My blue and silver bedroom and update on Madewell order

My old bedroom was bright, warm and cozy and while I lived in my old house I loved everything about it. 

But once I unpacked the boxes in my townhouse I knew I wanted something completely different. 

Below you can see what was my new bedroom before I bought the house. Its a nice and big room with enough space for a bed tucked in on one side and a spacious seating area with big windows overlooking a backyard on the other side. I thought I would replace the flooring and work with my old furniture.  But suddenly I wanted a change. I couldn't do warm colors anymore. I felt like the earth tones were out there to suffocate me.  Everything I liked was blue, gray or silver..  And I really wanted blue upholstered bed and Lucite bench. 

In fact, I first painted this room the same color i had in my old bedroom but here, and maybe just at this point in my life, it looked dated and unexciting. I had a great decorator to help me pick the paint colors and we decided to go with color scheme that we already used in the other areas of the house. Once I started there was no going back. I sold my old bedroom set to a young girl decorating her first apartment. It made me happy to see somebody excited about using it! Now I felt less guilty about picking up my dream furniture. Everything i picked up was some kind if deal but of course it still added up so I had to replace some of my choices with more affordable versions. Scouting Wayfair, Joss and Main and Lamps Plus became my everyday ritual for couple of months.  Not so different from checking J.Crew site for popbacks!

I did get the bed and chaise I wanted and eventually i found all the other pieces at great prices, including some real steals from Lamps Plus Open Box sales. I contemplated adding mirrored nightstands for some Hollywood glam factor but in the end, I decided to go with the white ones from Wayfair to match the cabinet on the other side of the room. I love having those big windows across from my bed!

I finally had a bedroom big enough for a chaise lounge, something I always wanted. Now, this is a perfect spot for reading and just having some time to myself. 

I have to tell you, it is so hard to take good interior pictures without the wide angle lens and proper lighting.  I feel like the 'before' pictures sometimes look better, rooms are brighter and seem bigger  because they were taken by professional photographer, colors enhanced and exposure adjusted, so you have to take my word for it, it does look better irl.

The fun part of being single is that you can buy whatever you want and you don;t have to compromise. Even if your partner has a similar taste there is always going to be something you adore that does not appeal to them. Now that I only had myself to ask, I suddenly I wanted to go all girly and a little glam. I was like a kid in the candy store. 

Some of my choices surprised even me. Who would have thought I wanted a skull hanging over my bed? But guess what? I love it. I named him Fernando.

I am very happy with how it turned out. Every morning when I wake up I stare at my little personal oasis. To me it was worth every penny.

What do you you think?

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Since some of you asked, I wanted to update you on my last Madewell order. I turned out that I love both tees, they are drapey but not too sloppy in size M, exactly what I wanted.

And I am finally comfortable in my legging jeans, Oh what a liberation!

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Moving out

Since I have been on the house decorating kick I thought I would share the story of selling my old house and finding a new place. I loved everything about my old house. It was a 1920 Tudor Colonial, on a lovely tree-lined street and I have spent a lot of time getting it to the point where I wanted it to be. We have done some major renovations there so at fisrt I wanted to stay there. I could afford the mortgage (barely) but after living there without my husband for a year I realized that it was just too much maintenance for me. After I made the decision to sell I had no regrets. It is a major hassle to get the house ready for sale, so it became my pet project and I often thrive on challenges.

I had a wonderful realtor who is also a friend and she was super helpful with every step of the way. She brought a stager named Barbara, to look at the house, rearrange some furniture and figure out what to do with couple of rooms which were empty after my ex moved out. I have to admit that I thought I don't need the stager.  Didn't I know it all after I spent so many hours watching HGTV?

I was wrong. Barbara was able to come up with some tweaks I wish I had known when I actually lived in the house. And it was fun! If you are selling the house I would encourage you to get the stager.  My realtor paid for her services out of her commission but it would have been worth it if I paid for it myself.

This is the 'before' of my living room:

Barbara had me put the red sofa at an angle in the corner and swap the brown chair and the ottoman. Then she mixed up the pillows and put the floor lamp behind the red sofa (not visible in the pic). Suddenly, the space opened up and my furniture started 'talking to each other'.

She said coconuts sell houses...

Added some decorating touches...

This room was empty and I thought I didn't have any extra furniture but somehow we found it.

Then she helped me to clean up the playroom. That was quite a task as you can imagine.

I even painted the stairs to the attic.

Of course I can never be sure if all those changes made a difference.  But when the house eventually went on the market I got four offers in the first two weeks. I ended up selling it above the asking price.

I decided I don't want a single family house anymore. With the help of my realtor I found a two bedroom townhouse in the same town. It was perfect for me and my daughter! Now, this was going to be so much easier.

My new place

The move is always a pain in you know what but at least I already had all the furniture.  Or so I thought.... But that's a story for another post...

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Have you moved a lot? I am now in my sixth house and I want to stay here forever. But I know I have said that before...Oddly, I don;t like moving but I did enjoy getting the house ready. Do you think staging can make a difference?

Following Patterns

My previous post was about sticking with basic shapes and neutral color palette but I did mention that I love color and pattern. In fact, nothing makes me fall in love in an item of clothing faster than a beautiful print.

Oilily top, previously seen HERE

The problem with beautiful print is that, because it is visually stunning, it tends to get all the attention and sometimes more attention than a wearer. If the print is also whimsical it only exacerbates the issue.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to be remembered as a 'chicken lady'. Another issue is that striking prints are very 'memorable', so you cannot wear them too often. That's the reason I usually don't pack prints when I travel, especially when I want to pack light.

Our friend WMM has recently blogged about personal style and how she never has a problem choosing the way to decorates her house, but it is quite a different story when it comes to choosing her clothes. I can totally relate to Wendy.  I even blogged about decorating my house the way I dress (see it HERE). Sometimes, I want to buy something just to stare at it in my closet. But that's not very smart. Much better to buy a beautiful vase.

Instead of  'Bondage' dress

I guess having conversational pieces in the house is OK, because this is what they are meant for. But dressing should be more seamless imo. Even in the house, you don't want to crowd beautiful architectural details with too many objects, no matter how beautiful they are. But at least you have a bigger surface to work with, almost anything can look good with the right scale and proportions.

As an example, I love this fabric of my Living Room curtains, but I would not buy a dress in this print. A scarf would be beautiful. But I don't want people to stare at my butt to have a closer look at the baby chicks. Paisleys are another story, nobody cares to examine them closer.

My favorite trick to 'casualize' a printed dress and make it less memorable is to wear it as a skirt, with a sweater. This also extends the season for sleeveless dresses.

This print combination is more abstract, so something like this is is very doable in clothes.

 

Up until about 2010, I never thought that leopard can be so neutral and quiet but I have no qualms wearing this skirt. Or, maybe I am just the right age for The Leopard. I am thinking about Visconti here, what were you thinking ;)

What about black, white and gray in the house? Well, I usually gravitate towards warmer tones in decorating but here is (a fragment of) what is hanging over my mantel. It has a striking texture to it, that I could not capture in the the picture.

This painting sometimes spooks some visitors but never fear, I have some whimsical touches to lighten the mood.

Ori has come to my kitchen all the way from Israel, I love staring at him when I cook. Much better than staring at beautiful skirt in the closet, don;t you think?

And here is my nod toward my penchant for a little drama. Here is how I translated it into outfit.

No, I wasn't actually trying to create an outfit inspired by a poster. This would be something straight from Project Runway. I just happened to look at the pictures and saw a correlation. I suppose this just proves that I am drawn to similar colors whether picking an outfit or decorating, maybe more often than I thought. 

This outfit is a reverse of Terra Paisley one above. This is a 'skirt as a dress', while the other was a 'dress as a skirt', but it works about the same. Large expanses of pattern scare me a little, so I try to neutralize by wearing everything else in the same color, or at least in neutrals.

I thought at first that I might wear the burgundy Stuart Weitzman boots but after trying them on I opted for navy MacAlisters. The boots created a split focus in this outfit and were cutting off my legs with colorblock effect I did not care for.

Btw, do you see the white smudges in last two pictures? This is snow!!! It was pretty light in the morning but are in the middle of the blizzard here. Right now it feels very cozy to be inside and drink hot chocolate but I only hope we do not loose electricity....

Fade to black and white...

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That's all folks!

What do you think of a correlation between dressing and decorating?
Do you wear prints? 
Do you feel like you need to somehow neutralize them or are you a fearless soul?

Is it snowing were you are?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!! 

Does your house look like your closet?

I think mine does, in many ways.

I like simple forms and minimalistic style, uncluttered interiors that are inviting and comfortable. I don't like anything too fussy, both in my home and my closet. I use my dining table all the time and I need to have a coffee table that would support the weight of my legs. On the other hand,  I also like crystal chandeliers and white lace bedding.  Would you say this falls into 'boy meets girl' , 'tomboy turned fashionista' sensibility?

I love color and if I decorate with neutrals, I like to add a bright accent.  I do the same when I dress. I do not have too many knick knacks and I use pattern sparingly.  Similarly, I don't like to wear more than one piece of jewelry and I dress mostly in solids.  I like older houses, hardwood floors, plaster walls, wood windows, architectural details etc.  I would compare it to my love of good tailoring, natural fabrics and classic styles.

We completely renovated the kitchen last year, it was a nightmare

My house is not decorating-magazine-worthy and my furniture and wall decor are neither designer nor antique, although I do have a few pieces of original art.  Similarly, I don't usually wear designer fashions, but I like to be inspired by the runways and may occasionally splurge on a designer purse or a pair of shoes.

If I have to pick a furniture/decorating store closest in style to mine I would probably be Pottery Barn, even if,  in reality, I do not own many pieces from there (some window treatments, many picture frames and my dining room table and chairs), but the general sensibility is there. Is Pottery Barn is the J.Crew of home decorating? Like J.Crew with its aspiration style, Pottery Barn has built his image on a strong following among those who have a generally good taste and like beautiful interiors but cannot afford to hire a professional decorator. Both have ambition to be more that 'just a mall store' and trade heavily in the business of selling us the vision of lifestyle. It is the middle-of-the-road style, while on the other ends of the spectrum antiques and designer furniture are equivalent of designer clothing and accessories, just like thrift shops compare to shopping at flea markets and estate sales.

When I look at the pictures I realized that even the colors I use in both my closet and my house are similar. Just keep in mind that brown (as in wood) is the black of home decorating. Neutrals with pop of red? And did I say I like blue as a backdrop? This is the navy of my closet. Even if it it is called 'silver sage' in Benjamin Moore lingo.

Lee Industries sofa and chair, Crate and Barrel coffee table and rug

My house is from 1920's (which was my favorite fashion decade, by the way), but my husband made sure all the underpinnings like electrical, heating, plumbing, air conditioning, etc. are super modern and up to date. We have 5 heating zones in this rather small house! Most of my furniture is modern interpretation of traditional forms.  Is this home decorating interpretation of 'classic with a twist'?

Pottery Barn table and chairs, armoire from Craig List

So what do you think? Do you think a lot of people decorate the way they dress? Is that good or bad? Is it boring and predictable or personal and cohesive?


What is your decorating philosophy?