Cute Giveaway at perch.!

Where has the week gone? It seems all I have had time to post are guest bloggers and contests, and now a giveaway!

I am doing a couple of huge projects, and will blog on them soon. I don't have too much time for blogging right now, but I am checking in every once in awhile to keep up with you all!

Go on over to perch. HERE and check out the giveaway to get one of these darling Ikat frames. So far no one has named all of the ladies in the frames above. Can you? If you comment here perch. will count it as a comment for the giveaway.

More later...xo xo

Lonny Dropped in New Orleans

Valorie Hart, Jack Mayberry, Michelle Adams and Patrick Cline from Lonny,
and Caroline Robert owner of perch., photographed in perch. in New Orleans

It has been hush-hush for months that Lonny was coming to New Orleans! The publishing world is like that. emails flew back and forth, scouting for places to shoot and things to do, and the results are in the May 2011 issue of Lonny.


Two features I really love: Page 53, on overview of New Orleans, and then page 108 a gorgeous feature called Historic Style.

Michelle is a darling young woman, and Patrick is a genius photographer. He still shoots film instead of digital, and his photos are all the more amazing for it.

Check it out HERE

Case Study: A Ten Year Old Boy's Room

I have been working on a house since last September, room by room, and today I am showing you an update of the little boy's room. He is ten. This was not as easy as you think. Ten is too young for some things, and too old for others.

The boy's bedroom "before"

I started by repainting the room in Winterwood, the same greige color used throughout the house. This is an interior room without any windows. I also changed the carpet, not only to refresh, but also because when the huge bookshelf was moved out, there was a patch of even older carpet under it, and needless to say it did not match. The carpet came from perch.

The "Nook" bed from Modern Market in New Orleans
Ceiling fan was replaced with Nelson bubble light

It was time to get rid of the bunk bed, and I chose a bed that can grow with him into adulthood, the queen size "Nook" bed from Modern Market. The little boy loves color, and his two favorites are orange and green. The ceiling fan was replaced by the Nelson bubble pendant (the large size) from Design Within Reach ion New Orleans ((504) 891-6520).

The Playroom "before"

I also worked on an adjoining room, called the playroom. It is very small, but large enough for a TV and some furniture. I replaced bean bag chairs with a pair of vintage chairs, and a sofa from Urban Outfitters.

Vintage chair from Neophobia in New Orleans

The chairs were reupholstered in orange velvet from Fabricut from perch.

A large wall hanging from Urban Outfitters was hung on the wall behind the couch, and another Nelson pendant light (the medium size) was hung above.

A pair of theses chairs were redone in a velvet from Frabricut

The Playroom "after"

View from the bedroom into the playroom "before"

View into the playroom from the bedroom "after"

Shelves from Blu Dot purchased at Modern Market were put against the wall where the bunk bed was. The boy has tons of Legos, and requested shelf space where he could store them and see them.

"Before" - We needed to get the Legos off the floor
The pine dresser was replaced with a vintage one

Blu Dot shelving from Modern Market for the Legos

When you purchase new furniture for children it is very easy to fall into the trap of the matched room. I like to do the mix I do everywhere else: Vintage, modern, antique.
I found an adorable vintage desk, dresser, and chair on Etsy from Rhan Vintage Modern HERE, and had it shipped from Los Angeles for this room.

Vintage desk, dresser and chair from Rhan Vintage Modern

The little boy was thrilled with his new desk. I have also ordered a rolling table in orange from Rosenberry.

The desk is in very good vintage condition. It just needed to be cleaned up. The little boy discovered "treasure" in the drawers! There was a vintage costume jewelry pearl necklace and vintage hankie that he gave to his mother. He also found a bottle of dried up India Ink. There was another object, something the young boy had never seen. It was a 45 record!!!!

In honor of that, I asked his mother to get him a record player for his new room. I suggested a vintage style one. She plans to build a record collection for him too. What records would you choose for him? The one he found is "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town".

The new record player
Also a peek at the new carpet

"Before" - This bookcase was given away...
And the vintage dresser was moved to this spot

"After" - This book shelf unit replaced it...

Check out the duck taxidermy!

I am showing you the bare bones of the room. There is more art to come, and of course the little boy will make it his own.

I added bedding from CB2, and mom added the hourglass with lime green sand. A pair of Stilt lamps rest on a pair of nightstands from Blu Dot.

I did choose several Blu Dot pieces, but I mixed the various styles they have, rather then matching them.

Bedding from Cb2 called "Ink"

Hourglass with lime green sand

I always like to leave a little gift in each room I complete, and for this young man I found a box of vintage pool balls I placed in a wire basket. He called me to thank me, and was pretty excited that a pool table might be coming too.

Modu-licious nightstand and Stilt lamp from Modern Market

I loved doing this room. There were unexpected challenges. I felt a different kind of responsibility for creating a room for a young person on his way to adulthood. I hope he will remember this room with fondness when he is grown up, and perhaps take some of this furniture with him.

My gift of vintage pool balls

Case Study: A Ten Year Old Boy's Room - Interior Design: Valorie Hart

The Dining Room Reveal - Part 3 - A New Orleans Traditional Home Is Updated

If you have been following me along on this project, you know I have been updating a house in New Orleans HERE and HERE.

You've seen the two "parlors", and the third room in this shotgun floor plan is the dining room, which I am showing you today.

The dining room the day I came for my first interview September 2010

As before, the owner had a lovely collection of beautiful French and English antiques. She had done up the house ten years ago, and was ready for an update.

Chippendale chairs, with quilted slipcovers had to go
I wanted to keep the table

She gave me leeway to change the furnishings. I could "toss" it all. The wall color and floors had to remain.

I wanted to keep as much as possible, and add a mix of vintage and modern pieces, a mix I am adept at using.

The lamps were remodeled for the living room
The mirror and sideboard stayed, and the art was moved around
You can see in the reflection in the mirror the old balloon shade
It was changed to a clean tailored apricot silk Roman shade

The one huge issue in the dining room, was an off center crystal chandelier, an antique original to the house. We moved it to the living room.

The heavy Chippendale style chairs could have been painted a bright color, but I really felt that was drastic and would greatly detract from their value. They had quilted fabric slip covers that jut looked too gloomy. So the first thing we decided to change were the dining room chairs. The client loves Kartell so we started there.

Chair tryouts
The sea grass rug stayed - it plays back to the same one in the living room
Continuity in a shotgun house floor plan is imperative

We tried the Louis Ghost chair, The Victoria model first. The husband had a good laugh and wanted to know what doll house furniture was doing in his dining room. I had a good laugh too, and though the chair was a good starting point, I knew we could do better. Plus I like to keep the husbands happy too.

Set of vintage Milo Baughman chairs were the final chair choice
The chandelier was moved to the living room

I found a set of vintage Milo Baughman chairs. We had been playing with mixing metals, and the chrome just seemed right. And the chairs are very substantial and comfortable, so the husband loved them.

Originally I wanted to keep the antique dining table. The client proposed something modern, but everything we considered just didn't feel right. Then I saw a table in Elle Decor HERE, and it was major LOVE.

I wanted the antique table to stay until I found this one!
It was major LOVE for the client too
The zinc metal top with the bleached root base
is a perfect sculptuaral one-of a kind piece

I chose a Kelly Wearstler fabric to recover the Baughman chairs. It is so rich in look and feel, and has a bit of a throwback to the era the chairs came from. The color wove a story with the rug in the middle parlor, and with the apricot silk drapes.

Chairs at Leonels upholsterer with the new Kelly Weartsler fabric

The reupholstered chairs arrive!

Kelly Wearstler for Lee Jofa - Sora Velvet

The client saw a large antler on my dining table at home, and loved it, and we got a pair for her table to try out. Other accessories include a pair of vintage Murano lamps on the sideboard, and a portrait painted by Louis St. Lewis was added to the client's formidable art collection. We kept the antique sideboard, and trumeau.

Dining Room decor/styling by Valorie Hart

We also kept the impressive French armoire, and took all the leaves out of the dining table and used it as an accent table in the corner. A pair of Biedermeir style chairs got new seats, covered in a beautiful purple cut velvet to play off the Murano lamps.

The antique armoire stayed - it is gorgeous!
The dining table with the leaves removed is now an accent table

Issac Mizrahi for S. Harris, cut silk velvet on linen

I found a pair of antique metal sconces that actually felt quite modern, a good addition to the mix we had going on.

One of two antique metal sconces installed in the dining room

Then the key to solving the issue of the asymmetrical room proportions was delivered! We wanted to keep the ceiling medallion that the old chandelier hung under, and not do any serious rewiring for perhaps two chandeliers over the table.

Serge Mouille to the rescue!!!! With the client's love for Mid Century modern and my love for the mix, this was the only possible beautiful solution.

This odd looking package solved a major problem!

Frank, our electrician had never seen the lighting fixture before. I told him it was hand made for us in France, that a vintage one goes for around $35K. He was not amused, because he didn't know how to hang it. He talked about ripping out the ceiling medallion, and building a new electrical box, repainting the ceiling, etc. The client said absolutely not!

I bow down to Frank!!!

Visual Vamp to the rescue! It's not for nothing that I have been married to an electrical engineer for 16 years! So I talked Frank down from his chagrin, and gently suggested this in that, and voila! Frank installed the Mouille in record time. I love him. He crawled under the house to the sconces, and now this.

So take a peek into the dining room with the new lighting fixture... Also notice how the chairs, the Murano lamps, the art, all play back to the rug in the middle room, my color inspiration for all of the furnishings.

The lovely Oushak was the color inspiration

Mouille lighting fixture in the dining room

Interior decor/design/styling by Valorie Hart

Interior design Valorie Hart

The family (and their friends) are just loving all the updates and changes. I love coming into these rooms every time I have something to do in this house.

I have had a great time orchestrating this fabulous mix.

Next time, I have a sweet bar area to show you, and some upstairs bedrooms I have been working on.

Sources:

Milo Baughman chairs from David Katz 504 458-1196

Murano lamps, all fabrics, antlers, white bowl with chain detail on sideboard
from perch. 504 899-2122

Serge Mouille lighting fixture from Design Within Reach New Orleans 504.891.652

Part 2 - A New Orleans Traditional Home Is Updated

This week I am sharing another room in the New Orleans home I have been working on HERE

It is the room adjacent to the living room, a second parlor. Even in a grand townhouse such as this one, the shotgun floor plan is in evidence, that is one room flowing into another. The two living rooms are used for entertaining.

Before - This is the room as I found it on the first day I looked at the house
You can see a glimpse of the chandelier we moved to the living room

The client said she wanted to get rid of her "old" furniture, but I felt she had some lovely pieces that just needed updating. For this middle room, we did not purchase any new furniture, but rather reupholstered existing pieces.

I loved the rug when I saw it, and again it was a pivotal piece in choosing colors.

This is the room as it is today
You can clearly see the relationship of the two living rooms

The daybed before it was reupholstered
Too many frou frou pillows, and the art work needed to go elsewhere

I loved these pale blue leather chairs
The client wanted to get new ones because the cat has left her mark
But I convinced her to keep them,
and to consider the very minor marks as patina
We removed the antique table and replaced it with a zig zag glass table

The room with the daybed gone to the upholsterer
The pair of club chairs is waiting for the fabric we ordered to come in
Various paintings were tried in this spot
The client was attached to to the lovely French mirrors and sconces
So it was decided to would work with them
We also kept the antique side tables and glass lamps

A painting by Louis St. Lewis was a consideration

Ultimately this Ed Smith painting won out
The antique mirrors are back under the sconces
The daybed is back with the new fabric, a Fabricut velvet

Ed Smith painting

The two club chairs were covered in an embroidered linen

Closeup view of one of the club chairs

This is the drapery before - cream color linen with balloon shades

This is the new drapery after
I continued with the same apricot silk that was used in the living room
No more balloon shades!

Apricot silk drapes made by perch.
All fabrics were ordered through perch.
All upholstery by Leonels

Here's the room again as it is today. It's fresh, filled with beautiful color and using all the pretty things the lady of the house had lovingly collected over the last ten years. As I said no new furniture was purchased for this room. Editing and updating were all that were needed.

Updated and refreshed double parlors in New Orleans

Repeated elements such as the apricot silk drapery, and the colors in the rug unify the these two rooms.

There is a third connecting room, the dining room that I will show you soon. The Mouille chandelier we ordered is taking forever to come, but I think I'll show you the dining room without it, and then show the room again when it comes in.

Thanks again for your interest in my projects. I love sharing what I love to do with you!