Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sick of the same old furniture? How about these little wacky fantastic pieces?!

Weird and Wacky Furniture By Straight Line Designs

Straight Line Designs is a one-of-a-kind workshop that has been operating out of Vancouver, British Columbia for the past 25 years. In addition to installations, sculptures and private commissions, designer Judson Beaumont and his staff of eight full-time craftspeople have designed and constructed a variety of wacky cartoon-style furniture and projects for public institutions and children’s exhibitions throughout North America and abroad. Focused on quality and custom design, Judson’s studio stays far away from mass production and is as imaginative as children themselves.

StaightLineDesigns.com











Neat, huh?! :)

Better late than never?

Well... lately I have been the most awful blogger. EVER. To be honest school and work has been kicking my ass and I basically only have one thing on my mind. VEGAS (and getting skinny for Vegas). I leave 3 weeks from today! OMG.

Anyways as I was browsing around the internet looking for fabulous items and inspirational elements I came across this super cute table lamp! Thumbs up Pottery Barn! You always make me smile! How amazing is the lamp?!?! It's has an atrium base for loads and loads of creativity. Check out some of their ideas below! Only $149! Love this!



 http://www.potterybarn.com/products/atrium-glass-table-lamp/?pkey=ctable-bedside-lamps

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Paint Technique: Antiquing Furniture

Antique finishes on furniture are one of the latest trends being seen everywhere! Below I have some step by step instructions on how to turn any ordinary piece of furniture into a stunning antique with just some paint and glaze!


Materials:
unfinished piece of furniture (Ikea bedside table, Aspelund, Natural)
oil-based primer
2 colors of satin-finish paint
paintbrush
stencil
small foam roller
dark paint and glaze mixture
rag
cheesecloth
polyurethane
Steps:
1. Cover an unfinished piece of furniture completely with an oil-based primer. Let dry.
2. Apply the base coat of paint. A satin finish will make applying glaze easier. Using paint with a flat finish can make the glaze blotchy. Applying paint with a paintbrush gives your piece an aged look while using a foam roller creates a smoother finish. Let dry.
3. Place the stencil in desired location, paint over it and use a damp rag to easily wipe extra paint off the satin finish basecoat. Carefully remove the stencil.
4. For the antique look, mix a glaze by adding one part dark brown paint to three parts glaze. Stir thoroughly. Brush the glaze generously across your piece. If you have a large piece of furniture, work in sections to avoid drying lines. Wipe the glaze off right away using either a rag or cheesecloth. Cheesecloth gives you a smoother finish and a rag gives you a wiping effect. Continue applying glaze and wiping it until you achieve your desired finish. If you mess up, use a damp rag and the paint will easily wipe off the satin finish basecoat.
5. Highlight all of the architectural features by taking the same glaze and brushing it into the crevices of door or drawer fronts. Wipe off excess.
6. To highlight the edges of your piece, take the brush with a little bit of glaze on the tip and running it along all of the edges at about a 45-degree angle, leaving a line of glaze.
7. After your glaze dries, add a coat of polyurethane to protect the finish.


For more information or for additional painting ideas please refer to  http://www.hgtv.com/painting/index.html

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Be BOLD

No room for scaredy cats here! This inspiration board is my idea of what is hot and fantastic RIGHT NOW!  Mix, mix, mix! Pattern, pattern, pattern! Texture, texture, texture! Be BOLD. This look is all about mixing and matching, but also being able to find that common ground. My common ground is black and white. It ties everything together and makes everything work beautifully with one another regardless of the pattern. You do want to have some variations. I first started with my “inspiration” fabric. This happens to be the beautiful purple patterned one I have chosen to put on a chair. I wanted to keep my sofa clean but I needed some interest so I chose a grey textured upholstery with sort of a rustic, canvasy feel, grabbing ones attention but not stealing the show. I needed some fun… so BOOM! Zebra upholstered square ottoman!-Creating the perfect marriage between the sofa and chair. For my drapery I knew I wanted something airy but I also wanted to pull in one last pattern… ta duh! Gorgeoussssss black, white and grey airy floral print drapery set upon my punch of color… LIME GREEN accent wall!-Perfect complementary color! The hard part is over, accessorizing is easy breezy! I chose some fab accent pillows, and a funky frame, mirror and vase of fun flowers turning this space into a BOLD but beautiful seating area! Fun right!?


The National Opera House turned Steelpan Academy

First and foremost, please excuse my lack of blogging during the past week or so... one word. Finals.

So anyways... for one of my larger projects this quarter I have been working on the restoration and transformation of The National Opera House located in the Homewood area of Pittsburgh, PA. The National Opera House is a non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status, whose primary goal is to restore and maintain the original National Negro Opera House in order to teach culture through arts and music to the youth of its local communities. The programs of the Opera House are designed to create a bridge between members of the community of every age, race, background, and interest through music. These goals will be achieved through the creation and operation of the first school for steelpan performance in the state of Pennsylvania. For more information on this historic building, or perhaps to donate please refer to the following link! http://www.nationaloperahouse.org/

For my design proposal I have focused on first restoring this building as much as possible to it's original state and really focusing on the Queen Anne style elements in the architecture of the building, and then applying that over all look to my interior designs with a more updated, transitional style and decor! Check out my proposal boards below to really get an idea of my vision for the space!



Enlarged 3D Renderings

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Quote of the day:

     "Remember, color is not just color, but mood,   
  temperature and structure." 
-Van Day Truex

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Remember my Moroccan inspired board?

Check out this awesome DIY project I found on Design Sponge to complete your Moroccan look!


Love these? You can do it yourself! 
Refer to the link below for materials, instructions and more information!

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/03/diy-project-moroccan-lanterns.html