Red, I love Red

Diana Vreeland, who was the editor of "Vogue" for about a hundred years, said "everyone should have a red room in their home". I have had red rooms...not here in Texas, as it's hottern'hell here in the summer, and I think it would just melt the house....but, I used red in so many homes in Wisconsin, where it is coldern'cold in the winter..which are long, dreary, and long...did I mention they are long?
Since moving to Texas, I still love red...but in moderation...I know, I seldom do anything in moderation, which gets me in so much trouble, I can't even tell you.... There are so many permutations of red - I can't find a "true red" on my color palatte on my computer, so this is as close as it gets...

This dining room was "miso red" (Martha Stewart), which has brownish tonality to it..with a dash of violet...

This dining room started out as "Jamaican Red", which I then put a burnt sienna glaze over...yum!

For the Fourth of July, I used this tiny, red checked cloth, and my patriotic rooster, waving the old, "Red, White, and Blue".

I love shots of red with golds, browns, etc....(styled this bed)...long, long ago.

Frankly, I would lose my mind in this room, and I wouldn't sleep a wink, but the art director for the Graber/Springs Window Fashions shoot wanted to really "pop" the black blinds..and do they ever. Actually, it does have a more "youthful" audience.

Okay, some would call this orange...which to me, is red in another life...more of a brick red...again, Wisconsin...cold...long...winters...hence, the fireplace I designed...

After moving to Texas, I sold (on good old Craig's list) this duvet cover, and matching sheets, by Ralph Lauren, why, you ask?...Because, you can't see scorpions on these sheets (seriously)...we now have white and taupe sheets....

I had a magazine article in Madison Magazine, showcasing this home...The kitchen is "Red Pepper", with wonderful "Country French" window treatments and accents..

Same home, same article....This is the powder room to end all powder rooms...I gold-leafed the ceiling, the door (a pocket door), and the mouldings...then, I aged them...The owner is Oriental, but his wife is a nice, German woman, who is a hospice nurse...she wanted "life" and "lot's of whimsey"...The fellow in the niche was named, "Peeking you PeePee" (we couldn't help ourselves)...

I found these "book boxes" at the largest outlet mall in the world (really)..in San Marcos...at a Pier One..they were originally $24.00 each (which was rediculous), and I got them for....drum roll....79 cents!! They are wonderful - I do have to figure out how to label them, as stick-on adhesive labels come right off the fabric. I will probably (one of these mornings like this morning, when I am wide awake at 3 am) print some out and use my trusty glue gun..

I finally got my desk cleared...noone who has been in my studio will believe this, as it hasn't been cleared in two years, but it is done..and I love it..of course, right now, I am hand-painting glass, so it is strewn with , well, glass, and paint pots, and paper towels..but the glass top is perfect for me. I got this desk (actually, a slab of glass on metal tubed sawhorses) for $50 twenty years ago, and it has served me well.

I used this wonderful, Waverly pattern (sheets, actually, but you can still buy the fabric), for window treatments in my studio - yep, that's my desk, and I painted the cherry bowl. So much to paint before the Market Day event mid-November.

This was a "Parade Home" (again, Wisconsin), and the woman who bought it had moved "South" from Minnesota.."Yea, you betcha" land. She fell in love with this study...bought the house, the art, and everything in the room...I love using outdoor lighting as sconces.

Finally, these are the pillows on my bed...and speaking of which, even though I've had a cup of coffee, I've been up since two am, painting glass, screwing up my computer, and writing this...it's now 6:52, and I am going to go lay my head down on these pillows...

Offices are Tough, Part Deux

Let's face it, my husband's office "transformation" was a pretty big yawn. I mean, it was okay, but it was a nice enough office to begin with...nice paint colors, pretty fabric on the chairs, decent furniture...it was just stark - and don't get me started on the lamp again. I don't think the photos did it justice as far as making it an inviting space. That said..these photos are of an office I did for a law professor at the U of Wisconsin..(he paid for the transformation..not the "U")...I only put that in there because there were some pretty jealous office neighbors, who were too cheap to pay me..let them live with it.

At the time, my husband was with the U of WI, but at a different, smaller, podunk campus, where his office was a hell hole...In fact, I showed him the photo below while I was working on the project, and he said, "wow, that's a really nice office"...I told him that was the "before" photo, which shocked him, as his office wasn't nearly as nice as that - poor guy...I never even tried on that one...it would have cost a fortune. This office cost around $10K to do...my husband's most recent....nothing..I did all the art, and I had all the blue-and-white - but, I digress.

Anyway, these are the befores....ripped out those bookcases, and installed new, wooden ones down the side of the room..also, a new, two-drawer lateral file (none of which is pictured). This is the "after" of that shot...my client let me put nice lamps in...and I did later add a piece of artwork on the end wall. I had beautiful grasscloth down the long wall, and had the room painted. Installed new carpet (I won't go into the asbestos situation, which was finally resolved)...if there is asbestos in a public space - and anything built before the sixties usually has it, you cannot rip it out, unless you can bring in Hazmat suits and evacuate the entire building - ended up just going over it with carpet...shhhhh.

Here's the other end of the room...I do wish he'd have let me do some sort of nice, wooden blinds, but he was adament about just taking the ratting blinds down...he said he never closed them anyway...I was fine with that.

I got these shots in before his new computer set up was installed, but it was not as invasive as the old one...

There, that's it....perhaps one day, I will stop obsessing about the lamp for my husband's desk, but I doubt it...

This One's for Kelly

I love Kelly...never met her, but I love her...I follow her blog, http://www.muchtodowithnothing.blogspot.com/ . She's my greatest cheerleader. KiaKai/Kelly...you said in a comment on my last post that my life was more exciting than yours...I seriously doubt that..seriously...for example, yesterday, I; got up..made beds, fed cats, cleaned litter boxes (bleached and washed and dried, or else Raisenette won't use them), did three loads of laundry, swept the floors, did last night's dishes (I seldom leave dishes overnight, but wasn't feeling well), cleaned out the fridge (evolution was taking place in the crisper), cleaned all the appliances, cleaned the countertops (I found out that plain old rubbing alcohol makes them shine (thanks to my friend, Stephanie), filled out my quarterly taxes, went to the post office, sanded and painted my french door that opens out to the porch, worked on my office (found my desk), went to the grocery store, went to the bank, came home and cooked dinner (catfish, tomatoes, and green beans), did dishes, watched "Dancing With the Stars", went to bed, read three pages of a book (an ex-husband has written a novel, and although I am "described" in it, play no obvious role, thank God...I don't think it's very good, as I fell asleep reading it). That was a day in my "exciting life"..HA!

Kelly can refurbish, refinish, renovate, restore, and repurpose anything...really....and she's a very kind person...she loves animals, as do I...

Well, for some reason the photos of my husband's office just don't do it justice. I think it's because I used a flash, and was in a hurry, but here they are...