Progress Report!

After a long drive to Charlotte, N.C. with a van full of necessary supplies and accessories, we spent the day designing, marking, and taping the stripes. My favorite, 10" wide. We were undecided whether to select one shade lighter or one shade darker. I brought with me two of the fabulous 8x10 paint memos furnished by Sherwin Williams. That was our first task of the day! Then, we headed off to the paint store to pick up our contrasting color and a few supplies.

We spent the first half of the day marking off the stripes. Multiple times we exclaimed how we could not imagine doing this without Sneelock's striping template! He fashioned this for me two years ago when we designed the living room for the Bucks County Designer Show house. It was a godsend for sure! I highly recommend it. Linda exclaimed how she had not realized that this part of the project took the lion's share of time. Indeed! And, it's definitely a two person job. (It doesn't hurt to have a best friend and total entertainer as your right hand man!)

Living in the south doesn't have too many disadvantages. But one that I can think of is the rarity of basements! Often over the years, I have teased her about her "warehouse dining room". She also, has a design business and more often than not, her dining room is her "stockroom"! Oh, dear. I thought you might be interested to see that now, her once pristine living room has become the "stockroom"...at least for the time being, until we can find homes for what used to be harbored in the dining room. EEK!

I just realized that I don't have a photo of the room marked off prior to painting the contrast color...not sure why! I can tell you that blogger was being a real uncooperative assistant in downloading photos. It was taking me about 5 minutes per photo. I guess in my frustration, I left several out! This is a photo of the newly painted stripes prior to the green tape being removed. Tape is placed on the outside lines of the stripe to be painted, thus making the stripes appear to be random widths...really not!

We both got to work with small low nap rollers. The top and bottom need to be cut in with a brush, but the rest can carefully be done with the rollers. The painting portion went quite fast! The marking, not so much. A good team can make this happen in one good day's work.

An unusually cloudy North Carolina day necessitated the use of these work lamps. These same lamps proved to be the cause of Linda changing into this ever so stylish set of painting clothes!

A corner shot of our efforts after removing the frog tape . Frog tape is a new invention in painter's tape that fairly prevents bleeding for such projects! Good thinking! We had great success and were pleased with our results, which ended in few touch ups. (Note the striping template leaning in the window).

Tomorrow, we are going to complete the room with most of the art, accessories and finishing details. That's when the real satisfaction is felt. So far, we're loving our successful and very stylish Restyle!

This is our condensed mound of used tape! Nice sight now that's it's all been removed....

Sneak peek before completion!

Just to keep your interest up, I have several additional photos of the progress that has been made in our Restyle project in Charlotte, N.C.

Linda has kept the project moving along and has everything in place for our final phase to be completed this next week (barring any further complications of an ugly respiratory infection I have been plagued with this past week-ugh.)

All the painting has been completed.

Draperies are in the process of being installed! (Man, I love this fabric!!!) It's difficult to tell from this light exposure that the draperies are a subtle gray/blue and cream hip floral!

Coming up-
a. painted stripes (color to be determined after we consult!)
b. accessories to be placed and hung
c. Final photos!
d. Ooh's and Ahh's to follow.

I should arrive late Wednesday night and the fun begins on Thursday! Stay tuned for the finished room.

What a way to start a marathon shopping trip for Black-eyed Susan at High Point!

While you were sleeping...

As for the absence of posts...too many late nights at the store!

Shannon and I spent too many nights reworking the floor and finding delight in the many new items calling our names from the stockroom shelves. And that's the truth.

The Vanguard sale will be over at month's end. We've received several additional orders of furniture in which always requires a late night of creative magic, re-arranging rooms, and setting the stage for inspiration. So today, before I left the store, I snapped these photos of some of the great new sofas and chairs that we had to work with this week. Each time you turn the corner, there's another grouping to love.

My absolute favorite! Urban chic, combined with comfort and transitional style. I designed this one in a great menswear herringbone that is subtle yet defined. All five pillows are included in the price! All of the collections are available to purchase right off the floor, or by special order in hundreds of fabrics. I'm here, along with my design staff, to help make your design dreams come to life.

I love this one so much that I designed on in a natural linen, and another in a mohair substitute heather ed velvet. Soooooooo comfy! No need for stadium seating when you can sink into this. And those cute chairs in the foreground are natural linen with an outside back made from an old tobacco sack. Way cute!

This great sofa is in a cool tweed texture. Color: taupe, the new neutral. Late one night, Shannon and I decided if we ever cut the floral department to a bare minimum, we would only need this color of green! It makes almost anything charming and inviting! This sofa has a fresh modern touch, yet is not so over the top that it couldn't blend into your traditional room.

A good way to kick it up a notch!

The most unusual and dressy piece I brought in is this! A bit of French influence makes this beauty striking and oh-so-stylish! (Note the metallic zebra linen!) It is subtle and very chic. The one cushion design is perfect for this style. If you have a fabulous salon room just waiting to be dressed, come check it out.

Two of these beautiful velvet tufted chairs flank the sofa and invite conversation. Ooh la la!

This is the velvet/mohair version of the linen one I love. Comfort for sure. The color is a medium taupe. Never mind those plaid accent pillows. I have no idea how those got into the mix. As my sister says, they were a "gift with purchase". And I don't like them much, either. Ugh. But never fear, there's plenty of room for snazzy pillows to appear.

...just a closer look at the dramatic oversized nailheads! Wow! You can select from 9 or 10 finishes and 4 sizes. I choose the large size!

And, if you're not in the market for a new sofa or chair...there's a lot of great spring looks waiting to go home with you!

What is it about eggs, anyway? Come on in for some inspiration and great prices.

As for me, I'm hoping for a little calmer week to come with less "night shift" work.

Love this color!

Our Restyle project is coming along. Paint is, indeed, a magic wand! Your least expensive quick change; stage-setter; mood changer; updater. It's all that and then some!

Linda had been used to the drama of red.We wanted the same drama, but different! The new neutral is taupe-y , cooler , grayer tones. Neutral can still be dramatic when paired with the perfect contrasts. Warm brown sugar tones in the adjacent living room set the stage for the new contrast of the dining room; SW Warm Stone, my new favorite. It was actually her home, that years ago launched my love of SW Halcyon Green (really blue...). While trying to find a compliment and to offer some relief from the deep golds, I landed on this color as a selection for her great room, and have never looked back. I have used that shade in one variation or anther since that time. Oops, I got off track while singing the praise of SW Halcyon! Back to SW Warm Stone.

Keep in mind as you look at the progress that the room yet has to be striped, so the walls and furniture are all the same color! Even with all that SW Warm Stone, Linda is loving the transformation so far. Take a look!

Still dramatic while being neutral...

*Note the painted ceiling! Anyone who knows my design style knows I always spec the ceiling to be painted in the same color. Yes. The SAME color, dark or light. The same color. Try it!

Our draperies are going to be a gorgeous modern gray-blue floral punctuated with a fairly true white. I selected a soft white for the trim with the inspiration of the fabric. Once the trim started to be painted, Linda made a decision to soften it a bit more. The original color seemed too stark.
Good call it seems. I'm loving the drama of this. You might review the original photos to see that the trim color was a deep gold. It's a fresh change-still, with drama!

In just a few weeks, I will arrive in Charlotte a few days prior to the High Point Furniture Market to help Linda complete the painted stripes. It will be a full day, but the change will be completed.

We purchased this vintage piece quite a few years ago and decided to make the brave change to---you guessed it, paint! Gotta love that SW Warm Stone. Ah hhhhh! (I always use satin for the finish on painted furniture.)


So there you have it, the most recent progress report on the Restyle Charlotte, NC project.

It will be fun to hear your opinions so far. It may be a week or so before the next report.

A little explanation...

I've got an update on my North Carolina Restyle, but no time to drop and drag my photos! I've had to leave my house before 8:00am every morning this week, and haven't gotten home from work until long after dinner...then an hour or so of email catch ups and a few blogs to read-holy moly!!

I'll try again tomorrow. I can tell you there are some cute new things in the store that I've been putting out and, FYI--if you want any of the new moss orbs, you'd better run on in! They're almost gone. Darn. I love those things.

It's sad to sell the things I love! I've heard that's the name of the game, but sometimes I'm just not ready.

Floral sale in progress; Vanguard Furniture sale month with more great pieces coming early next week!

Hopefully, a new report with photos tomorrow.

second thoughts...

We're well into the dining room Restyle project, and I have to say that my friend could be in the throws of regrets!

Making room for the next piece of the puzzle means clearing the garage from two rows of dining room chairs to make room for the dining room table. (Never mind the cars...)
It's a bit like musical chairs actually! The real inside scoop is that she is in the stage of being totally frustrated with the disruption of her living space. It happens.

With the personality and familiar favorites of the former dining room taken down in preparation for the painter who arrives within the next few days, the project now becomes utter chaos. Linda is wondering if this really is a good idea..."why, oh why did I do this?"

Red walls still remain, draperies are down, along with our once favorite vintage frames and plates...it's just a red room.

"Where in the world will I put all the old stuff? Really? Is change worth all this?!" (Anyone interested in some of the old accessories-check back a few posts-email me for prices.)

"May I ask how my once immaculate living room now serves as a storage unit?" *sigh* "Calgon, take me away."


Okay, hang in there Linda. The painter will be finished with the base coat on the walls and ceilings soon enough. I'll be there shortly to help paint the stripes...it'll be fun! Really. We'll reupholster the chair pads, Restyle the accessories, hang the drapes and install the new chandelier (my favorite, of course!). You're coming down the home stretch now, don't give up.

Perhaps you could clear a path through the garage, and you could invite guests in through kitchen door. Well, after all, the path to the front door is now an obstacle path.

Now, while Linda is trying to hold on to her sanity, I still have a few details to take care of:

:: new fabric selection for the dining room chairs
:: re purpose or find a home for former accessories
:: design new accessory plan and place said orders
:: talk Sneelock into driving to North Carolina AGAIN...
:: locate striping template in warehouse, oops garage
:: select art with a fresh, hip look
:: say a prayer about painting problems with the dining room table
:: continue daily pep talks with Linda
:: hold my breath and continue the magic


Wish us luck. We can't stop now...