The New Blue Room: In Progress (Help Wanted!)

I thought it was high time for me to reveal my new blue guest bedroom!

Earlier this month, David and I painted this once-green room a very pretty shade of Farrow & Ball-inspired blue.

  

I originally chose F&B's "Skylight" for the room, but wanted a lighter shade of that colour. Knowing that F&B doesn't do custom blends (and not trusting my paint mixing skills), I got Benjamin Moore to make me up a custom batch of "light" Skylight.  It is a truly gorgeous porcelain blue with a hint of grey.  The photos don't do justice to this graceful blue: 

As you can imagine, painting this built-in bookcase was an almighty nightmare.  First, we painted the entire frame with two coats of Benjamin Moore's "Cloud White".  Then I taped around all 26 back rectangles (groan) and we painted the blue rectangles (two coats!).  In all, painting the bookcase and the rest of the room took us three weekends, with prep and taping and moving things.  I have a terrible back and was laid up for two weeks afterwards, I swear! 

Here's the bookcase pre-painting (filled with cookbooks and clutter!).  The room was a pretty but dated green:  

I think the blue and white is a vast improvement:

Here's a closeup of a quickly-styled shelf (Suzanne Kasler would be proud - she loves a soft blue room):  

I have not filled the shelves yet as we still intend to sand and paint all the ugly brown trimwork in the room.  I'm also planning to move the utilitarian books and clutter and make this a more beautiful display area.

David and I sleep in this room all summer, as it is partly sub-terranean and delightfully cool!  So I want it to be lovely for us as well as guests.

This room still needs a lot of work. I have big plans but a small budget.

Besides painting the brown mouldings, I intend to buy:

1. a beautiful antique night table (this could take a while!)

2. an inexpensive window treatment

3.  new closet door hardware

4.  a new light fixture and table lamp

5.  all new bedding!

6.  a headboard, maybe home made

Here's where I need you.  I am totally helpless when it comes to this window:

As you can see, I left the existing valance structure in place (previous owner), thinking that I might replace the valance with a simple white linen one (the previous one was Velcro'd on, for easy switching), and just leave the blinds.  We like having blinds as they block the light well and David opens the left window sometimes at night, so having separate blinds can be helpful, especially for opening and closing in the middle of the night!  

I would love a single white linen Roman blind.  But the double blind setup is practical and these old ivory metal Hunter Douglas blinds work like a charm.  New blinds never have mechanisms as good as the old ones!  Economically, it doesn't make sense to replace them, although white would be nicer if I wanted to simply replace in-kind. 

I would actually love some softness here but how do you arrange curtains at a window like this?  The ledge is quite deep (6") so curtains will not hang to the floor. I've been thinking of draping muslin neatly across the valance and then down the sides, but don't want a Shabby Chic hippie look!

Any suggestions for this crazy window?

In the lighting department, I think something simple and classic would be best, like this affordable fixture from Hudson Valley:

Oddly, the light fixture in this room is in the corner, to the left of the window, so a slightly narrow tall fixture would fill the space nicely.

I also love this French-inspired chandelier from online retailer Goldenage Chandeliers.  It would lend a welcome French feel to the room, but I think it's a little too glamourous with my humble "oatmeal" berber carpet (that isn't being replaced!).   

Something simpler might be better-suited.

P.S.  And yes, the bed is snug against the wall on one side.  The room is tiny and this works best...I find it very cozy.  If the bed is moved out, there is almost nowhere to walk and it makes the room really cramped.

I'd love your suggestions, especially on my window (light blocking is a must!).  

I can't wait for your comments!

Our Virginia Trip: The Vegetable Gardens At Monticello

Monticello: Jefferson's beautiful Virginia Home & Plantation.  If you are ever in Virginia, Monticello is a must-see.  I loved it!

Since it is winter and utterly depressing in Canada, I thought I would write a quick post about our visit to beautiful Virginia, USA this summer.  David and I loved Virginia and wanted to move there after about two days there.  The climate is lovely (a little hot in summer but nicer than Canada in winter, I bet!) and it reminded me of my home province of New Brunswick, with its pretty rolling hills, lovely scenery, and oh-so-friendly people (including my sweet "cousin" Lauren).

We were mad about Virginia (it is so pretty and has several "Whole Foods", which is reason enough for me) and want to go back!

One of my favorite destinations was Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, in Charlottesville.  I think Jefferson was a fascinating fellow and I was postively smitten with him after seeing his amazing house, its stunning grounds, and learning about his passionate life and his joie du vivre!

At Monticello, one of my favorite things (besides checking out the decor) was to visit the "kitchen" garden (the flower gardens are gorgeous too!).  Back in the day, Monticello was set up to feed a crowd, not only Jefferson's extended family but also a continuous line of visiting politicians, dignitaries, academics, and thinkers from all over the USA and Europe...not to mention local farmers who often dropped by for a chat (not sure if they were invited to stay for supper though).  

Here are some photos of the vast and neatly-tended garden:

Check out the views from here of rolling hills and beautiful countryside.  The location of Monticello, high above the valley, is breathtaking:

A wooden fence I liked: 

Very pretty countryside as far as the eye can see.  This is a peaceful place:

I loved these little a-frames designed for growing peas.  I don't know what they are called, but a very clever idea:

Peppers grow here!  Pardon my enthusiasm (I tried to grow peppers once and had no luck)!

Photogenic peppers (I did not steal one):

I love these structures for vines and climbing species:

 Hope you enjoyed my quick (and unexpected) tour of Monticello's gardens.  I love me a vegetable garden and wish they'd invited me to stay for supper.

(One of the staff members told me that all the vegetables that are grown on site are shared amongst the staff! Talk about an employment bonus I would love to have - a basket of fresh veggies every week!)

P.S.  For you decor junkies, Monticello had a GORGEOUS and very tasteful gift shop.  You can check it out online HERE.

A Picture Framing Adventure

In the vast field of interior decorating, one of my favorite subjects is art!  To me, the art displayed in a room adds the final dash of character to the whole endeavour.  I find nothing more boring than a beautiful room with no personal artistic touches, whether they take the form of a beautiful religious relic, an odd pottery bowl or a great painting on the wall.  Sometimes a room's architecture is enough, but even a boring box room comes alive with a special piece of art prominently displayed, whether its a collection of beloved postcards on the fridge, a stack of well-loved books, or an odd accessory or weird piece of furniture.  Picture perfect rooms with sterile furnishings and no art (or pre-fab art) are painfully dull to me.

And what intrigues me most about art is that no two people seem to have the same taste in it!  I swear that taste for art is as individual as our DNA.

I am especially fond of works of art on paper, including paintings, drawings, and etchings.  I also love photography.  The funny thing is that I'm almost equally enamoured with the framing of art.  Oftentimes I notice the frames almost as much as the art.  I am fond of old-fashioned frames, whether ornate and gilded or simple wooden ones.  I just like them to have an old-world feel.

Since I have a house full of prints and even some original art, I've decided to take a picture framing course in an effort to organize my collection without breaking the bank.  Professional picture framing is a costly endeavour and sometimes a cheap frame job just doesn't fit the bill, especially for odd sized pieces.

My class starts in 3 weeks at a local art school.  We will learn how to cut mats and glass, how to mount the art, and how to chop and assemble our own frames.  The class runs for 8 weeks and besides manual skills, we'll learn the theory of archival framing and all the rules for making a work of art shine!

I hope to re-frame some antique etchings I bought in 2008 at the Paris flea market (St-Ouen).  I framed the above etching rather cheaply but would like a frame that is a little larger and older.

Below is an etching I had professionally framed for $160.  The etching itself is old but was a total score at $15.  I dug it from a dusty bin at an old antique shop and still regret that I didn't buy the whole box (there were at least 10 more but some were stained and I wasn't attentive enough to have a better look): 

The frame job is nicely done but I wish I could have done it myself and saved some money. Or better yet, I would love to re-purpose a lonely old frame with a new piece of art!

My class starts in February and runs 'til the end of March.  I can hardly wait to start and promise to share my projects with you...

 Photos:  1. Source N/A  2. Traditional Home 3. Charlotte Moss's Study in House & Garden photographed by Simon Upton 4&5. Windlost's house.

The New Old Chair

I thought it was time to welcome home our newly upholstered old chair (scroll to the end to see a BEFORE picture).  

Our little lady chair went away in early December to be re-upholstered and has returned looking beautiful and vaguely French, upholstered in a brand new velvet: 

I think the upholsterer did a fabulous job on the tufting (yes, the Christmas tree is still up!):

I had a difficult time choosing a colour, but I really like the result.  Naturally, I wanted to choose white or cream, but with a cat, I was afraid of soiling (he likes to rub against things).  I considered darker colours (slate blues, mustard) but didn't want to introduce another dominant colour in the room.  Ideally, I sought a grayed mocha brown (a medium brown) but could not find a nice velvet in that colour.

Also, the colour had to work with existing sage green furniture for, perhaps, a few more years.  Eventually I want a cream sofa, but for now we have green, so I chose a colour with a similar value to the green and also one that complemented it.

This rosy taupe has an old-world vibe and also works with the purple light fixture in the adjacent front hall (see below).  Basically this colour had to do it all (I swear I looked at 10,000 colours!):

Note that in the photo above, the gray chair to the right will be reupholstered next.  Oh, and I plan to get a smaller pillow for the new chair.  For styling purposes, I stuck this big white one on it!:

Although I wanted a taller chair in this location, I got so frustrated shopping for one.  I could not find a nice chair under $2500 that I loved, and cheaper ones I found online could not be sourced in Calgary to try out.  We like the size of this chair in its busy location, and it's super-comfy. It also swivels, so we can turn to look out the window, which we like to do.  So it simply made sense to salvage the chair, which while not being the height of fashion, was practical and had good bones.  I got a good deal on upholstery ($450 for labour) and spent about $600 on 8 yards of fabric.  It was an expensive chair 30 years ago (when David's mother bought it), so the foam and frame were in great condition.  So we saved it.

The BEFORE photo (below) shows the original, very faded colour.  Notice that on the new chair, I had the skirt made as long as possible to give it a more streamlined-look.  I also had them remove the buttons from the arms to give it a cleaner line.  I wanted a straight waterfall skirt, but it wasn't possible with the existing frame (which regrettably wasn't explained to me until after the upholsterer had ripped off the old fabric!).  

Anyway, I think it worked out well in the end and we have an elegant, compact new chair in this location!

What do you think?

Source Guide:  

Upholstery was done through Cushy Life in Kensington.  The fabric is Maxwell's Retreat Velvet in Taupe.