The green wallpapered powder room, concluded (or almost)

March 26, 2012 12 Comments

Where were we? Ah yes: changing the powder room strategy from blue to green.

This is the living room I’d just finished for a client:

Living room with blue velvet sofa and green Farrow & Ball dragged wallpaper

I fell in love with that wallpaper. I mean, LOVE. All those months of focusing on yellow and blue and pink (oops – spoiler alert: pictures of my living room coming soon!)…I was feeling the need for some green. This wallpaper just needed to be in my house – somewhere.

Thus we began the powder room adventure.

Powder room off of dining room (ick)

Again: I know it's totally gross to have a powder room off the dining room, but there's nothing we can do about it.

Demolished powder room

Removing the shower.

Possibly the only thing grosser than a powder room off of a dining room is a full bath off of a dining room. You could  actually see the basement bedroom through the floorboards. Wow.

Floor taken down to the floorboards

Under the tile floor was...not much

Studs on brick wall

Larger window = more light

Drywalled powder room

Bye, window. See you again soon.

Carrara marble tile floor in powder room

Carrara marble tile floor

Window in powder room

Welcome back, window! But goodbye, floor.

Framed window in powder room

I didn't choose great trim here. Too wide, I think, and vaguely Colonial. (How did that happen?) Love the Alexa Hampton light, though.

Farrow & Ball dragged paper in powder room

Getting closer...

Farrow & Ball green dragged paper with Carrara marble floor

Wallpaper with the floor tile

Accent lamp with Farrow & Ball green dragged paper

$12 lamp from an antique shop with Farrow & Ball green dragged paper. Talk about high/low.

Powder room with bachelor's chest and Farrow & Ball wallpaper

The reveal!

Whew! Lest you think that *I* think the room is really finished, here’s my punch list:

- Paint the window trim and baseboard green. I think. That window trim is really bugging me!

- Receive replacement mirror from One King’s Lane; the first one was cracked.

- Find kick-ass fabric and make a fantastic Roman Shade for the window – for 59 cents, since that’s about what I have left in the budget.

Once those things are done, Gentle Readers, I promise you a wider shot!

Quoted in publications from The New York Times to The Washington Post to Real Simple magazine, Annie Elliott is considered an expert in color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.

Filed Under: Baths, Before and after, bossy color's house, Color, Powder room, Renovation, Small Spaces, Tile, Wallpaper Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Dateline, St. Michaels: the girls’ bedroom

May 31, 2011 3 Comments

Boy, did I need that. Three days out of town, with our little nuclear family and dear friends, doing pretty much nothing. It was perfect.

Even more perfect was this: the tremendous calm I felt upon walking into a house that had been repainted, modestly renovated, and stripped of extraneous art and tchochkes.

kitchen

It felt peaceful.

You’ve seen the St. Michaels kitchen…again, it was a pretty straightforward job, but what a difference.

Then I went to the girls’ bedroom. The teeny tiny one my husband used to sleep in as a child. The one with ancient grimy carpeting with no padding underneath. The one with a wall of bookshelves that had been built around a file cabinet. And with a closet door smack dab in the middle of a wall, rendering that wall pretty much useless, even if you were to take down the shelving.

Built-in shelving in bedroom

Here it is now.

Ikea pink bunk bed

Bunk bed and wooden door

Dresser with polka-dotted rug

Dresser

Bird wall hanging and blue roller shade
Blue roller shades

That navy blue bed is actually the 2 boxsprings of the twin beds with a futon mattress thrown on it. A kid slept on it fine this weekend – and I bet the right adult could, also.

Bunk bed and rug: Ikea.

Tiny desk and chair: my mother’s when she was a girl.

Carpeting: indoor/outdoor from the local Lowe’s, less than $1/sf.

Roller shades: Blinds.com.

Lamp: the St. Michaels community center (12 bucks).

Not bad.

Annie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She has been quoted in publications from The Washington Post to Real Simple and is considered an expert on color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.

Filed Under: Bedroom, Before and after, Children, Kids, Renovation, St. Michaels

The kitchen renovation in St. Michaels: after!

April 21, 2011 23 Comments

Oh my goodness, Gentle Readers. Do you even remember that we were renovating the kitchen in St. Michaels? I dragged you through the initial excitement, the planning, cabinetry selection, and then -

A gag order. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that I wasn’t allowed to post pictures of the finished project until now.

To refresh your memory, here is the kitchen before…

Rustic pine kitchen

During…

Rustic kitchen empty cabinets

Talking in unfinished kitchen

And now…

inexpensive kitchen

(That pine sideboard will be moving to the dining area, btw.)

inexpensive kitchen with maple cabinets

crazy open kitchen shelves

The most dramatic move by far was getting rid of those, ah, how shall we say, whimsical open shelves between the kitchen and the family room.

I believe they were a relic from the original house (i.e., I don’t think John’s grandfather built them), so I don’t think I’m offending anyone here.

Removing those – and shortening that wing wall – not only made the kitchen feel more connected to the family room, it made the kitchen seem so much bigger. The difference is remarkable.

 

White stove in maple kitchen

Look. It’s not going to win any awards for creativity. But it could win an award for cost-effectiveness. Here’s how we did it*  for about $25,000:

  • Laminate countertops. Nothing’s cheaper
  • Skipped a tile backsplash
  • Kept the stove and sink in place, so there were no major gas or plumbing costs. (The refrigerator doesn’t have an automatic ice maker, so it was easy to move)
  • Skipped under-cabinet lights and kept a central ceiling fixture instead of installing recessed lights
  • Kept the wooden floor
  • Bought Medallion’s builder’s grade cabinets – they’re solid wood, though

There’s more St. Michaels news to report…remember the small bedroom that was going to lose some closets? Wait until you see THAT!

*AND moved the washer and dryer elsewhere AND renovated a small bedroom AND painted the first floor of the house. I’m telling you, the biggest way to save money on a project is to do it in a small town instead of a major city. I’m not suggesting you move, but…

pendant light over sink

Annie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She has been quoted in publications from The Washington Post to Real Simple and is considered an expert on color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.

Filed Under: Before and after, Cabinetry, Countertop, Kitchens, Renovation, St. Michaels Tagged With: , , , , ,

Dark walls, white trim? Hmmmm…

February 25, 2011 16 Comments

Think fast: you’re painting the walls of your bedroom a much darker color. Can you leave the trim bright white?

Probably not. It pains me to say this, but sometimes, if you have a deep, rich color on the walls, glaring white trim can make the room look, well, tacky. And disjointed.

Not the look we’re going for.

Do you remember this bedroom?

Bedroom

We were considering dark blue walls (originally I thought lacquer, but in the end I recommended against it) and John Robshaw bedding:

Bedroom fabrics John Robshaw

Benjamin Moore 1679 Bedford BlueThe walls would be Benjamin Moore’s 1679 Bedford Blue.

But what color to paint the trim?

I was confident I wanted to do the ceiling a deeper off-white. Benjamin Moore’s OC-9 Ballet White was perfect.

And if there were no other considerations, I would have said, “Easy peasy! Let’s paint the trim the same creamy white as the ceiling, but in a semi-gloss finish.”

Off-white paint colorBUT. But, but, but. There are pure whites to contend with. The bedding background is white, and more important, the blinds on the windows are white. Playing for the off-white team we have the headboard and the rug pattern.

Conundrum.

So we’re doing this in stages. First, paint the ceiling Ballet White. Leave the trim bright white. Second, assess.

Blue bedroom

What do you think?

After seeing the room thus far, I recommend that we paint the crown moulding, door trim, and baseboards the creamier white…

Blue bedroom Madeline Weinrib rug

…but leave the window trim the bright white, since it’s associated with the bright white blinds. The windows can be their own thing.

I think it will work. Please stay tuned.

Blue bedroom off-white ceiling

P.S. Please don’t be alarmed: I know the trim color isn’t the only outstanding item for this bedroom. We have 3 gorgeous leather ottomans (ottomen?) at the foot of the bed now, a media component stand is en route, we’re waiting for a lampshade, that little brown chair may not remain…lots more to do!

Annie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She has been quoted in publications from The Washington Post to Real Simple and is considered an expert on color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.

Filed Under: Bedding, Bedroom, Before and after, Client project, Color, Paint Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Girl’s bedroom makeover: the dramatic conclusion

January 10, 2011 9 Comments

When we first moved into this house, our twin daughters were 6 months old.

Floor being refinished

(They’re fraternal, not identical, but they go through stages of looking very, very similar. Age 6 months was one of those times; try as I might, I have no idea who this kid is.)

Wallpapered bedroomWe decided to keep the girls in the same room as long as we could – heck, they shared a CRIB for several months when they were first born, so sharing a room was a no-brainer.

We decided – after much deliberation, actually – that we’d give them the largest bedroom, which the previous owners had used as the master bedroom. The wallpaper was quite sweet; little blue-green flowers on a white background.

But you know that leaving well enough alone isn’t my strong suit.

Shutters

So we painted that room yellow and blue. You’ve seen pictures of that, but I don’t believe I’ve ever been bold enough (stupid enough?) to share these particular pictures, from when there were cribs in the room:

Yellow and blue kids' room

Shutters in yellow bedroom

The cribs were on your left as you entered the room. (Holy cow – the MESS!)

Then they got older, graduated to beds…

Messy kids' room

2089-60 Peach KissThen we were sucked in by the vortex that is the color pink – you remember that makeover, with  Benjamin Moore’s 2089-60 Peach Kiss:

Girls' pink bedroom

Cubitec in pink room

AND THEN Ruthie wanted her own room. You remember that, too, I bet.

Light blue bedroom

Well, poor Georgie had to wait a while until the pink bedroom became her room. I think her patience paid off.

Pink bedroom with bunk bed

Pink bedroom with bunk bed

The order of things was a little backward, but that’s how life is sometimes, right?

1. Wall color/paint. We KNOW that ideally, that comes last :)

2. Window treatments. Roman Shades require so little fabric – usually about 2-1/2 yards – so splurging on fancy material is an option. This fabric was NOT a splurge, though: $7/yard on Fabric Row in Philadelphia.

3. Ikea Hemnes dresser. I’ve always loved this dresser, but some colors – gray, blue, red – are now made of SOLID PINE, not that horrible but often unavoidable MDF / particleboard.

Ikea Hemnes dresser

4. Bedding. Cotton coverlets from The Company Store, 1 pink, 1 orange – it’s the Veranda Matelasse, which I LOVE. We have it in white on our bed in the summer.

5. Bunk bed color. The bed itself is from Ikea, and we used unopened Farrow & Ball paint from our LR fireplace (a loooonnnng time ago) to personalize it. It’s too expensive to waste!

Gray flowered shade

Despite the pillow, the top bunk is Ruthie’s when we have guests and she’s kicked out of her bedroom. It was part of the “ok, ok, you can have your own rooms but…” agreement.

View from top bunk

Thankfully, the client is very happy with the way things turned out.

Green bunk bed

Annie Elliott, aka bossy color, is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She’s been doing more remote consultations as of late, so if you’re in Florida, Washington state, or Australia, help is just a phone call away.

Filed Under: Bedroom, Before and after, Benjamin Moore, Ikea, Kids Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Benjamin Moore’s AC-26 Ozark Shadows (and a bossy basic) saved this meeting room!

January 7, 2011 10 Comments

I love small businesses. I mean, I know I am one, so that makes sense, but when a professional photographer and a letterpress owner /graphic designer  said they needed a bossy basic for a new meeting space, I jumped at it.

They each have their own offices, but they decided to go in on a nice room in a central location where they could meet with clients. This is the room before. Not huge.

Bare windows

You can see from the view what an adorable neighborhood lies outside. It’s really a brilliant spot for a meeting room. Bare roomIn the upper left picture, you can see a little anteroom. We had to deal with that, too.

The look we wanted: sophisticated but not stuffy. Expensive (professional photographers and personalized stationery aren’t cheap; the room had to convey that). Modern but not scary. Stylish. Minimal. The last one was no problem, since space and budget were limited.

We set the priorities as:

Benjamin Moore's AC-26 Ozark Shadows1.    Floor
2.    Paint
3.    Rug
4.    Meeting table & chairs
5.    Sideboard (for anteroom)

I suggested replacing the icky carpeting with a super dark brown hardwood floor. We lucked out: there was a lovely, weathered old floor underneath that revolting wall-to-wall, which we (the royal “we;” the clients did the work themselves) stained.

Paint colors were the next order of business. You know I’ve been gray-obsessed as of late, but even so, I thought a rich gray was the right move for this space. Fresh but sophisticated, soothing, not overwhelming. Allows clients to focus. Benjamin Moore’s  AC-26 Ozark Shadows was the big winner, with OC-17 White Dove trim.

All I did was make recommendations, and they implemented them. That’s the beauty of a bossy basic; it’s a lot of bang for the buck if you’re willing to buy things on your own.

Here are the afters. The anteroom:

Stylish anteroom

The client thought to use Ikea cable hanging systems on the wall That makes it easy for the designer to display sample invitations and stationery. There will be some kind of coffee thing on that white piece, which is Italian.

Pictures on cable system

And the meeting room:

Grey room with green rug

I love it! After we hit on dark brown for the floors, gray walls and an apple green rug popped into my head. A key with gray is to balance it with warm tones so it doesn’t get too cold. Thus the Natural Woven Roman Shades from Smith + Noble.

You’ll recognize the table and chairs, of course: the Saarinen Tulip table and Eames aluminum management chairs. (Knockoffs, I believe, but I have mixed feelings about those, so I didn’t pry.)

Gray meeting room

The George Kovacs aluminum pendant light and was extremely well priced – around $200.

Etched glass door

The final touch – which the clients thought of themselves – was to have the door etched in a pattern similar to the Madeline Weinrib Brooke rug. The light through this door makes such a beautiful pattern on the floor of the anteroom that I suggested replacing the animal print rug with something solid (or with an overall texture but not a large pattern). The shadow will become the pattern.

Best wishes, guys! I don’t know how anyone could NOT hire you once they’ve seen your gorgeous meeting space. Oh yes, and your work, too :)

Before picturesAnnie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She’s also the creator of the “bossy basic,” a one-time service that jump-starts the interior design process in your home.

Filed Under: Art, Before and after, Benjamin Moore, Client project, Color, Contemporary, Floors, Lighting, Paint, Rugs, Wall-to-wall carpet Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Renovate and LOSE three closets? You must be mad!

January 1, 2011 12 Comments

If you said, “Hey! I think we should remove THREE closets AND a whole wall of built-in bookshelves to gain 2 feet of space in a bedroom!” most people would think you were nuts.

Welcome to my world, Gentle Readers. Welcome.

In the case of the room below, though, I suggested that we do just that.

Bookshelves in bedroom

Child's bedroom

Let me explain.

This room is in the house in St. Michaels, which used to be a year-round house. John’s grandparents (the inhabitants) NEEDED closets.

Now, however it is a weekend house. No need for this many closets.

Or built-ins. There are plenty more in the house – half-empty, too. Just like these. And they’re considerably more attractive.

Behind the wall of shelves in this room is a core of 3 closet: 1 is accessible from this room, 1 from the dining area, and 1 – a small linen closet – from the hall.

So I said, “Hey! I think we should get rid THREE closets and a whole wall of built-in bookshelves and gain 2 feet of space in this bedroom!”

That’s where you came in.

And when WE walked in this week, the demolition had begun!

Bookshelves removed

Isn’t it so fun to see what colors the room had been painted over the years? Pink once upon a time – probably originally, in the ’50s – then green somewhere along the way, then the inoffensive cream.

Closet removed

When this is done, we’ll gain 2 feet of valuable space AND a long, unbroken wall. We’ll put 2 bunk beds in here, precise location TBD. As for clothes, have no fear: we’ll “borrow” a closet from the master bedroom (i.e., punch a hole in the wall) and be able to fit a dresser next to it.

Linen closet removed

By the way, how sweet is that little scrap of wallpaper over the main door?

Vintage wallpaper

John said that for years he fell asleep staring at that paper. I half wanted to track it down and re-paper one of the walls in this room with it.

Luckily, sanity prevailed. There are only so many of my crazy ideas this family will tolerate.

Annie Elliott is an interior decorator and design blogger. You can read more about her adventures relating to the St. Michaels house here and here.

Filed Under: Bedroom, Before and after, Renovation, St. Michaels Tagged With: , , , ,

Built-in bookshelves – and Ben Moore’s AC-34 – MAKE the space

December 17, 2010 11 Comments

You say, “hallway,” I say, “library.”

This area a master suite was woefully underused. It’s too wide to be considered a true hallway, but it’s too narrow to be treated like a room.

Wide hallway

Hallway before built-ins

Since this client is a GENIUS with photographs and has roughly a gazillion, we thought it might be handy to have some shelves where she could store completed albums as well as unframed pictures in boxes. Open shelves and closed storage, in other words.

First, we met with the carpenter to talk about the design.

Built-ins elevation

Then we added a wool flatweave rug from Rugman.com.

Wool flatweave

Benjamin Moore AC-34 Cape Hatteras SandAnd THEN we painted the walls Benjamin Moore’s AC-34 Cape Hatteras Sand in a matte finish. Aura paint, of course. It’s a lovely warm gray. (Hmmm, should have tried THAT for my dining room. Ah, well.)

The trim is OC-18 Dove Wing, semi-gloss, and the ceiling is OC-17 White Dove, matte finish.

And finally, the built-ins were installed.

Cherry built-in bookcases

Don’t they look beautiful? We’ll put a wall-mounted swing-arm reading lamp over by that little chair eventually, but this is where we are right now. (You know I don’t have the patience to wait until it’s ALL finished to show you the pictures!)

Annie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She has been quoted in publications from The Washington Post to Real Simple and is considered an expert on color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.

Filed Under: Before and after, Benjamin Moore, Bookshelves, Built-ins, Cabinetry, Client project, Color, Paint Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Remember my client’s gray DR? It has an art wall now!

December 11, 2010 18 Comments

Not so long ago, I spoke with you about “art walls.” We started with WHAT to Hang, then moved on to how to FRAME it, and then how to HANG it.

Seems I got one of my clients all riled up.

There’s a gigantic blank wall in her cheerful gray dining room…

Gray dining room

…(remember this room? It’s painted Benjamin Moore’s AC-28 Smoke Embers, with a Thomas Paul Roman Shade)…

Thomas Paul fabric Roman Shade

…well, that big blank wall was starting to get on her nerves.

So she went on kind of an art bender. She gathered up every framed picture in her entire house AS WELL AS stacks of pretty cards a dear friend sent her over the years.

And then she called me to come make sense of it.

Postcards

It was a little overwhelming at first. But pretty quickly we decided to group the larger, already framed pictures in other parts of the house, and feature these postcards – which were not only pretty, but meaningful to my client – in the dining room.

Postcards

The postcards weren’t all the same shape or exactly the same size, but we determined that most of them would fit into an 8 x 8″ frame.

So we chose 16 cards with the idea that we would hang them in a grid: 4 up, 4 across.

8x8 picture frameChoosing was no small task. But we based the decisions on how well the cards worked together as well as how much we liked each one individually.

Then we ordered 16 square frames from a random online source. (Worked out fine.)

THEN – and this was the most expensive part of the project – we had an off-white mat cut for each postcard. I think it cost about $11 per mat. It was CRITICAL, though: the mats and the frames are the unifying element. Et voila:

Art wall hung in grid

There’s 1-1/4″ between each frame, in case you’re wondering.

We hung these while the client was at work, and later that evening I got a voicemail that said, “ANNIE! I just got home and I LOVE LOVE LOOOVVVEE lovelovelovelovelovelove the art wall!”

So I think she likes it  :)

Art hung in a grid

Annie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She’s also the creator of the “bossy basic,” a one-time service that jump-starts the interior design process in your home.

Filed Under: Accent wall, Art, Before and after, Benjamin Moore, Client project, Dining room Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Fireplace makeover

December 6, 2010 5 Comments

It’s COLD here. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but fall seems like a distant memory now.

It’s the perfect time to tell you about a recent fireplace makeover.

Before my clients moved into this house, the family room fireplace wall looked like this:

Fireplace with shelves

Tres bizarre! Obviously the house’s previous owners had had a TV in the large box to the L of the fireplace. But how strange! The room had 2 compteting focal points. At least.

We had the contractor eliminate those shelves so the fireplace could take center stage. We felt the mantel was a bit too high, but we decided to leave it for a while.

Much better. But we still wanted to add some character and make the room feel cozier. A full-on fireplace makeover was in order.

Enter Tom Gross from Fireside Stone & Patio in Clarksville, MD. (His business card identifies him as “head honcho.”)

Blue tape around a fireplace

We disagreed about the overall mantel height, but because this is the PERFECT client and always defers to me :) , I won out and we brought the height down a little bit. The blue tape was SO helpful in determining the overall dimensions.

Blue tape around a fireplace

A few short weeks later, after we’d visited the showroom and selected the stone and mantel and hearth slabs…

Stone fireplace in family room

…ta DA! I know it’s a little hard to get the full effect with the Christmas decorations, but I just couldn’t wait to show you. (And have no fear: we know that chair and ottoman doesn’t belong in this room. We’re in transition.)

It looks great, and the client loves it. I’ll show you more pictures later, after we re-paint the walls. And change the window treatments. And possibly the sofas…you know what a slippery slope decorating is!

Stone fireplace

Annie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She has been quoted in publications from The Washington Post to Real Simple and is considered an expert on color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.

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Filed Under: Before and after, Client project, Family room, Fireplace, Living room Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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