dressing up low ceilings

adding detail to the ceiling is a great way 

to add character to any space,

but i think that many people think that because they have 

"standard" 8' ceilings, they can't dress them up.

wrong.

take a look at how this ceiling is treated 

with a simple, shallow molding.

it makes a HUGE impact, 

and, unlike a coffered ceiling, 

it would be relatively easy and affordable to install.

the ceilings in house # 5 were 9',

and we installed a coffered ceiling,

but we have looked at a handful of potential houses,

and they ALL have 8' ceilings.

so, the treatment in the above picture would be perfect

if house #6 does indeed have standard height ceilings.

of course, you could STILL do a coffered ceiling on

an 8' ceiling, but you would just have to make it shallow.

oh, and just to refresh your memory...

here is the family room of house #5.

it started off WAY too VANILLA for us,

but with a little bit of trim,

and some hardwood floors, and paint

we transformed it.

 wall color: brandon beige 977

ceiling color decatur buff HC-38

trim swiss coffee OC-45

floor: minwax provincial 211
***
oh, and be sure to check out 
my post about starting your OWN design file
at "or so she says" here.
(image via house beautiful)

diy gold leafed lamp

i found this lamp about three months ago 

for $3 at a local thrift store.

i completely flipped over the size and shape,

and knew i could make it into something special.

although it looks wood, it is actually some type of resin.

it is very heavy and well made, 

and i love the slight wood grain and 

the scratches and dings all over it.

i knew i wanted to use this lamp in my "new" den, 

and so when i decided to paint the walls of my "den" a dark, moody blue, 

i thought gold might be a nice contrast.

i remembered seeing a chest that jenny had silver leafed, 
and thought that this lamp would look great gold.

plus, it was so easy!

what i used:

gold leaf

gold leaf spray adhesive

foam brush
my 9 year old daughter as slave labor

 i taped off the base, which i did not want to be gold leafed, 
and lightly sprayed the lamp with the "gold leaf" spray adhesive.
***

(i paid about $7 for that little can of specialty adhesive, 
but i thought it smelled and worked exactly like my beloved 
super 77 spray mount. if i had it to  do over again, i would

have just used spray mount)
***

then,  i gently applied the gold leaf sheets to the lamp,
and used the foam brush to press it in to the crevices.

here it is finished.

it was a little messy, but totally easy!

as you can probably see, the neck of the lamp was 

WAY too long...any shade that i put on 

looked completely ridiculous. 

(like an orange on a toothpick!)

plus, the top was all "wonky".

so, i called a local lamp repair company

to see how much they would charge me

to cut down the neck and rewire it.

as soon as i heard "$27",

i raced over.

here is my almost complete lamp:

the lamp was rewired 

and 3" were cut off the neck.

i still need to touch up the base.

it's a little dinged up.

i was really impressed with all the work that

i was able to get done for $27!

i also need to buy a new shade for it.

of course, i have an old yucky shade that

came with another thrift store lamp i bought...

i might just recover it in a nice linen.

or, use this restoration hardware drum shade that

i picked up for $1 (YES, $1!!) at the 

downeast clearance center. 

you can't tell

from the pictures, but it is in bad shape as well...

it has some stickers on the back and it

is really dirty. maybe it would look good

covered in the linen...

hmm...decisions, decisions.

which shape do you think would looks best?

linking to:

remodlaholic

diy show off

tatertots and jello

the den: fabrics

i am slowly making progress on the den fabrics.

so far i have:

a yummy ralph lauren herringbone fabric 

(that i have had in storage for over 6 years.)

thom filicia's lawrence fabric in taupe

(purchased here)

a blue and yellow stripe 

(that i got for $3 a yard at fabric.com)

some amazing greek key trim in a denim blue (from here)

the octopus napkin that i blogged about here.

as sad as it is, we 

have to use our futon  in the room. 

(not exactly high-style, i know)

sometimes our two girls, whose bedrooms are in the basement,

get scared and come upstairs to sleep, so this room also 

needs to function as a makeshift bedroom. 

plus, i don't want to spend any $$

on a piece of furniture for that i 

don't KNOW i will be able to use in our next house.

i bought the futon cover from west elm about

three years ago, it was supposed to go in the 

bonus room/playroom of house #5.

(which, by the way, you have never seen before, so here goes:)

 i never got the chance to decorate this room.
(can you tell?! ha. ha.)

it was the place where all the furniture we didn't

know what to do with ended up.

but hey, you got to get a peek at

the incredibly awesome futon that will be going in the den! 

i am still deciding where i want each fabric to go...

i don't want to waste too much fabric on the window treatment,

since it will be staying with the house.

i also have a tiny bench and a little side chair that i plan on

fitting in the room.

hmm....

i'll keep you updated as i make progress.

art in bedrooms

as i was sifting through some of my scanned images,

i came across these lovelies.

i really loved how art 

plays a significant role in each bedroom...

and how different each display is.

same frames. 
same mats. 
different sizes.

different colored images.

notice how the pieces are hung so that

a consistent perimeter is maintained?

identical frames, mats and sizes.

different images.
so lovely.

one large piece really unifies the color scheme
in this bedroom.
and that frame is pretty incredible, don't you think?

 small piece.

 big impact.

a large grouping of identical pieces

results in a very graphic look.

i totally adore this bedroom...

the grasscloth wallpaper, the daybed,

the little lucite tables, the bolster pillows,

the drum chandelier...yum.

a random collection of paintings add

color and quirkiness to this pretty bedroom.
ahh. so many options.
which one is your favorite?

iron mountain

in the last week, i have had several inquiries about the

paint color that i used for the 

front door and surround of house #5.

i finally located my notes, and the color is...

 benjamin moore's

iron mountain

2134-30

it is a really pretty dark grey

with brown undertones.

it always looked pretty....no matter what time 

of day of how the light was shining.

it was a great color for this project.

oh, and here's a before picture,

just on case you wanted to see.

you can read my original post on this entry here.

a taste of salt lake

one of my family's traditions is 

saturday lunch out.

(yay for no cooking and no dishes, right ladies?)

we always enjoy lunch out together on saturdays.

sometimes we find new places to eat,

and other times we go back to an old favorite.

my husband is the one who hunts down these fun new

places, and he found a winner this past saturday:

vinto.

 i liked it before we even tasted the food...

isn't the sign great?

 

oh, and i loved these light fixtures outside!

the interiors have a really sleek yet warm modern look.

the light marble and metal stools blend nicely with the

wood tones and warm paint colors.

 wowza.

what a light fixture!

me likey.

 this is where we ate.

hello stripes!

i was giddy as we sat down to look at the menu.

i kept wanting to lick the walls cuz they were so amazing.

but don't worry. i didn't.

the bold black and white stripes were so crisp...

and i love the little wood trimmed "window".

what was so amazing about this banquette was the fact that the

bottom stripe....

was the upholstered bench!

so genius!

love it.

 

even the area for wood for the wood burning pizza oven was stylish.

even if the food was bad (which it WASN'T),

i would still come back to this place 

just to bask in it's loveliness.

the next stop?

gourmandise.

sinful, yummy paradise awaits.

 the inside has a great coffered ceiling,

black and white checkerboard floors, and

nice lighting. 

bad lighting can literally RUIN a meal for me.

yeah, that's right.

i'm a lighting snob.

it's one of my many faults....

(my friends and husband like to tease me about the times we have

eaten out and i have asked to be moved because i had

a light shining in my eye, or had a terrible view of the

fluorescent lights in the kitchen.)

they also have a rotating display of local art.

and just take a peek at the goodies...

 

um, hello yumminess.

we ordered.
and then we ordered some more.

and then, just to cover our bases,

we ordered two more things.

and ended up with this cute box full of yummies to go.

guess what i had for breakfast sunday morning?