Tru(meau) Love- A recession friendly version of a French classic

Trumeaus have long been a popular decor accent, but with the recent rise in popularity of Swedish and French design, their popularity has soared. They can be quite pricey, however, especially larger ones. A decent reproduction starts around $500, large reproductions can cost up to $2000, and as for antiques---the sky is the limit. I've recently found a way to make a more affordable version of this classic.
First, the base. I started with this great salvaged door with its beautiful layers of peeling white and cream paint. (note--the key to making this project budget friendly is finding a well-priced door-in some higher end architectural salvage yards, doors can be several hundred each. But if you keep your eyes open, similar doors are availabe at non-profit "green" projects were building materials are recycled, flea markets, and sometimes for free at re-modeling/building sites) The weathered finish was one of the things that really made this project. A similar finish could be replicated on a newer door with a faux paint technique. What made the door suitable was the fact that it was divided into 2 panels, one large and one sigificantly smaller.

I then had my contractor replace the bottom panel with glass and add crown moulding to the top of the mirror. (His too-helpful assistant almost derailed the project--he was getting ready to caulk, putty, and sand the door down to a smooth finish--he couldn't believe I wanted weathered wood and peeling paint). Depending on how handy you, a friend, or your spouse is, except for the mirror cutting, this could be diy (note: the door is actually inverted--the smaller panel was originally the bottom of the door). The mirror actually looked really good at this point. If you are going for a simple, country look, all the mirror really needed to be finished at this point is some minor antiquing on the added crown and a coat of dark wax to seal it.

For this client, however, I wanted a slightly more formal feel, so after removing all actively peeling paint, I gild and distressed the added crown and the small trim around each panel. I then did some handpainting on the center panel with the client's favorite motif, the fleur de lis. I finished it all with two layers of dark paste wax buffed to a sheen. If you did not want to paint the top panel, other options would be to add a carved detail, replace the top panel with mirror as well, or search for a small oil painting in similar dimensions to the top panel.

Porch facelift

Our current project: front porch. In our MidCity New Orleans neighborhood, porch sitting is still taken seriously. Luckily our house has a decent sized porch, but it needs freshening. I've already painted the ceiling a beautiful yellow (as visual vamp has pointed out, yellow is the new beige) instead of the traditional blue. in fact, I'm going for a modified mardi gras color scheme: existing green trim, beautiful eggplant doors, and a pale buttery yellow (gold), on the ceiling and inside of awning. We just got the furniture from World market. Now I must finish painting the awning (a project that sucks so hard it's taken me months to get it half done), paint the floor, do a little accent painting, find pillows or fabric to make pillows to tie it all together, and landscape the front. At least the FEMA trailer is finally gone. I'll keep y'all posted on how it goes.

When life gives you lemons, make a martini

My apartment flooded after Katrina ( I always wanted an apartment with a lake view...I should have been more specific), and the vast majority of my possessions including my late grandmother's furniture was destroyed. I managed to salvage this drawer from her dresser, stained tray table legs to match, and created a kind of butler's tray. It's perfect for keys, mail, and Cleo's leash right by the front door. It's a little cutsier (is that even a word?) than I usually prefer, but it was a way to preserve a little piece of my grandmother (that sounds a little creepy, but you know what I mean.)