“ Effortlessly Stylish”

I was reading a blog post over at Nest Egg the other day. If you have a chance be sure and visit her blog. It is written by the very talented interior designer from Nashville Tennessee, Rachel Halvorson. Her design aesthetics are exactly what I am writing about today. In one of her post she used a phrase that stuck in my brain, Effortlessly Stylish!! I liked that phrase. I pondered on it for awhile and I thought, "That is exactly what a room should look like!" Not contrived, but a room that was a process over time with the outcome   Effortlessly Stylish. You know, the kind of room you look into and then  have to take a second look to take it all in because there is something different , something special, something effortless?  I know design is subjective, but I thought I would show you what is Effortlessly Stylish to me and what is contrived or obvious. IMHO!

First, I am going to show you a room that looks contrived to me. You know -the room where it is obvious why they put a certain pillow to match a certain lamp to go with the color in the painting etc……

Contrived:

I have actually used this picture as an interesting color combination but everything in this room is an obvious choice. Don’t you think? Just because it feels contrived to me does not mean that it is still not done tastefully. This is still a gorgeous room, just a little predictable.

Next, lets look at a room that is Effortlessly Stylish……….

Interesting:

 

This lovely room was designed by Julia Buckingham Edelmann of Buckingham Interiors. You can go here to see her portfolio, she does amazing designs. She is also one of the author's of Material girls blog be sure and visit her blog.

Now in this room we also have matching sofas, matching ottomans. Why is this room more interesting? When I look at this room I notice the easel. Is the homeowner an artist? Is the painting on the wall an original piece by the homeowner. Is the armoire an inherited piece or is it an antique? Do they like to collect unusual baskets or did they get that on antiquing trip? Is that a sculpture on the little side table? What is that side table made out of? Notice how many questions of interest this room evokes. I think that is part of having an Effortlessly Stylish room. A room that makes the viewer think.

Contrived:

Another beautifully colored room, but there is no element of surprise or interest. It is all very obvious why each piece was picked out and placed where it was placed. Although it is a beautiful room, it does not have the qualities to be Effortlessly Stylish.

Interesting:Everything in this room is interesting!  I wonder who lives here? Notice the purse in the chair with a coat tossed on its arm. The lighting fixtures alone give this room so much style. I really want to know who lives here and did they get their lighting in Europe?  This room makes me take pause and I want to look at every little nuance.

Contrived: 

As much as I love a blue and white room and a blue and white striped rug this room is so obvious in its decor. Notice the pillows match the valance on the window. They have a sailboat picture with a lantern and of course a seashell. If this room had some interesting artwork or a coffee table that did not match the sofa it would look so much more interesting. This looks as if they purchased the furniture off the show room floor. Are you starting to get the picture between contrived and Effortlessly styled?

Interesting:

Every piece in this room looks as if it could tell me a story. Even the matching urns look as if they have a story to tell. This, too me, has that Effortlessly styled quality.

Contrived:

In this room we have the red lamp that goes with the red lacquer tray that goes with the reddish leather chairs that go with the magazine holder in the corner. I find this room to be very contrived.

Interesting:

In this room we have two matching chairs and an ottoman, but look at all the interest in this room. The texture alone is amazing. The beamed ceiling the old stone fireplace with the amazing oversized damask wall paper!  On the floor a cowhide rug. A beautiful piece of artwork over the sofa. Effortlessly stylish.

Contrived:

As much as I love the colors in this room, oh my! It matches to the hilt!! Even the flowers are matching the blue hues in the furniture and the rug. I love symmetry and I have admitted that in previous post, but this is a bit too much for even me.

Interesting:

This last room is done by Suzanne Kasler!! What can I say the room speaks for itself. Effortlessly Stylish.

I hope in showing you all of these rooms and comparing them, you will start viewing rooms from a different perspective. I know I will. I must admit I think some of the rooms in my home are contrived. I need to shake it up a little bit and add more interest. One thing I learned in thinking about this is that a room has to have texture and interesting form and some wonderful art or art objects to make it have that Effortlessly Stylish look that we all hope our rooms have achieved.

“Enjoy the Process” Of: Finding an Effortlessly Stylish look for your own home.

Kathysue

FEVER!!

I’ve got the fever!! Not that kind of fever but Spring Fever. Do you? I find my mind spinning from one project to the next. I wish I had some of Santa’s elves to get them all done. Seriously for some reason, (it just might be blogging, you think?), I want to do more and more things around the house. Not big projects, but little things that I have put on the back burner forever. I find I am going from the inside of my house to the outside back to the inside and then to my wardrobe and make-up,Yikes!!

I really need to quit looking at the DIY blogs. It is actually making me think I can spray paint and, trust me, I can not. I know that sounds lame, but I am a  horrible painter. I am the girl with the vision not the "doer."  When I say, “ I know what WE can do!” my hubby retorts with, “ Where is the YOU in WE?” Sound familiar? He does have a point!

So far I have worked on and finished my front porch. I have now gone into the living room and tried my hand at refinishing and recovering an antique rocker and spray painting two very ornate gold frames in a high gloss white. If they turn out I promise to do a post. I have gone from the front yard to the back yard to plant flowers. Now, I am thinking about cushions for the back yard, Yikes!! It makes me tired just thinking about it.

So I was just wondering whether or not you have , “The Fever?”  Sorry! I know you are humming the song aren’t you? " FEVER, in the morning Fever in the noon day light, Fever!, I’ve got the fever,hmmm, hmmm through the night." I know now you will be humming all day!!
What are the symptoms that you have from getting ,”Spring Fever?”

“ Enjoy the Process” Of: The craziness of Spring Fever!!

Kathysue

Seasonal Looks For My Mantle

I have talked about my family room and my mantle before. For those who missed its description I will tell you a little bit about it. When we had our home built 30yrs ago, my hubby wanted our fireplace to have brick along the entire end of the room. Being the loving wife and thinking how cute that he had a preference, I acquiesced. After the house was built and I looked at the possibilities of how to decorate an all brick mantle that was 17 ft. long and only had 3ft 9in. of wall space above it, I thought maybe I had made a mistake.
After lot’s of thinking and planning we had a contractor build a beautiful mantle to wrap over the brick mantle and also put legs on each side of the fireplace. I looked for years and years to find an over mantle piece that I liked and could afford. I wanted an antique. Finally after looking for years I found one in Jackson California at an antique store. It was mahogany so it had to be painted. We added molding at the bottom to make it looks as if it was integral to the massive mantle. Then this girl was verrrrry happy. We also added sconces on each side of the over mantle that are reproductions of the same era, the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.

Now I get to decorate a mantle that I love, but it is still difficult at times because of the spanse of space. I am a big is better, less is more kind of girl, but there is a really fine line between enough and not enough on this mantle. I like to change out my house for the seasons, so I am going to show you some pictures of the mantle dressed for Spring, Summer and Winter months. Let me introduce to you my mantle………….

Winter Mantle

  

Sorry for the glare in the pictures. This room gets a lot of natural light. You will notice I put darker colors on the mantle for winter. I bring in more black in the pictures and I add black and red to the books. Instead of white urns that I have for the Spring I replace them with green urns. This look is not as airy as my Spring or Summer looks. Now lets take a look at my Spring Mantle…….

In the Spring I bring in more white, raspberry and blue to the mix. I love the large green vase, It was made in Italy and it has wonderful color and a sculptural affect. Sometimes I have tall branches with blooms placed in this vase.

Now on to the Summer Mantle. You have already seen some of the pictures in my cobalt blue post………..

Summer Mantle

Left Side of Mantle

Right Side 

In the Summer you will notice that I add more of the blue and white and lime for coolness. I take out the pinks of Spring.  So now you have it! My mantle in all the seasons except for Christmas and then I go all out. This is when I become a, "more is more girl."  I will save those pictures for Christmas time.  In all the pictures of the mirror, you probably noticed the reflection of green shutters and the top of my large birdcage. I thought I would show that to you also. So on that note I leave you with this……..

The old wooden shutters were found at a salvage yard in Berkeley Calif. I painted them a depression era green from Pratt and Lambert paints called Northern green. This is what made me decide to paint my kitchen green with the help of my DIL who made the suggestion. She was so right! I love my kitchen cupboards.  The lamps are vintage 1930’s era Warren Kessler Milk glass. I used linen drum shades from Tarjay. I hope you have enjoyed viewing my mantle.

“Enjoy the Process” Of:

Changing an area in your home for the seasons.

Kathysue