kensington bliss: Home Design/DIY, Rearranging, Repurposing, Repainting Projects

Since we moved into our Rocky River (Cleveland) home in the summer of 2008, its design has been a gradual/perpetual work in process. I like to think of my design style as a quirky, eclectic (trite, but for lack of a better word) mix of traditional and contemporary elements. I love the beautiful lines of traditional furniture, colorful patterns of Persian rugs, and old-fashioned crystal light fixtures. Yet, I find these traditional pieces are more interesting when paired with contemporary graphic fabrics, bold colors, and modern furniture silhouettes. True to my OCD-tendancies when it comes to design projects, I never feel like a room is complete; there is always room for improvement!

Our living room has evolved with changes in furniture placement, artwork, accessories, paint color, etc. As I mentioned in a prior blog post, the initial paint color was too pale. I switched it to BM Palladian Blue which is a brighter, deeper, robins-egg blue. Also, I decided the single painting (although fairly large by itself) was too small for the wall above the sofa. So, I arranged a series of 8x10 photographs of the kids in matted frames from Michael's. A fun collection for the kids to enjoy (as evidenced by the toys, you can see they like to play in this room), with more visual impact, at a reasonable expense.

The 'Before' picture, with initial paint color, furniture, and accessories

The 'After' picture, after painting room BM Palladian Blue and hanging photograph series.

Current arrangement: I added two nail head studded trunks from TJ Maxx as coffee tables, a fun leopard rug from Ballard Designs layered over our Stark rug, green and white Nate Berkus throw, and some graphic chocolate and cream pillows.

Dining Room, before and after paint color change:

Dining room BEFORE with BM Monroe Bisque

Fondue dinner party

Dining room AFTER, painted BM Charleston Brown

With local Harrison's furniture store closing shop, found this cute little bar cart on sale, to store bottles of wine, glassware, etc.

Revision: after taking pics of this room, I decided some paintings were too small on the main wall, so I rearranged a bit...still not sure. Painting on the right could use a more substantial frame (to-do list)...WIP!

Revision: rearranged some paintings a bit...still not so sure...WIP!

Recently found these interesting graphic brown and white pillows on One Kings Lane...their contemporary feel made an interesting mix with more traditional Persian rug in our foyer.

When our first son Jack was born, I could not find any letter or name pictures that I liked for his nursery. So, I bought some canvases, paint, and ribbon from Michael's and made my own. It was surprisingly easy, and a fun creative project! His name was originally hanging above his bed, but now that he is 5 years old, I switched to a series of his framed 'world maps'....see below.

Similarly, I made a name painting for our 2nd boy, Charlie....of course Caroline being the 3rd child has yet to receive one!

Also, made some name pictures for friends' babies, but could only find one picture, as attached below...

Jack's Room:

Jack's current room after we switched out his name paintings for his world maps. He made a 'portfolio' at school of various maps of the world, by continent, country, etc. I thought it would be cute to frame them and hang in a series above his bed.

U.S.A. map

Europe map

Africa map

On opposite wall in Jack's room is a series of 8x10 photos of the kids in frames hung with cute ribbon from Michael's

My daughter, Caroline's room has been a slow WIP...unlike the nursery we coordinated for our first child, this little room for Caroline (3rd child) has been more of a culmination of 'repurpose-random-hand-me-downs'. Yet, as it turns out, although slightly resembling a vintage shop, I think it is more interesting than anything I could have pulled together via Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn catalog, for example. Nothing wrong with RH or PB, of course, as I always enjoy their designs....just perhaps more personal/creative process with the hodge-podge mix!

REVISION (AFTER): after taking pics, I decided to balance the dresses more...although it makes me sad to take down the infant dresses...she is really out of the baby phase ; ( ... I think this arrangement looks better.

AFTER rearranging 'dresses-as-window-treatments'

BEFORE: Since I did not want to use too much hardware for elaborate window treatments (for fear of the plaster walls), I decided to use spring-rods in her window with infant dresses I wore as a baby hanging from little white hangers and pink satin bows....as she grew older, I added a second row with bright and cheerful Lilly Pulitzer dresses...some inherited, some new ; )

My first find for her room were these 12 vintage-feel floral prints cut from a calendar.

My Mom found this cute wool Dhurrie rug in a graphic Ikat-floral print

I recently bought this beautiful painting from my talented artist Uncle Jim Einspanier. He painted it from a photograph he took while traveling in California and titled it "Sunrise at Santa Cruz". I thought the colors worked perfectly in Caroline's room!

When I moved to Chicago after graduating from college, my Mom and I painted this chest yellow and white stripes to coordinate with my yellow bedding. My husband has always been skeptical about re-purposing it...finally it has a new home in little Caroline's room.

Charlie's room BEFORE, used as a guest room...my talented mother-in-law Sallie Patterson made this beautiful quilt with (Amy Butler, among others) fabrics I selected...DIY artwork (once again) using a series of 8x10 photographs taken on a vacation.

Charlie's Room:

Recently moved Charlie, (4 yrs old) into previous guestroom..decided on a nautical theme.

Blue and white cane pattern flat-weave wool rugs on sale from Garnet Hill, nautical flags from Land of Nod, red and navy quilt made by my talented mother-in-law, Sallie Patterson.

Charming boat prints from Home Goods

...more Nautical decor from Home Goods

Blue and white graphic lamp shades from Home Goods...8x10 photographs I took while traveling to USBVIs framed above bed...

cozy little reading nook!

Got this idea for a "Lent Tree" from Jack's PSR class at St. Chris Church...when the kids perform an act of "sharing, caring, or helping", we write it on a leaf and they attach it to the tree....it seems to help encourage (if only fleetingly) good behavior!