October 8, 2015

Trunk Love

As I pack for Paris, I'm dreaming of a time when steamer trunks were the luggage of choice. If I had it my way, I would be packing my gear in a Goyard trunk (impractical, yes, but also glamorous!). As a self-confessed addict of vintage trunks, I count at least 5 in my humble home at any given moment. I think they are the most versatile of decor pieces, and they bring a sense of historic luxe and a hint of a life well traveled to even the most modern of spaces.

I love them with worn beat-up leather, humped backs, deco travel stickers, lined with Louis Vuitton's trademarked canvas, campaign-style metallic, and raw wood - they are all tres chic. They are seeped in history, and that just may be the prime attraction for me.

Design Notes

Serving both form and function - a vintage trunk makes an artful heirloom side table or footlocker, with storage to boot. It's no wonder Restoration Hardware set about mass producing the lovely campaign style chest.
I prefer to leave my trunks in their original fashionable worn state, but if the boho look is not for you, with a little polish most vintage trunks can be brought back to a shiny state of being.
For a matching monotone look, paint your trunk in a white or grey chalk paint.
An antique Goyard or Louis Vuitton trunk is the ultimate find. Auction houses and high-end antique stores are the best source.
Musty smell? Keep lavender in the trunk (along with your linens) to combat both smell and moths.

September 30, 2015

Small Spaces: Designing a Home Office Nook

by Brandi Brown in Interiors

Whether you use it once a month to pay bills or every day to blog, your home office needs to be inspiring and efficient. Finding a nook within a small home to create an efficient yet inspiring home office can be a challenge but also a necessity of small house living. We re-imagined a small "dead" space (too small for cabinets but too big to be wasted) in our kitchen into a chic and compact home office that is grounded in a calm greige color scheme (which makes me feel organized no matter how disorganized I am), full of re-purposed objets d'art from travels and architectural artifacts that inspire me, and maximized on efficiency with a bookshelf and inventive storage solutions.

Architectural pediments salvaged from a dumpster (which means free!) frame a custom bookcase, and artfully define the space. Grey graphic contact paper scored from TJ Maxx for $4 lines the back of the bookcase and provides a dramatic (and easily removable) contrasting backdrop. An antique French bistro table provides a compact work surface with chipped enamel character, evidencing its former social use. Sitting at my "desk", I can imagine all of the wonderful meals and conversations that took place over the bistro table and, for me, this is the ultimate inspiration.

Re-purposing discarded objects provides visually pleasing utilitarian office storage solutions in our petite office - an old glove form corrals post-it notes, a vintage trophy picked up in Ojai holds paint brushes, and an antique leather binocular case from Paris offers scissors and rulers. Laduree boxes add pastel energy to the otherwise grey monotone space and hold paper clips, cords and ink cartridges. As for the unsightly necessity of a modern printer, I tucked it away into a seagrass Pottery Barn Beachcomber Lidded Basket. Not only is the basket an aesthetically pleasing solution but it offers a rough texture to the space that is the yin to the grey sheepskin's soft yang.

A Kartell-style Louis Ghost Chair (found on sale at HomeGoods for $80) adds the functional necessity of a chair without adding too much visual weight to the compact space. Harry Bertoia wire chairs would be another great option to keep the airy feeling.

Bookshelf layered with travel mementos turned storage

An old sculptural glove form offers fun post-its

Design is never finished, and our home office is no exception...I'm on the hunt for a modern airy chandelier (like this one) to create unobstructed visual interest...

Design Notes

Create a space that inspires you. For me, that means being surrounded by calm colors and mementos from travel (and, well, anything French is my muse). For others, that could be something totally bright and boho, or modern and crisp.
Location and Light. Consider traffic flow and natural light exposure. Tucked in a corner of our kitchen that is flooded with light from two large picture windows, my cozy home office provides me with the space and quietness from the house traffic that I desperately need to withstand distractions. Do you work best in a quiet moody space or a lively bright space?
Accessibility of Storage. Keep the daily items within easy reach. Nothing is more inefficient than constantly searching for a pen and paper or the electrical cord that you need for your tablet, camera, printer, etc.
Form Need Not be Over Function. Home office décor should complement the adjacent rooms of your home, rather than being a soulless white box of desk and storage. For example, my home office echoes the colors of the kitchen cabinets and seamlessly bleeds into the adjoining kitchen. Creative accessories (such as vintage trophies for a pencil holder and Laduree boxes for small storage solutions) and artistic pieces (which could be your kids' framed artwork, a modern graphic or a classic painting) enhance the comfy feeling of an office. If you have the space, a settee or love-seat are ideal. The more comfortable you are in the space, the more likely you are to use it.
Master Modern Technology. Beautifying the necessities of a computer and printer may be impossible, but you can hide the unsightly device or cords. Make sure to store the equipment near an outlet for easy access. Hide the device in a basket or the cord with a fabric cord cover (such as Pottery Barn's Basic Cord Cover), and contain cords with velcro ties (found at almost all hardware stores).

Images by Brooklyn Boheme.

September 23, 2015

Greige - A Perfectly Neutral Palette

by Brandi Brown in Interiors

I am partial to French and Belgian decor in large part because of their primary use of the earthen based neutral "Greige". Greige is a proprietary French blend of grey and taupe, it's raw and ethereal while at the same time complex and sophisticated (especially when mixed with modern minimalism). It pairs equally well with saturated bold hues and faded colors. Natural fiber textiles, velvets, leathers and hides elevate Greige to chic. The widespread popularity of this palette transcends from home decor to the runway (Dior made soft grey eponymous with luxe) to beauty (Bobbi Brown offers a Greige eye palette).

I think the above palette board evidences the ethereal sophisticated glory of Greige, with the layering of white soft sheepskin and contrasting rough sisal rugs. A brown leather tufted chesterfield sofa (such as Restoration Hardware's Kensington Sofa) juxtaposed against gilded French armchairs would be a cool compliment to this palette, and I would throw in a modern Kartell Bloom Pendant for a minimalist twist with sparkling texture.

Here are my favorite Greige moments in design.

Sophie Malgat in Gray Chiffon Dior in Dior's Paris Home by Mark Shaw, available on 1stDibs.

Crisp Greige Swedish living room via Decorpad.

Natural Greige elements, via Haute Design.

Moroccan Rough Luxe Greige, via Lieuk Interieur Advies.

Romantic French Greige, via Haute Design.

Modern Art Greige, via Architectural Digest Espana.

Courtyard Dior Gray Chiffon by Mark Shaw, available at Jackson Fine Art.

Moody contemporary Greige in a Paris apartment by Matt Watts, Home Adore.

September 21, 2015

Small Spaces: Jewel-Box Powder Room

by Brandi Brown in Interiors

A dramatic color-saturated space need not be grand in size, and small need not be vanilla. This powder room is a mere 4.5'x3'. With all of the layered gilded jewel box-like accessories, statuary and vintage mirrors, we transformed our doll-size powder room into a jewel-box that lures even the most claustrophobic of guests.

Walls painted Benjamin Moore's Van Buren Brown cause the walls to recede. While vintage mirrors create a small and chic space by adding the illusion of space, depth and reflecting light. Vintage mirrors, statuary, art and gilded details were found at flea markets and garage sales, creating a rich yet affordable layered look that keeps our "captivated audience" guests entertained while indisposed. Rather than painting the walls, I would have preferred to clothe the room in silver leaf Chinoiserie wallpaper, but the walls are wavy - and wavy wallpaper is anything but chic.

Small-scale efficiency of a narrow Kohler sink and a shallow vintage toilet expand the narrow entrance to our petite room. And, the coordinating jewel box-like color scheme of gilded decor and white accessories avoids a cluttered look while providing visual interest.

The DIY Romanesque shade was crafted from Pottery Barn fabric and a shade kit from Jo-Ann's. In order to create a cohesive look, I used the fabric remnants to cover a lamp drum shade that I converted into a chandelier using a simple lighting pendant from Home Depot. Simply wrap the shade with the fabric and secure with fabric adhesive. To create a warm electrical glow, I spray painted the interior of the shade gold and covered the interior fabric seams with gross grain ribbon. Total cost $15!

When decorating a small space, think beyond the walls! Hang art on doors, maximize the ceiling's blank canvas with wallpaper or stencil, and don't forget to decorate the utilitarian features of the sink basin and toilet top. A flea market oil painting adorns the interior of our space's door. Seashells collected from adventures litter our sink basin, and an antique French bust protrudes from the wall creating depth in this tiny space.

Improving small-scale spaces can be a challenge but with a little creativity, you can create an efficient high-style space.

Design Notes:

Transform decor that you already own with spray paint. I spray painted some old red foo dogs white, and I transformed gilded frames into mirrors by painting the glass with mirror spray paint.
Enhance the height of a short ceiling by continuing window treatments up to the top of the wall (my treatment stops at the window frame because I cut my fabric too short - hence, the old adage, measure twice and cut once).
Visually expand a petite space and create a sense of a canopy by coordinating the ceiling with the dominant pattern in the window covering. I plan to stencil the ceiling in a Moroccan tile print to visually expand the pattern out from the ceiling pendant and down to the window covering.
Avoid a cluttered look with color coordinating accessories. I stuck to classic white and gilded details.
Create depth in a small space with walls painted a dark color or enveloped in wallpaper. Paint the ceiling a lighter color to avoid a cave-like feeling in a small dark space.

Images by Brooklyn Boheme.

September 8, 2015

House Tour: An Entrance Grounded in B&W

by Brandi Brown in Interiors

This high-contrast combo grounds a small space with black-tie panache. It visually expands a space, brings order to the most eclectic of spaces and it plays nicely with both period furniture and pop art modern. I love it in bold stripes, punchy graphics and saturated noir - this combo is timeless, chic, modern and playful. This combo is also the starting point for our petite 1930s Regency-style home.

Black & white striped outdoor curtains frame our inky-black front door in homage to a Parisian Bistro scene. Door painted in high gloss Sherwin Williams' Contessas Cape. The curtains, found on sale at Pottery Barn, are tacked up on nails (no special outdoor hardware needed) and casually pulled back with rope picked up from the hardware store. This curated black & white style is easy to achieve on a budget!

Antique white knocker contrasts against the inky black front door

Black and white striped curtains envelope guests at the entrance

The monochromatic theme continues into the foyer. The "foyer" is a lavish word for our broom-size closet entry. With odd angles (note, there are 3 doors in the foyer), our decor options were limited. By painting bold black & white stripes on the foyer ceiling and saturating the front door in a black hue, we instantly changed the small room with a DIY elegance. The bold stripes are an unexpected greeting and cause the ceiling to visually recede, while the door adds a visual pop to the limited wall space. Walls painted Benjamin Moore's November Skies set-off by a Sherwin Williams' Dark Knight front door.

Design Tip: When painting stripes, use painter's tape in a width of the desired stripe. Ensure straight lines by placing strips of the tape edge to edge, starting with the corner of the ceiling - creating rows of tape. Remove every other row of tape, and then paint the contrasting color.

Black & white graphic art echoes the ceiling's stripes

The ornateness of the gilded Hollywood Regency mirror and console compliment the chic simplicity of black & white. Stacks of DIY muslin covered books with hand-painted gold numbers on the spine, bound in black & white polka dot ribbon, add a modern sculptural twist. While an antique red and black Moroccan rug is the counterpoint to the vintage Moroccan light fixture (scored at a flea market for $10) hanging above it.

The foyer is still a work in progress - I'm hunting for that perfect crystal light fixture and black-ish & white graphic wallpaper (and struggling to get over my wallpaper fear...if you've ever removed wallpaper, you understand) ....perhaps, the Etched Arcadia Mural by Anthropologie.

Design Tip: Create a curated library display by recovering mismatched books in a uniform cloth.

Gilded details add chicness to the monochromatic space

Black & white extends from the foyer into the adjacent kitchen and living room. The continuity of the theme from room to room gives a sense of order and visual expansiveness to our small home. An antique black & white bus sign in the kitchen is a natural transition from the foyer's black & white striped ceiling.

Design Tip: Enliven a monochromatic space with unexpected pops of color (such as the vintage pink Hotel Ritz ephemeral on the foyer's console).

Black & white elements in the living room continue the foyer's theme