Bedroom Sneak Peek

Tomorrow our house is being shot for the November issue of Woman's Day Magazine. It's hard to believe that there will be a whole crew of people here - photographer, editor, stylist, even hair and makeup! - focusing on us and our home.  Over the next few days I'll give you a few sneak peeks of the final product (well, pre-stylist which I think will make all the difference).  There have been a number of big changes that have happened over the course of the last week or two.

First up is the bedroom. Yesterday (yes, I know... down to the wire) I got these fabulous Serena & Lily bar carts to use as nightstands. I love how light they are. Of course, we now have to use some strategic boxes (thanks IKEA) for storage on the shelves but it's so nice to see the wallcovering panels through the back.

So much better than these black voids that we had before, don't you think?

And a couple shots of the very minimal styling I have done so far to the rest of the room (I think the jewelry box needs to be removed and maybe we need to add a lamp).

On the Drawing Boards

Well, some of you might be wondering what I am up to aside from all my DIY projects and selling a few pieces of hardware here and there. I've been working with a few residential clients as well and thought I'd share what I've been working on.  This is a home in Short Hills that I'm doing some work on.  We've completely redesigned the living room with a serene sophisticated feel.  It's not done yet but I wanted to show you the progress.  Here are some before photos.

And our final concept board.

And where we are so far - of course missing a few key pieces of furniture.

Isn't it amazing how much taller the draperies make the ceiling look in the photos below which show the space slightly further along?  The greek key trim from Lewis and Sheron really dresses up the simple linen drapes from Gray Line Linen (best linen source ever!).

I think it's a dramatic improvement and can't wait to see the final product!

Hardware Install Shots

I know I haven't given you guys a proper update in a while on the hardware line. Well, there are a few fun developments.  First off, if you check out our Showrooms page you will see that we've added Katonah Architectural Hardware in Chicago, New York, and upstate NY.  We are very excited to welcome them to the Nest Studio family. Stay tuned for more showrooms picking up the line.
I also wanted to share some photos with you of the hardware installed. It's so nice to see the pieces in a space with some sort of scale as opposed to just on a white background.  In this home designer Rachel Halvorson re-did a bathroom and bedroom in preparation for the arrival of a new baby. She mixed my F-02 knobs in with some antique pulls in the bathroom and used me F-03 hinged pulls for the bookcases' pull out toy bin. Here is the before and the dramatic transformation:

This other one is in a client's bath and kitchen.  I love the way the acrylic T-01 pulls looks all lined up!

If you have any install photos you'd like to share, please forward them on.

I Swear I'm Done With Roman Shades

But there was one final thing in the bathroom.  When I did those roman shades I had mentioned adding a contrasting band to tie in with the shower curtain on the opposite side. Well, while I was in the city selecting my awesome minty trim for the chair reupholstery project I picked up a nice charcoal flat trim for the shades. After doing the living room shades, I knew not to use too much glue - even though Fabritac is my new best friend.  So on this shade I actually glued the trim on with the shade hanging in place (since it was already installed). I only glued in a few key places to tack it down and allow it to fold better.  And used some paper clips to hold it up to dry. Here it is in progress.

I think it looks pretty nice for a 15 minute job!  Really makes it look more tailored and gives it a pop.

The Deck

Remember way back in the winter when I posted about our deck. Here is what it looked like way back when.

And my sketch of what I hoped it would look like.

Well, after what seemed like several months of construction (mind you, my GC estimated a 1.5 week time frame to complete the deck), it is pretty much done.

In this pic you can see my dining table project taking place in the background.

Our sod has been planted in the back yard so we no longer have a forest of poison ivy and I've even managed to plant a little container herb garden outside the kitchen door. Yay for summer barbeques!

Weekend Reupholstery Project

I've been thinking about reupholstering my cane back chairs pretty much since I got them back at the Pasadena Antiques Mall. Of course, the pink sort of worked with the color scheme in our LA living room, but here in NJ they were just popping in the wrong way.  After spending hours perusing Spoonflower I found this fabulous fabric (sort of an abstracted quartz pattern) that I thought was the perfect scale for these chairs. I got this amazing fabric for the wing chair so there will be a nice contrast.  I'd primed my dining room table on Saturday but Sunday was just too wet and humid to do any painting.  So it seemed like the perfect time to get out the staple gun and fabric.  I followed Jenny from LGN's DIY turtorial for reupholstering a chair and I have to say it was SO much easier than the roman shade project.  Here I am all set up (including the requisite coffee) on the porch.

I started by pulling off the old self-welt. 

Then I removed the fabric and staples and used the original fabric as a guide for cutting.

Per Jenny's instructions I started stapling the hardest parts first which for me were around the arms.  I used a hammer to make sure the staples were in securely. I also found that a light duty staple gun worked better than a heavy duty gun with longer staples.

Once all the stapling and tacking was complete I trimmed my fabric and used a single staple and then fabritac to glue on the trim starting on the arms and then going around the base from the back.  

I love how this minty trim dresses up the abstract fabric and also ties into the mint touches now appearing throughout the living room.  I also love how the new Kelly Wearstler Pillow from Spark Modern works on the chair.

The Console - Part II

I have to say, I'm still really happy with my lucite CB2 Console.  Since my last post I've done a little styling and it's looking a lot better.  I switched out some of the photography and accessories and put some artwork up on the wall.  Found this great abstract piece at a local estate sale and it adds the perfect touch of mint / aqua that I've been wanting in that corner.  And I like how the artwork bridges the space between the mirror and the console.  Still not crazy about the green of Bryan's ball when I see the space photographed. Perhaps he needs a mint colored ball, or a jute ball or a shagreen ball :)   

Living Room Roman Shades Complete

I swear this is my last roman shade DIY post.  I still want to romans one day in my office but I'm taking a serious hiatus from all this sewing and gluing.  We have a big deadline coming up for the house (more on that later), so I've been rushing to complete all my projects. This was one that I've been working on in stages for a while. I found a great grey linen at Gray Line Linens and then an awesome trim at M and J Trimming in the city.  Did the same DIY from Little Green Notebook as before but this time knew to do a few things different.  I made the shades slightly wider than the measured opening since the outside edges of the shade pull in and the mounting bracket sticks out a bit further than the narrowest part of the window opening.  I also tried my hand at creating a Greek Key trim.  Here is the before.

Here we are in progress.  For those of you who want to attempt this, it was fairly easy.  A little bit of math involved and some strategic folding and pressing but it was all glued down with Fabritac.  One piece of advice - put something under your fabric. You will be using enough glue that it will go through and glue your fabric to the floor.

And here is it installed finally.  I sort of fudged this a little.  The glue and trim really caused the sides to buckle in in a bad way so I used some large paper clips to clip the folds to the wood dowel in the hopes that they will create a crease and I can take the clip off in the future. Or I'll just leave it on since these will only be lowered for winter afternoon TV viewing which is not something that happens often in our house.  Regardless, the final product is something I'm pretty happy with.  Yay, one project down - 3 more to go!!!

Master Bedroom - Almost There

After a wild goose chase online that led to a weekend trip to Staten Island, I finally got my Target draperies for our master bedroom and had them customized with pinch pleats.  Got them up last week and then got our West Elm Headboard this past week. The room has really come together and I'm excited it looks so much like the concept board.

The nightstands will do for now.  I'm still digging the Jonathan Adler etageres and also like the idea of using an Saarinen tulip table on either side for a touch of mod, but neither has enclosed storage so I'm going to wait on this and see what crops up.  All in all, I'm loving the pops of color and the fact that we finally have what I consider to be an "adult bedroom". 

Stylin' Mamma: Somewhere, Summer

Maybe it was the "Mad Men" when Betty visits Bobby at summer camp, but suddenly I can't shake a vintagey, summer-in-Vermont-in-1967 vibe.  Looking out the window at a typical May-gray day in San Francisco, I guess it's wishful thinking.  Somewhere in my Facebook feed, East Coast friends are decamping for the Hamptons or Sea Island, but it's another two months before we shake off the city for some mountain air.

In the meantime, tap into your inner camp counselor with a fun whistle necklace, and consider the following: a high-waisted cotton skirt, paired with flat ankle-strap sandals and a weathered chambray shirt.  Cat-eye sunglasses (must acquire a pair for myself) and a straw tote that can do double-duty in the city.  (Beat the heat and keep make-up simple with a totally retro high-gloss red lip.)  See you on the open road!

- Jaime