Elm – lovely, simple and inviting.  A possibility to try to replicate but sadly, no West Elm here in Ireland so I’ll have to be resourceful. 

If you’ve got a link for a bathroom you’re lusting after, please share!

 

Polka Dots

A few days ago in a comment on the post about my stairs, Molly mentioned that she thought it would be cool if the risers were done in over-sized polka-dots.  And then I kept running across fun polka dots — so I thought I’d share them here as it seems the whimsy of polka dots ain’t just for lil’ girls anymore…

The Nester

Lora, via Christiana, has introduced me to this site. There’s so much charm to this woman’s home.  And I like her philosophy that it “doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.” It’s a great approach for someone like me to take since I’m going to have to use a lot of pre-loved furniture in the new pad until I can afford the fancy stuff. (Let’s face it, that day won’t likely come and I’m not much of a fancy stuff kinda’ gal anyway).

In the first image, I love the way she’s used painted shutters above her fireplace.  I don’t know if the wreath is just for the holidays or a year-round look (I think it’s the latter) but it’s lovely and soft looking. 

Her wall of mixed art is fun and the room looks really comfy cozy.

 

 

And slip-covered sofas throughout makes me want to just kick back with a cup of coffee and my book.

 

 

 

 

http://www.thenester.com

This is one of those clippings…

…that I’ve been hanging on to forever.  I really love the color combinations, all the different textures and the design of this room.  On one hand, there’s lots in the room but it still feels very simple and streamlined to me. Very inviting.

Gold rush

I was helping my friend, Kathy, clear out the family home in New York several years ago after her aunt had passed away.  As we were sorting through what to keep, donate and throw away, we came across a set of gold-rimmed china that had belonged to Kathy’s grandmother on the McGlone side of the clan.  While it wasn’t particularly my style nor Kathy’s, it seemed a shame to let it go so I convinced her we should bring it back to Boston with us.

Not long after this, my good friend, Brent (whose birthday is today), came to visit Boston from Austin, Texas.  Kathy lamented over my reluctance to donate the china when we were in New York and Brent offered to take them off her hands.  Shortly thereafter the dishes were shipped to Austin much to Brent and his partner, Jimmy’s delight.  While I no longer have the copies of the photos, Brent and Jimmy literally used “Mama McGlone’s” plates as the centerpiece of their Thanksgiving feast — and they really played up the gold theme.  I tend to be more of a silver person myself but their photos made me appreciate how nice gold can look when “dressed” the right way.   Happy birthday, Brent!

The King’s Speech set design

I finally got to see The King’s Speech a couple of weeks ago and I was SO glad I didn’t wait for the DVD the way I normally would.  I have a requirement for movies that I’m willing to pay over 10 euros for — they have to have big screen presence.  Otherwise, I’m quite happy to watch them at home on the small screen.  The exception:  anything featuring Colin Firth.  He is so dishy — it’s hard to believe he’s 50. But I digress…

Colin Firth was just one of the benefits of seeing this fabulous film on the big screen — the other was feeling like I stepped into the incredible set design.  I love vintage, rustic, distressed — all that stuff.  So Lionel Logue’s speech therapy studio was right up my street. The kitchen in the cottage won’t have windows — so the main source of natural light will be the roof lantern above — albeit differently from this set but still nice to see the look. 

Nella Designs

I’m diggin’ on Nella Designs.  She has fantastic papercraft but my favorites are the custom silhouette posters she does (I know – surprise, surprise – right?).

Send in your photo and text and she’ll whip up one of these little numbers. So cute. So hip.

There are a lot of other great posters, cards, and stationery on the site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nelladesigns?ref=top_trail

 

 

Still thinking about stairs

I’m still stuck on what to do about my stairs (which makes no sense at all given that I’m literally MONTHS away from having to make this decision!).

So I thought I’d share some more creative stair ideas — maybe not all as practical for my needs but fun nonetheless.

Stairs & Stripes

I’ve been trying to get my budget together and in doing so, started shopping around a bit for carpeting for my stairs.  These stairs, by the way, are steep and tiny (Molly – sound familiar?). They are grandfathered in and, if it weren’t really expensive, I’d update them but, since it is expensive, they’ll stay as they are – narrow though they may be.

I’m thinking I need a runner for the stairs that won’t show a lot of dirt (afterall, Miss Tilly will be up and down them) and will mix and match easily with a broad and potentially ever-changing color palette given my fondness of decorating. I considered simply painting them but, I think from a noise standpoint, carpeting will work much better.  They’re carpeted already and, while I don’t want to keep the carpet that’s on them, I do think it’s helped maintain the sturdiness of the stairs over all these years.

So, all of this preamble is about where I’ve landed in my head in terms of what I want.  Stripes.  I think stripes would tick a lot of boxes and, although striped carpet may be a bit trendy, I think it’s the right look for the house.  Check out some of these striped carpets (one of the final shots is the detail of a carpet I’m thinking of getting — whaddya’ think?  And you probably already guessed but the last pic are my stairs as they look at the moment — let’s just consider this the “before” photo.).  I really like the chunkier stripes with variegated width best but the carpet gurus tell me that these don’t work well on stairs that turn the way my stairs do as it’s hard to line them up properly – bummer.