The Holiday- Part I

One of my favorite ways to make life seem like "Christmas Time" is by watching Christmas movies. My friend Michelle recently got me a great one- "The Holiday" with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet and Jude Law. Who did not adore Cameron Diaz's Hollywood home? Was it not over-the-top amazing?

Check out her bedroom above. Her window treatments are just like I like them- simple- classic- nothing too fruffy.

I really like the lack of "upper cabinets" in this kitchen. To me, it is very luxurious. The hood is, as I always say it should be, the focal point of the room. Look at the greenery. Now imagine the kitchen without it. Now go put some in your kitchen.

The neutral color pallet is pulled off beautifully. If only my four kids would keep all of this white furniture clean...

The jute rugs were the first thing I noticed. They are so large. Large is luxurious...

Another view of the kitchen. The juxtaposition of the new and old by adding the lantern lights is really great.

So- how many slip covers are in this home anyway???? Who would have thought that one type of furniture can be used everywhere- and it can still be amazing and not boring and over-done?

What did you think? Did you see the movie? Did you like it? Did you like the homes? I will get to Kate Winslet's next time...

Nursery Window Treatments for Amy

I just love your blog and knew you would be able to help me. I have no idea what direction to go in with regard to my nursery windows. I have 4 windows at three different sizes and heights. Please see the attached pictures for a clearer picture. I need to cover the windows as they are east facing and we live in Houston. It gets very warm and bright in this room. I have blinds on the only standard window in the room, but can change to whatever would suit the room. I tried to sketch measurements in regards to the walls. Any ideas for window coverings would be greatly appreciated. With so many sizes and heights in relation to the floor, I am at a loss. Thanks so very much!

Amy

Dear Amy,

I will tell you exactly what to do.

1. On your large window, do a drape that goes to the floor. Use tie backs and ribbon to give the look shown in my lovely Sharpie drawing below. Have the drape always pulled to the right, framing that side of the room. Make sure it is lined and weighted.
2. Use the same fabric on the small square windows- having Roman shades made. Do a flat fold style, as shown below, or a relaxed style- as shown in this picture.
3. On your other window- first ask yourself if you can move that bed out into the room. I don't like it pushed up against the wall. If you can- you can use straight panels on that window. If you need to have the bed there- use a Roman shade on that window- same fabric on all.
4. Use a patterned fabric, or a trim, as seen in the photo below. (OK- so you can barely see the Roman shade- but look closely for the pink trim. I also liked the wallpaper tree in here- and the pink ceiling... photo from msn lifestyles.)
5. Here is a close-up on the tie backs- you can find the same products with little airplanes or flowers to make them more juvenile, if you'd like.
6. Layer your window treatments with Hunter Douglas designer roller shades. They come in varying levels of opacity- and have child-safe lock in place chords. This layer will give you the block out that you need with the sun, and when pulled up they are very small. On your larger window with the arch- you can have it totally covered by the curtain. That is why I have you using the tie backs- with the fabric up there it will act as a valance covering up the roller shade- which I would mount inside mount- but will not fill the top arch. Comprende? This is much less expensive than having a shade custom made for the odd shaped window. When thinking window treatments for a bedroom- always think in layers.
   

Congratulations on your baby! Have fun with the nursery!

Wallpaper Wednesday -- Hanna's Bathroom

Dear Christine,

I love your blog and your advice is so inspirational. I read your blog every day. My husband and I have owned our home for about 7 years and I'm finally ready to start tackling some redos. I am extremely insecure about my instincts regarding style, especially regarding window treatments, fabrics, and accessories. But, I've decided to start small with our small guest bath. As you can see, we inherited a colorful toile wallpaper and brass fixtures. I'm sure the wallpaper is very high-end and expensive, but I'm at a loss about how to decorate around it. I've paired a waffle-syle beige shower curtain and celery green bath mats and burgandy hand towel. Wow, just seeing all this typed out seems way over the top! Help. Is the wallpaper worth saving? I am a sucker for toile and the classic look of it.If so, how can I finish the room off? I was also thinking of painting the vanity a dark brown, but I'm scared that the room is too small for it.
I don't know if this is important, but the guest room itself has a floral bedspread with corals, celery green, and taupe; the window is dressed with a fairly cheap dupoini faux silk wheat color panels with a bronze rod, the furniture has walnut or mahogany finish, and the color of the room is ecru.

I would so love your advice. You've got great taste and I need some of that sent my way.

Thank you,

Hanna

Dear Hanna,

Look at your bathroom- you have white tile, white sink and cabinet- and then this dark colorful paper. Your room is split in half. Making that wallpaper work in there would require redoing EVERYTHING else. Which doesn't make sense. If your sink and tile were gorgeous, I would like a dark paper paired with it, showing it off, but it is ordinary, and the high contrast makes it stand out more than is desirable. Consider this. Work with your white shower - and you will see it less. This is what I am suggesting. Re-wallpaper in a wallpaer that includes your white and gold- and some silver. As items in your bathroom age and need to be replaced- you can then have the freedom to go silver- but it will look great in gold. The papers in today's post are from Candice Olson's book: Dimensional Surfaces. The one below is hard to see from the picture- but it is white- it looks like cork- and has silver and gold in it. It is a really cool paper.

This paper below is also white, silver and gold. Perfect. Your gold will look great and your white won't stick out in a bad way- like it does now. Your room will be unified and look great!

This shear fabric can be an overlap on your shower curtain - it brings in the same colors - I would hang it from the ceiling with lots of fullness. It is from Beacon Hill.

Pair one of these papers with the art at the top of the post, from Uttermost (yours is too small).
There you go- can you see my vision for you? Your room will no longer be split in half - it will appear larger and cleaner. Your new favorite room in the house!

Happy Birthday

Today's my birthday. I have a house cleaner coming in, and a babysitter- while I go to the spa for the day.

Just kidding;) I wish!

Christin's Kitchen Remodel

I am in blue today...

Hi Christine,

I'm a friend of Dawna's in San Diego and she got me hooked on your blog. We're planning to remodel our small galley kitchen in December and I'm having the hardest time pulling it together. I was wondering if you could help me find some direction. I'm in the process of slowly redecorating my entire place and since it's so small (2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 900 square feet) I'm doing it all in the same color scheme and style. The color scheme I'm going for is black, white, tan & turquoise and the style is transitional. I've attached a floor plan and some pictures of the kitchen so you can get a feel for it as it currently is. I've also attached a picture of some dishes I bought recently that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that might give you a sense of my style and what I'm going for. Here are the big picture items: We plan to tear out the soffit at the entrance to the kitchen and take the two little side walls down to counter height, assuming there are no major plumbing or electrical issues interfering with our plans. We also plan to replace the linoleum with tile and extend the tile through the dining area (currently carpet) and over to the entry (currently linoleum). I'm hoping this will help the space feel bigger and flow better.

Now down to the details. Cabinets: My first thought was white thermofoil, but my dad is my carpenter/contractor and the place he orders the doors from does wood doors only. I like wood too, so my next thought was shaker style doors in an espresso finish to match my furniture, but my husband thinks they're too plain. And we're both concerned that the espresso in that small kitchen will make the kitchen feel dark, small and oppressive. So where I'm at right now is a maple door in a medium-tone finish with an espresso glaze and maybe a two-tone crown to try to tie the cabinets in with the furniture.

I think you should go with your first instinct here- the white is a much better selection. You can go with a painted cabinet- still using the same door source. Yes- it is not as durable- but as you will state later-- you only plan on being in this house a short time- and painted cabinets are beautiful. The size of your room and the color pallet that you are using really demand the white cabinets.

As for style of door I'm still struggling. Maybe something like one of the attached.

The recessed panel look is a terrific selection. Check out this post that shows several different styles of that same look.

Countertops: I think I want some kind of black granite, although I'm flexible on this, if you think something else would look better. I want granite, but not something with too much color or too busy.

If you are for sure going granite- black is the way to go- consider honed rather than polished. Also consider tan concrete or wood counters. (See them in a photo below). I think they would also go great with your look.

Backsplash: I really want a glass backsplash with turquoise in it. I found one in stock at a home improvement store (attached), but I'm not sure if this is exactly what I'm going for. I found a website where you can design a custom splash (attached) and I think it looks nice, but I'm worried about cost, accessibility and lead time.

The glass tile you selected would look great- in a small area- keep it simple.

Floors: I was thinking about doing 12 x 12 tile (see attached), maybe natural stone, maybe porcelain or ceramic. I kind of wanted to get everything else set and then match the floors to that because I care about them the least.

How about wood or a faux wood? I love white cabinets and wood floors. There are some fabulous vinyl wood looks out there. I am having one installed on a commercial job as I write and it looks amazing. People honestly wouldn't be able to tell it is not real without close examination.

I just bought a rug recently and I really like it. I'm hoping it can stay (see attached).

Sure- looks great!

Appliances: I haven't picked specific appliances yet, but I'm planning on all stainless along with all the other metal in the kitchen.

Paint: I'm planning on having the backsplash full-height, covering the sink and stove walls completely. So the only paint will be the far wall with the skinny window on it. I'm planning to paint it the same tan as the rest of our walls (see attached).

I am not a fan of the paint with the maple- if you take my advice on the white cabinet- go for it.

My biggest concern is that it is going to look disjointed, that there isn't going to be a unifying element tying everything together. Normally I think the backsplash usually does that, but I tried adding black or tan into the backsplash and it just made it look dark or muddy and that's not really the look I'm going for. I know fabric can also be a unifier, but I only have two small windows and hadn't thought too much about treating them. I want the kitchen to feel crisp, clean, fresh with high contrast, but I don't want it to feel cold and sterile either. We're hoping to only be in this place for another year or two so I'm a little concerned about resell value. I don't want to do anything too crazy that will put off potential buyers, but I want to love it in the meantime. I'd love to know what you think. Thanks!
Christin

A few more thoughts- consider white counters. Marble is not very practical- but there are some fantastic fauxs out there. Check out this door style too- I like the glass uppers... Check out the white with the wood floors.... I am also suggesting that you move your refrigerator- see my revised floorplan- you could add some shelves straight across your window- higher up- and put in a little window seat. Have your lower cabinets wrap around a little with blind corner units. This can take away the bowling alley feel and give you more of a U-shape. Another reason I like this is so that when you look into the room- the refrigerator is not what you see. I would keep the wall on the right there- and have it hide the refrigerator. In such a small space ESPECIALLY it is nice to hide the large box.

Remember your ceiling- I love the bead board ceiling with white cabinets...

Check out these beautiful faucets...

You can add fabric on Roman shades- slip covers, as well as your window seat. There are three opportunities for "unifiers".

Here is the wood counter I referred to - it is half the price of granite- and a terrific look. Use the money saved to change your upper cabinets to glass... Paint the back of the upper cabinets a turquoise color- and have it be beadboard- have them lit- it will look great!

Here is a larger window seat- but see how it flows from the cabinets?

Here are some fabrics from Amy Butler. Keep them light and crisp- cottons.

You could use a fabric like this- and have concrete counters in the background gray color...

Or use a fabric like this with dark brown wood counters...

Take some time- find the perfect collection of fabrics for your space.

Remember that your light in your dining room can also be a unifier..

Good luck with your remodel- remember- not too many colors- keep it light and crisp. Having a lot of white is not boring- it is beautiful.