Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Hi everyone -- on a personal note -- the portrait in this little vignette is actually of my own beautiful mom Dorothy, and the artist who created it is none other than my incredibly gifted father!  Each and every day I know I am SO fortunate and blessed to have the kindest and most wonderful Mom (and Dad) in the world and I want to take this opportunity to wish her a very Happy Mother's Day, and at the same time I'd like to wish ALL of the amazing moms out there the same!   Where would we all be without you!  Love you so much Mom (and Dad)!

 

 

Get The Look Here! 

1.  DL Rhein Hexagon Turquoise Rug;  2.  Allen Chair;  3.  Bungalow 5 Taboret Side Table; 

4.  Sapphire Jewel Glass Table Lamp;  5.  Bronze Pillow.

 

Mom, I can picture you relaxing in this lovely comfy cozy chair, reading a book and/or having a nice cup of tea!  Happy Mother's Day Mom!  Have a great day!!!  xoxo Nanette

 

As always, feel free to leave a comment below, share this post with your friends or contact me via the contact tab above if you need design assistance. Have a colorful day! 

 

 

 

 

 

Stairway Art Gallery Wall Project

I have been living in my home for almost 14 years, and even though I'm a decorator -- true confession time -- my staircase wall has been empty!  Why?  Because I just didn't know what I wanted to put there, until NOW!  Recently I was at a fancy schmancy home decor shop in my neighborhood and saw some little white framed abstract art watercolors, and they were selling for about $700 each!!!  What?  I thought they were beautiful and loved how they looked, but I knew my daughter and I could create the same look ourselves and have some fun doing it!  Here's the before picture of my staircase -- plain, right?

 

 

 

The first thing we did was go to Ikea and purchase some $9.99 RIBBA frames similar to the ones I saw in the fancy schmancy store.  Then we went to our local art supply store and bought some fresh tube watercolors for about $39.00 and a pad of watercolor paper for $12.00.  I already have tons of paint brushes and palettes from when I was a textile designer so I didn't need those.  During a Saturday afternoon we freely painted our abstract shapes, then let them dry and flattened them between some heavy books.  Then on Sunday we selected and cut out our favorite pieces and framed them.  Next, we hung them, and voila -- decorated art gallery style staircase, for a lot less than $3,500, which is what it would have cost if I bought 5 in the fancy schmancy store.  Plus, we had the "fun factor"!!! 

 

Here's our "During" picture!

 





Here's each of our completed framed pieces!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's the Finally Decorated Staircase Wall!  Voila!

 

 

 

You can do the same, it's so easy, inexpensive and fun!  Personally, I like the look of having a series of uniformly framed pictures instead of a mishmosh of random different things.  But that's just me.

 

Hope you liked our Stairway Art Gallery Wall Project!  Feel free to leave a comment below, share this post with your friends or contact me via the contact tab above if you need design assistance.  Have a colorful day! Nanette

 

Chic Little Office -- Get The Look!

 

Would you like this Chic Little Office designed by "moi"?

Thanks to Zinc Door and Layla Grayce (two sites I can't get enough of),

You can "Get the Look" (see below).

 

 

 

 

1. Jared Navy Desk (New); 2. Mini Sunburst Mirror; 3.  White Porcelain Lamp;  4.  Gold Hexagon Side Table (I love this little gold table!);  5. Gold Leaf Chair;  6.  Colorful Embroidered Back Pillow.

 

Hope you liked my Chic Little Office!  By the way, the blue paint color is Benjamin Moore's Classic Colors "Warm Spring No. 682".  Feel free to leave a comment below, share this post with your friends or contact me via the contact tab above if you need design assistance.   Have a colorful day!  Nanette

Vacations, Lounge Chairs, and Z Gallerie

I feel extremely lucky to go on at least one very nice vacation with my husband and two kids each year. We usually stay at our Marriott 2-bedroom 2-bath apartment timeshare -- absolute luxury, excellent service and, in my opinion, the ONLY way to travel as a family, that is if you want complete comfort, spaciousness and a place to put all your "stuff" including provisions in an amazing kitchen!  But last year we had to cancel a reservation which put a penalty on our account, making it frustratingly impossible for us to get the week we wanted this year -- the dreaded Spring Break. We decided to go to Phoenix and stay at the Arizona Grand Resort, a resort we were unfamiliar with, but we got a 1-bedroom suite and they have a big water park so it seemed like a good choice. Upon our arrival, that excited feeling that you get when you first see your accommodations sunk fast when there was a plate of smashed up food on a tray on the ground in front of our room (dud music playing wa wa wah). The suite was "eh". Then we explored the water park which could not have been more crowded, teeming with a million kids. I have kids but I don't want to be around THAT many kids, especially other people's. The next day, our first full day of the trip, we couldn't get a single lounge chair because we didn't know the drill and had foolishly eaten breakfast first: too late! The only way to get some chairs was to make a big angry fuss to the manager. The day after that my daughter and I went out at 8:15 a.m. before breakfast to see a line forming at the water park, which would open at 9:30, so we stood there on line for 75 minutes till it opened and then my speedy daughter made a run for it with the 4 towels and got some good chairs, while my husband and son were enjoying a leisurely breakfast without us. The water park was fun but we decided to check out of that hotel after 3 days and head to the Hyatt in Scottsdale for the second half of the week. Now we would all be squashed in one room together with our stuff. We asked what the lounge chair situation was like, "Ya gotta get out there early." The next morning my husband got up at 6:30, got dressed, got the 4 lounge chairs, came back to the room, got undressed, got back into bed, fell back asleep and actually started snoring! We had a nice day. The next morning I woke up at 7:30 and our room was completely dark, I panicked -- the lounge chairs! I poked my sleeping husband and said, "it's 7:30, what about the lounge chairs?" He said, "I got them already." (Kinda funny). Vacations are work, there's no rest for the weary.  I'm writing this on our flight home; we had an ok time, but my two bright spots of our trip were (1) watching my fearless 13-yr.-old daughter go straight down the 7-story water slide (Wo, how is she MY offspring?) and (2) stumbling upon a ZGallerie (heavenly music playing laaaaaa!) at a really nice mall in Scottsdale. We don't have ZGallerie in New York (we gotta get one!). The only other one I've ever been to was in Newport, California. I enjoyed a quiet leisurely morning to myself wandering around one of my favorite stores, which I will share with you here. Thank you ZGallerie for my Scottsdale vacation BRIGHT SPOT (alone time)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and here's the water slide!

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this tour of ZGallerie.  Feel free to leave a comment below, share this post with your friends or contact me via the contact tab above if you need design assistance. Have a colorful day and I hope you had a good Spring Break also!  Nanette 

 

 

 

 

One Kings Lane Fabulous Art Sale

Hi all, this is a quickie post, but I wanted to let you know about the fabulous art sale that is on One Kings Lane today, and for the next three days, with some of my favorite artists!  This is a Must See!Just click the One Kings Lane box below to view the sale!  Have a colorful day, and enjoy the Art Show!  Nanette

Top Ten Pantries

Hi everyone, I don't know about you, but busy family life usually makes kitchen organization somewhat difficult or pushed to the "backburner", so these beautiful pantries really blew me away!!!Look how amazing they are in size and organization.  These will either inspire you to organize, or just make you jealous, sorry.  I think I feel both!  Have a look, and enjoy!





1.  Traditional Kitchen design

 

 



2.  Contemporary Kitchen design by Toronto Interior Designer Farrow Arcaro Design

  

 

3.  Traditional Kitchen design by Los Angeles Interior Designer thea home inc

 

4.  Modern Kitchen design by Other Metro Design-build Witt Construction

 

 

5.  Eclectic Kitchen design by Los Angeles Interior Designer Charmean Neithart Interiors, LLC.

 

6.  Traditional Kitchen design by Boston Closets And Organization Marie Newton, Closets Redefined

  

 

7.  Traditional Kitchen design by Boston Architect Michael Kim Assoc

 

8.  Eclectic Kitchen design by Seattle Architect live-work-play

 

9.  Traditional Kitchen design by Philadelphia Closets And Organization The Closet Works, Inc.

 

10.  Traditional Kitchen design by Other Metro Interior Designer Kathryn Long, ASID

 

 

WOW, right?  Doesn't that make you want to clean out your pantry, or put an extension on your home -- is more like it!  Feel free to leave a comment below, share this post with your friends or contact me via the contact tab above if you need design assistance.  Have a colorful day!  Nanette

Gotta Get Published Olioboard Contest!

Hi all, I'm participating in another Olioboard contest, believe it or not, so if you would take a one-click moment out of your busy day to vote for me every day, I would greatly appreciate it!   Just sign in to Olioboard, or if you are just visiting for the first time, you join first, and then you can vote by clicking the red heart at the bottom right of the image on the Olioboard website! My entry is called Editor's Choice.  Click HERE to Join and Vote!   It's simple!  The contest ends March 6, 2013 and you can vote once a day until then.  Many thanks, and have a colorful day!   Nanette