tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57511375139195451862024-03-05T15:24:15.593-08:00antique french livingfrench desings, french furniture, french living room7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.comBlogger499125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-30487041257047840602011-10-22T21:30:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.610-07:00Total Renovation for a 1960’s Houston Ranchburger This 60s era house for sale in Houston is a total renovation – completely updated – and all done on a budget. The owner is a reader who sent in the HAR listing, thinking others might be interested in seeing the befores and afters. Or course! There’s nothing better than looking at terrible before pictures next to wonderful afters!! 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-50129003608975892011-10-19T22:07:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.611-07:00A Great Giveaway - Patina Style!! One of my favorite design books this year is without a doubt “Patina Style.” Written by interior designer and blogger, Brooke and her architect and artist husband Steve Giannetti, the book takes you through a pictorial journey into their personal aesthetic – Patina Style. What a gorgeous world these two have created! Through their two houses, their clients 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-16600243012452185752011-10-13T00:56:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.611-07:00Glamping–Trailer Style I still love getting in a car and taking off on a long drive. Ben and I never fly to South Padre Island, we always opt for the six hour drive that takes us through the famous King Ranch and the rich, fertile valleys of South Texas. I think my love of car trips goes back to my childhood when each summer my dad would fix up the way-back of the station wagon 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-42651886299360637482011-10-10T21:42:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.611-07:00Restoration Hardware Is that a sofa or a centipede? Did you get the new Restoration Hardware catalogue? Over 600 pages and weighing 3 lbs, it’s been the talk of the business world and the internet: Is it green or not? How can they afford to put out something like this in our bad economy? Are they making money or losing money? I can’t remember another catalogue 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-56545082950380068272011-10-06T23:55:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.611-07:00FRENCH GARDEN HOUSE–BIG GIVEAWAY!!! “Antiques and Shabby French Chic Decor to Romance your Home & Garden” One of Cote de Texas sponsors, French Garden House, is offering a BIG giveaway today! When choosing sponsors for the blog, I’ve tried to provide those that I think tie in with the blog and French Garden House certainly does. They offer almost everything you could want in designing and furnishing7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-41821553072636281912011-10-05T02:48:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.612-07:00READERS KITCHEN SERIES #5 Continuing with the series Readers Kitchen, today we have a newly remodeled one to show. Enjoy! BEFORE: This kitchen had lots going on creating a busy looking design. Elements that added to the business include: dark wallpaper, ivory countertops mixed with the dark stone topped island, and a collection of brightly colored roosters.&7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-55942882511399077482011-10-02T19:02:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.612-07:00EVOLUTION OF A ROOM–Part Three If you read this blog, you know the story well. A few years ago, after replacing my kitchen’s tile countertop with white marble, my yellow walls looked horrible. Since all the rooms downstairs open up to each other, I was forced to paint them all a new color - Feathered Gray by Pratt and Lambert – which is a warm gray shade that looks taupe in certain light. 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-91741242006996213522011-09-28T00:07:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.612-07:00A HUGE AND FABULOUS GIVEAWAY FROM BROWN!!! Last year I showed a house that I had decorated that was across the street from my own house. In the breakfast area, I used a large, contemporary styled lantern. The lantern came from BROWN, a fabulous lighting and decor shop in Houston owned by the talented Jill Brown. Afterwards, Jill was kind enough to host a giveaway of the same lantern here on 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-84655982895079919122011-09-24T20:31:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.612-07:00Reaching Outside The Box and Getting a Decorating Inspiration NOTE: So sorry to have been away so long. I’ve had a rash of computer issues this week including Writers Live blogging issues, a computer virus (which is going around and is very serious!) and a crashed hard drive. Makes me hate Windows and PCs and Sony Vaio. I would love to switch to Apple, but Apple doesn’t support my blogging platform – so, unfortunately, I’m 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-14220937961002162542011-09-19T02:06:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.612-07:00La Bastide, A French Beauty, California Style “La Bastide” – this is a picture of the casita. Today, I have a very special house to show. A house that is really what dreams are made of. “La Bastide” is large at 10,000 sq. ft. with 6 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms, including two powder rooms. There is a formal dining room/library, a large living room, gourmet kitchen, family room, media 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-85214710091104527632011-09-14T22:55:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.613-07:00White Marble For the Kitchen, Yes or No?A quarry in Carrara Italy – the quarry is so vast the trucks look like ants. My nephew and niece are in the process of buying an older house and asked me to join them on an outing to pick out some kitchen appliances and countertops. My niece is heavily involved on Pinterest, the hottest thing in internet interior design – so she’s up on all the trends. Their kitchen is rather 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-51249446068705628822011-09-10T04:03:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.613-07:00Readers Kitchens Series #4 This next kitchen in our series comes from reader Susie Bohnsack, who has an interior design service – Pearhouse Designs - HERE. Although Susie lives in New Jersey, her town, Delran, is actually a suburb of Philadelphia. The kitchen shown today was completely gutted and expanded – it originally was 25 x 10, but an additional 19 x 6 was added on. It’s a stunning 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-89942544643263222342011-09-07T18:46:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.613-07:00West U Home Tour–One More!After previously showing a few of the homes on this year’s West University Home Tour – I am so excited to show you one more! I had to wait a while on this one because the house was published in a magazine. But, I have more photographs than they do – maybe not as GOOD as their photographs, but I have MORE!!! As you can see, this is a large house – especially so for West 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-47747106080106899442011-09-02T18:01:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.613-07:00Design Schizophrenia: WWPPD? My so-called attempt at less clutter – no colorful Masonware in favor of white books and white shells. I wrote about this a few years ago HERE, but it doesn’t seem to get any better. Design Schizophrenia. Last time out, I fretted over clutter versus no clutter. What do you do when you love the cluttered look of an old English manor, but you also love the 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-21537725034137273632011-08-31T03:07:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.613-07:00MORE Ikea Tales, Part Three Continuing on the theme with tales from IKEA, I want to show you a kitchen that was completely updated, all in IKEA appliances! Did you even know that IKEA sold appliances? I didn’t. But apparently, they are Whirlpool product, which is quite a reputable firm, plus they have a 5 year warranty. The homeowner Christy writes a blog Beach Brights7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-2394394623681912142011-08-26T20:48:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.614-07:00IKEA TALES–PART TWO! Here’s an update on Elisabeth’s apartment: We made it to Florida and thankfully for us, but not for them, the hurricane is headed up the east coast, although it was so windy and rained so hard, it felt like Irene landed here. Can I just say something right off? I HATE IKEA!! How they stay in business I will never know. Yes, I know. 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-56803807485384859082011-08-22T00:54:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.614-07:00Ikea Tales Well, it’s that time again – school’s back in session. Last year, I showed pictures of my daughter Elisabeth’s dorm room (above) that we fixed up with help mostly from Pine Cone Hill and Target. My daughter is really the one who furnished it – she picked out the brown futon and hot pink chairs and ottoman from Target – and the brown and white bedding from Pine 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-70282439363423674202011-08-18T00:24:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.614-07:00MUNGER INTERIORS Elizabeth Munger, an interior designer from Houston, emailed me with a few pictures of some kitchen renos for the Readers Kitchens series. But, after looking at Munger Interiors’s web site, I was so impressed with their portfolio, I wanted to show it all! Elizabeth and her sister Amy started Munger Interiors in 2008. Besides interior design they also 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-57568362312309838902011-08-15T06:31:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.614-07:00A Perfect Paris Apartment from Paris Perfect I started off the Readers Kitchens Series with this darling compact kitchen in Paris, France. The owners of this apartment live in Atlanta and are partners of Huff Harrington Fine Art HERE. When they aren’t in Paris, the apartment is available to rent from Paris Perfect HERE. Some people prefer to rent apartments when traveling in 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-84362634454317566212011-08-12T03:18:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.614-07:00New Living Room Redo Here’s a redo of a living room I recently completed for a long-time client – one of my first. I always say I probably wouldn’t even be doing interior design if it wasn’t for this client who pushed me and gave me the confidence to keep at it. The client moved into this house around ten years ago and at the time we recovered some of her furniture from her old 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-27661998841453979002011-08-10T16:30:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.615-07:00READERS KITCHEN SERIES: #3 Continuing on with the series, Readers Kitchens, I want to thank everyone who has sent in their pictures. If you still haven’t, don’t worry, you have plenty of time to do so. Judging from the number of admissions, the series will run for quite awhile. Also, if you have a new house or a recently redecorated one and are proud of it, send in those pictures too! 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-37253485929290453752011-08-08T09:43:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.615-07:00Convincing Your Husband To Decorate Your Way I recently wrote an article for the current issue of Antique Shops and Designers – a décor magazine which is produced here in Houston. This was the fourth issue I had contributed to, and this time I chose to tackle a subject I am asked about a lot: How do I get my husband to let me decorate the way I want to? Now, understand that I used the word “7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-61475641121007120312011-08-04T17:06:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.615-07:00READERS KITCHENS SERIES: #2 Summer roses at Slim Paley’s beach house. I was thrilled when one of my favorite bloggers, Slim Paley, sent in pictures of a kitchen redo for the Readers Kitchen series. In case you don’t read her blog, HERE, I suggest you try it out – she leads a glamorous life with her husband and children and her blog is filled with the most gorgeous photographs she takes herself.&7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-19386997923728823742011-08-02T11:57:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.615-07:00Coffee Tables 101 When I showed my newly remodeled living room a few weeks ago, I got a lot of comments. Many were positive and liked the new decor, but many didn’t like the changes at all. I got a lot of ideas from the comments – some I actually liked, such as use a zebra rug instead of the white cowhide. The majority of the negative comments concerned my coffee table, which is 7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751137513919545186.post-54440673713080951952011-07-28T20:31:00.000-07:002011-10-29T03:27:59.615-07:00A Georgian in Georgia I got an email from a reader who wanted me to show her kitchen in the Readers Kitchens series. But after seeing pictures of her entire house, there was no way I could only show her kitchen! The house is located in a gated community, Chatham Park, in Fulton County, Georgia. When the owners first saw the house, it had been left unfinished for over three years.7for7http://www.blogger.com/profile/07684210471481245603noreply@blogger.com0