Tuesday, October 6, 2009

3 ladies in the city: Apt Inspiration

Yesterday I let you all in on my latest project. This project is a bit different than my traditional clients, because I’m related to one of them!



Now the apartment is not just my sister’s, but her two roomies as well so I had to take all 3 of them into account when designing the room.



Here is a little reminder of the before:



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Now while some think this green may be a bit bold I love it! I’m a huge color lover so this should come as no surprise. The ladiesasked for my advice before they picked this color out a couple of months ago and I gave them the green light on it.



When looking for inspiration I tend to look through fashion magazines and clothing catalogs first before looking through interiors.I don’t want to feel like I’m simply copying a room I like. Fashion is a huge source of inspiration and tends to mimic trends in home design so it is a good starting point for inspiration.



While flipping through the latest J.Crew catalog I was hit with 2 great sources of inspiration:



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They both have that fab green hue, touches of bling with gold, an unexpected quirk with the gray/white stripes plus a dose of girly glam with the touches of pink throughout. (*Caitlin you were the closest in figuring out what color combo I would go with! I knew you would be. I swear we are like long lost design sisters!)



They both give off a wonderful ladylike glam that I think suits these ladies very well.



Due to the budget the major furniture pieces will be remaining, sofa, club chair, ottoman, 2 white storage cabinets.



So will be making our biggest impact with accessories!



For my ladylike glam look I knew I wanted vintage pieces so I headed out to my favorite haunts in search of goodies.



Here is a sneak peek of what I found so far!



Two pillows made out of vintage fabric that were only 1.99 each!


Two vintage mirrors that were a total of $6 for both!!!

Small vintage plate only $1.99!


From my fabric stash my lovely bird fabric that was only $5!

Small oil painting for only $4!


Vintage scrabble letters that spell out their names for ZERO. The old home owner left them in the house and I kept them so now is a great time to put them to use!


Massively heavy alabaster vase for $4.99!!! Craziness when I went to Egypt  I bought a teeny tiny alabaster vase and it was $60!!!!!



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I also managed to throw in a little more modern elements by finding some leopard and a pair of Foo Dogs that I totally don’t want to give up!



I can’t wait to show you more, but alas it has to wait. I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Now I’m off to search for a dining set replacement within my budget. Wish me luck!

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20 Comments:

Blogger Jennifer said...

love j.crew for color inspiration! their stylists are so clever.

October 6, 2009 at 10:51 AM  
Blogger LindsB said...

So fun, I love the color combo you went with- its beautiful. I want to see more now you big tease!

October 6, 2009 at 11:25 AM  
Blogger Wendy said...

J. Crew is a wonderful place to get inspiration from. The color combo is fabulous! That room will look spectacular when you are done.

October 6, 2009 at 11:27 AM  
Blogger Rachel said...

How fun!!! I'm also working on my sister's apartment. I don't have the finished shots yet, but should soon. Sisters are so fun to work with!

I love that shade of green! And the pics from J Crew are awesome inspiration. I can't believe you got all that stuff for next to nothing!!! It's going to look great.

October 6, 2009 at 12:38 PM  
Blogger Chic Coles said...

Looking forward to the big day when we get to see finished photo's looks fun.

October 6, 2009 at 1:44 PM  
Blogger CLAIRE WATKINS, ASID ALLIED said...

Can't wait to see that GREEN. How bold! And... KUDOS on the dynamite finds. Loving the scrabble letters-

October 6, 2009 at 1:48 PM  
Blogger Lynett said...

So far so good...I love the green. Can't wait to see the reveal!

October 6, 2009 at 2:35 PM  
Blogger Fargerike Dagny said...

Looks great! Love your inspiration pics!

October 6, 2009 at 3:47 PM  
Blogger Dumbwit Tellher said...

Thumbs up on the green - I am a huge lover of all shades. Chartreuse to olive & everything in between. The apt. is going to look stunning. I love your sources for inspiration. Cannot go wrong with J Crews uncanny ability to mix patterns & colors. Great job. Can't wait for further update!

October 6, 2009 at 5:07 PM  
Blogger Lovely Little Nest said...

Oooh can't wait to see the finished product! :)

October 6, 2009 at 8:01 PM  
Blogger Revival said...

You are a great sister! I love that green color...can't wait to see what you do with everything.

October 6, 2009 at 8:15 PM  
Blogger Stephanie Sabbe said...

that scrabble letter idea makes me SO happy! I love how creative you are. You are going to do great things!

October 6, 2009 at 9:44 PM  
Blogger ###### said...

thats my color.....my office loves it.

October 7, 2009 at 1:15 AM  
Blogger Southern Aspirations said...

So much fun! The color is great and am excited to see what you do with the space.

October 7, 2009 at 8:24 AM  
Blogger Alicia B. Designs said...

Great ideas. I love turning an outfit (espesh from Jcrew) into a room! I can't wait to see...

October 7, 2009 at 10:29 AM  
Blogger Firednfabulous said...

Love love the J.Crew inspiration and the warm colors. I never would have thought of that. Then again, my creativity level is that of a 3 year-old!

October 7, 2009 at 12:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, what great finds! And the pictures from JCrew look like perfect inspiration. Can't wait to see how you interpret it!

October 7, 2009 at 12:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you are a thrifting genius

October 7, 2009 at 9:45 PM  
Blogger Lauren said...

can't wait to see!!! too funny because i ripped out that jcrew pic on the left from the catalogue a few weeks ago because i'm LOVING that look!!!

love how you're using fashion as your inspiration!!!
xoxoxoxo

October 8, 2009 at 9:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm shopping JCrew right now for left over summer clothes to bring back to Thailand! Love that place.

I can't wait to see what you do with the room. Having just moved here I am working with the few things I have shipped and a blank slate of an apartment. I'm getting so many ideas from you and the other lovely blogs!

(PS...thanks for stopping by my blog! It was so fun to see a comment from someone who's blog I love to read. We never got around to our "project" but when we do I'll be sure to post it!)
Laura

October 9, 2009 at 2:24 AM  

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