Shutter Obsession

"OMG, look at those Beautiful Blue Shutters!"  Photo courtesy of my Navigator and best Sista Eva! 

When we were in Europe this past summer, I became obsessed with shutters.  Enjoy a trip down shutter lane.

One Shutter

White Shutters
(This was the house we stayed in in A small little town outside of Paris.)
Chateau de Jon Villiers.  I HIGHLY recommend it!

No Shutters
in Fontainbleu

Closed Shutters
 

Mountain Shutters
Somewhere between France and Italy



A Table Set in Cassis, amongst Beautiful Shutters

Simple Shutters
Cassis

 

Colorful shutters
Cinque Terre, Italy

Roller Shutters
Bra, Italy
Where my sister is studying at SlowFood International



"Can I Fit them in my suitcase" Shutters
A Store in Provence

 

Rustic Shutters
Aix en Provence



Garage Shutters.
Aix en Provence

Forem Des Cardeurs in Aix en Provence



Now I ask you this question.....
Could you IMAGINE a ShutterLESS Europe?

I Shutter to think! 
(I couldn't help myself!)

 

Custom Ikea Desk

Hi Friends...I am not even going to make excuses. or promises to post more often.  I am just going to post when I post and let that be it.  Soooooooo...

A recent Client Project.

Recently, I was asked to create a Sunroom design for a client.  The screened porch was going to be enclosed, and they needed the whole room designed.  One of the requirements was storage and a desk of some sort.  Well the way the room is set up, the only place for storage and a desk was in a corner.  If any of you have ever tried to find a corner desk, let me tell you....it is NOT easy.  I looked, and looked, and looked some more, to no avail.  Not to be discouraged,  I decided to design my own.

 I was inspired by the great mid century pieces similar to these...but wanted to add a cottagy spin to it.

via RoomService



via Brand Mojo on Etsy

I decided to achieve the look I wanted,  I could do it with pieces from good Ol' Ikea.  The final result will look custom and nothing like an out of the box desk.

Originally, I wanted the BestA for my shelves.  When trekked up to Charlotte for my big shopping trip.... low and behold I was told that they had a "run on those shelves" the night before and they were totally out!   Ahhhhhhh, what to do.  Turns out the Stuva in the children's section is virtually identical in size.

BestA

 

Stuva

And a drawer to go along with it.

Crisis averted...shew!

Next I needed a top.  Numerar to the rescue.  For this project I bought  (2) 95" lengths.

All I needed was a pair (or 2) of handy people to help me cut and put it all together.  (2) L-brackets hold the waterfall top together, and a handfull of screws.   I also replaced the hardware on the drawer with a cup pull. Voila!

Just goes to show,  that
A.) Just because it doesn't exist in a store, doesn't mean it can't be done. 
B.) out of the box doesn't necessarily mean that is how you have to use it as such
C.)  "Custom" doesn't necessarily mean big bucks!

Hope your inspired to do some " Ikea hacking"!

My Fabric Design all Hung up!

I Finally got my Fabric Design Hung in the upstairs hallway.  I even made the drapes myself!  During one of the hottest days of the year....I was a one woman sweatshop.   I am not sure what to call the design, but I am sure it will come to me.  I created this design a long time ago, (read about it here.)  Inspired by the infamous Florence Broadhurst.    Mind you, this is before Kate Spade came out with the Florence Broadhurst line back in February...Florence Broadhurst has been one of my favorite fabric designers, like forever!   Maybe I will call her, Florence Floral:)  I plan on selling a few of my designs in the Fall...in a few different colorways, so stay tuned.

Here is another view...

Anyway...I am preparing for a big trip...I am really excited about it.  I will be taking lots of photos with Instagram, so if you want to see where I am and when, follow me....#gretchenostudio.  I promise you won't be disappointed.  (at least I hope not:)

Have a great rest of your weekend.

Gretchen

A Client Project....Beaded Chandelier!

This is just a little something I installed recently.  It is in an eat in nook for a client of mine.  You will have to   imagine a Saarinen table underneath with Xback bistro chairs on a black and white cowhide rug. This was one of  the only photos I took, as they came home before I could take too many photos.

My client had fallen in love with one of the infamous Marjorie Skouras Beaded Chandelier seen below.

We definitely did not have $4k in the budget for an original, but you know me, where there is a will there is a way! 

Here is a little looky as to what the chandelier looked like before I transformed it with paint and turquoise beads  from Fire Mountain Gems.

This Chandelier used to be strung with prism's....I bought the shell from the guy and let him keep the sparkley crystals...as I did not need them:) The wiring was still good and I was ecstatic that I had found it! All it needed was a little paint and new beads.  Et Voila!

I didn't really create a tutorial, because it is pretty self explanatory. 
Paint First+Beads +Wire=Pretty Chandelier.  

I considered using fishing wire, but thought better of it and used metal bead wire because I thought it would be safer under the heat of the light.

you can see the wire on this before I trimmed it.
Which is another tip, leave extra wire, and don't clip until the very end in case you have to make adjustments.

Just goes to show...a little imagination can go a LONG way, and that budget doesn't have to get in the way of making a room what you want.

It's gonna be another scorcher here in ol' South Cackalacky.  Have you all been doing any projects to keep your mind off the heat?

 

 

Instagram....where have I been???

These words are words to LIVE by!

This weekend I FINALLY downloaded Instagram.  Wow!  I may be addicted.  I have always enjoyed taking photos, but this makes it so much more fun, and there is instant gratification with effects.   Here is what I took this weekend.  My husband and I were able to get away to Asheville for a quick visit. And we always hit the antique stores.  The Tobacco Barn being a favorite.  But this time we made it to The Screened Door, which was awesome.  I was able to snag a few things for clients.

Enjoy.

All of that glass, so pretty.

Husband was enthralled by the smokey and the bandit hood.

Kind of adore this fabric.

Maybe I would sew more on a green machine! HA!

Always drawn to orange.  Love this simple pattern.

An antique store called Odd Fellows.  They always have great one of kind pieces. 

Ma Famille.  I love them to pieces. 

Having a wonderful summer so far.  I hope you all are as well.  What about this bizarro weather??  For those of you in the south, you know what I mean.   I am certainly not complaining, but for real, this is weird.  I mean low 80's, seriously...the motto of our town is Famously Hot, and I am still using the attic fan in June.  Let's hope it keeps up.  Happy Days.

Green Stairwell...Revealed!

Ok, I have left you waiting long enough!  Here is the reveal of the stairwell.   I always hated the hand rail, it seemed as though it was just hanging there. This is something I have been mulling over for a while.  I figured, I tell my clients "It's just paint!" on a daily basis, I should probably live by my own advice.  I started at 3:00 in the afternoon, and by 7:00 I was all finished....including the gallery wall!

before

Now it is grounded....and all it took was a big dose of Benjamin Moore Richmond Green. (I wish it was as easy to ground me, but that is a WHOLE different story.

ignore the empty frame....hung but not filled:) 

 I chose a satin finish for those little grimy fingers, and it casts a really pretty sheen too.

I added a gallery wall too...and a mirror at the top and bottom of the stairs.

I didn't stop with the stairway, I took the green all the way around.  And I couldn't be happier.  It makes waking up in the morning and trudging down the stairs just a little bit easier:)

I might be painting something green....

Trying to decide what color.  Again Practicing what I preach!  I love paint samples!

So I have let my house fall on the back burner over in the past few months, with getting my business off the ground and everything else.  My poor house (and family) have suffered, you know "the cobbler's children, don't have shoes syndrome!"  Well this past weekend I sought to make a change....a GREEN change.

In case you are wondering, the paint swatches above, were the beginning of my little project.....I have gotten a little tired of this pic floating around Pinterest....it just looks unfinished, and dare I say a little boring.

I was inspired by

 I will keep you posted, I promise it is good.