IGH Living Room Progress: Mantel going UP!

Happy Spring!

Details are coming together in an Inver Grove Heights living room I am updating.  Let's look!

In this corner, we added grommet style curtains using Robert Allen and Schumacher linen fabrics and a new olive green Hickory wing chair with nailheads. I love this Schumacher linen with the oversized paisleys but chose to use it only on the large floor to ceiling windows on either side of the fireplace so we could keep the focal point on that wall. I put Robert Allen linen solids on the patio door, but connected the draperies with the rust colored border at the top. Linen just hangs so beautifully, it's one of my favorite fabrics!

We added a new Charles Ray sofa, but I decided to keep the coffee table my client had inherited from his mother.  I just love the oversized feel of the piece, the carved details and those bulbous legs are so fabulous!  We highlighted the details with gold leaf and gold Rub n' Buff...thanks to Candice of Textural Hues!!  We're also adding cabinet doors to the bottom half of the built in bookcase behind the sofa.  There's one on either side of the dining room entry.  Now they'll look like built in cabinets instead of built in bookshelves. Still need to redo that piano seat...it's in progress!

And yet in another corner, you can see we've painted the rooms' walls and ceiling with new Ben Moore colors and added this luscious Hickory chaise in a soft grey/blue.  This fabric is soooo soft, you can snuggle right in and watch the wildlife right outside the window. The homeowner already owned the espresso colored faux fur throw, but I think it's perfect on the chaise and grounds the colors in this corner.

Back to the other corner, you can see the old mantel from a chunk of cedar and the graduating bricks holding it up.  I am not a fan of protruding bricks in fireplaces, and it truly doesn't work with our revamped style...too retro, too 50's/60's looking, so...

 ...we are going to cover them up. We could have possibly knocked them off, but we didn't want to risk weakening the entire fireplace structure. The above corbels are hollow, acting as caps, to go over the protruding bricks and hold up the new larger mantel which will wrap around and tie right into the window casing on either side of the fireplace.

Here's my fabulous woodworker, Walt from McHenry's Custom Furniture & Cabinets refining the fit on the new mantel.  Now to paint it to match the trim, and install.

Keep posted!!

Susan

Peacocks In Decor!

Today I have a wonderful guest post from Mari at Arcadian Home. I think she's selected some of the best images ever on peacock decor! I'm dedicating this post to my good friend Joy...I don't know anybody more peacock crazy than her!!  Let's read on...                                            

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Hello, everyone! It's Mari here from Arcadian Home blog, a beautiful place to find lots of decorating inspirations, including table decor, wall art and interesting lighting fixtures of all sorts. I'm so excited to be visiting Color Me Lovely with a guest post about peacocks in decor. Today's post was inspired by Susan's wonderful auction find of an antique white peacock print by Jessie Arms Botke. You can see it here. To celebrate that found treasure, I've pulled together eight images of rooms with beautiful peacocks as focal points. Please enjoy!

Designer Jeffrey Bilhuber placed this preserved peacock on a pedestal as the focal point in a lovely blue Manhattan apartment living room. Peacock blue accents pop in the midst of paler shades of blue.

This painting of a white peacock on a black background serves as a lovely focal point above the deep pink velvet settee in a traditional living room.

A contemporary peacock painting in brilliant blue is the center of attention at the head of this wrought iron canopy bed. Turquoise buffet lamps with large black shades (only one is visible here) are perfect atop the bedside chests.

In this inviting pale gray and green dining room, a contemporary peacock painting serves as a colorful focal point. A blue and white rug gives the space an understated coastal feel.

This living room with wonderful global style includes a colorful preserved peacock near the fireplace behind the deeply tufted gold velvet sofa. Moroccan tables merge beautifully into the design that also features sleek metal modern tables.

An eclectic bath has two peacock elements -- a pretty painting resting on the floor against the wall and the window shade in a floral and peacock patterned fabric.

Elle Decor brings us this lovely green dining space with two preserved peacocks, one is white as seen in Susan's antique print.

A gorgeous peacock mural is stunning in this glamorous pink bedroom with clear acrylic four-poster bed. The only thing I'm missing is a really glam modern pendant light hung in the center of the room. What a great space!

Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

 What do you think of these peacock inspired interiors? Leave us your comments below and be sure to check out our website for more home decor and lighting inspirations!

Was I right??? Awesome images, huh? Being the ultimate animal lover I am, I would never, ever condone killing and stuffing animals purely for purely pretty decor. The stuffed peacocks are absolutely stunning, so if you want them in your home, please, please check your sources and make sure they lived a long, lovely life and died of natural causes. Many thanks!

Later 'gaters! Susan

Gurgling, Gothic and Gargoyles

Last August my son, and firstborn, went off to college. What an emotional time! I could have never prepared myself for the feelings that would come flooding in.  It felt like a "death", truly.  I know...it sounds morbid, but hey, that's how I felt!  However, I am definitely excited for him. I truly believe he'll do fabulous, and he was ready for more of life's challenges and adventures. He recently was home for a holiday break for a good chunk of time, and I felt a "wee bit" of those emotions gurgling (remember that word) back up as he departed, but fortunately, they maintained themselves and didn't unfold.  

With that said...on a DESIGN note, Bradley University, where my son is going, has a lot of gothic architecture that I really admire!  I have always loved the stately, medieval, somewhat ominous feel of gothic architecture so let me enlighten you a bit.

  

Henry Ives Cobb designed the buildings at Bradley U in a style popular during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries known as Collegiate Gothic.  It's a subcategory of the Gothic Revival period and can also be found at Princeton, Yale, and Duke. Gargoyles and intricate arches were a popular feature. Mr. Cobbs is well known for bringing his Romanesque and Gothic touches to numerous public and private institutions in the Chicago area at the turn of the century.

Gargoyles date back to the 13^th century. The were originally intended as waterspouts and drains to keep rainwater from damaging the mortar foundations of buildings. The word gargoyle comes from the French word gargouille, meaning “throat” describing the “gurgling” sound made by water as it ran through the figure.  Pretty cool tidbit to know, huh? I'd much rather have a gargoyle instead of the contemporary drainpipes of today! 

However, now that we have drainpipes (ick), gargoyles are primarily decorative. In addition to originally being functional, they were also suggested as a means to ward off evil spirits. 

There is also a lot of wonderful sculpture on the premises.  This one is my favorite!  Doesn't this look like a Henry Moore sculpture??  I could not find any plaque or inscription on it...I'll have to find out one of these days.  I absolutely love it!

And the patina!! Gorgeous, love patina!!

And this dear readers...is Lydia Moss Bradley, the woman who founded the University.  From looking at that scary delightful face, I dare say not too many students were probably skipping classes during that time!

Carpe Diem!  Susan

Auction Mania

I love finding a good deal and it's even more enjoyable when the environment is appealing and you're not digging through some dusty, smelly, gross antique store basement.  Last summer I went with my mom to an auction located in the small town of Mountain Lake, MN, where she grew up, with a population around 2,000.  Although it is more diverse now, the town was initially composed of mostly 1,800 Russian Mennonites who settled there between 1873 and 1880. Most of the auctions are on farms in that area, but this one happened to be in the town. Auctions can be fun even if its just for the people watching, or looking for that one little treasure.  I often find that auctions in rural or farmland areas contain a lot of tools, mostly rusty and not too functional, or heavier equipment, but this one was a gold mine!! The family was very creative--painters, decorators, upholsterers, sewers, and obviously collectors.  There were gorgeous murals on the walls throughout the mid century house (sorry didn't get pics of those!). 

 Oodles and oodles of quilts of all kinds in fabulous shape, and with their creative eye, many were very unique.  I tend to like the crazy quilt style above.

 Wool, wool, and more wool.  Being a textiles and fiber nut, I was instantly drawn to this.

 More gorgeous wools--plaids, stripes, solids...bags and bags of it.

Many fabulous oriental/persian style rugs.

 Antique dolls, tins, and notecards.  Look at the gorgeous turquoise and yellow design on the top of the can behind the dolls.

 Antlers and antique game boards -- all the things you see being used in decorating and design magazines currently.  And not just one of each -- if they had something, they had many variations of it.

 I am also a nut for the Art Nouveau period with its undulating lines and curvy movement.  This mirror was so indicative of that.

 Close up of mirror's sinuous lines

 Tons of rag rugs, which I could really use now for a current upholstery project of mine!

 The grounds at the house were spectacular, yet natural, earthy and like the Art Nouveau period, very undulating, so of course, there was a lot of wonderful garden statuary.

 Fun collectibles

 What can I say, I am the ultimate cat lover, so of course, had to take a pic of this.  However, there were many other boxes...one with dogs, one with birds, one with...you name it!

 Teacups, teacups, and more teacups! Not typically uncommon for auctions, but WOW...this many for a single household? Some had the coolest designs.

 Part of the grounds...isn't this inviting?

 Exactly what most people in a town of 2,000 on a nice summer day came for...socializing and catching up with friends and neighbors.

 Rolls and rolls of designer upholstery fabrics

 Stunning carved antique furniture

 One thing I did buy...this funky white peacock antique print by Jessie Arms Botke.  I wish it was an original but then the cost would have been out of my reach. However, since the print is antique, the quality of brushstroke imagery is lovely.

 And talk about an impulse purchase...just as we were leaving, the auctioneer was starting the bidding on this faux mohair sofa, which can be separated into 3 separate pieces.  Starting bid: $4.50.  Did anybody want it? No one.  So, I bought it for $4.50!  The bad news...I live 3 hours from where the auction was and have a small SUV car, so it is currently at my parents house, which is just fine. Do I need it, do I have someplace to put it? NO. But really, when in your life can you say you bought a sofa for $4.50 that looks this good??? Yeah, I know...impulse.

Have a fabulous weekend!!

XXOO Susan