A love of toile

I'm not really toile obsessed, I only have one toile curtain in my house. Really. Only one. But, who doesn't love a good toile done very well. Reading about Horchows upholstered headboards on Mrs. Blanding's post,because I need one of those, too, drove me to the Horchow site and thence to this delightful headboard.

And then there were three

I know, Clive said it, but I was thinking it. All night long, I'd be thinking it, they'd be saying it.

Jennifer took on her sister's living room. When I saw what Jennifer was planning for the walls, it was 'like deja vu all over again'. Hmm, organic vining leaves painted on the walls haven't we seen this? Then Vern cautioned, she has to be careful to avoid being labeled a one trick pony. The graphic was really great looking.
Matt did his parents basement craft room and convert it to a combination craft room and game room. The craft tables are awesome, the roll away wall, everywhere form followed function. The black leather chairs were incredible. Martha McCulley, awesome necklace by the way, didn't care for them.They were designed to be easy to clean and comfortable. Had the chairs made a bigger graphic statement there would have been no negative comments. Those were big, bold graphic chairs, they needed to be the big bold graphic statement. I think the traditional sofa and the curtains damped down the statement they were crying to make. I think he was trying to balance his mother's definite wishes against his vision of the room. Why didn't anyone notice that to play those games, one has to stand, ack!
Trish had the most traditional room. She had the most traditional space and clients. Formulaic? Well, traditional follows a formula. The two chairs and a tall thing is part of the style. The fireplace was truly transformed and lifted the height of ceiling. She needed to remember to add that one discordant note. A bold contemporary piece of art would have done a lot to lift the traditional to esoteric.
Alas, someone had to go home, and the judges seemed clearly torn.

A calm sense of awe

The New York Times has an article on Chris Travis of Roundtop, Texas. The houses are not only breathtakingly beautiful but, are constructed with his clients’ needs and lives in mind. One Tuscan exterior belies the old barn interior. The wrought iron railings on the staircase, the beautiful sandy colored stone and the arched windows elicit a deep calming breath. But wait, there’s more! This isn’t just another pretty space. This architect did his homework, he created a space based on the way his clients saw themselves using the space.

A Handywipe gone wrong

Did the right person go home?

I am not so sure. Yes, the total look of the outfit was just wrong. But, it was a well crafted garment. And, I'd wear that over the diaper contraption anyday.

A Handywipe gone wrong, brought the house down with laughter!

Project Runway, Season 5 Begins tonight

Excitement! Project Runway begins a new season tonight. Another season of "You're out" and "Make it work" await us. Speaking of which, don't you wish HGTV's DesignStar had a Tim Gunn? Michael Kors, one of my favourite designers, is returning. I have long admired his clean lines and tailored sensibilties, even though I do have to troll TJ Maxx to afford his style!

If you are looking to create some of the Project Runway inspiration for yourself, I suggest Fashion Design Drawing Course from Amazon. More than a drawing course, it has lots of projects to help you expand your creativity.

Design Star

Now we are down to five.
This week, Tracee took the team lead for this project, a kitchen makeover to be done in two and one half days. On the big screen, that is, our basement "home theater" aka the wall, the kitchen translated to a reasonably nice kitchen. But in the still shots, the kitchen shows the lack of attention to detail. If this were a house staged to sell, with a limited amount of budget and time to accomplish, it would sell the house. Yes there are limitations when there is no time to wait on special orders, but more could have been done. Given ample time and the right conditions, i.e., no contracting surprises, the double ovens could have been relocated, the pennisula removed and an island installed.
Oh, did I neglect to mention that you might need a serious contractor on site to relocate those ovens? Really, two and one half days, actually two days and two hours is barely time to do anything more than cosmetic. Seriously, the only way to redo that kitchen in two days with any serious design is to have had advance knowledge of your site and the ability to order items that would be waiting on the truck when you pulled up to start. But this isn't Trading Spaces, blush.
The wood floors were stunning, the paint selections beautiful. However, the backsplash was missing, the kitchen lighting was lackluster and the molding was still stained wood around the doors and perimeter. Tracee demonstrated her time management skills were insufficient to the task. She shopped for tile, found a beautiful instock green glass and tumbled marble combination and had ample time available to return the tile to the house to be installed. Instead, she shopped on for a total of seven hours. Trust me, leave your contractors for seven hours with no tile and you either pay for them to sit for seven hours or they will go to another job. Frankly, just thirty minutes of delay can make for some uncomfortable gaps in the clients job.
The kitchen had no unfinished elements, it was coherent in its colour scheme and attractive. But, it needed a little more, such as a backsplash, to complete the look.