Home Decor Palette: Neutrals plus One

 Create a beautiful and welcoming room by combining neutrals plus one. 

 One color, that is.

This oversized family room was furnished with neutral furnishings and wall color

and was in need of some finishing touches.

My client, Anna, asked me to help make her home a little more inviting. 

 She was enjoying her neutral palette, but felt something was missing. 

Accessorizing was needed to make the space feel cozy and 

 a soft repetitive dose of aqua would be the cure.

I am a HomeGoods designer for their Pinterest board, Happy by Design,

as well as the shopkeeper for my own decor shop, Maison Decor.

Anna's house would be treated to a nice makeover after a shopping trip

to both! Here are my carriages filled to the brim with goodies for Anna.

I recommend buying more than you think you need, so you have enough

to play with when you start styling your space.  

You can always return what you don't end up using.

This room was big and larger spaces need more stuff!

 Ana had a pair of tufted taupe linen wing backs set in front of a window.

There was a teeny tiny table with nothing else between the chairs.

An antiqued gold bamboo style metal and glass occasional table was 

the right scale and height for the chairs.  A tall modern aqua glass lamp

with linen shade united the pair into a cozy conversation spot.

 Chic silk beaded pillows added a little glam to the linen chairs.

It's a great improvement to that pair of beautiful chairs.

 Other touches of aqua were added in the form of

 candles inside lanterns and candle holders.  

A gorgeous aqua and taupe embroidered designer pillow

 from HomeGoods was irresistible in both price and style!

 The neutral palette was also punched up with metallics.  Lots of sparkle~glass and fabric,

 from the crocodile ottoman tray, mercury glass, and extra pillows on the sectional,

all found at my local HomeGoods.
Did I mention pillows??

I call this Pillow Magic! 
Pillows are the quickest way to create a change in a room.

 Little shots of aqua were placed around the room,

 on the table tops, inside the bookcase and on the sofa.

Washed willow storage baskets from Maison Decor were

placed up on the bookcase next to a pair of silver lanterns from HomeGoods.

Large rooms need larger scaled accessories.  

This enormous peacock oil painting in shimmering champagne

 with a touch of white and aqua was the perfect addition

 to the wall behind the sofa,

keeping the mood modern and dramatic.

 Anna found the fabulous floor lamp

 at West Elm after we spotted a similar style lamp while 

scoping out Pinterest for inspiration.

 A reminder of the before....

(oh and yes we are getting rid of the brown rug that 

doesn't work and installing a wool carpet in pale sea glass aqua!)

The after shot shows how pillows and a few well chosen items like lamps,

 smaller tables and sparkling accessories has brought this room to life!

 Not to mention, the addition of color.

 One color. 

Aqua.

(Stay tuned for both carpet and draperies from 

Maison Decor in the not so distant future!)

P.S. The family room isn't the only space we are working on~
the foyer, the living room and the dining room are in need of
some accessorizing, and I have some great ideas.
So follow along as I style other rooms for Anna
this month with finds from HomeGoods and Maison Decor.

Visit the HomeGoods Happy by Design Pinterest Board 

and get tips from me and other designers!

Note: This post is sponsored by HomeGoods Happy by Design Pinterest program.  
All designs and opinions expressed on my blog are my own.

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Our Inspiration Wall: Chalk Art and Gilded Frames

Our shop in Reading has a lot of painted and embellished

sample boards that we have made over time using different

products.  Many are Chalk Paint sample boards, and then

there are those that we have used more decorative techniques

by adding combinations of pearlescent,

 gilded, crackled and transfer mediums.

I noticed it was hard for shoppers to figure out what they were looking

at, so I came up with the idea of grouping samples together

inside of vintage gilded frames.  I had been purchasing old gilded

frames at auction. Most had ugly artwork or broken bits so I was 

able to get a good deal on them.  Colin cut out backing boards out of 

luann board and painted them with traditional chalkboard black paint.

He mounted the boards inside the frames and they looked stunning!

I could have just put them in the shop and sold them like that,

and maybe I will now that we have our inspiration wall finished,

After the boards were put in the frames I laid out groupings of samples

and Justin got to work creating his magical Chalk Art fonts.

He does it all freehand, and will look at various fonts online for ideas.

You can see how he starts off by spacing the letters with simple stick lettering.

Then he starts getting creative, which is when the magic happens!

He is working in the back room where we hold our workshops.

During the week we usually have various projects in different states

of progression on the table.  You can see the other boards in the back, as well

as a simple sample board I am doing using an 

Efex molding for an upcoming class.

More on that at the end of the post.

AFter he got his lettering all finished, Justin glued down our samples.

This board is meant to show what finishes you will learn when you 

take our popular Chalk Paint® Introductory Workshop.

I love this frame, by the way! Look at the moldings on this baby!

We had a few boards made up showing off the Artisan Enhancement line that we carry.

There are many different decorative things you can do with this line, including

various crackling techniques, image transfers, foiling, stone finish and pearlized finishes.

Now when you come in to get inspiration we hope our boards inspire

in a more obvious way!

How wonderful were those incredible antique frames?

You can easily add embellishing appliques to any frame to get

a similar look to a vintage plaster over wood or carved frame

by using a combination of Efex moldings onto a simple frame.

I am working on different boards using our new Efex latex molding line

we carry in house and online.  This one is a very fine detailed ribbon

applique. You can see a pencil tracing mark around it. When you apply

the applique, you just roughly trace around your piece, then apply the contact cement

to the board and the back of the piece, wait 20 minutes, then stick together and press

down to make good contact.  The tracing line just helps you see where

to put the cement, and where to stick your applique.

Then after about a half hour you can paint right over it.

I am using French Linen Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan.

Push the paint into all the crevices of the molding and then 

brush them out so there is no globbing.

I finished it off with a wash to get this lovely Gustavian look.

You can see all kinds of moldings from the Efex line in our shop

as well as online.  Imagine taking a flat panel door on a cabinet or a closet

and creating an antique French looking vibe! 

Or make fancy frames for your own fabulous chalk board to hang

in your kitchen or dining room!

You can join us at a new Applique and Molding Workshop,

coming up next month! We will be making a wall plaque using the Efex

moldings and decorative paint finishes.  You will see how easy it is to 

plan a project with Efex latex moldings. You will lay it out, cut, glue and paint 

and up with stunning results!

Rounding out the week finds me wearing my designer hat.

Today I will be styling a clients home. 

Did you know I am also a HomeGoods Designer?

 I am part of a hand full of national designers in the HomeGoods 

Happy by Design Pinterest program!

Four carriages and two rolling flat bed carts were filled 

for this exciting home styling project.

I will be sharing the finished results soon.

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More Furniture Fabulousness with Moldings and Appliques

We decided to carry Efex moldings and appliques at Maison Decor after trying 

them out. I did a mantle makeover using the Efex moldings and was blown away!

So I wanted to do another project, and one I could keep in the shop to 

show customers how awesome these moldings and appliques are.

An old oak bookcase I bought at auction a few months ago has been

in our warehouse.  This would make an ideal display case for Efex decorative

moldings. No, this bookcase turned display case was not an old french piece,

it was as basic as they come, and was a bit worn out looking before I transformed it.

 Yup~here it is in the before photo, but at this point Colin had cut pegboard and removed 

the shelves and attached the pegboard to the back of the bookcase.  He started painting the interior

with Graphite Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan when I realized I didn't have a before pic.

 While Colin painted the interior, I applied the contact cement to both the decorative strip molding as well as a pair of decorative drops on each side and then for good measure I added a beaded molding at 

the top of the crown area.

 It only takes 15-20 minutes to wait for the contact cement to set up before you put the molding 

onto it's intended surface.  Then after an hour I started painting it with Paris Grey Chalk Paint.

  This is my instagram photo of it in progress.  If you want to catch some behind the scenes Maison Decor stuff and you do instagram, you can follow me at amymaisondecor or  you can follow the store at shopmaisondecor.  It was looking amazing as soon as the paint was covering the moldings!

 After it was done, I wanted to step it up a bit, and do some of that layered moldings I see

on old world pieces via pinterest searches or in magazines.

Look at how these moldings are laid over one another. 

 It inspired me to do the same with the bookcase display.

I just traced the area around the applique into the position I wanted

and then added cement to both surfaces over the other moldings and 

onto the wood part of the bookcase. It easily attaches to the other moldings 

and what a fabulous look!! I have another project I plan to do next

as this was so exciting to create and watch this simple bookcase

take on the look of an old world piece.

I used to shell style pieces to bookend a rose swag that I turned upside 

down. Normally that piece would be mounted as a smile shape,

not an eyebrow shape.  

I could have easily done the entire top in a layered mode,

but instead its a centerpiece.

The finished case holding the Efex moldings.

Painted in Paris Grey Chalk Paint and then clear and dark wax finish.

Its exciting stuff!  My mantle inspired a lovely customer to come in the shop

and get a bunch of moldings to do hers.  We talked about how best to fit

the pieces on her mantle, and I hope to share her results right here.

What was kind of bizarre was after talking, her brother works 

with my husband on the police force and the same shift! 

Recreate your pieces using Efex moldings like I did with this bookcase and my mantle.

 Its as easy as 1 - 2 - 3!

Shop for Efex here

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Furniture Appliques and Moldings

source

Have you seen these gorgeous mirrors and

 paneled walls and admired them

wishing you too had such detailed millwork in your home?

                                        We decided to do a project using Efex latex appliques in our home

on our plain jane living room fireplace mantle.

 "Before" photo of the  mantle in my living room.

The "after" photo showing the finished results.

It couldn't have been easier!

 I am so impressed with the quality and the results,

and the fact that it is super easy to use.

If you can trace a shape, and cut with a razor or scissors, you can do this.

The entire project took one hour the first day to apply the moldings

and then a half hour the following day to paint.

I designed the look using three styles of moldings:

(2) of the Floral strip # 325, (3) of the swags #234 

and (4) of the Floral and Leaf drops.

The latex moldings are applied using a coating of contact cement to both

the backside surface of the molding as well as the area you plan to stick it on.

 I wanted a classical french look, so I arranged some 

of the appliques in the fashion I wanted for the mantel. 

I measured and made sure they would work, and since 

there are different sizes of swags and drops

 you can easily find something that works.  

Hold up the moldings and trace around the pieces one at a time.

Then I traced with a pencil around the moldings

 as I held them against the mantle.

You will paint the contact cement in this area, 

and when all finished you will paint over the 

moldings so the pencil marks and any extra cement will disappear.

It doesn't have to be perfect, just as a guide for 

you to know where to stick your moldings.

 Paint inside the traced areas with a throw away 

chip brush and the contact cement. I used a fairly light coating,

 so it wasn't dripping or running. 

Paint the backs of the appliques.  

Spread out a drop cloth and paint over that.

Wear gloves as its very sticky.  

Clean up is with mineral spirits.  This contact cement

is pretty smelly stuff, fair warning.

So bear that in mind, get some ventilation or do small bits at a time.

I did the entire mantle all at the same time, 

and it took me less than one hour.

Then put the kitchen timer on for 15-20 minutes.

After that time, the cement should feel almost dry.

At that point you will connect your moldings with their proper

spots on the painted cement.  It grabs and holds, even on a vertical surface.

I was worried it would fall off, but it didn't.

After you get it all in place, then press over it to make sure 

its on good and solid. I pressed it down with the back of a 

flat butter knife to make sure it was making good contact.

 I put the long 42" floral strip first. I dry fit the pieces ahead of time, 

which means holding it up to see if it will fit and then making cuts for a custom fit.

The moldings will stretch a bit, so you have a bit of wiggle room. 

They will stretch around curves too.

 I cut another strip to fit against where this one ran out.

You can see my pencil line and the yellow adhesive.

Then I started adding the drops and swags.

I waited overnight to paint it with regular latex paint. 

 As soon as the paint went on

it was the best feeling ever!  So dramatic, and so easy!

It came out looking so authentic and  beautiful! 

What an amazing transformation!!

The Efex moldings are so affordable too so I am dreaming of other things to create.

I have at least three projects in mind....

Here is just a little peek when I had them laid out on

 my sofa while I was deciding what to use.

There are classic looks as well as the French styles I love.

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