British Invasion! Fab!

The British Invasion happened back in the 1960's with rock groups "invading" the USA, including the most famous Beatles. It also launched a whole fashion style and decor trend. Everybody wanted to wear Mary Quant and Biba, and have a piece of pop art kicky plastic furniture in their home.

Emily Henderson styles a British Invasion living room

Emily Henderson, star of HGTV's Secrets From A Stylist, recently showed a living room she decorated in a style she called "British Invasion". The low slung modern couch, and kicky fabrics, and sleek metal trunk were her gestalt touchstones. Not one Union Jack in the room. Emily is too cool for school to use that in a room called British Invasion style.

Pink Union Jack rug via Design Blahg HERE

Vivienne Westwood rug hung on the wall as art

The Union Jack has had a tremendous revival as a decor object. Somehow it just adds a little cool factor. I don't think any flag except perhaps the Jasper Johns series of the USA flag has such panache in the decor world.

Chaise lounge upholstered in a Union Jack fabric

The Union Jack is used as upholstery, and on rugs, and on painted furniture.

Union Jack rug

Dresser painted with the Union Jack at Decor Demon HERE

Appliances even get covered with it.

Visual Vamp kitchen with Union Jack dishwasher

I like it as a graphic image, although I think you can only have one thing in a room using it, or perhaps only one thing in the entire house.

Union Jack even looks fab with pink!

My friend Sabina recently passed onto me a deco style armoire. She just moved to a new home, and had no room for this piece. We might have trashed it, but I just can't seem to abandon any old piece of furniture with some life left in it.

Old armorie - before

At first I thought of just giving it to the local thrift shop, but then I thought: British Invasion!
What a perfect piece to paint the Union Jack on! Not that I needed another project ha ha, but what the hell.

Primed and taped

I found an image on the internet of a refrigerator covered with the Union Jack, which was perfect, since this humble little closet resembles the shape of a refrigerator.

Many more hours were spent taping and painting

I primed it first, then taped off the stripes, and the Jack started to emerge. Alberto helped out alot, fascinated by my project. The red is called Spanish Red, and the blue is Old Navy, and both are by Benjamin Moore, and the white is some Kilz white cabinet paint we have around due to the kitchen project.

The Union Jack armoire - styled for a child's room

It turned out so cute! I never meant to keep it. I think it would be so perfect in a child's room, so I am going to put it on Craigslist at a very good price.

So what do you think of the British Invasion in decorating? Do you have any pieces in your home?

Cheerio!

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Do You Paint Your Furniture?

Painted furniture. Every interior designer, pro or am, uses it. Every do-yourself-er tries it.


It's a quick, inexpensive, and relatively easy decor change to paint furniture. Which one of us hasn't wielded a can of spray paint on some wicker?


Or if you remember Shabby Chic, how we slapped on white paint (and ruffles and slip covers) on anything that didn't run away from us.


Over painted furniture has been around for over 300 years.


With the Swedish (Gustavian) interior design craze, and the shabby French style having become mainstream, vendors are over painting everything in sight. Stores in the mall, and a dizzying myriad of catalogs feature hundreds of cookie cutter reproductions made in China.


Mid century modern style employs high gloss painted furniture.



And there are some pretty crazy contemporary interpretations too.






Folk art painted furniture from every country in the world has been around forever.




Most every man I know cringes when we girls paint over wood! Oh the horror of ruining good wood!

A little white washing goes a long way in the glam department.


Sometimes an unexpected color can revive a piece of furniture we've had forever.

And what about those scratched up Ghost chairs?

Ready to take those on with some paint?


Bless me Wood Loving Man, for I have sinned! I have painted my nightstands vintage aqua.

Vintage aqua nightstand I painted, and I also painted the lamp faux alabaster

And some bombe chests I bought in the 1980's, Swedish snow white.

I painted a pair of pine (with hand painted flowers on them) bombe chests

And I confess I painted a hideous French reproduction console table that was stained dark brown - it's been painted in china white.

Read how I painted this table HERE

I also painted a funky 1930's vanity shabby white.

Vintage vanity in my closet/dressing room painted shabby white

And the biggest sin of all ha ha, I painted a nine foot long vintage Baker credenza.

Section of the nine foot long vintage Baker credenza

What about you? Have you "ruined" any good wood lately?

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The Painted Kitchen

Birthday cake and cards, and hydrangea from the garden
Thank you all for all the wonderful birthday greetings!

Phase one of the Visual Vamp Kitchen Revamp is completed! And that would be the painting!

Gone is the French mustard color, and here is the lovely perfect Greige that is getting very popular around town. I have suggested it for two design projects, and it has turned out to be one of those magical paint colors that works for everyone and everywhere.

Cabinet in breakfast area

The miscellaneous pieces of furniture also got their paint job. These are odds and ends that I use for storage, and painting them in shades of Greige unifies them visually.

Birds eye view of the breakfast area
Black and white elements added
to play off the dining room chairs I have had for years
The bench from the dining room ended up here

I snapped a few down and dirty photos for you, not styled, just to give you a glimpse of a project in progress. There's demolished birthday cake on the table, the trash can visible, and the ladder is still up.

Breakfast area

Vintage Melamine fish platter

The new acquisition of the antique Louis Phillipe style mirror got hung over the mantle. Gone are the Majolica plates and tole candle sconce. One vintage Melamine fish platter made it onto the mantle, with a pair of modern lamps. The life size skeleton anatomy charts have been rolled up and put away, and the cross collection has met a similar fate.

Louis Phillipe style mirror above the fireplace

Detail of the fireplace

View of kitchen stairs
No more cross collection!
The pantry "armoire" Alberto made to fit under the stairs also got Greige

Bar under the stairs

Painted kitchen furniture
The lace curtain is temporary
Fabric has been ordered to make a Roman shade here
And drapes for the window in the breakfast area

The Union Jack from Appliance Art
I won it from Bohemian Hellhole!
Thanks Alice!
It was very easy to install -
It's just a big sticker actually
and came with a handy smoothing tool

The bakers rack got a coat of paint

The next thing we will be doing is the new counter top. But first Alberto will finish the cabinet doors he's been working on, the ones for the cupboards with the white ironstone. The doors he is making are so cute. They have chicken wire insets.

Upper cabinets will get doors with chicken wire insets
Go HERE to see how the kitchen project started months ago

We love the progress we are making in the kitchen. It is so nice to sit and stare at what we have accomplished, and have a think about the things to come.

I love having a project, despite the hard work. Don't you find it rewarding to do something so transformative? Painting is amazing. I used 2 gallons of paint on the walls and ceilings, and trim that cost $40. And another $20. for the paint for the furniture. It's the best bang for the decorating buck any visual vamp can get!

For the most part I am using what I have for this phase of the kitchen. Moving things from other parts of the house is a great way to keep a design cohesive and budget friendly.

So don't wait to do a project because you don't have a huge budget. Just do it! You won't be sorry. I love the work I see so many bloggers do to their homes, whether it's a project that is blessed with great budgets and big name designers, or ones that involves lots of DIY and Craigslist finds. You guys keep me stoked and energized!

Tommy Hilfiger's kitchen

PS I love this kitchen in Tommy Hilfiger's new apartment HERE. He calls it a bistro kitchen, and I swear to Gawd that I have been saying I want a bistro feeling in my kitchen!!!

Happy Weekend!

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Upgrading InThe Bedroom - The Big Girl Drapes!

Alberto (the hubs) wants to know if I ever will be "done" with decorating our home, or rather will I ever be satisfied and just leave things alone. What do you think ?
You can click on images for larger unstyled snap shot style I'm in a hurry to show you this photos.


I am having my 60th birthday July 21. I tell you this so I can own it ha ha, and to let you know I have had a life long love affair with decorating each and every home I have ever inhabited. I have never had the luxury of a big budget. I am very resourceful and often make do and make it look fabulous too.



Working at Perch has afforded me the ability to get a couple of really nice things. Custom made drapes. Big Girl Drapes. No drop cloths drapes, no hand sewn pieces of fabric by me, no off-the- rack curtains masquerading as drapes, but really beautifully made drapes. The rooms that got the Big Girl Drapes are my office, our bedroom, and the guest bedroom for now.


My fabric of choice is Dupioni silk without a slub. The color is the same for both bedrooms, as is the size, to afford me the flexibility of using them as a pair in another room if I choose to do so sometime along the line. The color is called: Rain.
Jack Mayberry the head designer of Perch, and Eva Spencer our head seamstress advised me (and have been teaching me how to measure, order the fabric, and choose the finishes, etc. for our custom drapery clients).


I chose thermo suede lining, a heavy cotton lining encasing the thermo suede, and the finished silk top sewn with seven inch French pleats. There is a small puddle at the bottom. It's like getting luxury insulation for the house! Not a drop of air or light penetrates this beauty!


The rod is the return rod, meaning the ends return to the wall. Perch makes a hefty, made to measure return rod, with a custom hand painted finish that is gorgeous. A local artist who works in many mediums including metal, makes them. Even with an employee's benefits, this rod is a little pricey for me, and I wanted to have the flexibility of an adjustable rod, always keeping in mind how I move things around. I found the perfect rod at the perfect price from Country Curtains on line HERE.
Jack from Perch, painted the rings for me, in his signature color he always uses for Perch clients.

I also upgraded a couple of accessories in the bedroom. I love these metal antlers, which also look like a branch, placed on top of the old cabinet that houses the television. I like the simplicity of one unique object, as opposed to the fussy vignette I had before. The old wood lyre is a piece of found folk art.

The new metal antlers from Perch
I think it adds a "wow" factor to the old armoire

"Before" a sweet little vignette on the armoire that I found too fussy

I also painted the dark brown wood nightstands a pale turquoise (and added a cut-to-size piece of 1/4 inch thick mirror for the top). It's the same color I used to paint the accent wall in the kitchen. I like to carry at least one color from another room to the next. I also have been taking color cues from the painting over the bed. As always I combine antique, vintage, and contemporary things with touchstones of French furniture.


There's a different painting in a little nook by the door that combines the new and the old.


I also upgraded the lamps that are on the dressers. I use one lamp on each dresser. Two would be too much. I got these lamps on HSN (Home Shopping Network) HERE, from the Nate Berkus line there. They are mercury glass, and very good looking. They cost $129. each and came with the nice linen shade. I think they are great quality at any price.

Almost sold out at HSN! Go HERE to get yours now

While I'm at it I'm thinking of upgrading our bedspread. Right now it's all white with a deep 28 inch drop ruffle, and I love the look. This was another bargain basement make-do. I found two twin spreads on line at a pretty pedestrian site called Brylane Homes. I had my local seamstress sew them together to make a king size bedspread..
After a couple of washes, the cheap poly fill shifted and bunched up, so I slit a small but large enough opening in one end, and pulled all the stuffing out. Now the spread looks like it's made of vintage handkerchief fabric, and lays much better. The stitched trellis effect has grown on me, even though I prefer a plain and pattern free look.
All is well, except that there are a couple of ink blots (made by a black Sharpie) on the spread (hidden by toss pillows at the top), because my lovable school boy Alberto likes to do Sudoku in bed, and sometimes falls asleep with pen in hand. He promised me a new spread of my choice.

I like the deep drop ruffle ones from Horchow.


They are made of twill, a heavier fabric, and they look very nice. I like both colors, the white or the tan.


I also love these contemporary sets from Dwell Studio at Target.
This beige-y one is the most conservative one, and would pick up on the fabric covered wall behind the headboard, and play off the white accents throughout the room.

This shade of green is one of my favorite colors, and I use throughout the house as an accent color. If I got this spread, it would bring this color into our bedroom, thus fulfilling my philosophy of having a little color from another room travel into the next. Somehow this allows the eye to see the house as a total picture.

This turquoise blue bed covering would play back nicely to the colors in the painting over the bed.



So which do you like best? Remember I change out the bedding from summer to winter. I have a black and white contemporary duvet cover now that looks pretty good for winter.

The winter look of the bedroom with the black and white duvet
So much has changed!
The stripe rugs are gone replaced by mountain grass (a beautiful cousin of sea grass)
The nightstands have been painted
The pink lamps are now faux finished to look like alabaster

PS Stay tuned for photos of the Big Girl Drapes in guest bedroom and my office, and the kitchen where other small upgrades have happened.

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