Tuesday, September 27, 2011

DECORATING THE CONDO...PART 2

Man, this condo project is taking a loooong time. It is now the end of September and all I can give you today are some sneak peeks to tide you over until the BIG REVEAL.

There are several reasons for the delay...the most significant being the fact that I'm not living in the same city as the condo. We have now driven one huge van load and two SUV loads to Toronto. Not to mention the sourcing, buying, delivery and often times, the put together of items bought there. Remember, I said we were going to do this on the 'skinny'. Well, there's my version and Mike's version and they don't equal the same skinny. 
Another shall we say 'difficulty' has been ...my ...er...clients.... ssshhhh!!! Don't forget, up until this past Sunday, we were mostly under one roof. Let's just say that I have (had) a vision....but my vision was, it seems, taking too long to complete for the fam's ( Mike's) liking. So I had to abandon some of my fab ideas and get some items more quickly and with less thought than I would have liked....but, they (he) is the client afterall. 
Enough of this jabber....onto the peeks.


Way back in this post I mentioned that we were using some 'already owned by us' items. This ottoman went with a chair that is now repurposed at the cottage. The colour is OK there, but so not cutting it at the condo so I....

....removed the skirt, made a slip cover out of this funky, textured, gator-like fabric, added some nail head border and now we have a new ottoman.

Love me some IKEA shelving in the dining area. Now this baby took all of 1hr to put together.....until the last side and the bottom. Let me just say....well, you can imagine. If we had a balcony it would have gone over the side. We also cannot seem to attach it to the wall. It should have been easy peasy, but we are now keeping our fingers crossed that the weight itself will keep it from going cock-eyed. On second thought, the next time I visit the condo, I think I'll hire a handyman to drill any and ALL holes.


A lot of linear stuff happening as well as many empty walls.... plus everyone needs an EXTRA large clock on the wall. Right?

So Mike got his La-Z boy recliner. Would not countenance NOT having one, so to make my client happy...we bought one in chocolate brown leather. But I love this little number that sits prettily on an angled wall and is the perfect complementary colour to the orange pillows I made for the mega sofa. 


This is WAY more of a sneak peek than I should really be showing, but highlights here are the mega, unbelievably comfy sofa, brown leather La Z-boy recliner and my cushions, which are certainly tossed in this pic.


So this is the sunroom (certainly NOT sunny in this pic) / murphybed/ master bedroom. Just need to move the easel with Lianne's paintings into the corner, slide the IKEA (ghost) chair back a bit and knock down the....you guessed it ...IKEA gate leg table, pull down the bed ....and voila. In the morning do exactly the reverse and you have a sunny spot to drink your cuppa and or a desk/ office wth a view. Oh ya and there's my DIY 'Picasso' hanging on the wall.

Ta da...that's all for now folks. In mid-late October, early November....this project has got to be finito. I've got my eldest daughter's wedding coming up in February and am going to be somewhat tied up with that. 
Also, I'm  S L OW L Y going to be upgrading and redesigning my blog with a twitter friend's help. She has already been so encouraging to this techno dweeb and we have never met IRL. You should take a peek at her blog. She is hilarious and has a real live TREEHOUSE!   http://lynneknowlton.com/
If you are wondering what SM...especially twitter ... can do for you....just ask me.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

A DIFFERENT KIND OF COLOUR WHEEL....

You guys are sooooo lucky because I am posting twice this week, which I don't think I have ever done.

This post is the continuation of Tuesday's post ...EVERYWHERE A CHIP, CHIP.... I have oodles of leftover paint chips and I wanted to do something utterly fantabulous with them. You see, we need some inexpensive decor items for our new condo. I had an AHA moment! Create something big with the paint chips. So I did!


I started out with 22" X 28" white poster board and rubber cement.
Oh ya, doesn't my upstairs, bright, all mine, new office space have a pretty view....I just love it.


I had previously trimmed hundreds of Benjamin Moore paint chips. I used only one type of paint chip as I knew I wanted size uniformity. I randomly chose a spot and laid down the first chip...the yellow one, then started to glue other chips around it.


The circle...or shall we say my version of the colour wheel started to take shape. Now remember, I was choosing previously trimmed chips RANDOMLY. I wanted to see what would happen with the colours when not carefully curated.


By this stage, I gotta tell you ...well let's just say I'm glad my pretty windows were open...WOWZA, rubber cement is not pleasantly odiferous....to me anyway.
Can you see my three, somewhat defined colour wheels.  At this point I have to admit that I had to chose the placement of a few chips as my pile was getting low on certain colours.
What I started to notice was how the colours were relating with each other....how some look great together and others, not so much.  I also confirmed to myself yet again that when choosing paint colours you MUST view them on a white background. Each colour's appearance is drastically affected by the colour on either side of it.


ARE YOU READY?


So after several hours of gluing several hundred Benjamin Moore paint chips, I cleaned up the excess rubber cement and framed my masterpiece in an IKEA  28" X 40" RIBBA frame in chocolate brown.


...to be hung either vertically or horizontally as the space dictates. 
(sorry for the glare...took lots of pics,  and these were the best)


Would I do this again?.....You betcha, but a different format / design as the possibilities are endless.




Tuesday, September 6, 2011

....EVERYWHERE A CHIP CHIP....

Two weeks ago I moved my office from the basement to my daughter's now vacant bedroom which necessitated cleaning up many...er...piles of .... STUFF.  In the process I found my ever growing stash of colour chips. I have been collecting them since I worked on school projects, my own decor projects and clients projects. I'm addicted to these little pieces of coloured squares. I can't seem to part with any of them, even the most horrid hues. I don't understand why?
Anyway, I have decided to do somehing creative with them. I'm expecting this 'picasso' to grace a wall in the new condo.  Not sure if I will ever show a pic of the masterpiece...time will tell, so don't hold your collective breath(s).

Maureen at Modecor Muses: September 2011

Maureen at Modecor Muses