Color Time - Benjamin Moore Salmon Peach

Oh my Jamie Drake, you have converted this no loving "peach" girl into a puddle of admiration! Today's color time photo was promptly torn out of House Beautiful and pinned on my inspiration board. He designed this space for HB's Designer Vision Show House last year and I love everything about it. The Salmon Peach combined with the dark furniture and black framed windows makes for a glamorous and elegant setting.

Benjamin Moore's Salmon Peach was used throughout the living space but taken up a notch 

with the addition of a light bronze glaze.

This is the woman Jamie Drake envisioned living in the space:

"Very glamorous, very urbane. I invented her as the granddaughter of Josephine Baker, the Jazz Age icon. She's a successful woman in her late 40s who is the special events director of a major fashion magazine."

Can we digress from the paint color and talk about the fabulous bookshelves? Such great styling!

Would you consider using a Peach or Coral color in your house?

Click here to view more Color Time posts, you may just find that perfect hue for your own house!

*Note: The above room is the actual paint color not just a resemblance of the color. As you can see above, the paint chip sample online looks different than what is in the actual room photo. When choosing paint for your own home never go by what you see online, the color will always be a tad different. I suggest picking up a small paint sample at the store and paint a color swatch in the actual room, than you will never be disappointed!

 (Images via House Beautiful, Designer Jamie Drake, Photographer Jonny Valiant)

Transition into fall with Stone and Wood

Welcome to the unofficial start of fall!! Once September arrives I start what some people in my family might call the "mourning period". My withdrawal from summer can be fierce but a few things gets me through including sweater shopping and finding cozy pieces for my home! Warm wood tones and stone always exudes a very warm feel especially when there is a fire in the fireplace!

I love taking out cozy blankets to add to the living room during the first few days of fall. This Pottery Barn throw is the best of both worlds a chunky knit on one size and faux sheepskin on the reverse. Heavenly, right?!

I love these two kitchens, I always feel like there are even more gatherings in the kitchen during the fall months! A large island is the perfect spot for those long impromptu conversations!

 

As you can tell I am only thinking of the inside options but to be realistic there is still a months worth of outdoor activities to be had before I am relegated indoors!

(images 1-3 from Canadian House and Home, Jonny Valiant House Beautiful)

Design With What You Have

A large part of Jace Interiors is focused on "Designing With What You Have". This can come about in two ways. The first option is to use what the homeowner currently owns to create a new room and the second option is to design a room that they can, overtime move pieces to other rooms in their house. Most often this starts with a color scheme that flows throughout the home. Below is a perfect example of 2 rooms which can share accents and furniture.

The blue Christopher Spitzmiller lamp is shown here in the Living Room but could also be used in the guest room as seen in the image below. The accent pillows on the chairs could also be easily moved to the bedroom to give a new feel to the space!

 

It is difficult to see the full scale of this round table but I would bet I could find a new home for it in the living room! It is fun to look at your current accent pieces in a new way. Living Room and Bedroom accents are often interchangeable! 

When was the last time you moved a piece from one room to another? Window panels, wall decor and area rugs are easy and quick change to make a room feel new again without spending a penny! Give it a try!

(images from House Beauitful - Leslie Klotz)

How To Thursday - Easy Home Updates For Fall

It's been a while since I posted a "How To Thursday", with fall just around the corner I was inspired! Yesterday I was so excited to see AOL Shelter Pop used the fall cleaning tip I tweeted about! Thanks Shelter Pop for including me!

"Change the look: "Rearranging a room always leads to cleaning out and decluttering that room! You get a new room feel and it's clean. A win win!" -Julieann Covino, Create Girl

With today's post I decided to expand on this a bit with a few easy decorating solutions to make your home feel as new as the season! All these tips are easy and most will include pieces you already have in your home!

With the start of the new school year I am sure the kids will be running home with many school art projects. An easy pick me up for the kitchen is to replace the wall decor you have now with the "professional" art projects! The kids will love seeing their pieces framed and I bet it will give you a smile each time you enter the kitchen!

One of my favorite tips is to swap out lamps and area rugs in your house. Do you have a set of lamps in the living room that could work in the bedroom? How about the guest bedroom area rug, why not put it in the master bedroom and move the bed to a different wall. It will give you a new perspective and you will wake up the first few days with that "where am I" feeling!

If you have wicker chairs that you used during the summer on the porch why not wash them down and bring them inside. Add new indoor cushions and you have 2 chairs for the living room! Rearrange your furniture grouping and you will have that "new room" feel!

Hope these fall tips help you brighten your own home!
What tips do you have? Please share!

(images from House Beautiful)

Kitchen Stairs.....but to where?

How often do you see stairs in a kitchen? Not often, right? I have to say I think it is fantastic! There is something mysterious about it as I wonder "where do those stairs lead"? If the dinner party was in the kitchen, I would be distracted the entire night!!

The stairs have captured my attention but there are a few other elements which I love to.

The pure white walls and cabinets give off a calm feeling and allows the table to be the focus.

Black and White squares lead to a dramatic floor and carries your eye over to the black railing and treads of the stairs!

Check out the towel bar, high up on the closet door! What a great idea, I try not to use paper towels so I always have 3 or 4 cloth ones around the kitchen.

We can't forget the exposed ceiling, something which could have looked very industrial now has a welcoming feel painted white.

Could this be a favorite kitchen of mine? That would be a double YAY!
Do you have stairs in your kitchen?

(image from House Beautiful/Jason Bell)

A walk through the garden

What a week it has been! Have you ever had a week which just feel like an emotional roller coaster? That was my week!! Lucky for me there were a few bright spots to the week. One being the overwhelming response to our NateDay! The power of twitter and our blogging community is just amazing! If you want to find a few new design blogs check out this list, they are all incredible. Another bright spot was having CreateGirl called out in a "Furniture Today" article by the ever supportive Leslie Carothers! Thanks Leslie!

With the weekend finally here, I found these serene gardens and thought what better place to have a little peace and quiet to regroup? I would love to grab my tea, take my time strolling through and just breath in the fresh air!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend and thanks again to all my new readers, it has been fun "meeting" you!
Jul

(images via House Beautiful)

Ty Larkin's Calming Palette

When I came across Ty Larkin's Baton Rouge home in House Beautiful I felt as if I had taken one large deep breath and exhaled. The subdued palette, classic architecture and smaller sized rooms create such a calm, cozy feeling that I just wanted to jump into each picture ending my little visit with drinks on the terrace!

My favorite quote from the article was Ty's answer to why he designs
with such a neutral palette.

"It allows you to change the look of a room, to inject a little bit of fashion — new throw pillows, a funky lamp — without blowing the budget. It gives you a timeless foundation."

Could you see yourself living in a house with such a neutral palette & Classic French Architecture or would you need more color over time?

(images from House Beautiful)

Coloring Old Navy Part 2

Earlier today I posted on "Color Time" the perfect Dark Blue, Old Navy from Benjamin Moore. Here are a few additional images to let you see the color in different spaces! This house is the South Beach residence of T Keller Donovan, the incredible interior designer! I adore the clean crispness of the blue and stark white, it just oozes ultra chic beach house! Notice the wicker chairs in the dining room? They are also painted "Old Navy" but this time with a gloss finish. The shutters are a laid back, casual addition to the bedroom and the IKEA shelving unit is perfect for easy beach storage!








Would you use this blue in your home? If so what room?

(images House Beautiful/T Keller Donovan)

The Amazing Collaboration of Kravet & Thom Filicia

Here is a little story about a fabric loving girl, quickly walking through the lobby of the Boston Design Center when her feet came to a screeching hault. I mean literally you could hear the brakes being slammed! This is when I came face to face with gorgeous runs of fabric in amazingly upbeat patterns! Can you believe it was the first peek of the Kravet Thom Filicia collaboration? I was so excited about one particular print that I actually needed to have it for myself not just for another project but for ME!! Feverishly I scoured the internet and found nothing about the collection until I went to twitter and was immediately DMed by the Kravet Team, can we say FABULOUS customer service? The entire line is yet to be released but here are a few patterns available on their website. You know me, I couldn't keep this to myself so here I share what I have found so far!

A few of my handy iphone photos from the BDC lobby!

One of my favorite Thom Filicia Rooms found at House Beautiful

Schiller Indigo

Euclid Apricot

CitySquare Limetree

Poppyfield

Do you love the style of Thom Filicia as much as I do? Thanks again to the Jen at Boston's Kravet Location for additional info!!

(images Jace Interiors, House Beautiful, Kravet)

Escape the Winter Blues with Summer Blues

Check the date, it's Feb 9th this is about the time of winter when I have just about had enough of it! I am dying to shed my wool coat (even if it is adorable), peel off the layers and open the windows to let some fresh air in (my shriveled dried skin would be oh so happy). Just as I am about to go under the electric blanket I come across this Southhampton home in House Beautiful and just like that I am transported to July. A gorgeously warm day spent at this amazing beach house is just what I need. The variation of blue throughout the home evokes a relaxing vibe while the large picture windows make you feel like you are sitting in the sky! Come on let's go for a tour!

the guest house

The blue-green soothing great room with enough space for all the guests to gather and relax. Notice the lack of pattern in the fabrics? This leads to less movement by the eye and creates a purely calming space.

Screened in porch perfect for brunch, dinner and nightly board games! I love the reflection of the iron coffee table on the floor...the sun is definitely out!

Lounging on my favorite Janus et Cie furniture would be a little slice of heaven!

If you were to have your choice of any of the 3 bedrooms above, which one would be your pick to relax?


A clamshell sink?! The perfect way to bring the outdoors in!

A driftwood chandelier and artichoke lamp are the little accents which make this space oh so beachy!

When winter gets to be just a little too much how do you escape? If you have a favorite beach house photo please share with a link in the comments!

Well I best get back to my layered sweaters and warm scarf with the thought we are a bit closer to the warm days!

(images from House Beautiful)
Designers Kim Coleman and Michelle Green

Industrial + French = Style Love

Gorgeous, Edgy, Serene what other words are there to describe such a house? House Beautiful recently featured Amy Neunsinger's Laurel Canyon Home and its one of those houses where I can immediately see myself "at home". Maybe it is the spacious, sun filled rooms or the way the shabby white decor contrasts the hard lines of an exposed ceiling, regardless it is so inviting! She describes the house as Southern France meets industrial, have you ever heard of such a fantastic mix? Take the tour below, I bet you will fall in love too.....

while tearing down tiles in the former bathroom, a rustic concrete wall was exposed and is now the anchor to a lovely dining room!

to DIE for double patio doors - let the light in!

The contrast is extreme with sharp metal & nail head coffee tables, metal framed windows and the softness of a white sofas.

a sliding barn door paired with a metal track combine the rustic and industrial seamlessly

a mirror backed bookcase give the room depth in an unassuming way

Above is the fantastic office space Amy uses for her online invitation & greetings company, Cocodot. If you are a card and invitation lover like me you will want to ck out this site, it is a great way to personalize stationary in a "do it yourself" kind of way!

(images from House Beautiful)