Simply Beautiful Spaces

A different kind of ornament

2010-11-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

In getting ready to present some DIY projects to a local group, I found it a bit of a challenge in thinking of different projects for Christmas decorating. I am a sucker for nostalgic ornaments, you know, the ones your children have made throughout elementary school, the handmade ornaments stitched by friends from long ago, and those ornaments collected throughout our travels over the years.

My first thought was to find minature frames and dress them up with some berries and bows. Finding mini frames big enough to be dressed up and yet small enough to hang on a tree branch nicely without becoming a ten pound tree toppler was difficult! Not only that, but the idea is already out there - if you don't know me well, I am one of those who works hard to be original and think of something new.

I racked my brain to find something fun and easy, suitable for my audience and would be a great addition to their Christmas ornament collection.

I was in the local craft stores for hours - a feat for me, since I value my time, plus my patience wears thin after an hour. But I found THE PERFECT inspiration for an ornament at Michaels.

This tiny little 3" x 3" trinket box not only fulfilled my need to make a photo ornament, but it has a tiny little hinge and a clasp! Perfect for hiding tiny little gifts inside.

Here's how the project can be completed.

Photo Frame Trinket Box Ornament
By Kathryn Koch
Materials needed:

• Balsa wood box, hinged (available at Michaels)

• Paint and small paint brush or paint pen

• Berries or stems for embellishments

• Bow (premade mini bows available at Michaels)

• Scissors

• Hot Glue gun

• Metallic cord or ribbon, approximately 8”

• 2” x 2” photo

1. Start with a hinged balsa wood trinket box

2. Remove the backing from the window frame so you can paint behind the wood and around the window

3. Paint the interior and then the exterior of the box to the desired color

4. Once dry, use a photo or embellishment of your choosing to enclose in the window, make your photo is placed well so as it hangs, it will be upright. You can also use a paint pen to write a name, year, or simply add swirls and accents

5. Use a metallic cord or thin ribbon to make the tie to hang from a branch

6. You can hide the tie knot under the hinge

7. Behind the hinge, embellish the top of the ornament with pip berries or miniature greenery stems of your choosing and add a bow. Hot glue works best

Once you are done, you can use the ornament to place special gifts for the recipient to open on Christmas morning!

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Trends and Ideas

2010-11-17T10:15:00.000-05:00

I've been honored to be a guest speaker for a Mother's Of Pre-Schoolers (MOPS) this week and was asked to provide some ideas for DIY projects as well as speak about some trends for this holiday season. In doing so, I thought I'd share some of those tips with you as well!

What’s the Trend for 2010?

Holiday decorating can be fun and with a few suggestions, you can make the most of your decorative collections.

This year brings a lot of nature incorporated with shimmer and glitz. Holiday colors have not changed much since last year, with the traditional green and red still dominating. Blues, purples, chartreuse and bronze are the “pops” of fun colors for this holiday season.

One of my favorite ways to give a humble tree a bit of designer flair is to mix traditional ornaments with a dozen or so embellished ornaments and use floral stems to add a big statement. Glittered Hydrangeas, poinsettias, magnolias, and ornament or berry stems are my favorites, but I also love using branches, painted or natural, depending on the theme of the season.

No matter what your style, one of the most timeless and meaningful themes for the Christmas tree is a collection of ornaments from family vacations, children’s handmade ornaments and mini-framed photos hung with a ribbon. Each year, while unpacking the ornaments, great joy in the memories of Christmases past come to life and I know each year, even when the kids are all grown up with kids of their own, we’ll enjoy seeing their sports ornaments, handmade crafts, and memorabilia from their childhood.

Lighting a Tree

If you do not have a pre-lit tree, one of the easiest ways to get the fullness of light is to work from the top down with the light strands, of course, placing the lights before putting on the ornaments and trimmings.

Rather than stringing the lights around the tree, work from the top, zigzagging your way down from the trunk to the tips. Not only does this help ensure full coverage, but makes removing the lights so much easier. Depending on the size of the tree, you’ll want about 100 lights for every two feet of tree. For a 7 foot tree, approximately four light strands, more if the tree is wide, less if narrow.

Great Ideas

Light fixtures and chandeliers are perfect for decorating for the holidays. Berry garland, ornaments, or ribbon, a great way to add some extra fun into your home. Extra ornaments can fill a bowl or container and become a great centerpiece for a coffee table or simple accent to your holiday décor.

Holly Holiday Ornament

Deck the halls with boughs of holly with this ornament. Hot-glue a plastic sprig of holly and berries to the inside of a clear ornament cap. Twist the ornament cap into place so the holly hangs down inside the bauble. Courtesy bhg.com

Kids Rooms

2010-07-13T09:10:00.000-04:00

I love doing bedrooms - whether for toddlers or for grown ups - the bedroom is the one place with a lot of personalization potential! My favorite bedroom designs are those for kids. This is where we get the opportunity to provide great spaces for homework, play and imagination!

Here are a few of my most favorite designs and the stories behind them.

Josh's Bedroom

Josh is a vibrant pre-teen with loads of personality and a competitive streak bigger than his mom and dad's combined. Of course, having parents who are big Ohio State fans influence his team loyalty. For his 10th birthday, his parents wanted to give him a room to be proud of. Below is the room before:

The first item on the list was to get an Ohio State emblem from www.fatheads.com and his dad got a big one! Then we brought in Sorin to paint the room, including the stripes, to match the colors of the decal.

After the painting is completed, my mission was to find bedding that coordinated well with the theme colors and lends itself to changes as Josh grows - in other words, neutral bedding rather than bedding with designs on it.

No room is complete without the personal touches. Adding wall shelves for his trophies and using some photos of Josh and his family added the perfect personalization to the room

Of course, every young person needs a place to study - with a new desk and hutch, Josh has the perfect set up to get alot of homework done :)

Alex's Bedroom

Alex is more than a budding musician, at the young age of 14, Alex plays Jazz with the best of them and his favorite instrument, the guitar, inspired me to make his room both functional for homework as well as a great place to practice. When we started, Alex, like most teen boys, isn't exactly organized. The mission was to organize the room, provide a place for his guitars in a manner which they could be used while also providing great wall art, and make a place for him to study. Below is what Alex's room looked like before we began:

The first order of business was to paint Alex's room in his favorite color, then arrange new furniture to provide the space and function he needed.

Then we used guitar hangers to place his guitars on the wall in an arrangement that was both artful and useful.

Of course, every musician has a favorite instrument which stands out among the rest. I felt the need to not only hang the instrument in it's own place, but to create a canvas painting to highlight the instrument as it hangs on the wall when not in use.

Alexa's Room

Not to be outdone, Alexa, Alex's little sister, wanted a room that showed her personality. No longer into pinks and purples, Alexa wanted a total Bobby Jack makeover for her room. Below is what Alexa's room looked like before:

Not only was Alexa's room painted, but the furniture as well - to coordinate with the Bobby Jack motif.

Not wanting to stop there, I built cornices and used fabric to add details to the design:

After jumping up and down and falling in love with her room all over again, Miss Alexa has a room that is a great reflection of her personality!

Aiyanna and Briella

Two little girls, one big playroom. Our goal was to create a space for the girl's to play as well as learn. With so many toys and games, we had to start with some organization.

One of my recommendations to anyone in need of organization is when you run out of horizontal space, go vertical. We did just that by adding some simple shelves from Ikea.

Once we got the toys and games organized, next came the fun! I like playing with window treatments to see how many different ways a simple panel can be changed. For this room, we played and played and decided adding just a bit of hot pink was just enough to add some color, but I needed to add more "girly" so I made little floral bouquets to the tiebacks.

We weren't done! All around the room were scrolls and flowers and of course "Sugar and Spice" quotes we made with Pam's machine. This was a fun project for us girls, almost making us wish we were four again!

Sean's Room

I love painting - usually it's on canvas. When Sean's mom said he wanted his room to be painted with an ocean view, I just had to jump in and go for it. Here is Sean's room before:

Doing an ocean scene is easy in some regard. My sticking point was how to incorporate the window into the overall scene itself. After much thought, I decided to make curtains which resembled a beach cabana (those old fashioned tents that you change in).

I'm not done yet, it takes more than two days to complete a mural of this size. I have yet to go back and paint in the seagulls, crabs and other details, but this is what I have completed so far.

Oh the fun to be had when designing kids' rooms! What do you think?

Happy decorating!

Kate

Details make a difference

2010-07-12T12:53:00.001-04:00

Don't you wish you could simply walk into a store and find the perfect "statement" piece to finish your room? Sometimes, we get lucky and find just such a thing. That one little detail that sets our home apart from others - it could be a unique salvage find from a local antique store, an unusual sculpture, or an original piece of artwork.

What if you could simply make your own design detail? You know, that one little addition to an overall design that you treasure or your friends notice and want to replicate. Well, here are some ideas to help inspire you!

A Finial to be Fond of

In general, I love the different window hardware finials we can find for homes, but what if you can't find exactly what you want for a particular theme? Sometimes moments of brillance strike me at the oddest of times. I had this nautically inspired bathroom to complete and planned on making the window treaments myself using canvas and fishing net. That's easy. But when I came across these glass finials, I couldn't help but think I could really make them great by making them look like nautical glass floats.

It was too easy to use some fishing net and jute to cover the glass finials, but it was the first thing the homeowner fell in love with when she saw the final design.

Romantic Lamp

Make your own romantic lamp - using string lights, silk ivy, and a birdcage - it couldn't get any easier. Simply make the arrangement inside the birdcage, plug in and you've got yourself a very simple decorative piece.

Unique Ceiling Medallion!

We had a beautiful mirror in a unique frame. Seven years of bad luck?!?! psssh. We used the frame and backer board to make a unique ceiling medallion. After carefully removing the broken mirror pieces, we painted the frame to match the trim in the rest of the room and painted the backerboard the same color as the focal wall in the bedroom.

Once we removed the ceiling fan, we were ready to install the chandelier. First was to put the backerboard in place by cutting a hole in the center so that the fixture wires could be wired into the chandelier. Then we pre-drilled the frame and screwed it onto the ceiling. Doing these first makes it much easier to mount the chandelier - just as with any ceiling medallion, it has to go on before the light fixture is installed. Once we got all the pieces in place - lights on! We have a beautiful and very unique ceiling focal point and a great companion to the chandelier we created.

Framing artwork

Issue - one big wall, several great pieces.

What do you do when you have a giant wall and feel it needs some TLC? Filling it to the hilt with random wall art could be the answer, but in some cases, it's just too much.

There are several alternatives to breaking the wall up and making it look beautiful, we chose to use paint to create frames around great art pieces.

I have a confession to make first - I cheated. I could have spent hours measuring, drawing and taping off the areas to be painted, but instead, used the removable window mullions to help me make the painted frames. By taping the mullions to the wall, I was able to space them out, trace around them, and then use painters tape to protect the areas I did not want to paint.

Here is what was accomplished!

We can always find great pieces to add to our home, but what makes a house truly "your home?" It's the details, especially the details that set your home apart from others'.

Happy decorating!

Kate

Double Deck Makeover

2010-05-24T09:26:00.004-04:00

This past week we had a wonderful opportunity to do a double deck makeover for a family in Montclair. I took some of the furniture home to repair and paint, then the fun of shopping began!

The family had some items we played off of for the over all design - but of course, we had to bring in some fun stuff for the kids!

Here are the "Before" photos:

Once we moved furniture, cleaned the deck, siding and furniture, we began making the two spaces beautiful and functional for the entire family.

The upper deck is located right outside the kitchen, so we wanted to make it family friendly for everyone to enjoy dinner outdoors. We also added sun loving flowers that are easy to maintain and cleverly concealed an extra large storage bench for storing outdoor cushions and pillows - a must for helping keep the area organized!

Our favorite deck redesign was the one we knew the kids would enjoy most. Bright, cheery colors, kid friendly tableware, and some special treats made the transformation incredibly fun for us!

Here's to hoping you have a wonderful Summer!

Kate

Wax on Wax off, rub, rub, rub

2010-05-01T09:41:00.009-04:00

I have this stone top table patio set I purchased about five years ago - fell in love with it and had to have it. The beauty of the stone was the biggest draw for me, plus the surface, being smooth and all, made it so much easier to entertain outdoors.

There was a drawback, either I kept the massive table cover on it (it went over the chairs too) and take it off each time we were outdoors, which is EVERYDAY, or suffer the consequences of weather and sun. I chose to suffer. Eventually the beauty was gone and the cracks started forming.

So each day starting in spring and throughout the summer I would apply lemon oil to the table. Really is a pain in the butt to do daily, although very worth the extra effort.

I head out once again to clean off the table and get it all pretty for our gatherings and everyday enjoyment. I found something curious about the table. I remember seeing it last summer after the Fourth of July, where candles inside lanterns had melted on the table.

Hmmm....the table still faded, but after eight month of hot summer and harsh winter, the area where the candle wax melted into stone was beautiful!

My "AHA" moment. I still applied the lemon oil, but then melted some old candles to use on the table. Wax on, wax off, rub, rub, rub, then squeegy the rest for a nice smooth finish.

Look how beautiful it came out! What do you think?

Happy cleaning!

Kate

Linens on the wall?

2010-04-28T05:07:00.011-04:00

If you are like me, you love textiles of all shapes, sizes and texture. Perhaps, like me, you see textiles, such as table linens, used in different, if not odd, ways. If not, here are some ideas that may you go "ah" or maybe "huh?!?"

Recently I met with a young Washington DC professional who loves abstract art and wanted it translated into decor. She inspired me. I had a limited budget. What to do?

Sometimes it is easy for me to know exactly what to get and where I could get it.

In this case, I needed to think beyond common uses for common items. Once I got in that frame of mind, and of course, finding three beautiful table runners, the creativity monster took over.

Three dimensional wall art was born. Using those three runners and tying painted willow branches on them was a simple task that created a great focal point in the room.

I couldn't stop myself!

I also found two table mats made of capiz shells, a couple of long shelves, and some accessories and mixed them in to a wall display in her dining room.

What do you think?

Happy Decorating! Kate

Finding Inspiration

2010-04-25T22:17:00.030-04:00

Almost anything can inspire a room makeover. Love for a color, architectural elements, or a photograph. For our client, Renee, her inspiration was simply a pillow.

This embroidered pillow, with it's clean linen and beautiful peacock, inspired Renee to change her bedroom and her wish for a modern-romantic bedroom began.

The colors made it easy to find complementary shades of teal and green for window treatments and other items, and adding a few design elements such as a birdcage to the mix was only the beginning for making Renee's wish a reality.

I'm always looking for ways to make the redesign extra special for each person, so for Renee, I wanted to create a piece of artwork which we added to the mix of greatness.

Silly me forgot to take a photo of the pillow so I could follow the design well, and of course, could not find another one like it, so I had to rely on memory to get the drawing started and here's what I came up with:

Finally, pulling the room together was way more fun than it should have been, as I had some great ideas I wanted to try. First of all, the home has some great dormer windows, but in the Master Bedroom, it didn't quite lend itself to be a useable space other than a little nook with a window seat. So instead of trying to make it look like just another nook, I actually wanted to do a little bit of something different to this dormer window.

Below is the dormer window before, as well as where the bed was originally located...

... and then after. Installing double rods, really cool ones I might add, and being creative with ready-made curtain panels turned the dormer window into a cozy little nook, and better yet, helped add more interest to the room.

Finally, the room was completed -

A simple room makeover which started with a little pillow. How cool is that?!?!

New life to old artwork

2010-04-25T13:13:00.020-04:00

Later this week, we get to work in a home owned by Donna, an absolutely wonderful lady.

As we walked her home and discussed changes, she points to this piece of artwork on the wall and says she's going to toss it, so not to worry about it. No way! I ask if I could take it home and play with it.

Yes, it's a bit faded, the people look blue. And yes, the peach and green matting is dated, so I'll work on that as well. The frame is wonderful, not going to change a thing on that.

First is taking it apart and getting it all ready for it's makeover. Instead of buying new mat boards and spending more money for cutting, I'll drybrush acrylic paint on it to change the color while keeping the texture.

While waiting for the mats to dry, the fun part starts - painting the painting. Since I am using acrylic paints but want to keep the details of the art, I thin the paint before drybrushing over the print.

We are creating a transitional look using earth tones for Donna's redesign and I wanted to bring those earthy colors to the artwork without diminishing the original expressions and lines.

So, here is the finished project. What do you think?

Ordinary fireplaces, extraordinary potential

2010-04-25T10:33:00.059-04:00

Just wanted to share with you a couple of ideas if you are looking at your mantle and thinking, "It could be better." Afterall, for many homes, the fireplace is the focal point of the room. Whether a television or a beautiful piece of artwork is mounted above it, the fireplace is a fixture in our homes which deserves some style!

Mark and I have built several mantles, to include the one above with the carved apron. I usually do all the "fun work" by measuring the walls, surrounds, and hearths, as well as determining what lies behind the firebox - all necessary considerations when doing the actual design.

For instance, our friend and client, Keith wanted to suprise his wife Anne with a beautiful floating mantle for her birthday. We were more than happy to oblige, since Keith and Anne are two of the coolest people we know.

We set out to build a floating mantle. No big deal right? Well, the facade of the wall was stone - natural stone, with all it's uneven lines and jutting rocks. That was going to be a fun little challenge. I also needed to find out how the stone was set and what was behind the stone - was it wood, sheetrock, metal? Where was the flue and gas line? All sorts of facts one must know before drilling into the wall.

Once all the fun stuff was done, next came designing the mantle itself. Determining how large to make it, where the mounting rods would be inserted, how to explain to Mark that we were going to build a frame first and the mantle would actually be a "sleeve" that slides onto the frame, and all that great discussion between a creative mind and an analytic mind.

Lots of detailed drawings later and a bit more discussion, Mark and I got started on building it. Well, Mark actually built it, I just finished it. Again, I get the fun part of staining, sanding, staining, steel wooling (is that word?) applying polyeurathane, and on and on until I get that perfect finish.

About a week later, we have us a great floating mantle, ready to be installed and made all pretty with some decorative touches. The moment Anne saw the mantle was one of those moments I wish we had video taped. It was akin to those makeover shows where the excitement is hard to contain as Anne jumped up and down, screaming "I got my mantle, I got my mantle!"

But wait, there's more!

Another enjoyable challenge came our way with Lynn and Pete in Haymarket, Virginia. They just purchased a lovely home and had a bit of a conundrum since they own a flat screen television and the area above the fireplace had this wonderful wall niche, but it was too narrow and too deep for a flat screen.
What to do? We could have moved the power supply and cable, framed it out and drywalled over it, but that would have been too easy. I had an idea....

... let's build a panel on which the flat screen could be mounted, maintain access to the power supply, and make an "Open Mantle" in which the receiver and components could be placed. We presented this idea to Lynn and Pete and gave them the options for details. A mix between clean simple lines and traditional style became a functional addition and great focal point for the room.

From simple clean lines to elaborately carved aprons, a fireplace deserves to be framed in greatness!

Happy Designing!

Kate

Finding unique pieces!

2010-04-24T11:12:00.024-04:00

I am always looking for new pieces of furniture or products that I hope to use in clients homes. I would purchase them for myself, but darn it, have only so much space in my home!

Here is a vintage blue cabinet that I fell in love with - it is 48'' wide, 84" tall, and 19" deep. I found this piece at a great price for $650, there are companion pieces too!

I love the wire door inserts and the distressed finish of this cabinet. You know you want it!

Since I was still on a kick for finding vintage pieces, and of course, tempting myself to throw out all my furniture and start all over just so I could fit some of these pieces into my home, I came across these awesome set of door panels.

Oh to put them somewhere as a room divider, frame a trompe l'oeil painting, or simply have them standing against a wall... I dunno! Would it be crazy to hang them high in a home with a two story foyer or family room?

The panels are 87" high, 59" wide and 2" deep. Although they are shown in a white distressed finish, I bet I could convince the craftsman to do them in any finish shown below, and since I have an account with Bramble I purchase them for only $576.

I can't pass this opportunity up to share with you a beautifully upholstered chair and ottoman that one of my favorite clients introduced me to. She is hoping to get this for her wonderful husband who will be retiring this year from the Marine Corps. She found it while on a trip to Highpoint, NC wanted details on it! It is created by Michael Thomas Furniture

So diligent as I am to follow great leads, I contacted the company, set up an account and got all the particulars about this specific piece.

It takes about six weeks to craft these pieces, and yes, they are expensive, but with all furniture pieces, you truly get what you pay for in terms of quality and craftmanship!

With all the Marines in our area, I hope we can find a home for this! It costs up to $7000 for the set, but, well, you know, I get designer pricing for half of that!

That's all for now, I will be posting more great finds and photos - if you have a great resource for unique pieces, please share!

Kate

Elegant Bedroom Makeover

2010-04-24T08:00:00.012-04:00

Last week we finished a four room makeover for one of my favorite clients in Montclair. The client, Sally, had specific tastes and wanted to make sure the bedding we created was neither too girly, flowery or masculine. It took us a while to decide on the bedding and wall colors, Miss Sally loves colors of all shades, but for her bedroom, it was a bit more challenging to find the right color. We started with blues, greens and gold palettes, both she and I were like "eh" maybe. It wasn't until I showed her a photo from one of my favorite magazines, Traditional Home, that we both got excited over the color gray.

I LOVE gray - it's one of my favorite neutral tones, and enjoy that the color can create a cool or warm feel for rooms.

Then we found some beautiful fabric and bedding at Eastern Accents, created a custom comforter from the Galbraith Collection, and the design was set in motion!

I am a sucker for finding new uses for different things. I really wanted to replace the dated ceiling fan in their bedroom with a chandelier. The challenge was finding a chandelier they would love - not just anything - they have absolutely wonderful taste in antiques, but my budget didn't allow for an antique crystal chandelier.

I found a wonderful silver leaf four light chandelier at a local store for less than $300. It had a great shape and the dimensions were perfect, but the glass baubles and plastic beads it was covered in screamed "tacky!" Easily enough, I removed the fishing line that the plastic beads were strung up with, replaced the baubles with beveled crystals and repainted the candoliers a creamy white. But I couldn't stop there....

I had this old frame that once held a mirror. The mirror broke, but the frame I loved! So glad I held onto it, because the shape complemented the shape of the Prisca Mirrors I used over the bedside chests. I painted the backerboard and frame and it went up much easier than ceiling medallions!

WE LOVE the end results, especially when it took a bit to get to this point. First, there was a built in platform bed. It had plenty of potential, but I couldn't seem to talk Sally and her husband into letting me play with it. I would have taken down the television and side mounted light fixtures and added some beautiful fabrics to create a canopy for starters.

Masster Bedroom Before

But, as with all our clients, the inspiration for design comes from their personal tastes and desires. I am so glad they took it down because the end result has become one of my favorite Master Bedroom Designs!

Kathryn Koch