Moving from a 1920 Mansion to an eight year old home.

I am so envious of those who have time to post almost everyday, but alas, my schedule has been so full with design and party jobs (which is a great thing!), that I have not had the time to blog, but I hope to make a few posts, in a row, of what I have been up to.

Below is just one of many rooms I am working on for a family in Boxford, MA.  Coming from a mini 1920's mansion, that was full of antiques and dark colors, this family moved into an 8 year old contemporary cape and had me change all of the colors to light, airy, and cheery colors.  We also started from scratch when it came to the furniture, so I got busy drawing, designing, shopping, and finding fabrics.

Here is a pretty cool photo of the house they moved from. Not sure who took the photo since it was sent to me when I first started working with my clients. For several months we met here while we designed their new home.

Just to show you the interior of the old home.  Dark Wood, Colors, and Antiques.  

Now check out the difference of their new home!

The old lights.  Great and functional, but not for the style we were going with. 

New England Fine Living's Web site http://www.newenglandfineliving.com and this blog was created by Linda Smith Davis, The Fine Living Muse, as a Girl's Guide to Decorating in Style, Entertaining in Style, and Living in Style.

New Paint Colors For A New Home Purchase

One of the things I absolutely love to do is help clients select colors for their homes and to complement all of the items we are selecting.   Currently, I am working on a home that is having every room painted and changed.  We are custom designing most of the upholstered furniture and some of the casegoods, ordering accessories and lighting, and selecting paint colors that flow from one room to another.    The below photos were taken while the rugs were being delivered (hence the reason some are not centered  yet), but I wanted to show you the rooms at this stage. 

From this angle, you can't appreciate how the wool and viscose rug change color when you walk around the room.  The wall color, Pashmina Gray from Benjamin Moore, was selected from the wool base color in the rug. I will take a photo from the hall soon that shows how pretty the color is

This is going to be a dining space off of the kitchen. The previous owner used it for a sunroom sitting space, but I designed a 66" round table to go into the space, wicker chairs have just arrived at my warehouse from California, the large iron and glass chandelier is in, custom iron rods are being created right here in Massachusetts for the inner corners of the windows, and my workroom is sewing the window treatments.

The soft gray blue paint color from C-2 was selected to complement the stones and the existing built-in entertainment center.  This area rug has touches of the blue, but was mainly selected for the other colors that matched the fabrics we are using in the room.

This fabric is being used on two occasional chairs

This room was a bold move, going with a dark brown wall, but it already had darker colored mauve walls.  One thing I wanted to make sure was done was that the sloped part of the ceiling was also painted brown.  In the before picture, you can see the ceiling actually draws the eye to that part of the room and I wanted the room to have a nice flow to the eye.  I can't wait for you to see what we have in store for this "lodge themed" room. 

The Before Picture

When I work with clients, I keep their color palettes in my binder for future reference.  I love how soothing, yet fun all of these colors are and how well they work together from room to room.

We are still a couple months away from completion, but furniture is starting to arrive, window treatments are being sewn, and accessories are being purchased. I can't wait to share the finished rooms with you!



New England Fine Living's Web site http://www.newenglandfineliving.com and this blog was created by Linda Smith Davis, The Fine Living Muse, as a Girl's Guide to Decorating in Style, Entertaining in Style, and Living in Style.

Welcome Baby Cocktail Party With A Birds Nest and Spring Theme

I was given the wonderful opportunity to create a party for one of my clients for their third child.  This Welcome Baby cocktail party was for about 60 guests.  I was given a birds nest, a few key words, a budget, and I was off an running planning a birds nest theme party with a touch of spring for this special Celebration. 

For a holiday party I designed for this client, I was told the guests still went to the side door even though there were luminaries marking the way to the front door.  For this party, I created a quick sign to hopefully help guests find the correct door.  I was surprised to find a blank wood sign and all I had to do was add raised letters and a ribbon. 

For the front door, I started with empty urns.  I found two topiary twig cone trees while in Maine and I purchased them before I even knew what I would use them for.  When I got to my client's home, I plunked one in the urn and voila!  Brain Storm!  I put Spanish moss in the urns, the twig cones, fake ivy, grape vine, and then burlap bows. 

The decor started with these three bird houses.  When I saw them at the store, I thought it would be cute to buy three sizes to represent the three brothers.  Baby Oliver has the smallest one :-).  I used live ivy, Spanish moss, and a bi-level log sliver that I found in my wood pile.  Who says I don't think out of the box?  The table this birdhouse centerpiece is on is where the dinner buffet will be served. 

I loved creating the cake design!  Below is a quick sketch I did for the cake and faxed it off to Concord Tea Cakes for them to work their magic.  

I was so nervous about picking up the cake, but when they brought it out in a box, I felt a bit better.   Just kidding, this is not me, but it was in a box! 

Now to decorate the cake!  

I put a small circle of wax paper in the center of the cake and then placed the nest on top.   Once again, this nest was my inspiration for the whole party theme. 

I grabbed my scissors and snipped a few pieces of ivy from my table displays.

Before I picked up the cake, I picked up some white hydrangeas to place into burlap wrapped buckets.

Check out these favors!  They are flower seeds.  Hmmmm how can I display these.  In herbs of course (the rye grass I was going to buy was sold out, so I had to think quick!).  The fence was purchased the month before and I had no idea how I would use it, but I knew I would.  It fit perfect around the herbs that were placed in a chicken wire and burlap basket.  

I just put a few of the packets into the thyme by taping toothpicks onto the back of each packet.  The rest were displayed on rolled out moss. 

Below is the table that will have some appetizers on.  

A battery operated candle flickers under a cloche with butterflys and Spanish moss

New England Fine Living's Web site http://www.newenglandfineliving.com and this blog was created by Linda Smith Davis, The Fine Living Muse, as a Girl's Guide to Decorating in Style, Entertaining in Style, and Living in Style.

New England Fine Living uses Kravet's new e-shop program while shopping for design clients.

Here I am, shopping in Kravets' design showroom at the Boston Design Center and using Kravet's new e-shop program. It was exciting to know I was one of the first designers, in the nation, to test out this new program.  With my little knowledge of using a smart phone, this process was very easy and saved me not only time, but freed up one hand from holding a pad of paper or pencil. 

The only two things that I had issues with was.... one, when there was no scanning option I had to input the numbers myself and make sure I typed in each number or letter correctly. Not really a problem, but I was quickly spoiled by the point and click scanning option.  The second thing I did not like was the loud sound/buzzer that the device would make if the fabric was discontinued.  After a few cups of morning coffee, before my day of shopping, my startle response was on high alert.   :-)  

Kravet is introducing a new shopping technology in Kravet showrooms. Called e-Shop, this program combines detailed product information with memo sampling and scanning. Using an iPod Touch and attached scanner provided by the showroom, simply log on with your account number and scan the ticket of any fabric in the showroom. You'll immediately see price, available yardage, fabric details and additional colorways. With one touch, you can request a memo from the showroom memo desk. When you submit memo requests using the scanner, the items will be pulled by memo room staff in real time as you shop. The more you know about the fabrics you've requested, the more efficient your shopping process will be, plus the memos will be ready for you at the memo desk once you submit your order. Kravet is committed to improving our products and our processes to make it easy and convenient for designers to shop with us. E-Shop is currently available in Kravet showrooms in Bethpage, NY and Boston, MA and will be available in additional showrooms in 2013.

New England Fine Living's Web site http://www.newenglandfineliving.com and this blog was created by Linda Davis, The Fine Living Muse, as a Girl's Guide to Decorating in Style, Entertaining in Style, and Living in Style.

Soft natural looks in fashion

There are days that going with a more toned down look with a special pop of color or bling is all that is needed to change it up.  

A super natural look with the cosmetics and light lipstick, yet the deep rich nails complement the whole look

Jeans, neutral/casual shirt, and over-the-top-necklace makes this look fun, elegant, and casual all at the same time.  I love this look. 

Photos via whatchathinkaboutthat tumbler

New England Fine Living's Web site http://www.newenglandfineliving.com and this blog was created by Linda Smith Davis, The Fine Living Muse, as a Girl's Guide to Decorating in Style, Entertaining in Style, and Living in Style.