Greek Key Dressers

Christina Murphy

There are so many gorgeous Greek Key dresser tutorials floating around the interwebs! These vintage Kittinger chests are the real deal ($$$$) and inspired some great projects.

Bri did an awesome tutorial here:

I love Jaimee's version here:

And more inspiration, in case you decide you want to transform your boring furniture this weekend with a little paint and trim!

via La Dolce Vita


Artistic Designs for Living





Above images via 1st Dibs

50 Ideas under $50

What a funny little coincidence that yesterday's post was about Better Homes and Gardens. Yesterday I also got my July 2011 issue in the mail, where I was lucky enough to be included with some seriously fabulous bloggers in a feature on inexpensive ways to spruce up your home.

I won't give it all away for those of your who haven't received your July issue yet, but, Dang! Look how great those Lack tables look all decked out in nail head trim!

Some of the ideas that they couldn't fit in the print publication were featured in this online article. Aren't the colors in this room so awesome? Would you believe that lovely skirted table was made using one of those plywood "decorator's tables"- the ones where you have to screw in the legs? Also, I think I need that lamp.

Thanks for including my ideas, BHG!!

Book Club: BHG Decorating Book

Isn't it crazy how design trends recycle over time? I love to pick up vintage decorating books at thrift stores and used book stores. I got this 1968 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book at Goodwill for $2. It's available on Amazon here.

These are some of my favorite images from the book, though there were LOTS more that I loved bits and pieces from. These just looked the most current to me.

Check out that fabric! Looks straight out of the Quadrille showroom!

How adorable is this kids room? The gallery wall is cute and casual. I love how the wallpaper and bedding match (looks like a small ticking stripe with an orange trim border)

Look at those gorgeous dark walls! (wish they would have done the ceiling too though). The white drapes keep things fresh (but they should be a couple inches longer I think). Love the desk on casters with the little green benches. And I'll always love campaigner wicker furniture.

More dark walls. Look at the horizontal stripes on that sofa! So cool. I love the art and the big potted tree. Doesn't this look like a Ruthie Sommers room?

Except for those horrible olive club chairs, this room looks like it could be in Elle Decor. I love the blue walls with all that amazing paneling!!

Here's that same room from another angle. I'm all about wall murals lately, so this shot gets me giddy. (stay tuned for an upcoming client project involving scenic wallpaper!!). -- Also, love the trimmed out curtains here and the bronze statue on the coffee table. Not loving that weird plant wall thing, the matchy-matchy furniture sets (and those chairs again. yuck! among other things, the scale is really off)

Take away the blue shag, and this could be a Mary McDonald room. (PS are you watching Million Dollar Decorators?! Yikes!!)

This entry feels so California to me! I like the mix of ethnic style with those more trad art pieces. The tufting on the bench cushion is lovely and I really want that brass planter!

Stripes on the ceiling, floral on the walls! So very Kate Spade! I like the green color on the canopy bed, but the pom pom bedspread needs to go. How do you even sit on that comfortably?

My heart stopped when I saw this little settee. It's perfect in every way! Also love the wall color, the floor tile and even the drapes! Cute with the double tie-backs!

What do you think? Kind of crazy (a little disappointing maybe?) how much we reuse design ideas over and over again!

Yellow Door

This photo is a few months old now. The pink and black shelves have been styled and restyled a few times (sometimes by me, but mostly by Evie) and the Gossip Girl sconces have been put up (post to come!). I also changed out the door knob. I'm hoping this week I'll get to adding moulding to the door and then painting it. I'm sort of leaning toward yellow, but the jury's still out.

I picked up a quart today of this pretty color by Glidden called Spicy Banana Pepper. It's a happy and bright yellow with a hint of green - not quite chartreuse.

Here are some inspiration photos. I like how the yellow pops in a room with lots of white, of which I have an abundance in my loft:

SF Girl by Bay


Hooked on Houses


Elle Decor






NieNie Dialogues


NYSD

Sophisticated Nursery

I get lots of emails asking for boys' room/nursery inspiration. In case you didn't notice, we're sort of lacking in the little boys department at the Komenda household. But if I were to have a little guy, this nursery would definitely be in the inspiration file. I love how sophisticated it is! You can just tell this kid is going to be so cool when he grows up.

Check out the whole room on the great blog, Design Crisis.

Mint and Cobalt

Do you ever look at a piece of clothing and wonder why (WHY?!) don't we make home fabrics in colors and patterns as gorgeous and fresh as fashion fabrics?

Today I am shopping for a fabric or bedding for a client's master that looks just like this Rebecca Taylor skirt.

I'm going to swing by ABC to see if there is anything new for me on the bedding floor. And speaking of ABC, who's joining me for the Madeline Weinrib sample sale this week? 40-70% off this Thursday through Monday, in the clearance basement at 881 Broadway.

I want to go to there

Oh, thank goodness it's Friday. It's been one of those weeks. Perpetually behind and completely exhausted. I'm ready for a day or two of sleeping in and eating out! Who's with me?

Dec 2009 House and Garden

P.S. My secret wish is to have a weekend/country home some day. And in my dreams it looks just like this house. Serene, but still fun and colorful. I feel better just looking at this photo.

The Map Room

Summer vacation is just around the corner, and I'm dreaming of quiet days on the beach.

One of my friends from grad school days in Boston sent me these photos of her family's summer home in Martha's Vineyard. It's an old carriage house with cottage-style bedrooms.

This room is named the Map Room or Chart Room. (PS I want a house someday where the names of rooms have nothing to do with who usually sleeps there. I remember when I was a kid, my grandparents had a Butterfly Room with the *coolest* wallpaper.) Anyway, I guess more than 25 years ago, my friend's uncle went out and bought a book of maps and pasted the cut out pages to the walls between the rafters.

He also pickled the beams. And I think they are the prettiest shade of blue! So lovely.

I think this idea of wallpapering with maps is perfect for a beach house, but it would also be great in a little boys bedroom (or maybe a boys bathroom? Or closet?)

Thanks for sharing this lovely room, Aubrey!! xx

Inspiration Round Up: Part II

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you have a lovely weekend planned. Here are some more LGN reader projects to inspire you. And, as always, if you have a project that you'd like me to share, please email jenny @jennykomenda.com.

............................................

Natalie, from Natty by Design, hunts for vintage furniture with good bones and then transforms them with paint and sells them in her shop. She did a lovely job with this desk!

It was such a cute piece in the first place, but I really love the green! I could see this desk used in any room in the house.

Heidi from A Thousand Laughing Starfish has posted some great tutorials recently. My two favorites were this DIY curved headboard:

And this handpainted wall mural:

Natalie from Mint Loves Social Club has all kinds of inspiring projects going on. She wanted to share this credenza she bought at a thrift store.

The owner of the thrift store offered to lacquer the credenza for a really great price and I think it turned out amazing!

You can see her pretty credenza, which she uses as a bar (the inside is super organized too!), in these after pictures of her seriously stunning DIY Bubble chandelier project.

Lisa from Lisa Fero Interiors used my Happytape wall tutorial to transform her client's entry.

I think it looks especially awesome looking out from the living room she also did.

Alicia from 12 Devonshire added Greek key trim to the ladder pulls on her bathroom blinds.

What an easy way to dress up plain-jane blinds! Her tutorial is posted HERE.

Jen from Organized Design used this bed from IKEA

as the base for making her daughter a really cute custom bed. Check out her really thorough tutorial HERE.

Vanessa recently redid her kitchen. She used my pelmet box tutorial for her windows and I love the look! I think she made a great choice with the fabric. Visit her post HERE for the details.

Naomi from Design Manifest sent me two really beautiful projects from her Philadelphia loft. She used inexpensive wall mirrors from Bed Bath and Beyond to back her Expedit shelves. Such a great idea!!

She also cleverly outlined a pretty mirror in her entry with hot pink paint on the wall. This makes such a statement - very Moroccan feeling. And what an easy, unexpected way to add color to a room.

And I love the combo with the La Fiorentina fabric on her bench!

An extra big thanks to the contributors!! xoxo