April 14, 2021

Underfoot

April 14, 2021/ Meryl

Ever since I added this lovely Nuloom rug to the Chalet diningroom I’ve had tons of inquiries. So today I’m sharing why I picked it and what were my maybes.

The Moroccan hand-knotted tribal rug we had in the dining room for 16 years.

This rug in Charlotte Martin Smith’s home started me thinking - Why don’t I have something as vibrant and pretty in the Chalet???

I immediately found the rug on Boutique Rugs. I bookmarked it and kept looking.

This geometric cutie was just so fun! I knew it would work in the space.

I’m also a fan of a traditional oriental and I thought maybe I’d go vintage. Maybe find to evoke the same feeling as my friend Alison M. Sheffield’s beautiful dining room. I started on-line shopping and looking at images from estate sales but, nothing was getting me excited.

I found these through Boutique Rugs.

I purchased my porch rugs through Wayfair and I really liked this Dessie Oriental. It met the most important criteria I have - 100% wool.

I’m a huge fan of Crate & Barrel - this Blue Modern Geometric is from their kids line - I always find great options in this shop. I thought this was fun but, ultimately thought better of the white under our only dining table and I was also concerned the different weaves might prove a tripping hazard.

I found these from Nuloom.

I was really drawn to the lovely color palette of the Ehtel Medallion Fringe - the nontraditional copper, mustard, pale pink and blue really appealed to me - what did not was the fringe and the fact that it was polyester.

The pale pink of the Thalia Vernal Medallion was pretty but, I started thinking do I really want to go with yet another light colored rug - the answer obviously no.

In the end it came down to these three options. The Dessie seemed too safe an option and the Chalet would feel too traditional. The Kaitlyn while lovely is 100% Polypropylene and do I understand having an easy clean option under a table has a lot of merit - just not for me. It lead to me to the Traditional Eve Global - it’s 100% wool with glorious colors and no fringe! It ticked all my must haves! And it plays so well with our Crate & Barrel Solid Blue Baxter and Safavieh Glamour Rugs.

Dessie Oriental

Kaitlyn

Traditional Eve Global

This pattern is AWESOME! The Red! The Blue! The Pink! The Orange! It makes me smile every time I see it!

I really appreciate you being here - thanks so much for your support! Take care and stay safe til next time!

March 03, 2021

A Refreshing Recipe for Change

March 03, 2021/ Meryl

This week I’m sharing a space I helped my dear friend refresh. Late last summer my girlfriend lamented how she wanted to scrap her entire livingroom. Of course the designer in me immediately took over. I started asking questions - the very first being - What feeling do you want the space to evoke? While I was in the car with the boys on our way to the beach - she and I were texting at the same time I was looking up rugs, and other furnishings.

I get it 5 months into Lock-down and I think a lot of us were looking around our homes and thinking ICK!!! The first thing we did together was talk about what would make the biggest impact in the room.

Some of you will have guessed what it was before I type it - PAINT - if you ever start to feel over a space - the least expensive and most impactful way to reinvigorate those happy feelings is through paint.

The Livingroom was painted in Benjamin Moore Hot Spring Stones with Linen Ivory trim. Now, It’s Sherwin Williams Snowbound on both the walls and trim.

Hot Spring Stones

Snowbound

What a difference… the space felt brighter and lighter.

The other element that changed was the rug. The previous (I wish I had a picture of it) was brown. This new beauty located through Rugsource introduced so many colors while still grounding the room because of it’s navy base. I told her to mix the pattern rug with whatever pillows she wanted and the feeling will be wonderful and uniquely hers.

Next I talked pillow covers and I turned to my favorite source: Annabel Bleu. A few pieces from the Indigo Farmhouse Collection were chosen.

As you can see there are a bunch of frames on the sectional - the family photos that had once lined the stairwell were relocated to the livingroom and new graphic art pieces were chosen for the space: Conversationalist 1 by Rikki Drotar and Blue Rapture II by Julia Contacessi through Art.com.

Conversationalist 1

Blue Rapture II

The movement and intense colors are captivating!

The refresh extended to other spaces. The front hall has a new Pottery Barn rug. The dining room’s new rug is from Wayfair. The downstairs office off the livingroom went from gray to a lovely vibrant blue with the addition of Sherwin Williams Needlepoint Navy.

The downstairs of this open airy 1929 colonial is a sea of blues with thoughtful touches of cream, tan and white.

I want to extend an extra special thank you and big hugs to my dear girlfriend Andy - thanks momma for asking my opinions and having faith when I said a few changes would accomplish what you were after xoxo!!!

What was done:

Paint
Rugs
Pillows
New Art
New shades for the fireplace sconces

This design is Minimal Traditional with a Beachy vibe and I love it!

February 24, 2021

Revisiting the Reimagined

February 24, 2021/ Meryl

I receive inquiries regarding the items we live with here in the Chalet so this week I’m sharing my thoughts about them and what, if anything - I’d do differently.

During the Summer of 2018 I got the itch to change things around. I started by completely revamping the Livingroom console table. Changing the orientation of the family photos and adding books to the top of the table made such an impact. Then I moved onto finding a new coffee table. I love this table from Home Sense with its brass accented legs and the round shape was definitely the way to go.

In October 2018 our new Montclair Sofa from Crate & Barrel arrived. I had to reorder it, when the original didn’t have fabric suitable to be scotch-guarded. We ended up with a microfiber fabric but, I do have a piece of the original heathered herringbone fabric that I will eventually sew into a pillow cover. The sofa is pretty stain resistant and comfortable but, truth be told the original fabric of linen and cotton had more give because it was natural fabric - the sofa was more comfy.

If I had known the difference would I have gone with a microfiber or maybe just have gone with a different color? I don’t know. Look at these side by side images taken 11 days apart - granted the time of day and light conditions aren’t exactly the same but, you can see that the white sofa did what I wanted - what I hoped it would do - it brought a feeling of lightness to the space.

Then I added a pair of matching lamps from Home Sense on the sideboard. I really love the balance in the space. I am tossing around the idea of updating the shades with fabric. And friends can I share - that I chuckle at the fact I have six lamps that are either green or turquoise!

In February of 2019 I swapped the beige and blue chairs in the livingroom! I was on my way to being wholly in-love with the room after our antique Bergère chair was brought into the space. The addition of the lovely New Zealand Wool Baxter rugs from Crate & Barrel left me absolutely gaga! And just this past weekend I unveiled the large abstract canvas I painted. This space is still evolving.

I will say the coffee table, sofa and rugs are holding up marvelously. The rugs shed very little from the get-go. So yes, I will give all of these pieces a great big thumbs up.

Like I said - would I have gone with a white microfiber again? I don’t know. Maybe I would have gone with color instead - a green or blue sofa. The idea of bringing in more color definitely appeals to me but, then the rugs would need to change and if any of you were here and read my article Chalet Design than you will remember it took me 6 months to find my Crate & Barrel Baxter Rugs. I even ordered rugs from a different company I sent back because they caused me to have one of my Vertigo attacks. The space is 10 x 24 and many don’t seem to notice I use 3 separate rugs to cover it. We have a 5x8, an 8x10 and a 6x9. Swapping the sofa for a color would cause a domino effect friends. So for now I am pleased.

I continue to crave color and I brought in more with the addition of my ever changing pillow collection, the new canvas and the new curtains I sewed for our kitchen once it was painted and recently with our new diningroom rug. I’ll be sharing a piece about the diningroom transformation in a few weeks.

If you’d like to read two articles dedicated to the transformation of the space please click the titles. Design Shift and Chalet Design.

Tell us what would you change about your space? Leave a comment below.

Til next time friends be safe and wear your mask!