Art in the Home Exhibition

Come check out our Diverse Dining Room at

Art in the Home!

At Bloomington Theatre and Art Center, the Inez Greenberg Gallery will be divided into five living spaces designed by guest interior designers/design teams. Each "room" will feature handcrafted furniture and home accessories by local and regional artisans.

What kind of room am I doing? Read on!

Where does family gather? Where do guests gather when they come over? Where do you sit to read the paper? Where do the kids gather to study, draw, practice their musical instrument? That's right...the kitchen eating area! My room is based on the diversity of the family eating area whether an eat-in space within your kitchen or a separate dining room near the kitchen. Nowadays, that is where all of the hubbub occurs. With the help of my assistant, Kelsey Jacobucci, I have designed a room where family and friends can gather at the table, lounge in the rocker to read, practice an instrument or give a one person musical performance. There is storage in the cabinet for the family art supplies as well as linens and accessories for the table. Having an eclectic style only makes the space feel more personable and inviting so family photos and art can easily be displayed. I selected artists whose style, technique, and pieces would comfortably integrate with the feel I wanted to convey in this room. Enjoy!

Opening Reception: Thursday, February 20, 2014 6-8p 

If you can't make the opening, the displays are viewable for 6 weeks until April 4, so come at your leisure!

Support the arts! Susan

Eclectic Vintage Color, Part 2 -- the Dining Room

Hi, and happy holidays to all!!

Welcome to Part 2 of my "Eclectic Vintage Color" home showcasing the Dining Room. I discussed the KITCHEN as well as project goals in Part 1 here, so check that out if you want a refresher.

For the BEFORE PICS:

And the AFTER PICS:

We started with an existing blue/gray handmade paper wallcovering we chose to keep. As in the kitchen, we continued the bamboo floors and painted the trim white. My client had inherited a beautiful vintage Henredon dining set I thought would be lovely and fulfill her vintage-love, so we reupholstered the chairs with a modern yet vintage inspired F. Schumacher fabric. We selected orange to bring in warmth, contrast with the blue walls, and give the room energy. We kept the existing and truly amazing chandelier. I believe it is a vintage Venini! Definitely a keeper! 

Bringing in more light and dark orange to coordinate with the chair upholstery, custom silk draperies with a darker accent trim were incorporated. For the wall, my client fell in love with a textile art piece found on Etsy, utilizing hand dyed fabric strips, and strengthening our blue/orange concept.

My client had purchased the artist made metal mirrors quite a few years earlier while traveling. At that time, we put them in the dining room, knowing someday when we revamped the dining room, they would be incorporated, and they worked out splendidly!

The small pillows made for the two extra arm chairs incorporate all of our colors...light and dark blue, light and dark orange, and tan hues from the floor.

For the floor, the perfect wool rug...again incorporating all of our colors. The beautiful artisan vase my client loves, now blends in with the new color scheme back at front and center in the middle of the table.

I hope your holidays have been pleasant and your New Years is fabulous!! XXOO Susan

Knowledge is Strength: Pantone's Color of the Year 2014, Radiant Orchid

It seems Pantone, the world-renowned authority on color, has surprised many in the industry with the selection of Radiant Orchid, 18-3224 as the upcoming Color of the Year. The PANTONE® name is known worldwide as the standard language for color communication from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer. Need a color to match exactly from one end of the globe to the other? Pick a Pantone color!

Last year's color Emerald served as a symbol of growth, renewal and prosperity. This year's color Radiant Orchid is an invitation to innovation, expanded creativity and originality. Cheers to that!

Radiant Orchid is quite a unique color. At first I thought "Wow, where would I use that"? Perhaps a powder room, child or teen's room, as a small accent color...which surprises me because the last thing I ever want to feel is limited by color. I like to believe I can use color anywhere, at any time, depending on adjacent colors, what proportions have been used, and the values (lightness and darkness) or chroma (intensity of a color) used. So I started doing a little research and looking around for inspiration. Best thing to do whenever a road block starts creeping in!

I ran across this lovely view of famous designer Kelly Wearstler's office on Instagram today. Lo and behold, I see Radiant Orchid!

Gorgeous artwork! Pinterest/Jeannie Mills – Aboriginal Art Centre – Anaty 1105 “Bush Potato”

And of course, nature will always give you the most exquisite color findings.
Pinterest

 Pinterest

 I love this this room, the purple and orange combo, the ethnic vibe. It's fresh yet warm at the same time. Pinterest

 Ditto with this dining room! Pinterest

A little retro mod to balance out the selections. Pinterest

 How's this for a funky barn?! Pinterest

And of course, all I had to do was look above at my blog header to see a more saturated version of Radiant Orchid in this foyer I designed. In fact, I found two other rooms where I used versions of this year's Pantone color!

Not quite as unique and unusual an application as I had initially thought. How many other areas in your life can you bring in this type of questioning and conclusion? Challenge yourself. Knowledge is strength.

Later gators, Susan 

Eclectic Vintage Color, Part 1 -- the Kitchen

Hi All!

Time for after pics!! This post is focused on a kitchen from a multi-room first floor project.  I'm calling this project Eclectic Vintage Color because those are three adjectives the homeowner really wanted to incorporate into the finished designs.  The entire project included the kitchen, laundry room, powder room, family room, living room, and dining room.  I think I'll do different posts for each room.  How's that sound? First up -- is the kitchen -- which probably isn't as vintage, eclectic or colorful as the other rooms.  After all, we did need function here.  I posted before pics of the below kitchen here and did progress posts as we were selecting finishes, etc. here and here.  So now, drumroll please...check it out!

Eclectic Vintage Color

Maple cabinetry, granite countertops, mosaic style backsplash with glass, stone, and marble, stainless fixtures, stainless breakfast table, vinyl chairs

I absolutely adore the backsplash/granite combo.  The swirl of the granite combined with the structure of the tile is just divine!

I really like all of the coordinating textures in this image, particularly the charming basket shelf.

In addition to the island, there is a large peninsula -- see the three pendants -- with three stools for additional seating or to watch TV in the family room.

Didn't my client do a fabulous job finding baskets for the shelf with the perfect shade of grays and cream liner to tie in with all of the varying colors we brought into the kitchen?

A little personalization with knob icons for the four family members:  grapes, baseball, books, and butterfly

But wait, we can't forget about the adorable family dog, Milo!  He gets a personalized knob too...

I know, not the best pic, but it's a dog head knob identical to Milo's breed.  How fab!

And of course he also gets his own little eating/food storage station!

Stay tuned for Room #2!

Susan

Dining Room LoVe

I love this dining room.  The casual, simple chairs combined with the ornate, glittering chandelier.  The table with its combination of wood and chrome finishes.  The subtle art with just enough color on the edges to separate it from the wall.  Aahhhh...  So well balanced.  Truly lovely.

See you soon!!  Susan

Small Gold Treasure

Hi all!  I know this week I was going to continue with the Dining Room of a main floor project I am working on, but alas, I did not have time to get photos of the selections we are using, so will have to postpone that one until next week.

In the meantime, I have a wonderful little find I picked up in an antique store I want to share.  It was a long time in the making, that's for sure.  I picked up this adorable little gold table last summer.  One can never have too many little tables!  However, when expressing this sentiment as my son was in the same room, his reply was, "Mom, more little tables are not always the answer." Mon Cher!

When I took all the crap off of the top of the table while in the antique store, the glass top was severely cracked and broken, so the guy took $5 off.  Then I tipped it upside down, and one of the four gold floral stalks came loose...there went another $5.  Then I noticed one of the corners wasn't secure...yep, you guessed it, another $5!  I was really enjoying this game!!  It started at $55 (still a steal I thought) and ended at $40.

I had my friend Kelly Ludeking, a fabulous metal artist who has a done a lot of work for me over the years, weld the corner that had come loose.  Not a good pic, I know.  That was $50.

 I believe my son, or husband, super glued or siliconed the extra floral branch in place.  Free! (to me :)

Next, I had glass made for the top.  I knew I wanted extra thick chunky glass so I would have a blue ring at the top when the sunlight hit it.  Because the metal corners were slightly curved, the glass piece had to have radiuses cut into them, definitely an increase in price.  By the time we were done, the glass piece cost $100.

 View from the top

 And another...

Lookin' good!!

About $200 later, I love my table!!  It works well in my very eclectic, yet inviting, living room!  Do you have fabulous finds and trinkets to share?  Let me know!

Keep digging for treasure!!  Susan

Living Room in Full Color

I know, I know...I have been greatly delinquent on posting once a week.  I have been so busy with my many projects , and I say many with a smile on my face :) or when I sit down to write, I am just too tired to care.  I definitely don't want to be posting "careless" pieces!

I am working on a living room, dining room, foyer redesign and thought I would share with you it's progress.  A few years ago, 2007 to be exact, when the couple with small kids moved into the home, we worked on the exterior -- new siding, ext lighting, railings, landscaping, etc.  We then did some paint colors in the inside just to give the house a more personable feeling.  Now we are starting over, with whole room redo's in the above three rooms.  I'll write posts on the dining room and foyer in future posts. Sooo stay tuned!!

Above is the layout of the room.  I love using Post-It notes cut to size of my furniture selections so I can move the pieces around at will.  Yes, I have the ever popular magnetic set.  However, I can never seem to find the size/style I need.  So I made my own!  The Charles Ray sofa is in the bottom right corner with an existing cocktail table in front and an existing low buffet in back which will eventually get a couple of lamps.  A contemporary style Hickory wing chair is in the bottom left corner and a Hickory chaise in the upper left corner.  In the upper right corner is the husband's Ekornes brown leather chair/ottoman where he likes to work on his laptop from home -- so a must to incorporate!

Here's the sofa material -- kind of a reinterpreted "running dog/Asian" look with the softest of soft microfiber pillows and trim in a rich rust color with an accent trim.  The dark gold color is the Benjamin Moore wall paint while the light gold color will be the on the elevated, peaked ceiling.

The chaise lounge will be in this wonderful soft blue microfiber (more desaturated looking than in the pic) near the fireplace with an accent pillow in a Ralph Lauren green/blue/red to tie in with the sofa and wing chair.

Fabulous Schumacher printed linen for grommet drapery flanking the fireplace.

The Schumacher linen has super duper large paisleys on it and will be bordered by a Robert Allen rust linen at the top.  The green fabric is the Hickory contemporary wing chair.  It will also have bronze colored railheads to bring in a bit of masculinity to the room!

This is the coffee/cocktail table -- an inheritance from the husband's mother so it has sentimental value.  He is thrilled we can reuse it, and so am I!  Look at those big chunky legs -- aren't they cool?  And I love the acanthus leaf accents.  I am having a decorative paint artist add a bit of gold leaf and gold Rub n' Buff to the legs to give it more of a worn, yet elegant look.

And here it all is!!  What do you think?  (Again the blue is not that vibrant - jeepers!! :)

Cheers!  Susan