Saturday, February 1
A wonderful fellow interior designer from Arkansas contacted me today. I know exactly how she feels -- we designers can quickly address other people's decorating challenges, but sometimes have trouble addressing our own! I've always thought it's because we're exposed to so much, love too many styles and ideas, that it's hard for us to zero in on anything for ourselves. I experience that more that I'd want to admit!
Designer from Arkansas wrote:
Love visiting your space on the net, Jo. I found you through a referral on HOUZZ and was pointed in your direction. I too am an interior designer and I bought this little cottage when my mother died in October. I moved from a BIG house to this little house and less than 1200 sq. ft., but the inside is wonderful. It was built in 1948 and recently completely renovated with 9ft. ceilings, two bedrooms, two baths, and a huge kitchen with island.
Am provided you with a photo (private) -- I love the inside and the location, but I really, really dislike the OUTSIDE as it is now. How can I make this little place darling -- I can take other people's projects and do wonders -- but my own house leads me to complete FRUSTRATION! PLEASE, please, please give me the help I need so I can move beyond my "stuck" position. Can this house be saved????
JO WHITE:
Always nice to brainstorm with a fellow designer! First, I want to say how sorry I am about your mother. I post funny stories and photos of my own little 85 year old mother on my JO WHITE facebook wall. We Southern girls really love our Mommas, don't we? I know you are missing yours.
Thanks so much for visiting my site, and YES! -- by all means -- there are a few simple, inexpensive things you can do to the exterior of your cottage, in keeping with cottage charm.
1) I would keep the front door black, but paint the shutters white, and paint your covered concrete porch black or white, or a black and white pattern similar to the one I used on Dove Cottage.
2) I would then install trellises on either side of the porch, such as these Black Expandable Bamboo Trellis -- and grow morning glory, climbing roses, wisteria, or clematis on them. On either side of the front door, in your black planters, drop in planted azaleas, inpatients, or hosta, with an ivy underplanting, that will take a little shade, since they're on the covered porch. These changes will draw the eye to your front porch entry to make it the focal point.
3) If you want window boxes, I would keep them to the windows on either side of the front door portico, again, to keep the focus in that area. I've been recommending (to great applause) attaching two galvanized aluminum buckets under each window, so all you have to do is drop already-planted flower baskets in them from the retailer or nursery, and you can change them out for different seasons or a different color plan. You don't have to plant anything, and if something dies, lift the basket out and replace it. You can paint the buckets white, or leave them the silver aluminum color. It's a great alternative to narrow window boxes!
4) On the front window on the opposite end from the entry, I would hang an attractive awning, possibly in a black and white toile. The beauty of this, is an awning is the simplest thing in the world to make -- It's a hemmed flat piece of fabric run on rods, with extension arms -- (see the striped one I made for Dove Cottage). This can be cut from a table cloth or shower curtain, and if needed, can be treated by spraying with a clear coat finish -- it's simple!
This will be a good start -- you're a designer, so all you need are a few guidelines, and you can let your imagination take you the distance. I'm so excited for you to have such a lovely cottage -- I'd love to see pics after you've done a little work!
On Saturday, January 19th
A Reader asked:
We've built a large new living space onto our lake house, with open views on two sides, and we still have a house for sale with some furniture left in it. My husband doesn't want me to spend a lot of money decorating the new space. I'm not sure which direction to go, what to keep, what to get rid of, and what to buy. Can you help?
JO WHITE:
This is a common dilemma with homeowners in transition between two homes. You want a new look, but you'd also like to incorporate some of the furnishings you already have and just aren't sure how to go about it. You came to the right place!
(I met with the homeowner in the lake house to assess the situation before writing the next part. I talked with her about their lifestyle, about the pieces of furniture still in the other home, and took visual inventory of the pieces already being used in the lake house.)
Right now, you have your seating spread out between the old living room, a walk-through breakfast room, and the new large great room. You want to add a large flat-screen TV in the new great room. Your lifestyle doesn't require two separate living rooms, you love to cook and the only place you have to serve a meal is at the small oval breakfast table, so here's my suggestion:
1) Remove the sofa from the original living room and move it into the new great room in a corner pattern with the sofa already there. No, they don't match, but that can be a great look once you tie it all together. Place a rug over the carpet in that area to designate your new cozy seating corner.
2) Use one of the two beautiful dressers you still have in the other house, place it diagonally in the corner opposite the two sofas, as a TV stand for the new big screen TV, removing drawers and drilling through the back for cords, to house electonics in an attractive way. This will provide you with a one-of-a-kind attractive TV stand (eliminating a run-of-the-mill particle board stand), utilize what you already have, and give you some extra storage.
3) Move the breakfast table to the open area in front of the new TV and stunning lake views, to be used for small meals just for the two of you, and as a game table.
Now you have an empty original living room, and an empty walk-through breakfast room area.
4) Build a kitchen island where the breakfast table stood, to expand your kitchen work space (the homeowner loves to cook).
5) Bring your dining table set from the other house, and place it in what was the original living room of the lake house. You didn't have a place for it before, but now that you've opened up the old living room, and have greater workspace in your kitchen, you can have a formal dining room where you and your husband can throw candlelight dinner parties.
Your total investment in this new plan? The cost of building a small kitchen island -- and since your husband is a builder, he'll be happy to know, in this new floor plan, it's the only money I'm suggesting you spend.
On Monday, January 7th
Tina Lange asked : Can you give me some pointers for a new Beautiful Transitions thrift store Tiffany Atkins and I will be opening in Blue Ridge?
JO WHITE: Great question -- not only have I been the opening consultant for thrift stores in three states, but thrift stores are close to my heart. I grew up with a savvy mother -- and shopping in Salvation Army stores are some of my earliest recollections. Back then, they were pretty much the only thrift stores around.
My best advice for you and Tiffany is to remember that thrift stores are retail stores. The same concepts used in retail boutiques should also be used in thrift stores, the main three being (1) the use of both psychologically stimulating and emotionally soothing color and music, (2) consistently rearranging floor plans and displays to keep customers seeing something new, and (3) knowing your merchandise -- even if it was donated.
In addition -- in a retail thrift store setting where clothing is sold, you'll need to have comfortable, attractive dressing rooms with good lighting and distortion-free mirrors. One of the main turn-offs in thrift stores is being directed to a public bathroom with concrete walls and floor to try on clothing. Often you have to take off your shoes and stand on that cold, bare floor. It's so easy to build dressing rooms --- which are nothing more than boxes without plumbing!
In Treasures on First, a thrift store I opened for Oconee Christian Academy in Seneca, SC, we built two dressing rooms that were each 5' x 5'. We painted them pretty colors, covered one entire wall in each with plate glass mirror (which made them appear more spacious), placed pretty boudoir chairs & side tables and attractive oriental rugs in each, provided soft lighting from table and floor lamps, installed plenty of wall hooks, and hung tiny stereo speakers in them. Ladies actually came into the store -- which is still going strong 9 years later -- because they'd heard about the beautiful dressing rooms! When customers were in those dressing rooms, they may have been trying on inexpensive second hand merchandise, but they felt like they were in a tony boutique, which made them feel good and made the merchandise more attractive, which in turn created sales. Everything --- EVERYTHING about retailing is psychological, and must appeal to the senses.
I know you'll have a lot of questions, so I'll sit down with you and Tiffany to help you have the best thrift store in Blue Ridge!
Readers: Tina Lange has communicated with me that they are starting over in Blue Ridge from scratch, and are in need of clothing and household donations. Their contact information is as follows: Tina Lange 706.851-5872 or Tiffany Atkins 706.855-5630, or email them: beautifultransitions@live.com
~
On Saturday, January 5th
A READER asked: When I moved into my house a few years ago, I immediately replaced the builder light fixture in the dining area of my great room with a simple five-arm brass fixture, but now every time I try to add seasonal decor, the base of one of the "candles" keeps coming off and sliding down. I found the fixture at a yard sale, so I definitely got my money out of it, but I'm tired of dealing with it and want to replace it. I saw the chandelier pictured here and I really do love crystal chandeliers, but the furniture in my open great room is casual. Would something like this look out of place?
JO WHITE: My answer is both Yes and No. Still with me?
One of the most popular additions in the "look" of today's interiors, is the crystal chandelier. It has made a greater comeback than almost any other one item, has impacted the lighting industry in a big way, and is considered a great investment item for your home. They've become such an integral part of today's homes, they're now even used in kitchens and bathrooms. I'm glad to hear you love them. Yes, a crystal chandelier can be incorporated into almost any style interior, even casual, to give an updated look, but there's something else you should consider doing to tie it all together. DO THIS: If you have a lot of casual furniture with a strong rustic wood-grain such as oak, it's time to update some of it by painting it distressed white or lightly white-washing it. In Europe, this look is called Paris Flea Market, and here in America, you know it as Shabby Chic or Country Chic. Crystal chandeliers work best in casual settings if there is a substantial amount of white in the decor. This can be inexpensively accomplished by covering a piece or two of upholstered furniture with washable ready-made white slipcovers or throws (I often comb thrift-stores for textured white bedspreads), white-washing a pattern on the floor, painting a few picture or mirror frames white, or painting a piece or two of wood grain furniture in the distressed white finish. You can also mix and match white chairs with a wood table, or vice versa. The look can then be accessorized by adding a few white crocks or vases filled with pastel flowers such as hydrangeas, or if you have high ceilings -- white pussy willows or pampas plumes in a tall white vase will complete the look. You'll give your great room a fresh new casual "now" look that ties it all together, and the crystal chandelier will look right at home. It's that simple.
~
JANEEN PLOTT asked: I painted my bathroom a beautiful shade of yellow, but it’s only beautiful during the day. It looks like baby poo at night! Why is that?
JO WHITE: Janeen was brave enough to express her frustration in a visually colorful way. Incandescent lighting will change the color of paint. Light bulbs actually come in several colors, from yellow, true white, to pink which simulates day light. Do this: Try using true color bulbs, such as bright white, and see if that helps, Janeen. Next time you paint a room, get a color chip of the paint and tape it to the wall. See how it looks in daylight and in artificial light. If there's a difference, try different light bulbs before you paint to see if it helps. I'm sure artists and painters such as Al Garnto will agree -- the color yellow you chose probably has a lot of green pigment in it that's shining through like poo under artificial light!
FLOYD SCHULTZ asked: I see beautiful bookcases in photos, but the built-in wall of bookcases in our office/library area is a mess. How do I make it look like the ones I see in photos?
Jo White: First of all, Floyd, photos are staged to make the homes you see in magazines, on-line and on TV look perfect. That’s not the way people live. I see bookcase challenges in both homes and offices everywhere I go. Second, there is one simple thing anyone can do to make their bookcases look fabulous, but for some reason, it’s the concept least often taught by designers. I haven’t a clue why. Do this: Move ALL your books to line up evenly with the FRONT edge of your bookcase. Most people push them to the back wall where some stick out and some disappear because of the different sizes of books. Vary the books by lying some down in stacks on their sides, and some standing up, but in either case, make sure they ALL line up with that front edge. You’ll be amazed what this small change will make. After that, you can balance your accessories and collectibles here and there for interest, such as photos, baskets, and pottery. It’s that simple.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comment! ~Jo