Dramatic Bedroom Mural

Our guest bedroom got a new look with a photo mural.  

We updated the room because our son's best friend, Kai,

 is coming to live with us while they start their college freshman year

together at our home, because of the Coronavirus situation. 

 The boys will be taking over the second floor of the house, 

which will serve as their college dorm!

I wanted the room to have a completely new look for the guys.

These murals are actually photos that are blown up and made into wallpaper strips

 to fit the exact dimension of the wall you want to cover.  I was excited to

collaborate with this Swedish company, PhotoWall, and selected a rustic brick

arch wall called "Arch Ruin" as the backdrop for our guest room

 from the thousands of images they stock. 

Look for my 25% discount code at the end

of this blog post for your own order from Photowall!

The wallpaper mural comes with a package of powdered wallpaper paste. 

Mixed up with a gallon of water in a bucket, it was ready to use in  5 minutes.

  I also ordered the $18 wallpaper tool kit so that I would be all set 

when it was time to rock and roll. 

I have hung a ton of wallpaper in my life yet this set up from PhotoWall is a little bit 

different than anything I had seen before.  The roll of wallpaper is continuous, yet has 

each strip numbered, and you cut it with scissors when you are moving on to the next strip.

Simply cut along the dotted line....

You apply the paste on the wall where the strip will go first, 

so I measured out 18" and made a small pencil mark to give 

me a rough guideline for the paste.

                     Apply the paste with the brush to the section of wall next to the strip you just hung.

                        The paste has some globs in it but they brush right out with the wallpaper brush.

This wallpaper was the easiest paper I had ever hung, 

and I was finished with the wall in just two hours. 

Now it was time to style the room....

First I decided to put the bed on the angle so

we could take in the dramatic backdrop of the wall mural.

But wait....do you remember what it use to look like?

When last used this room it had the dollhouse  as well as the pastoral murals

I had painted on the walls giving the room a feminine romantic artistic effect.

It was very pretty, but wouldn't work for a college guy.

So, before I began my wallpapering I painted 

 over the lilac stripe at the top of the room as well as the murals so 

they wouldn't show any trace of pattern through the wallpaper mural.

And two hours later I had a whole new wall of brick!!!

Everyone loves the new look! 

I was able to reuse many of the things we already had in our home, 

including lamps with burlap shades, some Ralph Lauren beige linen pillow covers

my modern office desk chair, and the grey and white checked curtains from Ballards.

Piper gives it a thumbs up too!

Use  Photowall if you want to create a dramatic new look with ease.

All my readers can get 25% off any order of Photowall products

 until the end of August 2020 by using the promo code

amymaisondecor25 for your discount. 

With everyone at home more than ever now because of the coronavirus,

this is an awesome way to improve everyday spaces in your home.

I am already planning my next mural!

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Curbside Find: A set of Louis XVI French Chairs

 In a bizarre and fortunate twist of fate, there is an update to the story of how I found this

one French chair in front of someone's house waiting for the trash truck. I scooped it up and felt 

very lucky indeed.  Fast forward almost one year to the day, I was driving by the same house

and what astonishing sight to my eyes did appear??

 Four more of the chairs that matched the original curbside treasure I hauled away!

How could this be? It was truly amazing, and even though I was driving my mother in law's 

small Ford Fusion, and not my pickup truck, I lurched to the curb and jumped out.

It was tricky to stuff all four chairs into such a small car, and I was glad I didn't have the baby or any

dogs with me, as they all just barely fit.  Now they are safely ensconced in a storage trailer waiting

to be reupholstered and restored for our lake house (that has not been built yet, haha).

 So the pondering began....what did I want the chairs to look like, and what did I think 

the lake house decor would look like?  The general idea in my mind is to have it be more cottage

style than French style, so the right fabric and finish on the frame would be critical to the look.

For over a year I have been admiring the fabrics designed by Paula Arndt, of LilyOake on Spoonflower.  Paula has created a bunch of designs fit for an updated Swedish cottage look which could work perfectly.

One of my favorites is this small check in a color called faded blueberry.

I brought in a chair and taped the sample to the back. Maybe I will have a coordinating fabric

on the front of the chair with the check on the seat and the back.  Lots to think about,

and it is one of the most pleasant parts of decorating....the pondering.

To give you an idea of how it could look, take a peek at 

Ballard Designs, with a similar French chair in a painted finish

with a gingham or checked fabric.  

But gasp, look at the price!  It would cost $2296 for five chairs

finished in this fabric and finish.  Right now the base chair is on 

sale for $399, still a fortune compared to FREE on the curb and the 

cost of a yard and a half of fabric per chair.

You could pay that for a set of 6 real antique French chairs on first dibs!

These were a few of my very favorite fabrics.  I have learned over the years 

as a window treatment designer and interior decorator that checks and stripes will

always stay in favor with a homeowner over a floral or patterned fabric.

And I plan to have these chairs for a very long time....

Even so I love the Lily of the Valley pattern, as that is a flower I adore, and 

one rarely seen in fabrics and wallpaper.

So the solution is easy....put that darling pattern on a ballroom chair and 

I can have my cake and eat it too!! 

Visit Paula's beautiful Lilyoake fabric designs on Spoonflower here.

Read about the day I found the first French chair here.

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Country House Style Book Shoot and Pretty Purple Placemats

Big news to share over here....

I have been asked to have my home included in 

a gorgeous coffee table book about Country House Style. 

 Yup.  

 One of those heavy beautiful books you have sitting on the coffee table 

that is about lovely homes that you drool over.  

But this time, my home will be inside the glossy pages!!

And how did this come to be?

 Nora Murphy, of the award winning Nora Murphy Connecticut Country House blog,

got a book deal with the creme de la creme publishing house, Vendome Press, to

write a book about her amazing country house.  She also selected four other homes

to include in the book, one of which is mine!  Essentially the book will be

about Country House Style, and how to create a country house for yourself.

That is EXACTLY what I have done with my own home, starting about ten years ago.

Elements of country homes all include a certain esthetic of relaxed living areas.

Mixing of the fine and fancy, the rustic and elegant, and a general overall purpose

that invites one to enjoy their life in the most simple of ways, but not sacrificing style.  

I couldn't be more honored than to be included in Nora's book.

Visit Nora's blog to see more of her incredible country home, with a link at the end of this post.

See how she recreated her entire home with a refresh project that is sure to inspire everyone!

From the very beginning, Nora had big ideas. Big unique ideas.

Her own master bedroom suite was created when she

 had a large chicken coop moved to her

site and added it onto her antique farmhouse!! 

OMG, can you imagine?  I certainly think it sounds like a normal project!! 

So I guess she and I are kindred spirits.  My ramshackle shed 

project was a triumph for me, I can only imagine how satisfying 

it was to turn a chicken coop into an amazing bedroom suite!

This is the chicken coop addition above, isn't it stunning?

And her cupola is not overlooked by me....as I am just about to install my

own cupola on the ramshackle garden shed.  

Seen here in Matthew Mead's current

 UPSTYLED HOME OUTDOORS mag,

it is no longer ramshackle~its the most adorable shed now.

And its going to look so great with its own cupola!

Nora will be shooting here very soon, and so I have been trying to squeeze in a few

last minute decorating projects, none of which I have shown on the blog.

Some are incredibly beautiful, and I am thrilled with the result.

Yesterday I worked in my dining room, after getting a set of pretty quilted placemats

from April Cornell's website in Vermont.  She is known for her clothing and home

decor accessories that are happy pretty florals.  I bought a set of placemats as 

that is what we use every night when we dine at home.  However these caught my

eye because they had the color purple, a very hard color to find in home textiles.

But let me tell you my secret to using them...I flipped them over to use the backside.

The front side has a patchwork quilt of pretty florals in pink, purple, 

aqua and celery green.  I will use both sides, but the plain purple felt a bit

more restful to my eye.  It is nice to have the option for turning them however.

Sometimes I catch her items at HomeGoods or Marshalls, but I couldn't resist getting

this set, which also happened to be on sale, through her website. No this is not a 

sponsored post (which means you get things for free if you write about them). 

I just happen to love April's stuff.  

Oh, one more thing about Nora....

She is the creative director of Ethan Allen, Global corporation.

Pretty impressive, right?  

And she won best blog a year or so ago....

And currently her home is in the current issue of Country Home magazine!  

So Nora is one to watch, and I am glad I am on her radar.

Click here to visit Nora at her Connecticut Country House

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Designing French Home Accessories and Magazine Secrets

 2017 has been an incredible year for me as far as magazine features goes!  It never gets old

to know that my home or yard is going to be inside a magazine, and never did I think I would 

get a cover.  Until the day that Fifi O'Neill came to do my house for Romantic Country Spring 2017 

issue and the photographer, Mark Lohman said to her, "This is going to be a cover try", as he

pointed to my living room and where he planned to take a photo.  Um...what??? I was standing

right there, but its like I wasn't standing right there while they did their business.  Any way, after

that comment, he mentioned another angle that could be a "cover try", and that is when I started 

thinking that getting my house on the cover would be very cool indeed.  And it happened!

I got an email from Fifi telling me they had picked my living room for the Spring cover.

Wow.  Just like that.  It takes months before it comes out in print (and sometimes longer),

and of course you just would never mention anything like that or you might JINX it and it

would likely be considered bad etiquette in the magazine world.  I would think.

My next two shoots were with Matthew Mead for different publications, one being his own

brand special edition magazines, published by Country Sampler, and it was all about Outdoor Style.

 Since we are good buddies now, I was able to see the process of the magazine cover decision,

and it was pretty darn interesting.  The publisher likes to have control over these things, and they 

picked many "possible" covers, including several of my shots.  Images get edited and re-edited and copy gets changed and colors of the titles and on and on.

OMG, could it happen again, with another cover shot?  

Yes, it did!! I had to keep it quiet for several months, which was not fun.

I was so proud of this shoot, and the way it all turned out, and I just hope this magazine gets the readers it deserves, because its packed with all kinds of outdoor spaces, including my awesome French Courtyard.  We love our courtyard!  If anyone is interested in getting a chance to win a free copy of this Upstyled Home Outdoors issue, leave a comment letting me know why you would like to get one, and you will be entered to win.  Make sure I have an email address so I can contact you for your mailing address, in case you win.  This magazine hits news stands April 25th, 2017.

 The other magazine that you may have noticed on the first photo, was Where Women Create.

This is a big honor, to be featured in this magazine, as artists of note and talent are interviewed

in their workshops and studios.  This issue will be out May 1st, and it is a biographical type article

on where I found my creativity and what nurtured my creative nature.  I hope you enjoy it.  If you ever wanted to know more about me, this is your chance, lol.  So one of the secretive parts of the magazine world, is that sometimes you get left on the cutting room floor.  And that just happened to me this week.  I was contacted by an editor of Country Home to possibly be included in their Style Makers section of the next issue, due in June 2017.  Wow.  This is really amazing! I wasn't sure what to make of all these features, but it was certainly thrilling to be considered a Style Maker.  And just like that, I got an email saying there wasn't enough room in the issue, and that I may be considered for one of their future issues. So POOF!  But hey, I am more than thrilled to be in the racks this year

in these great issues.    

The other bit of very cool news is that I was contacted to do some design work for a private company who is a wholesaler of romantic styled European clothing and who has decided to add some complementary home accessories to the line.  They wanted to know if I would give them some designs for French home decor.  So we struck a handshake of a deal, and my designs have been well received thus far.  Its funny because as a former owner of a little retail home boutique shop, I had a hard time finding things that I personally was attracted to, given my penchant for French style.  And now I get to CREATE French style items that will be made in factories and it couldn't be more exciting!  As things move along, I will be sharing more specifics, but for now we are fleshing out concepts and items to be included in the collection.

 One of my favorite things is to sketch. 

My design sketches are done in pencil with a bit of colored pencil 

added to give it some life, then emailed to the owner of the company for approval.

The feeling is an overall rustic and elegant European look.  

I will share the company and where you may be able to find these items

designed by moi as soon as they become available.

Yum. 

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A fabulous addition to our foyer

Its that time of year when you try to make your house really sparkle!

Maybe you do projects in time for the holidays too?

Finally!  I have done something in this space that I have been wanting to do 

since the day we moved in! Can you guess what it is?

(Hint:  Look at the staircase.)

Our entryway is a space I have talked about in less than glowing

terms, because it opens right into the stairway and our living room.

  The staircase is very prominent, and it needed some appeal.

A new runner softened the space and gave it a finished look.

But where did I find this runner?  You may be surprised...

The Perfect Rug company is an online rug shopping place that has 

a zillion rug types and colors and weaves.  Honestly it was so easy to use

this site, and their customer service was great. Originally I was going to 

get an area rug for the dining room, but the more I thought about it, I 

knew I wanted a runner, and because they are custom sizes, The Perfect Rug

was the best solution.  I also love that they have cost estimates as you shop

online for the various types and sizes of carpets, so you can be mindful of your budget.

Being on the stairs, I wanted a rug that would stand up to traffic,

as well as a color that would hide paw prints and work boots.

My carpet style was a natural grass carpet, called Sisal.  It got a 4

on a scale of 1-5 in The Perfect Rug's rating scale for wear and tear.

It also got a 5 out of 5 for its Green Ratings! LOVE! 

That scale was very helpful in choosing the correct type of carpet.

Each carpet choice on their website has a "details" link to click on

to see the various ratings, so you can make a good choice.

 Since it is custom, you also select what binding style you want for your

rug, but they do include their recommendations for each carpet, which is great.

  I went with a bound edge in a color that blended with the rug.

It looks so polished now! 

 I love how the runner looks with the recent wallpaper we added in blue and grey.

What a difference these upgrades made to our entry area!

Here is how the process began~I shopped online at The Perfect Rug for samples.

When I got my samples, I narrowed it down to three choices in shades of neutrals.

Getting to see the samples in person in your home makes your decision foolproof.

My choice?

 Island Colors Boucle in Medium Grey 

with a Serged Border in Light Slate Grey.

 Sisal is not soft underfoot, but the wear and tear factor was the 

deciding factor for our home.  It couldn't look more perfect!

Also I want to point out, our stairs are open to the railing

for the first five steps, and then it narrows down between the walls

as you head up the staircase.  I based my width of the runner on something that 

would look appropriate between both treads, which was a 27" wide runner.

We did use an independent installer. 

(Initially I thought I would try it but I wanted it to look perfect!)

He said that this was an exceptionally high quality carpet

and in fact he had yet to ever see, or install, a runner made out of sisal.

That made me a very happy girl!

Our home has a lot of natural grass style carpets which are great for

active homes with pets and kids.  The living room has a tan colored

jute rug.  I could have opted for a tan runner, but I went with the grey

like you see in our wing chair.  I love mixing grey and tans together.

 So if you are thinking about refreshing your carpets or getting a rug

for a space that needs a special shape or size, you will find just want you 

need at The Perfect Rug.  I am simply thrilled with this company!

And get this: Bob, a company representative, called me almost instantly

 after he got my order online to discuss the particulars about installing runners. 

 He was so thorough, making sure I would get the right amount of carpet 

and not come up short.  That says a lot about a business, 

knowing that they want their customers to be happy with what they have ordered. 

 High marks from me on that!

Add in a two week turn around time, and it doesn't get any better.

My tiny entryway looks so much prettier than it did just a month ago.

My wall mora clock is decked out for Christmas with a mix of

grey and tan with a bit of gold ribbon, echoing the carpet colors.

I am truly looking forward to greeting my guests for the holidays,

and I won't be feeling badly anymore when I open my front door,

thanks to The Perfect Rug.  That's for sure!

Note: This post is sponsored by The Perfect Rug, however all thoughts and opinions are my own. I couldn't be happier to work with and recommend this company to my readers. 

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