The Beauty of Tapestries

Houses are getting bigger and that usually means more wall space and higher ceilings.  Sometimes it can be hard to decorate these areas, but have you ever considered using a tapestry?

Tapestries are a form of textile art, woven onto a loom so that both sides are a complete work.

They add, color, character and warmth, choose them just like you would a piece of art, it needs to "talk to you" or it's not the right piece.

Tapestries usually will be the most significant decorative element in your room.

In the world of tapestries, most come from Europe.  Nowadays, reproductions if done right are just fine...If you are lucky enough to buy an original just remember it will cost you.

Okay, this next part gets wordy but I think it needs to be said so you can make wise choices in selecting your tapestry.....

The best reproductions out there are the custom designs followed by hand wovens.  Next are the Jacquard woven wool designs followed by the Jacquard woven cotton.  Somewhere between them in quality and value is serigraph or silk screened tapestries.

Hand Wovens are woven on looms by hand, ha I guess you could've figured that out by the name.  Usually these are wool or wool and silk.  They have very fine details with a dense or extra fine weave.  Their price is dictated by how much time, skill and materials are involve.

Jacquard Wovens are woven on looms as well but use a semi-mechanical process using perforated cards that feed colored threads.  This process is a lot faster which reduces the cost of production without hurting the quality.

Silk screened or serigraph tapestries are painted images on irregularly woven wool or linen which gives the tapestry more of an "authentic" look.  It is still a semi-mechanical process which includes hand painting to finish the details.  Compared to woven tapestries, they have a faded, antique look.

A tapestry should be scaled to the room and the wall. Here's a good rule of thumb:  It should occupy 80% (or more) of the intended space.  Oh and tapestries look best when you are apx. 8'-10' away from it so you can see the full depth of the weave and appreciate the color more.

Tapestries have a very interesting history, if you would like to learn more about them click on tapestries

If you have decorated with tapestries before or plan on it please leave me a comment and let me know all about it.

New Blog Schedule

With fall comes a new change in my blog schedule.  Effective this Friday, October 2nd.  I will no longer be posting my blogs every other, even day.  The new schedule will be every Thursday and Sunday, my 2 busiest days anyway, and they will still be posted at 10am CT.

I will throw in a random day here or there of something I am just tooo excited to not share immediately. :)

For those of you who read and subscribe to this blog, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!!!!   I LOVE all the support through your comments, you are all the BEST and you are what motivates me to keep sharing.

Art Inspiring

Awhile back my hubby and I were celebrating his birthday in Old Montreal (fabulous town by the way).

(It took us awhile to figure out why everyone was taking pictures of "our" house but finally we found out that "our" house was one of the oldest in Montreal, go figure.)

Anyway, Right down the street from where we were staying we stumbled upon a wonderful art gallery called Nicolin and Gublin.

All of the art is from the international visual artist-painter, Charlotte Nicolin.  You can tell that she is drawn to nature, I just love her prospective and think her work is awe-inspiring with her wonderful blend of colors and great subjects like this bird in pursuit of that little fish....

The flowers are amazing and are my FAVORITES....These are just a few of her beautiful pieces.

Isn't this dramatic?

I think the colors used in this are amazing!

 She has lots of frog paintings but this one is so precious I had to share it....2 frogs in love inside a flower but it could be a psychedelic trip too....Ha!

Her sea life is the best....

Everytime I see this one I laugh out loud, this is called "Family Portait", perfect title, ha!

The gallery also had her sea life furniture on display, these pictures don't do it justice but had to show you anyway....

So if you ever get to Montreal I highly recommend you pop in to this lovely gallery, you will have no regrets and in the meantime be sure to click on the links to see more of her wonderful creations as well.

100 Down....Still a Work in Progress

Today is a milestone in my blogging, it's my 100th post....I can't believe it, yeah!

Of course I had this really cool blog post done last night on this fine art gallery I stumbled upon, and poof it disappeared.  But in order to get this out by my deadline I am going to have to start a new topic because I am still so mad that the other is GONE!

Oh by the way, these sunset pictures were taken outside of my house last night, after I lost my blog post, so some good happened and I wanted to share them with you.

So to keep things light today, I thought I would show you a job in progress.... It will be finished next week, so you don't have to wait too long to see it....

I NEVER like to show these because most people, even my clients, can't appreciate the "final result" until it's completely done, but maybe you will....Do I dare???

This is my clients master bedroom...LONG story short, the bed and bedding has to stay per the husband, but new wife wants the room spruced up from all the dark furniture and to make it hers.

BEFORES:

So I came up with a palette to tone down all the dark wood but add some spunk without being too girly....I built off this floral pattern as my big dramatic piece (which I used for the headboard to catch your attention).

Then to tie it all in we are having 2 cushions made, one for the window seat in that "Peacock" faux suede and the other will be for the bench at the end of the bed in a leopard faux suede (which let me state now the hubby wasn't too thrilled with).

So far the headboard is done and is just floating out there....

But I already see a light at the end....Well in this picture too, ha!

Speaking of light.....The following new table lamps arrived last night and my client said they look even better in person, she was thrilled!!!  These will replace the tired ones they currently have on their night stands now.

The last fabric in that palette is that goldy/checked one and that will be for a valance above the window to draw your eye up, oh yeah we are losing the wood stained 2" blinds for some light colored Silhouettes.

I of course will show you the finished project next week....Stay tuned....And in the meantime let me know if you can see this room finished yet.

Have a great weekend everyone, we are off to the Pecan Festival with Calvin, woof!

Setting the Mood with Candlelight

These are a "fun find" that I had to share with you!

The flame is fake but the wax is real, I have seen these before but none of the flickers look as realistic as these.

I think one of the best things about these candles is this...

Ta-Da!

You are reading this right...Some of these candles have a timer option on the bottom of each candle...How cool is that?

Having these come on at twilight each night just sets a wonderful mood around the house....I love candlelight but I do get lazy lighting them all and then I worry about drips or forgetting about them etc. etc.  Do you too?

Besides, these higher to reach areas are hard to light in the first place.

They have some great colors they just launched that actually have nice scents too...

And of course their Christmas line is out...Love the sparkly ones, I guess you don't need it to be the holiday season to add that to your life.

So if you are in love with these and want to see more check them out at Enjoy Lighting and let me know what you think.

Glamour Shots

I wanted to share some "glamour shots" with you from Market...

These first two pictures were fabulous finds from Christopher Guy...

I love the detail in these chairs...!

...And the following are from  E J Victor, the "Randall Tysinger" collection, all showcased in the huge Robert Allen Showroom at Vegas Market.

This table and chairs just reeked of yummy!  Now I am not saying this would be easy to clean by any means, especially with animals or kids around but just sitting there I felt sexy!

I love the unexpected! And the legs on this chair are just that...Acrylic!

This may look like just an ordinary sofa but check out a 5'5" person sitting in it....If you are wondering the size of this piece it is 108" w x 47" d x 49" h, one word "WOW!"

This loveseat had such fun lines and check out those side chairs too....They sit low, 15.50" low, to the ground but are very comfortable still, I had to try them out of course.

All modeling done by my assistant and my Mom, thanks Mom!

Buckle In

The very first showroom I walked by on opening day at Market was Phillips Collection.  What caught my attention the most were these unique seats!

They feel like seat belts and are oooohhhh so comfortable to sit and lounge in, which I did both of. ;)

I love all the color choices they had to offer but I think my favorite (and probably least practical) is the white....

I could've rocked in this chair all day and been perfectly content, but I had work to do so  I had to keep moving.

Vegas Market...Best Foot Forward

My head is spinning and my feet hurt, but we had a GREAT time, can't you tell?

I met some really great people and saw some amazing things at Market this year, huge success or as some like to say, "Mission Accomplished".

These pictures were taken opening night at Market, below is the featured band.....

I will be gathering my thoughts and fun finds this afternoon to post soon but in the meantime I just wanted to get this out.

Oh by the way, this is the Brian Setzer Orchestra ...He ROCKED it!

If you are wondering, here is the evolution of the shoes I wore at Market......Actually the higher the shoe the more comfortable my shoes were until I hurt my achilles tendon, but that is a different story, ha!

Those flip flops are the J.Crew special, very fancy don't you think? ;)