Accessorizing a room, stencils, and stunning furniture finishes.

Accessories make a room.

At least thats what I find most of the time~and it seems to be 

the hardest thing for many to do well.

I accessorized this space for a client of mine after we nailed down

the room layout and got the furnishings and draperies in place.

Working with HomeGoods selection of many different styles

all in one place makes the job of accessorizing pretty easy.

I always try to buy more than I need so I have options when I go

to do my tablescapes.  You can always return what you don't think works

later on, but the more you have to play with, the better your results will be.

So tip #1~buy more than you need.

This is the before photo~not bad, but it is not very interesting.

compared to the photo above after I accessorized the space.

This area is in Heather's living room behind the sofa. It is a nice

place to pay some bills, set up the laptop, and look out the back window

while the dog runs around after the kids.

A selection of topiaries from HomeGoods in grey terracotta pots add softness. 

Use faux or live greenery like this to add a little life to your vignettes.  I also

grabbed this yellow chevron tray~its covered in fabric and its a nice way

to layer some more pattern as well as give a place for Heather to throw her daily mail.

A pair of vintage lamps and a cute little clock from my shop rounded out the desktop.

The other piece of furniture in this area is the vintage 

fall front desk that I found for Heather. 

A nice big Paris clock fits the french lines of the desk and is the 

the right shape for above the desk.  More artwork would have 

competed with the large painting over the console desk.

Another HomeGoods cache of accessories included a topiary, 

large faux pear, pineapple finial in rustic gold,

 a rococo photo frame in antiqued gold and a few other goodies

that look cool on a desk like a notebook with metallic chevron and zebra stripes.

When Heather entertains this fall front will switch roles and become 

a serving bar for mixing up a few cocktails!

Love a multi-purpose piece with style galore.

Try putting pieces on top of old books for an easy decorator look.

I rip the book jackets off of my hardbound books and then organize

them by color and then use in rooms for accents pieces.

Books look great with everything.

We used lots of shades of green and black through out the room.

 Don't forget to check the clearance items too~

this neat terrarium container was a steal.

I filled it up with green moss balls and then added a pile of

rustic wooden pencils to a garden motif ceramic plate,

all found at HomeGoods.

You can see the desk area behind the sofa~now the room has

got personality and its largely in part to the accessorizing!

So get out there and fill up your cart~you will have a "Happy by Design"

 result after adding some coordinated accessories to your rooms!

You can check out my Pinterest boards by clicking on the poster above

and see the HomeGoods board as well as my other boards and I think 

you may find much decorating inspiration there.

On the Maison Decor store front at 150 Main Street Reading, Mass we have 

just added the Royal Design Studio stencil collection.

Colin got our display up and running and we have so many to choose from~

Chevrons, Animal prints, Damasks, French motifs, Numerals, Moroccan and more.

We also got our Artisan Enhancements display finished as well.

This Rustic Chateau console has lots of layering and its got that

glamorous rustic look with a touch of gilding that I favor.

Justin used Crackle Tex and Finestone on this piece after Colin got the

base coat of Antoinette down. Then after Crackle Tex we added Country Grey

and Justin worked the crackley crud peeling magic on the console.

I finished it off with a dark wax glaze and a touch of Empire Gold gidling wax.

A real collaborative project with all 3 of us taking part.

Hint of pink Antoinette Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan hides

 under the Country Grey layer on top.

See the itty bit of gold on the edges? 

The Antoinette pulls out bits of pink in the marble top.

Marie Antoinette would have loved this piece!

Artisans Enhancements were used to do the Rustic Chateau console as 

well as the French Provincial Pearl dresser below.

And thats the latest from Maison Decor!

Post Script~

For those of you interested in our August Chalk Paint Intro

class, there are only a couple of spots left for the 8/18 class.

Register online at shopmaisondecor.com

I'm working for Home Goods!

Don't worry~I am not leaving my career at my store Maison Decor!! I was invited by HomeGoods to be one of ten national designers to represent them in a new campaign that will be shown on their HomeGoods Pinterest board "Happy by Design".

I will be pinning for HomeGoods for the next several months to start~so here is my debut.  First order of business was to go shopping at HomeGoods and get some good stuff. Here is my shopping cart last Sunday loaded to the gills at my local HomeGoods.  I was working with a client, Heather, who needed some finishing touches to her living room~so this would be the perfect opportunity to help her out and get some great pins for HomeGoods.

I started with Heather this spring~she got a lot of furniture from her 

dad and was looking for a way to make it work for her and her family. 

 She and her hubs have two kids not yet in high school~

so they are active but past the age of breaking stuff left out on table tops. 

Heather centered the sofa across from the fireplace but it was not lined up

 between the windows and that made for an awkwardness.  

I suggested a new floor plan that would divide the room into two zones. 

Then we would eliminate the bossy carpet and paint the dark furniture with Chalk Paint®.

We stayed with a neutral palette and the plan was to 

use color in the accessories for the room.  

The console is in its original mahogany finish.  

Looking very New England traditional don't you think? 

Well wait 'til you see how this area came out!

 We offer custom painted furniture services at Maison Decor.

 I painted Heather's console Country Grey in Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan. 

I added some gilded touches to make sure it fit with the more formal mirror.

 I also painted the coffee table in Chateau Grey Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan. 

Its a rich grey green color. We lightly added dark wax for a more aged appearance.

We replaced the carpet with a sisal style rug with green cotton binding.

 Of course this room was not going to be shabby in decor, 

I had something more transitional in mind.  

French touches but also a fun light feeling that fits a younger vibrant family.

Now the furniture is in the proper place, the neutral draperies are hung from simple iron rods,

and the room is just waiting for its finishing touches.

As I said earlier, I divided the room into two zones, and behind the sofa 

sits this ladies desk.  Against the wall is a wonderful french style fall front desk

that adds some height and will be used as a bar area when they entertain.

Heather got the ball rolling by finding this fabric to recover her chair and 

that pattern became our inspiration point for color and feeling in the room.

It's a Richloom fabric with a confetti of colors in a suzani style print. 

Some custom made pillows with down inserts were whipped up by yours truly.

These pillows were going to be the perfect thing to bring Heather's room to life.

 The living room~very nice but on the bland side. 

Lets get a pop of color going on, shall we?

Bam! Lets start with the pillows~that led to the lamps!

We love the transitional look these lamps from Maison Decor brought to the room.

Lamps are always a great way to change the look in a room.

A pair of leather trunks from HomeGoods were 

added under the console to play down the formerly formal spot.

 By using several shades of  fabulous lime green we were 

able to marry many of the different greens in the room.

The faux pears and fun serving tray were additions from HomeGoods.

Finally the full view of the living room seating area!

Its fun and fresh and inviting!

What a difference the right accessories can make in a home.

Next time we will take a look at the before and after of the 

second seating area in the living room where the desks are placed.

Check out the HomeGoods Pinterest board 

Happy by Design to see my pins!

Hope to see you at our new home decor store in

Reading, Mass at 150 Main Street!

We will hook you up with design help and advice

as well as give you a quote on custom painted furniture.

Making more Beautiful! Frottage, Classes and Accessories

The guys and I have hit the ground running with our new store 

at 150 Main in Reading Massachusetts. For those of you 

who can't pop in and check out the shop, I took a bunch of pics yesterday

to give you a feel for the interior.  We were expecting a large order 

of decorative home accessories and were anticipating creating

 some changes in the shop to showcase some of these items.

We unwrapped these "Poppy" lamps and as soon as we plunked them 

down on the sideboard in the front window it made for a happy feeling! 

 I like to use a little new with a little old in my decorating style and

 these lamps are the perfect example of that.  So come check 

out the whirlwind we had going on and some of  the results. 

The entire wall along one side of the shop is our vignette wall. 

This is where we will showcase pieces of furniture and create mini rooms with 

accessories so shoppers can imagine it in their own homes. The styles 

will vary depending upon what inspires us at the moment~so expect to see an 

ever changing scene with all types of decor like Vintage, Farmhouse, 

Boho-Chic, French (of course!) and more~

The guys were busy creating a vignette around this Paris Grey dresser.

Its been interesting to me to have all of our ideas flowing and then coming

up with a display based upon many thoughts.

I didn't take a pic of this finished vignette though!! We were so busy doing

so many things at once I forgot...but it came out really nice.

See that blue tape next to Colin? That was the focus of most of the afternoon.

 And it would involve this.....newspaper! Not reading it but using it 

with Chalk Paint® to create a wall treatment called Frottage. 

Its in Annie Sloan's newest book, Colour Recipes.

 We were dying to do this technique~so here is what we did.

 The guys did a base layer of Coco Chalk Paint. 

Very quickly they rolled on a thinned out layer of paint.

 It looked pretty cool just like this~but we had plans. 

You can see our Library table in Country Grey Chalk Paint in the foreground.  

This will be set against the Frottage backdrop. 

We wanted to have a green color and a two tone layer, so we started with Coco Chalk Paint.

 Then a layer of Chateau Grey Chalk Paint was applied. 

 I told Colin to put on gloves as I thought it was going to be really messy...

but it was not. So you don't need gloves to do this!

 While the Chateau Grey was wet Justin took sheets of crinkled newspaper 

and rubbed it all over and then pulled it off. The paper pulls off some of the 

paint revealing the under layer.  It was a quick and easy technique that gives 

a rustic look~just what we were looking for!  

You can read more in a step by step format in Annie's book Colour Recipes 

(we sell it in both our store and online shop).

 This is how it came out after we added the furniture and some accessories in place.

 Justin kept adding pieces until he got the Vintage Library look he wanted.

How about putting old books in a garden planter?

We loved how the Gilded antique frame turned into a chalkboard

 looked against this Frottage wall! 

 Bits of black and gold really pulled this vignette together.

Mirrors were hung~we continue to add to our vintage wall mirror collection.

More lamps were unpacked and put on the floor. Artwork too.

 

 Lamps can add so much personality to home decor! 

 We love layering things....put artwork 

on the wall and have a lamp in front,

 and then tabletop items in front of the lamps.

This vignette has a seagreen/blue theme.

 Rustic elements like garden accessories or this 

plank board french botannical give a country chic feel to home decor.

 Rooster lamps in black and gilded rustic frames of antique style french serving 

pieces were added to this sideboard vignette.

A big old clock goes well in any room!

So there you have it~some of our new additions to Maison Decor Reading.

Of course we are always selling furniture~and its not always painted either!

This wonderful french fall front desk was just the piece our customer Heather

needed for the end of her living room that has a library feel.  Its going to get styled 

and I will share how it all comes together next time. 

I think it will make a great

bar for entertaining at parties in this space.

An advanced techniques class has been added to the workshop list.

Read more about it at our online shop

www.shopmaisondecor.com

 We have a fantastic space for our classes and our first

 Chalk Paint® Introductory class was held last Sunday with a sell out group. 

 The August class has been scheduled if you want to join us!

Learn how to make your pieces more beautiful!

Its fun and exciting and I have seen amazing results from my students.

Until next time~

Shop online for Annies new book here as well as register for classes

at www.shopmaisondecor.com