No One Puts Baby In The Corner

Things have been a little slower in the projects/decorating department because I started a new job.  But, I am committed to keeping up with this blog!  So don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.  And I have a long list of things to do.

The Dining Room, okay really it's an area with a dining room table, but hey, it's more than I had before and so to me it's a dining room!  So, my dining room is about 8 X 11 and is mostly white.  I have posted pictures of it before but here's a reminder.

The table is from Ikea circa 1997 and will be replaced eventually with something similar but sturdier and nicer.  It does the trick for the time being.  You can see the wallpaper swatches on the left and right side.  Isn't that going to look great.  It's call Darcy and its made by Graham and Brown.  I love my chairs from Home Goods, rock on!  They are pearlized white.  Before I moved in, I had bought those chairs because I knew they would be chachacha.  I got two different types in the same material to mix it up. I have three of the high-back T-shaped studded chairs and two of the low-back studded chairs with the silver rings on the backs.  I have four of them around the table and one in the corner.  They are really comfortable too!  Here's a pic of the empty dining room, with the one chair in the corner.



I actually have moved that chair, which is an extra, to the opposite corner by the window.  This corner was empty for awhile.  I thought about getting a corner cabinet of some sort, so I could put some chotchkies out and a lamp for another source of light.  As it turns out, I had a fortuitous moment whilst I was visiting with my friend.  I happened to notice she had a really cool corner table that looked like it would be a perfect fit for my empty corner.  It was on the small side which was perfect because I needed a small piece.  And, the table really didn't match any of my friend's other decor, so I offered to buy it.  My friend explained that she had gotten the table from her other friend and it cost her nothing, so I could have it.  Wasn't that nice of her?  Before I got the table, my friend sent me this picture!

That adorable little girl happens to be my god-daughter imitating a monkey.  While very cute, I certainly thought it would be best to get the table sooner than later.  Now the corner table occupies that empty corner in my dining room.  I just love it.  Here is what it looks like now with the light off and with the light on. 

I love my ceramic bowl of faux lemons and the silver buddha head just rocks.  The crystal lamp was one of many that I took home to try out.  This one won because it was the right height and scale for the table. All items from Home Goods of course.  On the second shelf, I have a brown wooden box that houses my glass pen and my special inks.  I am always on the hunt for a white vinyl croc box to use instead.  I actually found two of them at Home Goods but ended up using them in my bedroom above the armoire.  Home Goods has them periodically but I keep finding them in colors and colors that don't work.  So, the hunt will continue.  Back to the corner table, I had originally pictured a larger piece as I have a little extra room, but this one is just so classy and pretty that I'm satisfied. And that's decorating, one corner at a time!

Thanks for stopping by and Stay tuned for more creativity!



I'm Dreaming of a White......

I mentioned in a previous blog that nice white furniture is hard to find.  It's not that hard to find almost white furniture, but really white furniture.....  So one has to get creative.  I had a great empty space against the wall next to my front door and since that area is also my "Study" (sounds a little snooty, oh well) and because I needed some storage for files and such, I decided it was the perfect place to put a big file cabinet type thing.  Some file cabinet furniture looks too much like office furniture and usually doesn't come in white.  I found this great piece at www.homedecorators.com.  I've gotten a lot of stuff from them, trouble is you have to put everything together yourself.  The cabinet I chose, had NINE drawers...wooof!  Oh, almost forgot to mention, the cabinet I chose only came in black. Here's what the thing looked like after I finished putting it together.

This piece is pretty large and holds a lot.  I really like the three top drawers.  Great storage.  But black wasn't going to work for my decor, so I had to paint it white.  The white color I used throughout my apartment is Benjamin Moore Super White.  It took roughly three coats to make it into the beauty it is now.  I wanted to add a really cool design element to the front drawers, so I sketched different designs and at the end I was inspired by the wallpaper that I am going to put up in the dining room above the chair rail molding.  The wallpaper is made by Graham & Brown, the pattern is called Darcy, www.grahambrown.com, and looks like this.

Using the design I put down on paper, I then cut it out onto stencil paper using an exacto knife.  I then taped the stencil to the first file drawer and using silver metallic acrylic paint, I carefully painted the design.  Once the initial painting was done, I removed the stencil and I then went over the design until the paint was dark enough and the look was fully realized.  Here is what it looked like along the way.

You'll notice, I wanted the pattern to connect to each drawer.  Depending on how the light hits, you see flashes of metallic.  Above the cabinet, I wanted to display some of my photography.  I had nine photos printed by www.Kodakgallery.com  8 x 10 and got nine 8 x 10 white frames from Target and hung them above the cabinet.  I picked the photos based on their composition and color.  You may laugh, but I printed out little thumbnails of many photos I took and put tape of the back of each one and then arranged and rearranged them on paper so I could be sure to get the look and order that I wanted.  Type A personality, I guess.  Also important was what to put on the top of the cabinet.  I needed a lamp, some decorative objects and a place to rest my handbag.  I found a beautiful crystal lamp from Home Goods, along with a silver tray with white quartz handles and a faux orchid plant.  My good friends gave me this gorgeous crystal bowl from Michael C. Fina and I filled it with crystal paperweights in various gemstone cuts that I found on www.onekingslane.com.  Got to have my bling where ever I go. Oh and I found this white runner at Burlington Coat Factory for nothing and it protects the surface of the counter. Anyway, here is what it all looks like. 

Here's a close up of the gems :)

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more creativity.