Category Archives: Interior Design

06.29.11

The Zhush.

Sue De Chiara of The Zhush is certainly no stranger to style.  Just check out these pics of her beautiful home.

This lawyer turned blogger has decided to share her sense of style with all of us, through her online store.  If you haven’t checked it out, you must.  Not that you would need any more incentive to shop at The Zhush, but Sue is offering all Kiki’s List Followers 10% off with the code kiki10.  This special offer is good through July 6. Here are some of my favorite items:
Happy Shopping!

06.27.11

To Replace, Or Not to Replace….

We are soon refinishing the surround on our fireplace.  I am counting down the days to get rid of those hideous doors.  After several attempts of finding a suitable replacement, I realized… I actually like fireplaces better without the doors.  And to be honest, I can’t wrap my head around paying $1,200 plus for something that’s just “okay” So, my question is, how horrible would it be if we had no fireplace doors… Obviously we would have to close the flu when the fireplace is not in use.  Has anyone done this and regretted it?
 

06.24.11

ABC’s.

Hanging wall letters are seen in virtually every nursery out there.  There is something so exciting about boasting your child’s very existence.  I had both of my girls names on the wall in the nursery before either of them were born.  There is a fine line between stylish and gaudy when displaying your child’s name.  There are so many fonts and patterns out there that are just too “cutesy” for my taste.  
Here are some that I absolutely loved:

Moss letters.  How different!
Pink and green, but not overboard.  (I would 86 the bows.)

Burlap– fantastic!
 So many things you can do with these.
 Trends are moving away from stopping at just a name.  I am working with a friend on an adorable boy’s nursery that will have these on the wall:
You can even customize your letters.
Something a little more subtle.
Which one is your favorite?

06.21.11

My Very Own Butterfly Collection.

If you have been reading this blog for sometime, you are well aware of my love of butterflies.  You may also have known that I was working on a wall of butterflies for my (work in progress) living room.  Well, here they are:
 While I wanted a wall of butterflies, the whole idea of dead specimens creeped me out.. and ….. I wouldn’t want any of these beautiful creatures killed for my benefit.  Beleive it or not, these little guys are cut out of plastic.
After a long deliberation, I decided to arrange them by color.
I inherited this piano from my parents, and they inherited from my grandmother.  I took lessons on it as a little girl, and soon, E will be too.  We plan to move the piano on the wall to the left, and put these two chairs under the butterflies once they are reupolstered in turquoise linen.
They were so easy to put together… Here’s all it took:
6 of these cases from Michaels (I got them 50% off.)  They have a great grey linen backing.
16 Butterflies in each color.
And last but certainly not least, my trusty glue gun.
Because the cases are an irregular size I had to get custom mats.  I love the way the black inner mat finishes everything off.
And I also love that I now have my own collection of butterflies, and that not one single butterfly was harmed in the process.

06.15.11

Progress.

Remember this update on Lou’s big girl room?  Well, I was finally able to paint her bed.  This bed has special meaning, it was mine when I was a little girl.  I had to prime it first.  The bed was originally white, but my brother painted it black when he inherited it for his bachelor pad in Georgetown.   Gone are his bachelor days… He’s now living in the burbs with his wife, Milena and baby girl, Olivia.  They didn’t need the bed in their new house and I thought it would be so great for Lou to have it.
It took me almost an entire day to paint this baby.  Here is is (back to white) with the primer.
… And the finished product.  I used Duron’s Melon Shine.  I love the color!
I am somewhat embarrassed to show this picture as there is still so much left to do on “Project Big Girl Room.” But we’ve come a long way, baby.  Here’s a peek at what that poor little girl was sleeping on for two months until her Momma painted her bed.
So uncomfortable.  It was two mattresses stacked together.  No wonder why she wouldn’t stay in her bed!
As you can see, her room is pretty small. Here are some shots of it when we were awaiting the arrival of it’s original occupant. Perfect for a crib!
A little more crammed with a Big Girl Bed…
But we are making progress.   I just picked up the green pillows and coverlet at HomeGoods for a grand total of $80. God, I love that store.   The “Anna” letters will be 86’ed.  I’m in the process of designing her new bedskirt and a few other really exciting changes are in the works.  The bookshelves should be done this week.  I am sorry to say that most of the fabrics that I used (I originally designed the nursery 6 years ago) are now discontinued.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13
Stay tuned.. This one’s gonna be GOOD.

06.09.11

Molly Loot.

She may be one of the design world’s best kept secret. Meet Molly Luetkemeyer (pronounced loot-kah-my-er) AKA mollyloot.
 
1. Isn’t she the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?  2. You are going to DIE if you haven’t seen her work.
LOVE this wall hanging.
Love me a good red chair.
 This bathroom takes me back to 1979.
I’m always a sucker for a good gallery wall.
What a great shade of orange…
Peacock Mirror, anyone? (I have the $199 Pier one version, couldn’t swing this one.)
Simply adore these ceilings.
Notice the perfect mix of patterns that most people would have never paired together.
Molly started her career working for design legend Kelly Wearstler.  You can see many common threads in their design style.  Molly’s work is truly a throwback to the 70’s.  What I love most about her design is the bold use of colors and mixing and matching of fabrics.  As I was looking through her portfolio for this post, I realized the other thing that I love about her– her creativity when it comes to new uses out of old spaces.
I have been saving this in my inspiration file for months for our basement built-ins.. I love the depth that the green builds into otherwise plain white bookshelves.
The drawer pulls and the pops of emerald give this otherwise “standard” closet a whole new life.
I would have never thought to encase a piano.. and I love the tortoise shell backing on the shelves.
I want to nap here, now.
This was my favorite– so many people have that awkward extra bedroom that they’ve converted into an office.  Notice how she built the bookshelves into the closet.  Love the lighting, love the sliding door.
So, I may be a bit of a Molly Loot stalker at this point.  I’m okay with that.  I’d like to think that if I lived in LA, we’d be friends.  But then again I’d like to think that I’d be friends with a lot of people in LA if I lived there.  Come to think of it, in my own head.. I’m pretty f$%king cool.

06.08.11

Disaster to Delightful.

Three years ago, I bought this Uttermost Chandelier for E’s room from the Lucketts Store.  I left it in my car for a week, and when I took it out the glass cylinder under the crystal strands was shattered to pieces.  At first I FREAKED, but what’s funny is that now I like it even more!  Let me be clear that I paid $300 for it vs. the $800 retail that it now goes for, so it was a much easier pill to swallow.  I think that it now looks much lighter, and more whimsical, perfect for a “Princess” room.  (We had to convince E that she had a Princess room to move her out of the nursery when Anna was born.)
Here she is in E’s room today:
Our little Princess was ecstatic with her big girl room.  Here she is one week after she was evicted from her nursery (I have since swapped out her lamps.. and am seriously considering redoing her entire room again (the chandelier will stay)… This is the insanity that my husband has to live with..)

I am working really hard on not getting upset when “material items” get ruined, but in this case, I actually did myself a favor.  Have any of you ever had a disaster that turned into a delight?