TRIED & TRUE TUESDAY

Today we'd like to share one of our "tried and true" products that we've used and LOVED! We found this inexpensive vintage style cone chandelier on Overstock and were drawn to the style and most of all the price. Only $185! A steal. Looks very ahem.. similar to a fixture found at Pottery Barn for quite a bit more $$$.

We were worried that the actual product would look cheap, but when we assembled for our N Street property - it was gorgeous and made the entire room. We left the ball off of the bottom for a more antique feel to the fixture. If you are looking for beautiful piece for a great price, this is it! It also comes in a silver finish for $179.99.

Happy Shopping!

WORLD MARKET - PAPER LOVE

Last week while grabbing accessories for an install at World Market, we snapped a picture of this absolutely gorgeous wrapping paper. Isn't it lovely? You can't tell from the photo but it has a beautiful woven texture to it. And we couldn't believe the price, $2.99 a roll!

 It has a very Rifle Paper Company feel and got our wheels turning on how we could use this pretty paper anywhere and everywhere. Line your bookshelves for a pop of pattern, cover books for your shelves or coffee table, place it in a pretty frame as part of a gallery wall. The possibilities are endless! I couldn't find this exact pattern online, but check out World Market because they had quite a few more options in store. Here are some other favorites - find them all here.

HOW TO MIX METALS - THE BATHROOM

I get asked quite a bit about mixing metals in a home, whether it is the hardware, light fixtures, faucets, or whatever. If you look at photos of our work you see that we mix metals fearlessly. However, this is a somewhat sophisticated process that deserves a lot of thought - we understand why this is one of the hardest dilemmas you encounter when remodeling/building your bathroom.

First it is important to understand why we mix metal finishes.
1. To give the room balance  2. To create a more "collected" look  3. For a unique and personalized feel (so your bathroom doesn't look like you chose everything from one collection in a hardware store)

For my first "how-to mix metals in your home" I am going to focus on the bathroom...

1st STEP: YOUR FAVORITE - Pick your favorite fixture/faucet/hardware in whatever finish you love.

With this project we were loving the aged brass from Amerock for our hardware. We knew we wanted some brass (not shiny) in the bathroom so we started with the hardware.

2nd STEP: MATCH - Find another element in the room you would like to match or coordinate with what you have already picked.

We chose 3 brass sconces from Pottery Barn that almost matched the hardware. I was glad it wasn't an exact match as the brass sconces were a little more gold than the hardware, but it's important that they are close so when the room is done it doesn't look like you have 4 or 5 metal finishes making the room look chaotic.

3rd STEP: A DIFFERENT FINISH - Pick another finish that compliments (not matches) what you have already chosen. If you have chosen a satin or aged finish then go with a polished - mix finishes as well as metals.

In these two pictures you can see we chose polished chrome for the shower door handle, shower head, and tub filler. We chose polished chrome for 2 reasons - 1) it was the cheapest option 2) it doesn't match brass at all and it was shiny.

When mixing metals and finishes here are some great combos:

Aged Brass + Polished Chrome + Lucite

Oil Rubbed Bronze + Polished Nickel + Aged Brass

Black + Aged Brass + Satin Nickel

Polished Nickel + Aged Brass

Brass + Satin Nickel + Oil Rubbed Bronze

Brass + Satin Nickel + Polished Chrome

Black + Polished Chrome + Lucite

There are so many great combinations! Study pictures of bathrooms you like to get more of a feeling of how you would like to mix metals and finishes.

4th STEP: FINISHING TOUCH - Add at least one more metal/element to tie it all together - preferably a light fixture that will add another dimension to the room, such as crystals, lucite, a linen shade, and a metal.

We added this crystal (lucite) chandelier that has an Oil Rubbed/Aged Brass finish on the metal. This fixture tied it all together perfectly. If we had done an all brass fixture here it would have made the bathroom look too gaudy and gold; if we had done a black fixture it would have been heavy and too much of a focal point and stolen the show (which is not what we wanted). A glass fixture was what we needed.

5th STEP: NO MORE THAN 4 FINISHES, NO LESS THAN 2 -  If you introduce too many finishes it will look too eclectic (think bag lady eclectic) or chaotic. A tailored collected look is what you are going for. 

W+G TIP: When picking out all of your elements of your bathroom think of it like an outfit.

It's not a good idea to wear all gold jewelry or all silver jewelry. It would look cheesy and/or boring. Like this picture, you should mix elements - lucite, ribbon, rose gold, metallic glitter.

DO NOT OVERDO IT or your bathroom will look like this (keeping with the outfit analogy)...

Keep it classy and interesting. You are going for the cool, collected look when mixing metals, so the finished product looks like this...

Mix the warm and cool tones of the bathroom to give the room some balance. All silvers and marbles will feel icy and cold. All golds and travertines or granites will look overdone and gaudy.

And that's "HOW TO" mix your metal finishes in your bathroom!

SHARPIE POTTERY DIY - GOLD DOT BOWL

This is not a DIY that is going to blow your mind. Nope, not very special, but I have to say I loved the end result enough to share it with you. This might be the easiest DIY I've ever done so all of you who want to do something "crafty" while watching your favorite show at night - this is a sure crowd pleaser :)

On one of my (very frequent) trips to Target I spotted this super cute white dotted bowl.

And because I love gold I of course had a metallic gold Sharpie laying around! In the spirit of Kate Spade I thought little gold dots would make this bowl even better, so I went to work, making little dots on top of the bumped out dots. I varied a little between bigger and smaller dots to give it dimension.

I used the regular Sharpie, although I know Sharpie makes a paint pen that is for this specific purpose. In my experience a regular metallic gold Sharpie works just as well.

As you can see it wasn't a perfect process - I just went around the bowl in sections.

When I was finished I drew a line long the top of the bowl to give it a finishing touch.

And then I baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (thanks to many DIY's on Pinterest who discovered if you bake it on then it won't wash off, but recommend hand washing it always).

And this is my finished product! It's a little cuter than it was before, right?! And it only took a total of 1 hour because of the 30 min. baking time.

I like it on my mantle, but it looks pretty cute in the kitchen...decisions, decisions.

If you have a Sharpie DIY please share!! I am like a 2-year old...I want to draw with a marker all over everything in my house!!

PARLEY'S CREEK SNEAK PEEK

Wow, starting the day with some rhyming over here. Awesome! Wanted to share a quick sneak peek at our almost completed project - a dental office in Salt Lake City called Parley's Creek. We will be sure to share more of this office once it is finished, it is definitely the coolest dental office we've ever seen!

For the kids area of the waiting room, we wanted something on the wall to define the space and also as an art element to the room. We had to idea to use the amazing Anthropologie large zinc letters to spell out Play in the corner. It turned out so modern and is one of our favorite elements of the room. Can't wait to share more!

TEEN ROOM - M & S

One of our favorite E-design clients had been doing a great job on a bedroom for her two daughters. She brought us in to add a few finishing touches and make the room feel pulled together and a bit more grown-up. We recommended adding this fabulous Coronata Star wallpaper behind the beds, spray-painting the chandeliers, (gold of course!) switching out the pom-pom pillows for a more sophisticated poppy velvet, getting a fabulous rug,  adding new art and more! Hope you like M & S!

CURRENT ROOM:

WHITE + GOLD DESIGN BOARD:

Out of respect to our clients we do not provide sources for design work they paid for.

 Please contact us if you are interested in E-design! Thanks!

MY FAV KITCHEN ISLAND LIGHTS

I have a thing for lighting. I think every designer has their favorite element/category of design they love the most or feel the most comfortable with. For me, it's lighting. I've said it before and I'll say it again - the lighting choices you make will make a bigger impact on the room than almost anything else - especially in the kitchen. And that is why I wanted to share with you some of my favorite kitchen island light fixtures!

(click on pic to enlarge)

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13

Most of the lighting options above would look best in a pair or in threes, so keep that in mind. There are SO many great lighting options out there it was hard to narrow it down, but I chose these lights because I feel they are unique, bring a lot of style, and are well made. I can recommend all of these fixtures with no worries. 

Each kitchen is so different and there are so many choices that it can be overwhelming. If you are trying to decide between some lighting options contact us for a consultation (if you are local) or you can do it through our E-Design or Design Dilemma program! 

Below are rooms that have these lights in them to inspire you...

#9

#12

#7

#2

#8

Hope you enjoyed my favorite kitchen island lights! Would love to hear what your favorites are...

INSTALL - DR.DAN

We have spent the past few months working on the construction and furnishing of a new dental office in the Salt Lake City area. If you are looking for a new dentist, you'll love Parley's Creek Dental - sure to be the chicest dental office around and opening in the next few weeks. We are doing an initial install in a few days, and I looked back at our first inspiration board this morning and laughed when I saw that almost everything has changed except for the couch. (Which by the way is a crazy good deal, has great reviews, comes in pretty colors and is 20% off for the next few days.) Can't wait to show pictures of the finished office, until then here is our initial design plan.