Jill Sharp Brinson Has Ideas

Idea board for Style Studio by Jill Sharp Brinson

I know you all remember Jill Sharp Brinson. She had one of the hottest covers ever to grace House Beautiful, and burned up the blogosphere acquiring hundreds of blog admirers along the way.

She is the creative director at Ballard Designs, as well being a wonderful interior designer, product developer, and star stylist.

HERE is a link to a feature she did at the Style Studio over at Ballard about what I call idea and inspiration boards.

I love a good idea board, don't you? They often become evolving collages that are very much like a work of art. Even with our desktop on our computers, nothing takes the place of a good old fashion tactile inspiration board. Do you have one?

A Pair Of Stinky Tables

I recently was given a gift of a pair of 18th century Swedish Gustavian demilune tables! They are gorgeous! What a score!

Until I got a whiff of them. These tables are notorious for having been sold by the best antique dealer in town to a lady for $5,000 or so. The dealer had fumigated the tables with a chemical to get rid of wormwood, and all seemed well, until the tables were enclosed in the customer's house, letting off the most awful stinky stink. Of course the tables were returned.

The once stinky Swedish table in the home of the Visual Vamp
I spy an Anne Harwell painting!

They kicked around at a huge discount to a number of local decor mavens. A thick coat of white Kilz paint was applied. But still the stinky tables, as they have become affectionately known, were returned to the seller time after time.

The seller was moving and I always loved these tables, so he just gave them to me knowing I was fully aware of the issues.

The smell really was intense. Like chemical urine. It had seeped into the centuries old wood, and the prevailing humidity in New Orleans did not help matters. They even stunk up my back enclosed patio area outside, and they nearly gassed the poor seller when he drove them over to my house in his SUV, even with the windows open!

18th century Swedish demilune table with 1960's mod table layered under it
photo: Visual Vamp living room

I had nothing to lose so I did some Google research. The underside of the tables had been left unpainted, and unfinished. Basically bare wood. So I doused it with white vinegar and waited 24 hours. The tables didn't smell as bad, but they smelled like a giant pickle. Then a kind person emailed me a suggestion to use denatured alcohol. I doused the tables a couple of times, again with 24 hours in between treatments. This worked the best, but the stinky stink crept back, though much more faint. But even faint, trust me you do not want to smell this in your house!

My next trick was to spray them with a citrus orange oil room deodorizer. Again I waited 24 hours. This worked really well, as the oil soaked into the wood, and took over as the top note.
Then I painted the undersides of each table with three coats of white Kilz paint, and touched up the rest of the tables with more Kilz. I waited 24 hours. I sniffed them. They did not stink!

Glorious Swedish demilune tables at chez Visual Vamp!
I took this photo at 7 AM this morning

So I brought them in the house! Even though I am not an antiques maven, I seem to have alot of antique pieces in my vampy mix. I do love antiques, but I am not one for the strict period look of a room. So far so good. The tables are magnificent, and once in awhile I get a whiff of orange blossoms. I have sprayed them with Lysol, and this has helped tone down the orange scent too, and I think this stinky pair has at long last been tamed to be able to live indoors.



And for the fun of it, here is a mini round up look book of some antique Swedish demilune tables.

From Velvet and Linen HERE - Brooke is the Swedish expert for sure

via La Pouyette HERE
My pair of demilunes have brackets on the back so I can make one round table

From Inspiring Interiors HERE

via House Beautiful

via Karina Gentinetta HERE

Visual Vamp 18th century demilune tables

Do you guys have any stinky furniture stories and solutions to share?

Da Winner! Arcadian Lighting Giveaway

LINDA LIME IN THE COCONUT! Go get your prize!

Contact: calvin.c@arcadianhome.com

Tell him the Vamp sent you!

Thanks everyone for playing along. I will try to get more great giveaways like this one.

And a huge THANKS to Arcadian Lighting for such a generous giveaway!

And now that so many of you checked out what great stuff they have, go back there and shop!

A Really Good Giveaway! Really! Last Day Today!

Update: Winner will be chosen tomorrow! You can still leave a comment to win! xo xo

There are so many giveaways on blogs these days! They really are the best way to win great free stuff, but I can imagine that some are better than others.

I think we have a really good giveaway today courtesy of Arcadian Lighting. They have done a couple of really nice guest blog posts, so I asked if they might do a giveaway for all of you, and they said yes!

The value is up to $300.! You get to pick anything you want from their site that costs up to $300.

It is a huge site with a zillion things, so I picked out a few things I think we decor bloggers might like.

To win the giveaway, please leave a comment that will be chosen at random. I will give you the contact at Arcadian Lighting to collect your prize! Please visit their web site too, and take a look for something you would like (and tell us what you found!).

Uptown round side table - $159.99 HERE

Candice Olson mirror $190.99 HERE

For all you Cote de Texas girls! Savoy House lantern $228. HERE

Cyan Design table lamp $192.50 HERE

So cute for a bar set up! Cyan Design rolling cart $295. HERE

This comes in other colors - Cyan Designs ceramic stool $205. HERE

Come on and enter this really good giveaway! Leave as many comments as you like!

French Twist

CUE Magazine June 2011 - interior decoration by Valorie Hart

I have been writing about one of my projects HERE, and have the great fortune to have it recently published in the June 2011 issue of CUE magazine HERE.




It's been a wonderful project, and it is so nice to see it published. Writer Lee Cutrone did a great job of telling the story; photographer Greg Miles took amazing photos; editor Missy Wilkinson steered the story and layout to an amazing result.





Thanks to perch. for the support and gorgeous fabrics and furnishings. And thanks to Nicole Cohen of Sketch42 for the rock star tray she made for this project.

Some things did not make it on page, like a credit for Jack Mayberry who was commissioned to do the awesome painting in the living room shot.



CUE is the pride of New Orleans, the local lifestyle magazine that could hold its own on the national level with its excellent features on fashion and home decor. And I am always very proud when they include me!

Alas, the dining room ended up on the cutting room floor
It didn't fit in with the layout
But I wanted to show you a picture from my records
A new Louis St. Lewis painting was added...


...and of course that wonderful Mouille chandelier
with the Milo Baughman chairs reupholstered in Kelly Wearstler fabric
I'm sure Greg the photographer has better photos
than I took with my "Barbie" digital camera ha ha

Summer Rental

Summer Rental in Nags Head

It's the first unofficial week/weekend of Summer! How many of you have a Summer rental?
In New York it is very common to rent a place by the beach (Hamptons or Jersey Shore) for the Summer. The wife and kids go for most of the Summer, and the husband commutes there on weekends.

Cottage Row in Nags Head via

Singles may take a share in a house, and alternate weekends. Or sometimes a family might rent a beach house for a week or two of Summer vacation.

Beach cottage in Nags Head

Rental houses can be funky. When I rented in the Hamptons I would load up the car with Limoges china, silver plate flatware, stacks of sheets for make-do slip covers and curtains, new lampshades, art work, and good beach towels and nice sheets for the beds.

How would you makeover this Summer rental? via

When I finally bought a little house, it was decorated all in white. It was a cottage and so cute.
Now we don't do a Summer rental. Summer mornings in New Orleans are like being at the beach. You can feel the sea air from the Gulf, and the river and humidity keep things feeling tropical.

Nags Head street

The morning light is gentle, and the air is soft. It's the perfect time to enjoy our newly refurbished patio and yard, and take a cup of coffee and book and sit outside and pretend I'm at the beach.

The beach house I once owned in the Springs in East Hampton

Like all of you I love "beach" books for the Summer. You know, the kind that used to be called "light reading", a good story so breezy you can finish the book in two or three sittings.

Visual Vamp back in the day at her beach house in East Hampton

I recommend Mary Kay Andrews "Summer Rental". I read another of her books last Summer called "The Fixer Upper", and just loved it.

"Summer Rental" has all the necessary elements for a good beach read: Woman loses her job, but is locked into a Summer rental with her best girlfriends. Each one has a story to tell. There's sexy romance, and a bit of thriller. And as with the "Fixer Upper" the house and its decor is a central character too.

The beach location in the book is Nags Head, that still has 7 of the original 13 beach cottages built 100 years ago (it's called Cottage Row). I love how people at the beach call these big old sprawling houses "cottages".

I love an old fashion beach house - sea breezes only, screens on the doors and windows, cracks in the floor to sweep sand into, funky yet charming. Nowadays beach houses are so fancy that you hardly feel like you get away from your formal life. What do you think? Funky or fancy?

Buy it HERE

And a prayer of thanks on this Memorial Day to everyone past and present who serves for us in the armed forces.

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

Name That Blog And Get $250.!

Lamps Plus has a great online store for a zillion kinds of lighting fixtures. And they have a blog. And it's kind of a snooze.

We can do better than this HERE

So they are having a contest to challenge the creativity of the readers of Visual Vamp to come up with a new name for their blog (which is actually a pretty cute blog). If they pick yours you get a $250. gift certificate to the Lamps Plus site.

How creative are you? That's what they asked me! About ten other bloggers are also doing this contest. It would be fun if a Vamp reader won! So when you comment or submit your idea, please say Visual Vamp sent you!

Team Vamp! Name That Blog!

From Lamps Plus:

"We really want to make our blog a place for everyone who loves interior design, we decided that our blog should have a piece of our readers in it. We are inviting everyone to partake in giving us a new name with a “Name That Blog!” contest. In fact, whichever reader ends up with the most votes in this contest will get a $250 online shopping spree for partaking.

As a resource for such creative readers, I want to invite you to let your readers know about this.

Readers can submit their name ideas in a few ways:

- As a comment on our blog post about the contest (will be published May 25^th) http://www.lampsplus.com/info-center/b/blog/archive/2011/05/25/name-that-blog-contest-win-250-shopping-spree.aspx

- As a comment on our Facebook page

- As a tweet using the hashtag #namethatblog

- By email to community@lampsplus.com

The submission period runs May 25^th- 31^st. The community will then vote on the top names June 2^nd- 9^th.

Good luck everyone!

You Won The Enamel House Sign!

Thank you everyone who left a comment for the Ramsign giveaway HERE

The sign pictured above is one Alberto and I had made in 1997 in Buenos Aires. It hung on our front gate in California for a few years. If only I had know about Ramsign back then!

The part of the sign with the number on it is an actual enamel house number sign from Buenos Aires, but the artist had to custom paint our number on it, since the only one we found with our house number on it was still attached to a house in Buenos Aires.

So the winner by random choice is: Sarah from La Maison Boheme!

Sarah, please email Tezz at Ramsign to collect your prize: th@ramsign.se

And please send us a photo to show us what you chose!

Eight Great Places For A Chandelier

Hi Everyone! Another great guest post for you from Arcadian Lighting

I think I should ask them to do a giveaway for all of you. What do you think?
Happy Weekend!


Lighting fixtures can become the beautiful focal points of rooms, and a chandelier is one of the best ways to achieve this. While traditionally it has been the lighting fixture of choice for the dining room, there are slews of other great places for a chandelier. They can create ambient lighting in utilitarian spaces such as kitchens and bathrooms, add a touch of class and elegance to an entryway or suspended outdoors, and they are the perfect accessory to a lavish bedroom, living room or home office. Available in an endless range of styles and materials, chandeliers are the most opulent of lighting fixtures.

Bathroom

Once Daily Chic (via)

Perched above a grandiose tub or even a glitzy vanity, a bejewelled chandelier looks stunning when reflecting off of white tiles and gold accents.

Kitchen

Custom Furniture (via)

Chandeliers aren't always dripping with crystals - a more subdued streamlined light fixture, like this three-shade wrought-iron model, provides direct lighting over a kitchen island.

Bedroom

bjoku.com (via)

An antique-style chandelier adds instant glam to a bedroom, either hung over a four-poster bed or in a changing area, as pictured here.

Living room

The Lennoxx (via)

Arrange the furniture in a formal living room around a candelabra-type chandelier for an intimate sitting area where everyone will want to socialize.

Kid's bedroom

honeyandfitz.blogspot.com (via)

Give the little princess of the house a sparkly addition to brighten up her bedroom - there is a wide selection of mini chandeliers to choose from.

Home office

Country Living (via)

Make going to the office a little more chic with floral-patterned wallpaper, dashes of bright fuchsia and a hanging light fixture overhead.

Entryway

Indy Star (via)

Nothing says welcome like the inviting ambiance of an entryway†chandelier - look for something that complements the decor as well as proportionately occupies the space.

Outside

sucasase.blogspot.com (via)

One of the more unlikely spots for a chandelier and yet one of the most striking, chandeliers playfully dangling from an arbour, tree or tent ceiling brings the extravagance of the inside out.


VV here:
Jennifer is a writer for Arcadian Lighting, a site that specializes in top quality lighting fixtures at extremely affordable prices. Go visit them HERE today!