Category Archives: Furniture

05.17.12

Purple Velvet.

I am looking for the perfect purple velvet for that pesky bench in E’s Room.  I have ordered a few dozen samples, keeping my fingers crossed that one of them is the perfect shade.  In my search, I came across this chair from a 300 square foot apartment that Nick Olsen designed in Brooklyn.
 That is right… 300 SQUARE FEET!  That man is amazing.  Look at everything he was able to cram in this space, and it doesn’t even look slightly crowded.

05.14.12

The Problem With Interpretation.

You say purple, I say blue.

I am so happy with the way E’s walls have turned out.  I ended up paying my go-to painter Corinne, to do the walls because I honestly had no idea when I was going to get to it.  At first I felt like a failure because I love doing things myself and feel like I should be like all of the other bloggers who do EVERYTHING themselves.  Then I realize that I have a full-time job and two kids and I would rather spend the weekend playing with my kids that painting a room.  Thus, the decision was made.  Here is a teaser picture (taken with an iPad) while in progress.

Obviously, these pillows were a huge part of my inspiration.  I saw them and just had to have them.
Next up.. I was looking for a bench that would be the perfect size for her bed.  At first, I insisted on a storage bench, so I scoured HomeGoods to find one.  I came home with this leather one, thinking I would reupholster in it a beautiful purple velvet.
However, the gorgeous purple velvet that I wanted was far more than what I wanted to spend on a bench for a six-year old so I continued my search and found this
Perfect, right?  And who can beat the price!  SOLD.  So I bought it and it showed up at my doorstep the next day.  Only problem is that it wasn’t purple as advertised… it was clearly Navy Blue.   

Looking a little more like this 
BUMMER.  Can you say false advertising?  When I called BJ’s they said that the color is actually Navy, not purple.  As you can see they have now edited the posting to more accurately represent the actual product.  That doesn’t help my situation.   They now have a p-i-s-s-e-d six year old to deal with.

03.29.12

I’m Hungry.

Many people ask me where I come up with color schemes.  Honestly, it can come from anywhere; a dress I see on the street, a pillow, often times I get inspiration from things found in nature.  One of the most unusual places that I find color inspiration is in food.  For those of you who follow me on Pinterest, you know that I keep a Color Inspiration Board.  Take a look at how these food color combos can create a beautiful space.

For instance, take a look at these food vignettes, and some of the rooms I found to match.

This

Inspiration is all around you!

03.28.12

Dome-Da-Dome-Dome.

This picture from yesterday’s Turtle Shell Post has me thinking about dome chairs today.   One thing leads to another they say!
Inspired by French Regency these chairs are seen in a lot of Kelly Wearstler’s projects.
This one isn’t designed by Kelly, but I am loving the zebra!
Don’t you just want to curl up in one and read?

03.21.12

Design Philosophy: Naomi Stein.

Today I am launching a new series here on KKL titled Design Philosophy.  It gives you an intimate look at some of my favorite designers and their design process.  The inaugural post is from one of my favorite ladies; Naomi Stein of Design Manifest.  I am sure you have seen her amaaaaazing loft as Naomi is taking the internet by storm.  Take it away, Naomi!



Hey guys, it’s Naomi from Design Manifest. When Krista asked me to come over and talk about my home I thought it was a good chance to talk about color and pattern.  I’ve been really fortunate in that my loft has gotten a lot of attention.  It has been featured on Design Sponge, several international/online magazines, loads of blogs and I’m guessing it’s been pinned a time or two.  Pictures are nice, but I like to delve a little further into the thought process behind the design.  I wrote a bit about my furniture and theme selections over on Small Shop, but I’ve never really talked about color and pattern mixology. 

 
So here it goes… color, pattern, and my loft. 

I’m a white wall girl, through and through.  Yes, the loft is a rental with soaring ceilings, so that helped cement my decision to stay white.  But on top of that, I like crisp bright spaces that are speckled with color and pattern.  This is what I went for in my living room: white walls, cream rug, linen sofa and a big ‘ole pillow party.
 
 
Early on, I chose pink and blue as my theme in the place and I later added black for a little drama.  For my pillows I really lucked out on fabrics- both the solid velvet and flamestitch were cheap remnants scores.  A stripe and a chinoiserie-themed pillow (It’s actually Goddesses) were an easy way to mix in variety.  I love a toile/ scenery type fabric to mix up geometrics and other patterns!  I also don’t like both sides of the sofa to match exactly.  Mix in two similar pillows but change up the size or pattern, or both!
 
 
Even though I’m a self admitted white wall girl, sometimes you need a little drama.  My first action step in decorating my loft was painting a dark, depressing alcove adeep blue.  I loved the way my pink desk popped against it and I felt it did a good job of cementing my color theme without overwhelming the whole loft.
 
 
A small space is a great place to go bold.  Just make sure to balance it out with lots of white and a little wood to maintain a natural element.  My grandmother gave me this painting that just happened to feature my color scheme: pink and blue!  I thought it was a great fit in my loft, but wanted to make sure I didn’t pair it directly with blue and pink elements as I don’t like my spaces too matchy.
 
 
Instead I perched my favorite bench (covered in David Hicks La Fiorentina) under it and filled it with pillows that complemented the art but didn’t feature the strong pink element.  Mixing patterns here wasn’t an easy task. I didn’t want to use geometrics as I felt that would detract from the bench.  I lucked out when I found silk and velvet ikat scraps.  Ikats are abstract enough that they go with just about everything.  When mixing, make sure you vary the size, scale and color.
I thought long and hard before wallpapering a nook in my living room.  It was an odd hollow area on a brick wall and I knew I needed a statement piece there to give it a purpose.  The pattern couldn’t be too crazy, though, because I really wanted to use fun pillows on the sofa.  (See above.)
  
 
I opted for “the birds” or Paradiso by Nina Campbell.  I felt the animal theme was organic enough to mix with other patterns and the colors were close to my pinks and blues while not being too matchy-matchy.  Yea, I know I said that above- but not matching was a big focus of mine!
To balance out all of that pink and blue, I opted to leave some areas “color-less.”  My dining area is basically all black and white with a pop of red in the antique suzani tablecloth.
 
 
Keeping the colors simpler allowed me to be a little bolder with my patterns.  Black and white chevron is more subtle when its set against black dining chairs.I applied the same color story in my bedroom, but avoided bold, bright hues.  This room is for relaxation, so I wanted the overall feel to be more calming.  I didn’t hold back from using patterns though.  I love the way my perky, geometric Caitlin Wilson Pillows play against my batik dyed bedspread!
 
 
And sometimes I just let the ART do the talking.  I purposely asked Nicole to feature pink and blue in my painting to coordinate with my space.  But I also gave it it’s own dedicated area to stand out.  I painted out that black background to really help it pop.  (You can learn more about it here.)
 
 
Ultimately I broke a lot of design rules when planning out my color and pattern scheme.  I used a lot of colors (pink, blue, black, red.)  I matched my art to my interiors.  I layered patterns on top of patterns.  I think that breaking the rules and following your intuition is essential to a good design. 
 Two rules I would stick to?  
1.  SCALE!  Meaning your pattern repeats should be varied.  Do a big pattern, a little pattern, a solid and a geometric.  And they don’t all need to match.  A couple can match and a third can be odd man out- it’s more interesting that way.
2.  Edit your COLOR!  Meaning, you may need to take some away.  I love color, but often times less is more.  Each time you bring in a new color element, you lessen the impact of your other elements.
Oh dear, did I get too chatty?  I hope that helped you think about mixology a little.  Happy Decorating!
 
xo,
Naomi

03.14.12

O’verlays Giveaway.

Cheryle Rhuda and Danika Herrick were friends who saw a common an overlap in their interior design businesses; a lack on interesting materials to refurbish furniture.  The two have built an empire off of DIYer’s and their desire to champagne quality furniture on a beer budget.  Just look at some of these amazing furniture transformations that were created with O’verlays.

After this post about O’verlays, I had to try them for myself.  Here is the result:
Cheryle and Danika are graciously giving away six Anne O’verlays to one lucky Kiki’s List Follower so that you can get this look for yourself.  All you need is one Ikea Rast dresser and whatever paint colors meet your fancy.  The possibilities are endless!
Here are the rules for the contest: 
1.) You must be a follower of Kiki’s List.  If you are not sure how to follow, click here.
2.) To enter the giveaway, leave a comment in the comment section of this post between today, Wednesday, March 14 and Friday, March 16.  A winner will randomly be selected.

3.) Each of the following are worth an additional entry:

• Share a link to this post on Facebook.  Leave an additional comment on this post, letting me know that you have done so (include link.)

•  If you have a blog, share a link to this post.  Leave an additional comment on this post, letting me know that you have done so (include link.)

•  Tweet about this giveaway.  Leave an additional comment on this post, letting me know that you have done so (include link.)

• “Like” O’verlays on Facebook.  Leave an additional comment on this post, letting me know that you have done so. 

 

• Follow O’verlays on Twitter.    Leave an additional comment on this post, letting me know that you have done so.