Get Original... Artwork!

I couldn't recommend more to people to purchase original artwork. As far as interior design goes - original artwork kicks it up a notch! (in the words of Emeril).

Kelly Wearstler

Bunny Williams - I actually saw this room while I was living in NYC at a showhouse and it was STUNNING!! Pictures do it nojustice!

Now, it does sound intimidating and way out of people's budgets but there are many great and affordable resources out there. One of my favorites being Etsy. A great plus is that you can search a multitude of ways (by color, size, media, location, etc.)

Below are some artists I am loving!

Sarah Giannobile of St. Louis has the most interesting paintings and I love her use of color.

These three paintings are under $500 - most are around $300.

Zebrathought is another artist whose work I like - LOVE these colors!

Since I am broke, I am going to try a DIY version of Nicole Cohen's painting:

I want to attempt a HUGE version and put it in my foyer.

The image below is a photograph from VincenZorrizo - only $15!

LOVE IT!

Christina Romeo does some great mixed media work:

 

A lot of her work is only $55!

Geez... from reviewing my selections it's quite obvious my color pallet these days huh?!

- BOO

Da Pagodas...

I have always had a love for chinoiserie, particularly the whimsical and intricate designs in fabrics.

It is such a classic design that I feel never goes out of style. I would like to try a more modern stencil on draperies or pillows some day...

Something similar to this Schumacher fabric:

So of course I started a google hunt for pagodas for my stencil design and found some great options!

I am still looking for an elephant to feature as well... maybe something like this?

This could very easily become my next drop cloth project!

Oh and just for some eye candy here are two chinoiserie inspired yet modern rooms:

I LOVE this painting on the wall!! It is subtle yet dramatic.

This would actually be easy to do with minimal artistic skills! Just get an image you like and put it on a projector to the scale you want on the wall and just trace and paint! Voila!

The image below is border lining Moroccan but I'll let it slide because it's just COOL!

Any thoughts on Chinoiserie? Love it or hate it?

- BOO

Fans... not a fan...

We inherited two not so attractive ceiling fans with the big room we are renovating - one of which died as I was trying to dust it!

Broken fan with wires hanging down:

R.I.P

We had to take the blades off while renovations were underway but you get the idea...



The fans were OK, just not at all the look we wanted. I was actually thinking of spray painting them a solid color just so they would blend into the room more but once that fan broke I knew we had to get new ones!

I went searching everywhere for a more modern ceiling fan but came up with nothing in our price range - of course! 

LOVE these two: 

I don't understand why certain products manufacturers are able to make total knock offs for for a fraction of the original price (like the Ghost Chair here and here) but with ceiling fans I am not successful in finding any affordable options!

We do not need to have lights in the fans because while the room was getting renovated, we had about a third of the ceiling opened out - so perfect opputunity to put in some can lights! We now have four cans on dimmers that light the room plenty.

SO these are two options that I liked the most:

The Hubs did not approve the silver one above. He was worried it might look too cheap and flimsy. (I agreed!)

So, we settled on this white option - $75 per fan, including the extension rods! Gotta love Amazon.com! The walls and ceiling are white so these will just blend seemlessly into the room.

They just came in this week so we plan on installing them soon... I hope! Dad?? Are you reading this??!

- BOO 



Only in New Orleans

Part of why I started writing this blog was to show the unique sides of New Orleans, particularly the area I live in - the Bywater/Marigny. There is something special about this city that you can't quite put into words and I hope to at least capture some of that feeling through my pictures and words.

I am starting a recurring post of "Only in New Orleans" posts dedicated specifically to this. 

Saturday Night:

 We went to the 723 Louisa Street Digest . Our neighbor, Amanda opens her house up every 2nd Saturday of the month from 6pm - 9pm and features local artists. Three artists were featured this weekend - one of which was my friend Ashley who accompanied us on our Six Flags Adventure! 

Ashley showcased photography and a short film for the event.

Some shots of her work: "Swagger and the Lost Magnificense"

Video installation: Check out the video HERE

The video was shown from a projector in the stairwell of the house!

Photgraphy:

 

...

Jerald's sculpture was titled " Five Years in Sanpaku"

I was not able to get a good shot of it, but he had crumpled up newspaper below this installation along the wall. I love "conceptual art" that you're like wha... this is ART?! This was one of those! Although these five pieces were cool and made out of interesting materials.
...

Kayleigh had two beautiful and HUGE paintings of little girls on a swing set.

 I loved them!

 So this is when the night goes from sophisticated to Only in New Orleans! I must mention that it is now Mardi Gras season here in New Orleans and it's filled with craziness! (Mardi Gras "season" is about 6 weeks long - ending on Ash Wednesday)

We meet this guy:

He proceeds to tell us we should be in a parade that's starting at 10 p.m. Always down for a party we tag along (but of course run home to put on something a little more costumey!)

 We meet his friends in the Marigny where I see this guy:

 And this guy:

Crazy pelican:

Of course always having my eye peeled for design inspiration - I got a shot of his mantle!

Anyway - we started the parade with about 40 people and a grocery cart made into a bull with a generator, speakers, an iPod and a fog machine... oh and fireworks!

We then proceeded to dance through the streets and pick up more people as we went...

I did not know who organized the parade but I heard through the grapevine that most of them were yoga teachers?! And some sort of Aquatic Social Aid & Pleasure Club?!

We would stop at popular bars and dance in front for a bit to lure more people into the parade...

We even ran into another parade going by! 

The Hubs even got to push the "Dance Machine"

By the end of the night we had about 400 people dancing on Frenchman Street! 

 It was a long night but a great break from renovations!!

Whew!

 - BOO