painting a trompe l'oeil tufted headboard

The bed makes the bedroom, and the headboard makes the bed.  In short, a bedroom always ends up being about the headboard.  Luckily, a headboard is probably the easiest piece of furniture to fake.  I've created the look of a headboard using folding screens, doors, large scale art, fabric panels....the list is almost endless.  Unless a client has a really large budget (and that does not happen often) and/or is in love with a particular bed, I usually try to conjure up a bed with smoke and mirrors and save the cash for upgraded bedding or fantastic night stands.

This is a headboard I made from painting bifold closet doors and mounting them directly on wall.

My kitchen door turned into a headboard.  (i have better photos of the door, but I couldn't  resist posting a pic of Cleopatra.

Before I re-did the bedroom, a large piece of art substituted for a dramatic headboard.  The one I had at the time could barely be seen behind the pillows.

I've long been a fan of Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook and her DIY projects, especially her headboards, and in particular, her diamond tufted headboard. (Click here for her tutorial)

DIY diamond tufted headboard by Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook

Recently, I helped my sister on a quick fluff of her bedroom.  She still liked her yellow walls, but wanted to incorporate some blue/greens, and in general, jazz things up, but on a tight budget, both of money and time.  We picked up some new lamp shades, a great new quilt, and some fun giclees for over the bed, but we still didn't have a headboard.  I immediately thought that an upholstered headboard would be fun, and thought of the great tutorial at Little Green Notebook, but I didn't have the time.

New lampshades, quilt, and throw pillow, but something's still missing.  (Please ignore suitcase.  I don't know how I didn't notice.)

Then it hit me.  Why not paint it on?  Using a photo of real diamond tufted headboard as a model, I painted one directly onto the wall.

I started with an outline drawn with a level.

I taped off, and brushed on a couple of coats of paint.  Using Jenny's headboard as a template, I used quarters to draw on the "buttons" in a diamond pattern.  I then added highlights and shadows to suggest 3D.

I finished with drawing in the diamond "pleating" between the tufts, again referencing the photo of an actual headboard.

The art went back up, now grounded by the headboard

 Adding blue/green to the room, check.  Adding instant interest, check.  Giving the bed wall the focus that only a headboard can bring, check.  Not bad for a quart of paint and two hours.  I wish decorating could always be that cheap and easy.

I love those lamp shades.  In person, they're a perfect match for the wall paint.

Would you sleep in your own guest room?

Billy Baldwin, the famous decorator, used to advise his clients to occasionally spend the night in their guests rooms to judge for themselves how comfortable they were and to determine if and where improvements could be made.  I recently completed a guest room with my colleague, Donna Russell of ProVisions Interiors.  Our goal was to create a room that was not only the serene, feminine retreat our client asked for, but also a physically comfortable and convenient place for guests.  We started with a creamy, neutral wall color, accented with the soothing spa blues that our client loves.  We pulled these tones from the client's existing rug used to anchor the seating area.

An assortment of pillows and layered bedding allow the guest to customize their sleeping arrangement, selecting the number of pillows and weight of covers they prefer.

Similarly layered window treatment, roman shade, sheers, and interlined draperies, allow the guest to adjust the level of natural light entering the room.

A small writing desk and stool provide a place to write, use a laptop, or apply makeup with the portable makeup mirror from the adjoining bath.

A seating area provides a place for guests to relax or read in private.

For interest, we used a hanging light from New Orleans designer Paul Gruer instead of a floor lamp.   The cream fabric on the chair only looks like linen--it's actually an upholstery weight polyester for ease of cleaning.  By using an inexpensive fabric on the chair and making our own welting from robin's egg blue linen, we were able to splurge on the beautiful embroidered fabric for the pillows.

To keep the color scheme for being too vanilla, both literally and figuratively, we painted the adjoining bath in the client's favorite blue.  Since we didn't have the budget for real Venetian plaster, I mimicked the look with regular latex paint.

For interest, we mixed abstract art, including my tarp creation above, with tradtional art and furnishings.

Design Resolutions-part 1

My skilled design assistant hard at work.

My friend, the Vamp, has decided on some design resolutions for 2010 (read about them here at visual vamp and here at discover interior design). Inspired, I've decided on a few design resolutions of my own. I'm keeping the list short--only three main resolutions, and I'm trying to keep the list quantifiable if not unambiguous.

My number one resolution is to make my home "magazine worthy:" Letting my hatin' be my motivatin'. Last year, I became (thankfully briefly) obsessed with the trainwreck that was The Real Housewives of Atlanta on Bravo where a couple of characters constantly said, "Let your hater be your motivator." I don't have any haters, but I do have a couple of rooms which, while I don't exactly hate them, I don't love them either. However, I had been living in the less than loved spaces while making other people's home lovely--the classic case of the shoeless cobbler. At the same time, I've had the dream of all professional designers, design lovers, and design bloggers----having my home published. Then I realized--if I did get that call and they asked, "When can you be ready?", would my answer be two days, two weeks,...two years? Anyway, I decided that my first and major goal in 2010 will be to finish those little half done projects, rework the rooms that aren't working, and polish my interiors--even if I never get the call. At least I'll have a more comfortable, lovely home. (BTW, #2 is to keep my house clean "enough" and to live well--fresh herbs, cloths napkins, setting the table, fresh flowers, etc. And I'm stopping at 3--I think the less, the more likely to achieve.)

First room on the way to achieving my first goal is my bedroom *note: since the following are before pics, I deliberatly left them unstyled so that the contrast betwteen before and after will be greater, i.e., I'm a lazy s.o.b. and moving the can of pledge out of the shot seemed like too much work*:
It's a small room, 14x12, and the furniture, except for the bed, has to stay. The closets in the house are tiny, so I need the dresser and chifferobe for storage. The furniture arrangement is also the best for the room, but some of the finishes will change. I also have to keep thomas's vintage draperies that he loves. The wall color is definitely changing. I love blue-greens, but this aqua is just a little too bright ( I ignored my own advice and did not do a color sample before deciding on my paint color)---I want a darker, richer, more dramatic tone in the same color family.

I'm keeping the white sheets, but changing the other bedding to the knitted cream coverlet in the back of the photo with a bedskirt made of the natural canves to the right of the photo. The vintage waverly fabric from the 1970s at the bottom of the photo will become a throw for color at the foot of the bed.

A shot of the bed:

The sconces are staying, but the bed is going, to be replaced by a headboard made of this incredible salvaged and stripped door (note: Thomas wanted everyone to know that HE is the one that stripped the door at the risk of lead poisoning, dismemberment, etc., etc., etc.):

The single painting over the bed will be replaced by a gallery wall like the one in my stairwell:

This beautiful moorish inspired Wisteria chest will be the inspiration for the finish on

this: one of the ugliest pieces of furniture ever made. New pulls too.

Since most of the changes are relatively small, I'm hoping to complete them before the christmas party I'm giving on the 20th. I'll keep you posted.

Sweet Respose: A serene retreat for an empty-nester couple

Our brief was to create a serene retreat fore an empty-nester couple. The room had good bones: it was well-proportioned with a lot of natural light, a beautiful four poster bed, and a tray ceiling. It just needed a little help to fulfill its potential. When we met with the client, she had tear sheets (I wish all clients did) that revealed her taste: they all shared a warm creamy mainly monochromatic palette, a restrained feminity, and an undated traditional sensibility.

We painted the walls in a creamy pale gold and re-carpeted in a luxurious stiae wool carpet. A custom double ruffled faille bedskirt and fine quailty Italian linens make the bed a retreat after a long day. Vintage Empire style mirrors with a custom finish flanking the bed provide a sense of architecture and symmetry, while the art platters above the headboard tie together the palette.

Interlined silk panels provide privacy at night, whil sheers allow in diffused light during the day. A small club chair upholstered in charcoal velvet provides a masculine touch to keep the room from becoming too feminine (there is a husband to consider after all), as well as a place for the clients to persue their voracious reading. Ottomans at the foot of the bed pull up to the chairs to provide more comfort.

Across from the bed, a custom nude (painted by me) provides a pretty view. This couple are not big television watchers, so there is not a tv set in the room.

Double doors provide access to the adjoining bath and closets. A faux finish on the door gives the look of aged cypress. Because this view to the bathroom contained so many doors--the entrance double doors, the doors straight ahead (they lead to his and her closets), and a door to the water closet (unseen, but directly to the right of the bath entrance), we decided that they needed to be features in their own right.

A chandlier provides a beautiful focal point, and is even lovelier against the pale blue-grey ceiling.

The extra long double vainities provides a beautiful display place for flowers and art.

The beautiful lucite ball chair (from the fabulous Visual Vamp at perch) provided just the right scale for the petite home owners and the right sparkle.

Togther these elements: creamy paint, sumptous fabrics, and sparkling accessories provides a soothing retreat for a busy couple.

Metamorphosis Monday: Fake a headboard

One of the biggest expenses in decorating a bedroom can be the bed itself; however, if you're on a limited budget (and who isn't these days), a headboard is one of the easiest design elements to fake. And for this week's Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch, I'm going to show you how to fake a headboard from bi-fold closest doors. Recently, for a client, we had to decorate two guest rooms on a very limited budget. In one, the client already had a bed. In the other room, which contained a king size mattress, one of our duties was to find a bed--however, our budget did not allow for a piece of furniture. The solution: a metal bed frame and a headboard. The question was, "what headboard?"

We looked for inspiration from one of the existing pieces of furniture, this beautiful painted armoire in shades of bronze, green, and beige. Our solution, a headboard made from off the shelf paneled bi-fold closet doors painted to co-ordinate.s

Here are the doors in their original white finish.

Next, I primed them in red. I did this so that when I sanded off paint from the edges, the red (an accent color in the room) would peek through the bronze finish. The darker primer would also make painting a bronze color easier.

Here are the finished doors, painted in several shades of bronze with a dark wash and touches of gold, in place. We attached the doors directly to the wall.

A detail of the finish:

The doors provided a striking headboard with a scale appropriate for a room with 12 foot ceiling. The paneled detailing complement the client's existing armoire for the traditional decor that the client asked for.

Finally, my friend Valerie from Visual Vamp has progressed once again in Apartment Therapy's Color Contest. Please visit Here to vote for her. Thanks.

Bachelor Bedroom

I've been working with a colleague on a bachelor pad in a converted warehouse. One of the finished rooms is the master bedroom. We loved the existing mushroom walls, and decided to use the homeowner's collection of photos from an African safari as a guide for adding other colors and accents. We reframed the photos in plain black frames with crisp white mats and hung them in column.

For interest, texture, and drama, we installed a wall of louvered doors painted with a hammered copper finish. The finish gave warmth to the room, and pulled in warm tones used in other areas of the condo, including the terracota stain on the concrete in the hall floor and downstairs.

We used the existing bed and nightstand, adding a round table on the otherside (the room is smallish and has strange angles, so a round table just fit better, as well as adding interest. Creamy white sheets and new lumbar pillows in a paisley print complement the existing bedding and new color additions.

We included a small chair for putting on socks and shoes. We did ultimately decide this chair was just a little femine and changed it out for another one, but no new pic yet.

This job is mainly a cosmetic one, meaning no major renovations. So, in the master bath, we decided to use a striped wall treatment to disguise the visually too-short granite slabs of the shower--now they become part of the look. We took down bulky shelves and replaced them with the chrome luggage rack. New, long stainless pulls and a coat of expresso paint transform the vanity.

Finally, nothing says luxury like a well-stocked and organized linen closet. I hope my mother, who never thought I would ever manage to pick a towel up off the floor is impressed.