Saturday, January 25, 2020

HOW I DO PERFECTLY IMPERFECT DECOR

Do you do weathered and timeworn in your home?  I do.  It's one of my signature styles.
Take a tour of my perfectly imperfect decor that I use inside and out in my home.

When I bought this chair, it was nothing more than a chippy frame. 
 I left the chair frame as found and had it upholstered in a leopard print.

WEATHERED FRENCH CHAIR WITH LEOPARD FABRIC

The chair pairs perfectly with my equally time worn French desk and leather books.

FRENCH DESK

Between both of them is a flaking column.

ARCHITECTURAL COLUMN

This crumbling mirror adds an elegant decadence to my powder room.

ELEGANT AND DECADENT MIRROR

Chipped vintage gold finials contrast perfectly with the flawless pearls.

TIMEWORN GOLD FINIALS

I also have an oil painting on the landing of my foyer.  I embrace its curling canvas corner.

OIL PAINTING WITH CURLED CANVAS

Have you ever purchased a deconstructed chair.?  I've not only purchased a chair,  but I also couldn't pass up an equally worn chaise.

MY DECONSTRUCTED CHAIR

DECONSTRUCTED CHAISE IN MY LIVING ROOM
This peeling religious statue is very special to me.  It was a gift from my Mom.

PEELING RELIGIOUS STATUE

If you follow along you know I have a thing for well-used bread boards.  The more battered the better.  A repair is always sought after.  This grouping is in my pantry.

MY BREAD BOARD COLLECTION IN MY PANTRY

I do perfectly imperfect outside too.
These fabulously flawed orange shutters flank the french doors on my patio.

CHIPPY ORANGE SHUTTERS ON MY PATIO

I rescued several sections of a vintage iron fence and added them to my garden as they were found.  If you look in the background of the photo, you'll see my equally worn chinoiserie planter.  They're one of a pair.

WEATHERED FENCE AND CHINOISERIE PLANTER

In another garden bed I have a rusty cupola and garden chair.

RUSTY GARDEN CHAIR AND CUPOLA

Do you add perfectly imperfect to your home?

Saturday, January 18, 2020

MONICA GARRETT INTERIORS

If you follow along you know that besides my home design experiments I also have a retail space, Hygge Co.  @BDC specializing in home decor and furnishings.  My friend and retail partner, Monica @monicagarrettinteriors,  is the design guru at the store.  I wanted to share her most recent home staging.  The client's home was gorgeous to begin with, but with two car loads from @hygee_co_  and Monica's styling skills, the space is magazine worthy.  So proud to share this space.





















If you live in the Washington DC area and are looking for some home staging help, please contact Monica @monicagarrettinteriors.   

Saturday, January 11, 2020

NINE YEARS OF BLOGGING

As we enter a new decade, I thought I'd share my ten all time most popular posts.  Yes, we're beginning a new decade and I'm also beginning my tenth year of blogging.  It all started when I was a guest on The Nate Berkus Show.  He suggested that I start a blog.  It's been a wonderful way to share all my crazy design experiments, but I think the biggest and most rewarding part of it all was the unexpected benefit of connecting to my readers and fellow bloggers.  I have made so many e-friends over the years.  Sometimes an unexpected result is the best.  

You can check out my first post if you'd like.  It explains how I became involved in blogging.
Click here.

I wanted to make one more comment about the rewards of blogging.   My photography skills were greatly improved.  Actually, my photography skills were non existent when I started.  I guess that photography was another benefit from writing the blog.  My original photos were taken with a cell phone.  I'm on my second camera now.  The photos that I took in the beginning are cringe worthy.  Don't judge.  

Here are the ten all-time most viewed of my posts.  I'll begin with the tenth most popular.  If you want to see the full post, just click on the image or the number and you'll be directed there.



I had and unfortunately still have a 1970's knotty pine kitchen.  To update it, I painted the cabinets, changed the hardware, and added Duralee Snakeskin fabric as a back splash.  It's still in my kitchen and I still love the snakeskin.  

SNAKESKIN FABRIC AND NAIL HEAD TRIM IN MY KITCHEN


I found a very weathered garden table.  I guess it reminded me of a clock face.  That's how an umbrella table became a clock.

UMBRELLA TABLE TO CLOCK


I credit my screened porch redo for a feature of my home on a Houzz Home Tour.

MY SCREENED PORCH

NUMBER 7

If you're a regular reader of my blog you know that many times I write about a design topic and share images to illustrate the decor ideas.  I love using empty vintage frames.  The next two all time popular posts contain empty frames.

FRAMES:  BUNDLED, LAYERED, AND STACKED


My number 6 also contained ideas for using empty frames.

HOW I FILLED AN EMPTY FRAME

NUMBER 5

One of my favorite things to do is to style a bookcase.  I guess my readers liked it too.

MY STYLED BOOKCASE

NUMBER 4

The popularity of this next post surprised me.  It was a post for Memorial Day and I shared cottage gardens in red, white and blue.

COTTAGE GARDENS

NUMBER 3

The popularity of this post shows how many DIYers there are out there.  It was my solution for a sweet side table with damaged veneer.

A SOLUTION FOR DAMAGED VENEER


I obviously have some gardeners in the audience.  This post shared my best ground cover for shady spaces.  I also shared some other ground cover solutions.

SWEET WOODRUFF GROUND COVER


My all time most pinned post is the gallery wall I created in my daughter's apartment.   I don't think that gallery walls will ever go out of style.  They are my nemesis though.

MY DAUGHTER'S GALLERY WALL

I wanted to say that I was surprised by some of the posts that were viewed so many times.

I also wanted to say thank you to all of you who have been following along and for your encouragement and support.  I hope you'll follow me into the new decade.

Happy New Year.

FYI:  The most viewed post(s) of 2019:  My Laundry/Pantry.

It was in two parts.

To see Part One of my laundry/pantry, click here.

CHINA IN MY PANTRY

To view Part 2, click here.

BREAD BOARDS, BOOKS, ART AND ARCHITECTURE IN MY PANTRY