Monday, April 30, 2012

Orchids, Orchids, Orchids

My sister and I caught the Orchid exhibit at the New York Botanical Gardens.  I took many pictures because how could I not?!  Here are a few of my favorites.














Okay, so all of those pictures weren't of orchids...sorry, I think they are so cool.  I love macro photography.  Especially, because the detailed closeup of an object can often look like an entirely different one.  For instance, the orange picture above, makes me think of molecules.  The one right above makes me think of coral and plants found in the ocean.  I also just love being able to zoom into a picture of the center of a flower and be able to see each grain of pollen or tiny insects.  Look out for the tiny ant below.

There were so many varieties of orchids and I took pictures of probably all of them, so here are  few of my favorites.






Don't those three above make you think of spiders?














Okay, that's enough of Orchids from the New York Botanical Garden.

Thanks for stopping by and Stay tuned for more creativity!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

I Got The Whole World In My Hands


A proper study needs a proper globe, don't you think?  How about a globe with a modern twist?  In order to visualize the "study", I must remind you of what it will look like eventually.  For more detail you can read my previous post "I Have A Dream".


Note the purple wall, the desk is in the middle under the two pendant lights in the sketch.  On the right wall I have placed my painted cabinet which I am going to modify to reduce some of the red. I previously posted about the hand painted cabinet.



In between the painted cabinet and the back wall where the built-ins will be, I have stationed the study globe. 

As with the shadow box that I used for my fabulous red chandelier wall art, the globe came from one of my former colleague's old office.  Apparently, people moving offices is a great way to get really cool finds. The globe was very traditional looking because it had a dark mahogany wood stand.  I gave the stand a fresh coat of Benjamin Moore's Super White and to the metal arches attached to the globe, a silver acrylic paint-over (though this picture doesn't show the silver over the goldish metal arch around the top of the globe) and now I have a modern looking globe for my "Study"! 

All I have to do is spin the globe for full effect!
I have it on the U.S. because I'm egocentric, I guess.


Doesn't it look great against Benjamin Moore's Gentle Violet?  If I had left it dark wood, it wouldn't have worked in the space because the walls are dark enough for the both of them.  Besides, I am going with the theme of white/light furniture against the vibrant colors.  And I love the fact that it was a reclaimed item. Instead of going into the garbage, it has now been recycled and reused.  I get some personal satisfaction of being able to do that.

Thanks for stopping by and Stay tuned for more creativity!


Sunday, April 15, 2012

RedRum, RedRum

Does anyone get the reference to that title?

In my previous post "Rome Wasn't Built In A Day"  I showed you the beginning of the evolution of my red bedroom.  Here's a little more.

As usual, I was in Home Goods one day and I saw this armoire which was the right size and was the same color wood as my vanity desk, so I went for it.  I had been looking at all the furniture stores in my area for a white armoire, which of course they didn't have, or one that would fit my needs and that perhaps I could paint.  The ones I saw along the way were either way too big, just not the right configuration or extremely expensive.  The one from Home Goods is great.  Every now and then I look at it and think about painting it.  It goes pretty well as is.  What do you think?



Also along the way, as I was looking for a red chandelier for my bedroom ceiling (see my first post and the inspiration red room picture), I had a tough time finding anything and then one day, I came across this red acrylic chandelier.  It looks like crystal, you really can't tell that it's not crystal until you get up close and touch it.  I got a really good deal on it.  Here's my sister graciously holding it up for me to see how it looks.  I haven't had it installed yet, but it's on the list.


Picture the chandelier without the little shades and also, I was considering putting a cool white border to highlight the chandelier. I'm still working on that.  Do I center it over the bed?  or center it to the room?  I've read about different schools of thought.  What do you think?

The next thing I had to do was to figure out what decorative items to put on top of the armoire because it was just dead space.  Don't laugh, but I bought like eight or so types of vases  all at once from Home Goods, some very modern and some classic, all white.  I had to bring them all home in order to try them out on top of the armoire.  The modern pieces I got turned out to be way to tall to fit but that was fine because I really liked the ceramic ginger jars instead.  I needed something to group with them and remembered that I had bought these white vinyl croc boxes.  Here is what it looks like now:



I love the fact that the ginger jars have the trellis like pattern, in two different sizes, which will echo the Red Trellis fabric pattern I created on www.spoonflower.com and will eventually use to make curtains. The white boxes just were perfect.  I had found them at Home Goods as well and planned to use them for other things.  In fact, I keep looking to see if I can find more, but I'm having trouble finding white again.  I'll get lucky one day.  Here is the Red Trellis fabric, see how it all ties in together? 


There is one more element that echoes the trellis pattern that I would like to share in this post.  One of my former work colleagues was cleaning out his office and was going to get rid of a shadow box from pottery barn.  I didn't have anything specific in mind, but I asked if I could have it instead of it being thrown away.  The frame was brown wood and the inside was lined in beige canvas.  I took it home and after some thought, settled on a plan to recycle the shadow box into a cool wall art piece.  Because it was going on the red wall, I painted it all, what else but white.  I bought red crystal chandelier pieces from ebay and using clear Elmer's glue, I glued down the crystal pieces in a pattern.  When I hatched the idea for this project, I thought about using a very large canvas and making a large wall piece, but then I decided the shadow box was better and that I would like to paint an original artwork on a large canvas instead (see earlier post).  I absolutely love the finished project.  Here are the visuals.






I just love how this project came out!  I got to add more jewels into the decor which is always good and it looks great on the small wall between the closet and the door.  It was a really easy project to do.  The white painting took most of the time. 

Thanks for stopping by and Stay tuned for more creativity!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Airing My Dirty Laundry

I will admit that my laundry piles up a little too much.  I tend to save it up and do a lot of laundry at once.  I think this would be different if I had my own washing machine and dryer in my unit.  I have to say that in the building I live in, the laundry room is very nice.  Still, getting around to doing it, sigh.  

I have these laundry bags that I use to divide up the types of laundry.  Until tonight, they were hanging on the knobs of my closet door.  Now, they have their own little concealed cubby in my closet.  My closet has sections which I inherited.  I like the sections.  One section on the bottom right had clothes for spring and summer.  Above it was the section of clothes I will one day be able to wear again.  Obviously if I could wear those, I would.  Since I can't, why have them take up a whole section of my closet.  I grabbed some large space bag vacuum seal bags that I had lying around and transferred my dream clothes into the bags.  Then I put them on the top shelf of my closet.  I then took my spring summer clothes and moved them to the top section.  The bottom right section was ready.  I went to Home Depot and found these cool single robe hooks so I bought four of them.  They were exceedingly cheap but nice.  So tonight, I got around to installing them.

I marked the two holes for the screws using a pencil and then pre-drilled the holes to make is easier to screw into the wood and wall.  The closet sections have pieces of wood attached to the section walls in order to secure the clothing rods.  I didn't need to use wall anchors.  I installed all four and hung up my laundry bags.  Such a simple solution to hide dirty laundry!  It took no time at all to install the four hooks.  It took a little while to take all the clothes off of the hangers and to put them into the space bags.  Space bags are really awesome, as long as they stay sealed tight.  They are great when storing pillows and comforters because they really shrink a lot when the air is taken out of them.  Just saying.  You can buy them at places like Bed Bath and Beyond.




I might be able to do more with the space, time will tell. By the way, who lets you see into their closet, I ask you?!  You can only see the two front bags, but there are two other hooks towards the back of the closet.


Thanks for stopping by and Stay tuned for more creativity!

Friday, April 6, 2012

A Room With A View

During my search for my new home, I saw lots of apartments.  When I walked into this one, I saw so much potential.  But nothing excited me more than the idea of having my own terrace!  It's not too big and it's not too small, it's just right.  An outdoor living space was completely unknown to me for the 13 years I lived in the shoebox in Manhattan.  Not anymore! 

I'm not quite sure how much time I spent looking out the windows of my studio apartment. I had inherited a window decal from the previous tenant.  I thought it was so cool so I left it.  I used to try to find the decal from the street down below.


As you can see, I looked out on a lot of buildings and had a little bit of sky.  I was hoping in my new place, I would look out on more green.  Well, to a certain extent I do, though I still look out at buildings too. 


This view is a little to the left and not exactly straight on, but look the trees and they are much closer than they used to be.

Did I mention that the terrace is another "room" to decorate?  First, I needed to replace the metal folding chairs I was using as temporary seating.  I discovered Tropitone outdoor furniture.  I wanted great quality furniture that would last through years and years of being outside.  I custom ordered two swivel armchairs in silver with silver mesh fabric for the backing and a small matching round table. I added to that set a white metal tilting umbrella in lime green fabric from www.HomeDecorators.com, I found a really cool umbrella stand/weight from Kmart.  Then I added an outdoor rug that I bought off of www.onekingslane.com.  I also found a really tall white ceramic modern planter, which was very heavy, from Home Goods.


Here is the outdoor rug by Safavieh, Thom Filicia in Key Lime.
!

All that was missing were flowers!  I decided to stay with a color scheme: purples, yellows, whites.  And speaking of a room with a view:


Add more flowers in flower boxes (from Home Depot)


And more flowers in hanging baskets (from Kmart)


And watch them grow and grow


Not only a room with a view but also a built-in room deodorizer with such a sweet fragrance from the dark purple petunias.


The flowers lasted from May to after late October when we had the first and pretty much only snow of the season.



Thanks for stopping by and Stay tuned for more creativity!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Rome Wasn't Built In A Day

The same is true for design and decoration.  It would be great if when a design idea popped into our minds, we could snap our fingers and the object of our desire would just appear. Boy, wouldn't that be nice!  Since that doesn't exist, we have choices.  We can search high and low to find something that fits or nearly fits, we can choose something else when we can't find it or we can make it ourselves.  Sometimes, I think I have found the one but when I get it into the space, it doesn't work.  Other times luck steps in and when I'm not even looking, I happen upon the perfect thing. 

I am a visualist by nature and that is why, as you have seen from earlier posts, that when I am planning something I often map it out first or create a visual.  Case in point, the diorama I made for my new apartment. Now in the days of online shopping, one doesn't get to see or experience an object in person but rather has to extrapolate color, dimension and texture into a mental picture and then base purchasing decisions on that information. After awhile of online shopping, a person gets a sense of how the online picture will translate into real life and is better able to discern between good picks and bad picks.  I know that for me, I had to order some duds before getting used to ordering well online.  I think a big part of the motivation is to avoid the return process and costs. But I digress.

When I was searching for items for my bedroom, some I had to search high and low for and some I just found by sheer dumb luck.

When I first moved into my new bedroom, I was using a lamp that really belonged in my living room, an old cheap side table from my previous abode and whatever bedding I had even if it clashed.  That is what a person does when they first move to a new place.  It takes time to put the pieces together. 



On one of my many strolls through Home Goods, I happened upon these cool mirrored side tables.  They were the right size and height, they had a small drawer and some cabinet space, but I wasn't sure if I wanted mirrored or just white tables, etc.  UNTIL, while standing right in front of them, a family came and almost pushed me out the way to get at the tables.  Well, gut instinct took over and I knew right then and there that I could not part with them.  The decision was made. Much better already!




I then focused on bedding. I searched tons and tons of websites, stores and catalogues.  I wanted a long white full bed skirt so I bought one online.  I tried white comforters with bold designs, I tried gold quilted coverlets and hated them all.  I thought I was going to have to settle or make my own but I couldn't find fabric either.  I found this gold damask duvet and a white coverlet from Bed Bath and Beyond and it was just okay.  It was good enough for my house warming party.




The transformation is starting but I still wasn't satisfied.  I was bored one day and decided to go to Burlington Coat Factory.  They have a bedding section, who knew?  I couldn't believe my eyes when I found this comforter set.  And it was so cheap!


It looks as though I have a thing for interlocking circles.  Isn't that much better?  Btw, the headboard when installed on the wall will be higher than it is now.  Now if only I could find the right lamps and get rid of the temporary ones.  Here, I've cut out pictures from the Internet of possible lamps and pasted them on the wall above the side table.  Visuals.



Here are the ones that won!  I'm so happy with them! I got them from Lampsplus.com.


While I was blinging up the room, I added a red crystal finial from ebay.


That's it for the this post on the red bedroom evolution.  More to come.

Thanks for stopping by and Stay tuned for more creativity!