ELEPHANT DECOR

Do you ever notice that you repeat decor around your home? 

 I just noticed that I have elephants around my house.  LOL  

In our sun room I have a plaster elephant peeking around my bar cart.  I purchased it for one of the Design Houses I did.  It didn't sell, so it was all mine.  I've said this before but sometimes those items that don't sell become my favorites.

PLASTER ELEPHANT IN MY SUN ROOM

CLOSE UP OF PLASTER ELEPHANT

I have a similar plaster elephant on my screened porch.  It's much larger with a flat surface so it can serve as a small side table.

ELEPHANT SIDE TABLE ON MY PORCH

I have another Chinoiserie elephant on the railroad cart coffee table.  I mixed him in with the blue and white ginger jars.

BLUE AND WHITE CHINOISERIE

One of my favorite elephant finds is this mache elephant from Anthropologie. 

 Originally it was in my kitchen.  

MACHE ANTHROPOLOGIE ELEPHANT IN MY KITCHEN

He's since moved to the laundry/pantry.

ANTHRO ELEPHANT IN MY LAUNDRY ROOM

I'm not done yet.  I decoupaged an elephant image on some book spines.

ELEPHANT ON BOOK SPINES

One of my favorite additions to my new kitchen was the appliance garage.  You can see my elephant mugs on the top shelf.  FYI, that majolica lettuce leaf teapot is my sugar bowl.

ELEPHANT MUGS IN MY APPLIANCE GARAGE

Even though I always love the things that don't sell, there are many who get away.  This elephant bookend was one of those I wished I had kept.

ELEPHANT BOOKEND THAT GOT AWAY

What decor items do you repeat in your home?

What home decor item do you regret giving up?

 

If you're interested in seeing the the original posts for these images, simply click on the highlighted words or the images. 

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IS IT MY BUTLER'S PANTRY OR MY LAUNDRY OR MY OFFICE?

There's a room off our kitchen that serves many purposes.  When we purchased our home, it was my least favorite space.  Now, it's the room I like best.  I've written about this space before.  I'm not sure what to call it----my laundry room, my pantry, or my office.  It serves all those purposes in one small space.   I wish I had some before pictures, but just let me say that it had red indoor/outdoor carpeting on the floor, yellow and orange floral vinyl wallpaper and a utility tub hanging from the wall, flanked by a washer and dryer.  It was the first room we tackled. We pretty much gutted it.

Here it is today, recently updated to add a stacking washer and dryer.  Originally I had an under-the-counter washer and dryer.  It's demise prompted this update.  I do love the capacity of the new appliances, but I miss the long counter.  I had to give up a section of the long counter that served me well as a place to fold laundry or as a spot for a dessert buffet during the holidays.

If you've been a long-time reader of my blog, you know that I asked the carpenter to cut a vintage corner cabinet in half.  I got a strange look from him, but he did it.  The top half holds my collection of transferware and the bottom half became the cabinet under the counter.  I store all my laundry and cleaning supplies in the under-the-sink cupboard.  If you know me, you could guess that I would paint the cupboard pieces black.  I think this was the beginning of a pop of black in every room of my home.  Since the counter space was so deep, I opted for a wood counter.  I like the contrast of the painted and stained pieces.  To tie the two finishes together,  I added stained rope trim on the drawers and on the cupboard.

 My vintage hamper fits perfectly into the gap left by the previous appliance.  I encourage dirty baseball uniforms to go inside the hamper instead of onto the floor.  Sometimes it works.

VINTAGE CORNER CABINET ON THE COUNTER AND UNDER THE SINK

One of the best design decisions I made for the space was the addition of two file drawers in the remaining under-the-counter space.  It's so convenient to have it nearby and so accessible.  I like to think that it helps me be a LITTLE better organized.

PULL OUT DRAWERS WITH HANGING FILE FOLDERS

Another design decision was to add a butler's sink with a gooseneck copper faucet.  

It's been a lifesaver more times than I can count.

BUTLER'S SINK ABOVE THE CUPBOARD

The china cupboard is the star of the room.  I'm always a sucker for a palladium window.  Let me show it off with a few close-ups.

CUPBOARD TOP AND FORNASETTI PRINT

LOVE PALLADIUM WINDOWS

Every knob needs a tassel.

KNOB WITH TASSEL

Have you noticed that I like brown and black transferware?

I needed something on the wall against the washer and dryer.  My Anthropologie elephant volunteered to leave the kitchen and be part of this space.  The containers below him hold laundry soaps.

ELEPHANT IN PROFILE

That elephant is just too cute.  He's one of my favorites.

MY ANTHRO ELEPHANT

No room of mine is complete unless I have a chandelier.  This room is no exception.  I did a verdigris finish on this vintage acanthus leaf pendant light and I also changed some of the crystals to black ones to pick up the black in the room.  

MY VINTAGE CHANDELIER

  You haven't seen the pantry side of the room yet.  Here's a sneak peek.
To see the full post, click here or on the image below.

SNEAKY PEEK OF THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM

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Another Laundry/Pantry Change Up

Recently I updated my kitchen with new fabric and furniture.

Since my laundry/pantry adjoins the kitchen I decided to continue the new look in there too.

BEFORE

AFTER

 If you saw the post about the kitchen you'll recognize the Schumacher chevron fabric on the window and also as a full length drapery in the powder room.  I also changed the two prints on the wall.

View from Kitchen

I also changed the curtains that cover the under-the-counter washer and dryer to a Lee Jofa linen fabric.  If you saw my post on my additional kitchen chairs you'll know that I used this fabric on a pair of parsons chairs too.

  I kept the swing arm curtain rods for easy access to the washer and dryer.

This is the opposite wall with the tiered restaurant pot rack and part of my pantry cupboard.

This is the best I could do with the photo of the pantry cabinet.  The room is long and narrow and I couldn't get back far enough to get a good pic.   You get the idea though. 
(I tried standing on the counter,  lying on the floor, and I even tried to take it from outside through the window.)

  It is an old cabinet.  It needed a top so we added boards similar to the counter.  To co-ordinate it with the corner cabinet we added rope molding and fluting on the sides.  It's been perfect as a pantry.  It has shelves and is just shallow enough so I can actually view everything I have stored inside.  The wide doors also make it easy to access.

This last image is of my favorite feature in the room--the three framed prints.  If you've been following me you know I'm always using architectural prints in my styling.
Below the prints is an urn with a boxwood ball, the books I covered in architectural prints,  a vintage document box, and my signature finial and orb.   I use these document boxes for storage in almost every room.  This one holds small jars of labeled paint samples from my home.  It's much easier to open a small container than it is to open -- and find-- a gallon of paint when I need to do a touch up.


 
So what do you think of this change up?

If you missed the kitchen redo post, go here.  If you missed the previous pantry/laundry change up go here.  To see the parsons chairs in the Lee Jofa fabric, go here.


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