Decorating With Pairs - Do The Autumn Shuffle

I flipped out this morning!

A change of season, means at least the furniture gets rearranged, though at this point I have exhausted all the options in my teeny living room! So I just sort of flip flop the sofa and the settee, along with a couple of tables. I also move the art around a bit, and edit the accessories.

Before the flip!

The top photo is now, the bottom photo before the Autumn shuffle

However this is the latest (and I think last) upgrade to the living room. The Big Girl Drapes were just added in here. I did the bedrooms and my office HERE all in silk, all lined beautifully with thermo-suede, so it was only a matter a time before I would add the living room to this luscious collection.

The new drapes! Marilyn and I love them!

The color is in the same family as the old drapes, a distressed Fortuny style poison green velvet that I had for nearly ten years.

Last year

Sans drapes - the Summer look I just changed

The new drape color is a chartreuse, shot with threads of purple. It has in iridescent quality, sort of like a man's silk sharkskin suit.



The color changes with the light. It is absolutely wonderful!


This shade of green has been a signature color of mine for years. I never get tired of it.
The drape s are a perfect addition for the Fall season. The green reminds me of a color of leaf that I see in Autumn.


It's not just about bright reds and yellows and oranges. There's a bright green leaf that appears too.



But speaking of red, I also added another pair of something in my office!


I had one of the turquoise lamps for my desk , and I got another one (from perch.). I like the pair of lamps on the desk. I'm a bit of pair queen. The symmetry of pairs calms my lively decor! At least that's the story I'm sticking to!. The shades are custom from perch. They're silk and just so luxe. I love the floral pattern.



I also added a white cow hide rug. I have had the brown and white hide rug for over a year now, and I find it the easiest thing to care for. Dirt and dog hair simply do not appear, and it is so easy when I rarely have to vacuum it. So I acquired the white hide from Argentina for my office. I think it adds a bit of warmth for the Fall, and coming Winter months.


A young woman came into the shop and picked up a pair of plates, and then put one back saying she was told she has too many pairs of things, and she's trying to reform. I laughed and asked if the decor police had been snooping around her house. I told her that each of us is attracted to the same things over and over for a reason, the reason being that those choices can be depended upon to make us feel in sync, to make us feel good. She bought one plate, but came back the next for the second one.

Click on images for larger views

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Designing Kitchen Curtains

Little by little the Visual Vamp kitchen revamp progresses

I spy one upper cabinet door with chicken wire Alberto got done!

Come into my kitchen....AGAIN!

Revamp and renovations take a long time for a couple of reasons: Time and money. We are in the phase one portion, doing all the inexpensive DIY projects like painting and re-purposing things we already have. And since we have many other things to do, time plays a factor in our progress. The money portion will involve getting new counter tops and possibly base cabinets, a new sink and faucet, maybe a new microwave for over the stove to replace the old fan. Those things will come along as we have the money.

New curtains in the kitchen! Alert the media!

In the meantime we are already enjoying the new colors and the fresh coat of paint, and the accessories. The latest additions are the kitchen curtains!

The accent color is black
inspired by the color of the mantle
and the antique chairs with the original finish

I was inspired by a couple of things. First my friend Mitchell from Optimism and White Paint stopped by and gave me one of his brilliant predictions: Cafe curtains are coming back! After I mocked his doily granny ways, I started to think about it. Yes cafe curtains could be good, if reinterpreted in a modern way. Mitchell is a genius!

Whooooo helps you with your design decisions?
My list includes Michael Pelkey, Mitchell, Jack, Caroline,
Kellie & Maggie AND Alberto!
And of course all of the decor/design bloggers!

There are two windows in the kitchen, both oversize in the New Orleans way because of the high ceilings in most old homes. One of these windows would be perfect for a modern cafe curtain.

The first window you see when you come in the kitchen
It is in the breakfast area
I "inherited" the color of the arch way and stairs
I ran with it and chose the cabinet to reference them

The second window is in the breakfast area, and is visible to the dining room where there are silk drapes. Visually I wanted to keep these rooms connected, so I knew I would do drapes on this window. Silk was too formal, so my fabric choice is off white burlap. I like burlap for budget reasons, and for texture. It can be very Belgian when left unlined, and very elegant and practical when lined. I chose to line the burlap.

Burlap drapes in the breakfast area
The same return rod is used as in the dining room
Note the black accent of the clock

The new color choice for the kitchen is what is now being called Vamp Greige since I jumped on the gray band wagon and have been using this color not only for my home, but for customer projects too. The fireplace in the breakfast area is black, and I left it that way, and hence an accent color of black naturally occurs throughout.

You can see a "corridor of drapes" unified by neutral color

So when it came time to design the modern cafe curtain I was inspired by my friend Kellie HERE.

The gorgeous drapes in her front room used as an office are white with a black band along the edge. Her sister Maggie makes all of Kellie's drapes, so I asked Kellie if Maggie could do mine too.

Maggie made Kellie's gorgeous drapes HERE

Never let it fool you folks that it doesn't take a village for any design project. Designers never work alone. Ultimately it is your decision that you live and die by, but it is the foolish designer that doesn't welcome input from trusted colleagues during the process.

Modern cafe curtains made by Maggie Overton
Off white burlap is lined
Black linen banding and dressmaker button detail

Maggie gave me the option of rod pocket or rings. I tried the curtains first with the rod pocket. I use pieces of cut bamboo from a neighbor's yard for curtain rods.

Notice the button "tie back" on the top tier. This was an idea I had to allow light in, and Maggie ran with it. We considered lining the curtain with a fun print, or even all black, and in the end Maggie decided to keep it clean and simple letting the lining act as another texture.

The modern cafe curtain with bamboo rod and pole pockets

I like the pole pockets, but I wanted to try the curtains with the more traditional rings. There's something about cafe curtains and rings that just says France to me.

Old brass rods got a light coat of bronze spray paint

I had the rods and rings in my arsenal of stylist's equipment collected over the years, and just gave the rods a quick light spray paint of bronze.

I love love love my new kitchen curtains!
So French except for the banana trees ha ha

The black band is yet another black accent, playing off the other black accents in the room, and I think really unifies them visually in a very chic dressmaker way.

I opted for rings over pole pockets on the modern cafe curtains

The off white burlap is a great texture, and another neutral color that adds a tonal quality and depth. I could have gone greige in my fabric choice, but I wanted a little contrast.

The modern cafe curtains tailored with dressmaker details

Of course the rings are easier to use too, and they also play back to the rings on the pinch pleated drapes in the breakfast area.

Visual Vamp kitchen with the modern cafe curtain
Note how the black banding references other black accents

So there you have my Monday Mini Metamorphosis! Go on over to Susan's Between Naps On The Porch HERE to see what some other bloggers are doing on Mondays there.

Button detail on top tier of the cafe curtain
I am so honored that Maggie used vintage buttons
that belonged to her grandmother

If you would like Maggie Overby to make curtains, drapes, bedding, pillows - anything custom for your home, contact her HERE.

You can take your own measurements, and ship her the fabric, and magically you will get your beautiful finished project in the mail. Custom is not as cost prohibitive as you think, and it just adds that extra detail that all visual vamps appreciate.

PS I purchase most of my fabric for my projects from Fabric.com
They have excellent choices, the BEST prices, and friendly and very helpful customer service.

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Turquoise Drapes

This room was once a very small dining room. It didn't work, it's one of those rooms that is kind of a pass through room. I have squeezed ten people around a sixty inch round table for a dinner party, but the people on the inside edge, were kind of trapped in their places.

For most folks, the dining room is a very under utilized space. We have a huge eat in kitchen. So I decided to claim the space as my office. It can still be easily converted for a dinner party.
Because this room has limited light even during the daytime, and I photograph with the existing natural light, the pictures are a bit dark. Click on images for larger views of an unstyled room for your eyes only.

View into the office from the side entry hall

The arch is original to the house

I always wanted a red room, and this is it. I enjoyed dining it, but I really love working in it. The color is both soothing and energizing. Everything I love is in this room: Plate collection, botanicals, art work, my design books, photographs, and a major Gris Gris altar tucked into a corner.
You can see more of that HERE and HERE and HERE, along with the glazed chintz fabric I hand sewed for the old curtains for the one window.


Since this is an interior room with just window, the light coming in is subdued. I added another pair of Big Girl Drapes here. These are silk, heavily lined, so much so that they look like fabric columns, very sculptural. A small child could easily hide within the luscious folds.



I love this deep saturated turquoise Dupioni silk used for the drapes. They have a seven inch French pleat at the top. They're hung on the return rod I wrote about HERE.


I edited the art behind my work table, and hung one large painting instead of the jumble of things. I redyed the green linen slipcover on the wing chair and ottoman. I did two of these chairs ten years ago for our French Quarter apartment. After many washings and years of use, the lime green linen faded. Re-dyeing them has added a few more years of use. Alberto made me the little side table from cast off legs from a damaged Florentine table, and a new enamel tray from Wal Mart that I loved for its color.


I adore a color story! Saturated or pale, it's all great to me. I love how the light changes color at different times of the day and night. I love how the opposite colors on the old color wheel always magically work. What's your color story?

Coming soon: Guest room Big Girl Drapes, and small changes in the kitchen.

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