A Sure Thing In New Orleans

I am always thrilled to see New Orleans featured in a major magazine! The July/August issue of Elle Decor features a beautiful New Orleans home decorated by Tommy Clements.

The family room: Victoria Hagen wing chair and antique Chinese table
Where have I seen this before Joni? Love the white slips and a lantern on the coffee table!

Another family room in the same vein by Joni Webb -
Hello Elle! Call Joni!!

Louis XIV armchairs in the family room upholstered in De Le Cuona linen

Tommy kept the palette neutral and the window treatments spare, using simple bronze rods hung with off-white linen.

Linen drapes on bronze rods

The owner is a New Orleans native, but wanted to stay away from a typical New Orleans look, which she thinks can be heavy on period French antiques, major chandeliers, family portraits, and gilt. Tommy agreed that "New Orleans can feel a little one note".

No family portraits, but rather a beautiful tortoise shell over an antique desk

Still there remains a sense of the city's heritage with a handful of French pieces.

In the living room, the bench in front of the window is actually lime green
The animal print on the stool is Ralph Lauren Home

To mix it up in the monochromatic palette, bursts of color are used in the living room via fabrics and art work.

Holly Hunt coffee table

The dining area is open to the kitchen, and there are three modern glass lamps over the table, a playful alternative to a formal chandelier.

Above: Three modern glass lamps instead of a formal French chandelier

Below: Dining room chairs upholstered in Ralph Lauren Home fabric

The bed in the master bedroom has the typical Uptown girl Leontine Linens

The master bedroom is huge and has a deep balcony that puts you eye level with the trees. The house backs up to Audubon Park, which is essentially the back yard.

Below: 17th century Italian bench in the master bath
and a Turkish Oushak carpet, part of a new collection the owner has acquired

The kitchen has marble counter tops and copper pots, and a striking yellow painting
Unfortunately the artist is not named in the article
The chrome stools are Knoll

Go out and get your copy of Elle Decor today. Blogs do not replace magazines! Especially with small scanned images like these! Blogs only entice you, and enhance what magazines tirelessly offer to us month after month. Nothing can replace the pleasure of holding a magazine or a book in your hands.

"A Sure Thing" is written by Julia Reed a fabulous writer and resident of New Orleans who knows a thing or two about doing up an old house here. So get the July/August issue of Elle Decor so you can read the entire article.

Readers Projects: Casting Call for Cowhide, Ikat, And Suzani

Thank you for the great response to the casting call for photos of how you are using cowhide, Suzani, and Ikat in your homes. Decor bloggers and readers are dedicated to making their homes beautiful, and we constantly inspire one another.

First up, is Roybn Henderson from My Southern Cottage. Her classic and clean use of a zebra printed cowhide is beautiful. Check out her blog - she has so many great tips and a DIY project for the cute burlap pillows on her sofa that is genius.

Robyn says: "I feel that's what these blogs are all about- throwing yourself (or your home) out there for everyone to see and take the good with bad comments. I definitely need another eye to see things and tell me what to do. I just don't want to pay for it, so I blog. Sometimes 100+ bloggers is alot better than one interior designer."

Robyn Henderson's cowhide on seagrass

Jamie Rogers from Doxa Home sent this to me. She has a great post on living with pets and light color furnishings.

Jamie Rogers has a cowhide on the floor of her home

I had to dig in the vault for some more photos, and I found this image of a beautiful living room from the home of Gina from Willow Decor. She recently added a white cowhide rug.

Gina from Willow Decor added a white cowhide rug on top of sea grass

Another example of white cowhide comes via a photo from my friend Peg DeFilippis. This is her New York City loft apartment.

Peg placed a white cowhide on under a modern chaise on the hardwood floor in her NYC home

You know by now that I'm a huge fan of cowhide. Here's my living room with a brown and white cowhide rug.

I just purchased two white cowhides on eBay.
To parapharase eBay, I am awaitng their delivery!
I already have one white cowhide that I used in my office.

Valorie Hart white cowhide on the floor in the office

I said, used. I have started a new project! I am turning my red office back to a dining room, and after five years, am changing the red walls for another color! Stay tuned for how it turns out!
In the meantime, I threw the rug from the floor onto the table! I love it!
I predict draping cowhide on tables and on furniture will become a hot trend this year!

Valorie Hart - A sneak peek at the office conversion to a dining room

The white cowhide moved from the floor to the table!

The next call for entries is about Suzani. I didn't get any photos from you! So I dug in the vault for this photo from Joni from Cote de Texas, who really informed us all about Suzanis. This is photo of how she used it as a table covering in her home.

Joni Webb - Suzani table skirt in her home

She also has one as a throw at the foot of her bed.

Joni Webb - Suzani throw at the end of the bed in her home

My friend Peg got this cute bedspread from Urban Outfitters a couple of years ago for her daughter's room.

Peg's Suzani bedspread

Joni inspired the Suzani I got for Christmas 2008. I love it, but I really didn't know what to do with it ha ha. Here I draped it on a counter in my office/dining room.

Valorie Hart - Suzani tablecloth

ERROR

My Suzani is small. It's actually a vintage tablecloth, so I thought I'd try using it that way on my kitchen table. This vintage Suzani came from directly from Uzbekistan.

Valorie Hart - Suzani in the kitchen

The Ikat trend came out of the Bohemian/Hippie Chic fashion and home decor trend that was a hot topic among decor and fashion bloggers starting in 2007. Courtney Barnes of Style Court enlightened all of us, and we fell in line.
One of the most charming images she showed us was of a vintage chair frame reupholstered with an Ikat fabric Jen West found on eBay. I think Jen West launched a thousand Ikat chairs! And I think she had this chair for sale in huge purge HERE! Jen if you didn't sell it e-mail me!

Artist Anne Harwell made a painting of this chair, and subsequent prints, that are still a huge seller in her Etsy shop.

Blogger Renae Moore and I have been searching for well priced Ikat fabric. We both love Madeline Weinrib, but that company is an independent, and only gives a 20% discount to the trade of its very high priced fabric. I have been trying to get our shop to carry MW but the owner thinks the line is too pricey and the trade discount too small.
Another line Renae and I were excited to see is Trina Turk for Schumacher. Renae got some memos and sent me some photos. She was thinking of doing up some Ikat pillows for her couch.

The Trina Turk fabric wasn't what she had in mind, and she found something else for her pillows.

Renae Moore Designs - Ikat pillows on her sofa

She also was getting ready to reupholster a pair of wing chairs, and considered this beautiful burnt orange fabric.

Renae Moore shows some Fabric choices for her chairs and pillows

But in the end she chose this classic gray green.

Renae Moore Designs - a pair of reupholstered wing chairs

The last images are certainly not the least.

Rebeka Lambert of artsy-crafty babe send me some photos in a e-mail entitled "Love My Ikat!".


She says: "Well, I'm no designer or decorator, but I love ikat! This summer I slipcovered a thrift store wing back chair and made a table skirt from some blue ikat-ish fabric. I'd have a cowhide rug in my house if my little dog wouldn't chew it to pieces - I can see that disaster already :)".

Rebeka Lambert - artsy-crafty babe - made this Ikat slip cover

She also made this very cute pillow!

Rebeka Lambert - artsy-crafty babe - made this Ikat pillow

And she made this table skirt!

Rebeka Lambert - artsy-crafty babe - made this Ikat table skirt
She has an Etsy store too!

I love doing Readers Projects posts. Thanks again for participating.
You don't have to wait for another casting call. Just e-mail me your projects, especially of the things you are doing in your own homes.

How Much Furniture Can You Get In Here?

Bedrooms small or large are bursting. We love to make them multi task and multi function.
Once upon a time a double bed, or s set of twin beds and a night table or two, and maybe a dresser would be the extent of furnishing a bedroom. And the words Master Bedroom where not bandied about. There were children's bedrooms, and the parent's bedroom.

Now bedrooms have dressing rooms, sitting areas, and work areas.
I rather like the desk at the end of the bed idea in lieu of the bench.


But I wonder if I would really like to sit at a desk with a view of crumpled sheets.


Look at all the good stuff in this bedroom!

If the only two people left on the bloggy planet haven't seen the above, check out how masterfully Joni Webb fills a small bedroom with big girl furniture and style.
Go HERE

Joni is blessed with a healthy budget. I know alot of people would LOVE a bedroom like this. Do any of you clever decor bloggers wish to take the challenge and replicate this on a budget? I've done a quick addition of the items shown, and come up with well over $7000. in merchandise, not to mention the cost of people making slipcovers, altering luxury bedding, and making draperies. Don't think I'm telling you anything Joni hasn't, because as usual her post is chock full of sources. She always shares!
If so please post it your ideas and budget, or if you don't have a blog, I'll post it for you.

The top two photos are interiors by Steven Gambrel.
The other one is a stock shot from Google Images.

Consumer Report: Deep Drop Ruffle Bedspread

A few months ago my darling Alberto fell asleep in bed while working on a Sudoku. The pen fell from his hand and left some school boy ink blots on our white bedspread. It isn't a terribly precious bedspread. In fact it is a budget make-do, comprised of sewing two cheap twin size spreads together. It also had this trellis effect, something that was okay, but not the bomb.
Anyway, I was given the green light to get ANY bedspread I wanted.

The purloined bedspread
Note the trellis design

So I wrote to Joni from Cote de Texas, generally known as an expert in all things pretty, and a good girl friend to all bloggers. She sent me a photo of her deep drop ruffle spread, and suggested I have mine custom made as she had hers done. She advised this for a perfect fit, and for a double ruffle effect that would puddle on the floor.
I have always wanted a spread Horchow sells, but Joni thought it would be cheaper and better to go custom.

The bedroom of Joni Webb Cote de Texas
Her pretty bedspread is linen - note the puddle

I love Joni's bedspread, and she also sent me a photo of one by Pam Pierce. So I checked with the workroom at the store I work in (perch, in New Orleans), and after we cost out the fabric and labor it was a little steep. It was considerably more expensive than the Horchow bedspread.

Pam Pierce

So I ordered the one from Horchow, on sale for $317. for the king size.

My new deep drop ruffle bedspread from Horchow
I love it!

I absolutely love it. The white twill fabric is very high quality. the ruffle is deep and doubled, and it puddles perfectly. This spread is actually a duvet cover if you want to insert a quilt or blanket inside of it. There is an envelope opening with covered buttons on the inside of the bedspread. However it is substantial enough to stand alone as a beautiful bedspread. Click on image for a larger view.


It was out of stock for some time, but it's in stock now. Horchow has excellent customer service.
The only hard thing was ironing it myself. It couldn't help but be wrinkled coming out of the packaging and box.

Hampton bed linens from Horchow. Order HERE

The photo of the Horchow bedspread does not show it puddling on the floor. My bed is not really a king size. It is two twin size beds pushed together and secured. We bought these when we first moved to New Orleans and lived in our first place in the French Quarter. I didn't think we could get a king size inside the 1810 Creole townhouse. This configuration has worked beautifully for us for ten years.
The way the new bedspread puddles makes me feel secure that when I wash it, it will still have a generous drape to it.

Before N After Slip Covers

photo by Eddie Ross

Months ago I started thinking about getting the master bedroom ready for summer. I got a mountain grass rug (the same as sea grass), painted my dressers white, and got some new bedding including a deep drop ruffle white bed spread, and some some new toss pillows. I also put up some white sheer curtains. The last piece of the scheme was a white slip cover for the velvet slipper chair.



Everyone thinks about white slipcovers sooner or later. And everyone has them sooner or later. It might just be an off the peg one from someplace like Sure Fit, or maybe one from Ikea. These are fine, but they really can't compare with slipcovers made especially for your furniture.


I have had slipcovers made, but they were in chartreuse linen, and also in black and white toile. But I never had white slips made. When I wanted to have one made for the slipper chair, I called my upholstery man who quoted me around $400. I also checked a couple of other places, and the price was more or less the same, plus the cost of the fabric (around six yards).



It was more than I had to spend, so I went online and did some looking around. I thought I might find a ready made one for what I thought was a pretty generic chair shape. I didn't find one, but I found a great company called Before N After Slipcovers.



The price for a slipper chair white twill cover was around $150., and that I could do! So I just went to the site, and followed the instructions.



They give you diagrams to take measurements from, and I did it, sent them the order, and just waited for the turn around, which is about four weeks. I didn't mind the wait because it was still winter, and I was planning ahead.
I got follow up e-mails from a very nice and capable woman named Sue, and I decided to keep it simple, and not micro manage. A few weeks later my slipcover arrived in the mail.



Oops! I guess my measurements were not correct! I sent this picture off to Sue, and she asked me to measure again, and that she would re-do it. I had sent her several photos of my chair from every angle, and she e-mailed them back to me with little arrows on them as to where to EXACTLY measure. She never made me feel stupid or bad. She couldn't have been nicer about it. This is excellent customer service.
While I was waiting for the redo to come, I looked at the Before N After web site again, and found this really great chair seat slip for $55.

It made me think of the beloved queen of white slips and sea grass, Ms Joni Webb of Cote de Texas, who has written the definitive book on the subject.

Joni Webb's chairs

I also revisited some of Joni's postings about slip covers, and had the aha moment. I forgot to ask Sue if they pre-washed the fabric! I had done this with the green linen slips myself before I handed the fabric over to the seamstress. So I shot off another e-mail or two, requesting a pre- wash, or making the slip at least 20% larger.




Many of us own Parsons Chairs, and Before N After does many versions of slipcovers for this work horse of a chair starting at $109. They have a zillion fabric choices, or you can use your own fabric.



Anyhoo, my do over came a few days ago, perfect timing since it is well on the way to summer here already. It turned out so nice! And it looks great with all the other summery things I added. It's a little bigger in lieu of pre-washing.


Adding all the white accents with the blue walls really looks fresh.


I already had quite a few white accents, so it wasn't rocket science to add a few more.


The room feels more and more like being at the beach.


I've had the mountain grass rug down for a couple of months, and it is terrific! Dirt and dog hair do not show at all, and the grass smells sweet, and feels great on bare feet.

I've had this bench for years and years, and had the slip made for it at least ten years ago.


I'm loving the lamps I painted to look like alabaster. The photo is by Edgar Sierra, that he took right after Katrina. It was exhibited at The New Orleans Museum of Art.


My lady saints are in a niche on an antique twig table.


The other night table has another Katrina photo, showing a naked woman climbing out of the rubble of what once was her house.


All in all I am very happy with the changes I made for the summer.

If you're thinking of white slipcovers for the summer (or for all the time) give Before N After a try.