Industrial Touches in Home Decor

Home design is a lot like fashion, there are trends and usually several going on at one time. We've covered ikat fabrics, french country and abstract art. The list is extensive and you must be wondering, how do I incorporate all those in my home? Well, you don't. You pick your favorites and add just a few touches of them here and there. If you've shopped for lighting or accessory tables lately, then industrial style has popped up on your radar. Urban chic, metal, exposed wires and bulbs, rough. I think I may just have one industrial piece in my home max, so started with an iron side table. But, there really are some cool additions you could consider:

Notice the iron side tables and iron/wood plank coffee table.

Urban Electric Company here in Charleston has some ridiculously cool light fixtures. Not cheap, but this piece has a shiny gold interior that pops! Restoration Hardware has a less expensive version.

This is one of their floor lamps which has also been featured in Elle Decor.

The metal frame windows and iron stools add just a slight industrial feel to this awesome kitchen.

Barn doors are everywhere right now and are a perfect, less expensive solution over a

pocket door for saving space. This has a little industrial, but warmth with golden wood color.

Via House of Turquoise. Notice iron and wheels on coffee table.

This is the iron side table I picked up at Celadon Home here in Charleston.

Featured Gilded Mint Home

Throughout my blog, I will be featuring more than just my small home fixer upper project, but also other homes that are worth ogling over. Many different styles, design preferences and sizes. Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting one of my client's homes in Ion to drop off a painting. Liz is in the process of moving from NYC and decorating her Mount Pleasant home. I got a chance to tour her beautiful house and discuss art options for her space, and a possible commissioned piece for her foyer. She has fantastic taste and an unbelievable eye for scoring fabulous vintage pieces.

I had to start off with my favorite space. Beautiful wallpaper on accent wall, hands down one of the best antique light scores in all of Charleston and a touch of modern. Perfection!

A little french country (see my post) and beautiful antique chairs on back wall.

Deep rose chair passed down in family set this scene with Gilded Mint painting complimenting the pink, touch of black in stool for formality, lucite coffee table for modern touch and oak barrel mirror for impact and warmth.

Soft and pretty guest room with another vintage lamp find.

Master bedroom with antique gold sunburst mirror. What I loved about Liz is that she doesn't over clutter! So many people need to undestand that design tip.

More guest room prettiness. Modern touch with lamp on bedside table.

A huge thanks to Liz for letting me feature her beautiful home. I really do have the nicest clients and appreciate all their support.

Antiques, Frames and Design Dilemma

Today has been a fantastic day! First, it was a planned vacation day from work for 'me.' No spa, hair or nail appointment unfortunately, but an extra hour of needed sleep, running errands, shipping a painting, restocking on art supplies and a little antiquing. Some amazing finds today...some went home with me and some are on my 'revisit after house is unpacked' list to see if they will work.

First, I scored two vintage picture frames. I would have come home with more, but some were odd sizes that wouldn't work for my art. The frames will be posted on my Vintage Frames page if you are interested, but mostly this will be for buyers in my Etsy shop to view if they want framing.

Here is the first...date unknown unfortunately and it has been freshened up a bit already.

The second gold frame is a prize. It will be for one of my largest pieces and dates mid 1900s. It will be a restoration project this weekend, but I am excited to see how the white textured inner border works perfectly with one of my larger abstracts in the works.

Because framing at a shop or craft store (even during a promotion/sale) can be expensive, I will also start doing some custom framing for some of my paintings--vintage and new. For my own home, I ordered a larger frame and then warmed it up with some gold to tone down the silver. Hard to see the gold in these pictures, but I also need some help deciding whether to go serene or color in my front room. What do you think?

For reference as I'm still unsure on the Mexican antique on right b/c of visual height.

Mercury candle holders are definitely keepers!

See, a bit of a pickle.

My final last antique score today is a 1950's Italian gold and white magazine holder. Oh, it will not be for magazines, but rather as a file folder holder in my new home office. I still need to put in my new, white lacquered desk, which is quite modern. This magazine rack will work perfectly mixing a little old and new together.

Isn't she beautiful?

Gilded Mint Lamps & Project Feature

I decided to take on a little project last night because piling it on seems to be par lately. I wanted to take a seriously drab and unattractive lamp that I found in an old box and make it sing. We played some serious dress up, but we'll get to that later. I didn't intend for it to be a perfect Gilded Mint color scheme, but upon reviewing the room, pink just wasn't going to work and nothing else either. This was going to offset the brown perfectly. So in the spirit of mint/turquoise and gold lamps, here are a few to view.

Celeb spotting--Serena Van Der Woodsen's Room on Gossip Girl. Of course her lamp is vintage.

Paris Hotel Boutique has this vintage ceramic lamp with gold accents on sale for $245.

I have to say, in a search for antique lamps in this color scheme, they are really hard to come

 by or get snatched up quickly!

 Christopher Spitz Miller makes these lamps by hand if you are interested in throwing down some cash.

Lamp color offsets wallpaper and white bedside table perfectly.

Thibaut Design, wallpaper, gold sunburst mirror, gold demilune table and turquoise blue lamps.

Found on my day off at a local antique shop. These really weren't my inspiration as I spotted them after my project was complete. This pair is $190.



Oiy! This is my atrociousness before. The room is cream and brown currently...

it just needed a touch of color. Besides, I know one of my colorful art pieces will be going in soon!

Ahh, after. I wanted this to look vintage, so I weathered the look. I could have taken more time to straighten the shade perfectly for you all, but had to snap and run. The color also turned out perfectly similar to turned copper, so doubly pleased on the resulting antique look. Easy as pie...some light sanding, tape, gold spray paint, mint paint and distressing. It is the absolute perfect pop against the neutrals in the bedroom. And, it's getting lonely missing some stacked coffee table books, candle and small vase of flowers, which will come soon! Is it Friday yet?

Hotel Design & Cool Places To Stay

It's no secret that I am passionate about traveling to new places. I have been lucky enough to visit some pretty amazing places, and prefer off the beaten path, boutique style resorts that are small and unique. But, sometimes I do love a larger glitzy hotel. Hotels and resorts have been hiring some of the top interior designers to style up their properties, and some are just dripping with extravagance. Here are some cool interiors at places I've visited and even some newbies thrown in that will maybe get a future visit.

The Four Seasons Resort Marrakesh suite almost looks like a chic

living room at your friend's Palm Beach or California home!

Bath at Londolozi in South Africa. We loved every minute of our stay here.

The chandelier made Pioneer camp the swankiest of all in my opinion.

Lanterns for dinner every night.

One of the most stylish places I have stayed is GPH, Gramercy Park Hotel in NYC.

Every corner is dripping with intense style.

Yes, Gramercy Park Hotel has some intense decor, but SO cool.

                           

Back down where I grew up, both Miami and Palm Beach have started to shed their art deco and chintzy palm prints. The Ritz Carlton Palm Beach was in dire need of a renovation, which they completed a couple of years ago.  My family is lucky enough to spend a lot of time here, so I was SUPER thrilled that they went stylish. The lobby and spa take the cake, but with chandelier printed lampshades, you get the picture.

The Tides in Miami called in the biggest gun they could get with Kelly Wearstler.

Blakes Hotel in London makes this room seem very unlike a hotel space.

The above two pictures are from closer to home at the Mansion on Forsythe in Savannah. Incredibly cool decor and all around hotel. Honestly, one of the funniest things about this hotel is the Picasso style boob paintings in the room halls. You can't stop staring. My top pick for a stay in Savannah.

 Everyone knows how I feel about Australia (my boyfriend rolls his eyes here). Yes, the country I claim I should have been born in. Swimmers are celebrities, the people are unbelievably down to earth and nice and everyone loves to be outside. My stay at the Blue Sydney was a highlight...this Taj hotel is in a century-old wool and cargo handling facility on The Wharf Woolloomooloo. The architectural details inside are phenomenal and urban chic.

Awesome art piece in pool.

Other than the ambiance and ultra coolness of this hotel, I really just loved going around and saying

WOOLLOOMOOLOO!!!! Is that just the most fun word you could say?