Wednesday, June 23, 2010

My Oldest Best Friend's New Space Part Trios

The bathroom. Where all the things not so magic happen. Once again I whipped up 4 different mood boards to show Jess and here they are. Drumroll please...

So, our Moroccan theme is clearly in play with this one...but Jessica deemed it too colorful. shoot.



No Moroccan, but Jess loves purple. This one was "too white." Strike 2



I flippin' love the bathmat here, but it's also "too white." Can't win 'em all.




My favorite here. I lovvvve gray and yellow together. Jessica's verdict, "I like 4 a lot, but something seems off to me, or like it's not quite right." I'll admit, I agree. 

Consensus: She hates them all. 

She wants color, but not too much, and a shower curtain with a print. Back to the drawing board for me!

A note about my experience web-decorating...
I love this! I really do! It's been wonderful getting creative and pulling ideas from nowhere and seeing where I can take them. I love the collaborative process, getting Jessica's perspective and seeing how and where I can blend it with my own. I have a second "client" in the works, too! My friend, Kyle, and his roommate are redecorating their living room and I've been recruited/volunteered to take it on. Oh man, two guys... Let's hope I can make this creative three-way jive. (sorry, that was a little dirty. I'm very embarrassed.)

~AJ

Monday, June 21, 2010

I found a helper!


4 chairs done! I'll let them dry and tomorrow spray polyurethane.

~CJ

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

It's the Little Things

I love...


flowers




and animals 
(AND white ceramic)


and beachlife







and squares
(this probably has something to do with my obsessive compulsive nature and squares are even and they make sense and I really really like that.)

~AJ

Thursday, June 10, 2010

My Oldest Best Friend's New Space Part Deux

So Jessica and I are taking a breather from her living room and moving on to the bedroom. She wanted a Woman's bedroom. Adult, sophisticated, elegant. I started with a Moroccan/Indian theme and went all out. It's always easier GO BIG and then reign in (I have found that this approach is the opposite when cooking. ha!) Below are the four different schemes we came up with, the last being the favorite and by far the most subtle.

Option 1: Very Moroccan, very colorful. Too colorful for my Jess.


Option 2: We've toned down the pattern quite a bit, but it's still a bit too... much. On to Option 3



Option 3: Elegant, Glamorous, now we're on track. We've lost our Moroccan mojo quite a bit and the only element that speaks to this theme is the capiz chandelier.


Option 4: Our Winner. Jessica loves the serenity and the lightness that this combo offers. We're still nodding to our original theme with the fun seagrass mirror and the Indian inspired side table, this is just a much more grown up version of what we started with. Pulling back really was the right choice here. Not to say that this is "it," but it's a fantastic starting point.

We'll be tackling the bathroom next before revisiting the living room and bedroom. I figure it's always a good idea to let things marinate (this approach is spot on when cooking.) See how I brought things full circle here ha ha ho ho ha, I'm good.

~AJ

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Kitchen table


I have been searching high and low for a new kitchen table. I've tried brand new, craigslist, and thrift stores with no luck. FINALLY again at my new fav thrifty + store I found my table. The table itself was $80 + $20 for the nice gentlemen outside to haul it the 15 blocks to my house. It's long and skinny with attached leaves on both sides. (for when I actually dine on it). The photo is with my new table cloth that I found at target, because the color of the table is not attractive. I contemplated staining the whole thing but Im not a fan of sanding. So I went with a cute table cloth and am currently painting the chairs. The blue is the primar. Wish me luck!!

~CJ


6/15/10 Started painting the chairs a mustard-y/orange but was unhappy when they looked more of a canary yellow.   I took the paint back to Osh (thinking it was mixed wrong) but instead I learned a valuable lesson.  Do not prime your chairs with a blue primer!!!!!!  They re mixed a darker orange for me, to compensate. 

3 chairs down!

                                                              * A work in progress*

Bar stools


GeoTagged, [N34.02601, E118.46001]

I was doing my usual Saturday ritual (farmers market and my fav thrift store) when I saw this kid sitting on a bar stool in the corner. When I got closer I realized that they were the orange/mustard color that I have been using to decorate my kitchen. I asked politely of course for the kid to move his butt and BAM! They were amazing and only $25! They need to be cleaned up and the legs need be re- stained. After pics to come!

~CJ

My Oldest Best Friend's New Space

My bestest friend, Jessica, is moving to a new apartment in Chicago and has given me full rein (well, almost) to decorate her new place. We've been collaborating on ideas lately and I've been doing my best to showcase them through the site polyvore.com. We are currently tackling the living room and I've posted a few options asking for her feedback. The photos below are what we've come up with so far.




Note: If you're interested, there are a few of my past brainstorming postings there...some more successful than others ;)

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/profile?id=744377

~AJ