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A Few Words About Chalkboard Paint…

22 Feb

Chalkboard paint in a work- and child-friendly space! (image via Elle Decor)

Last night I met with clients who had just moved in to their new home. Literally, they’d moved in hours ago, and I ended up finalizing interior paint selections amidst moving boxes and hungry, excited, adorable children. Lucky for the little ones in this house, their parents were very open to letting the kids play a role in their wall colors. I’ve had many clients who “let” the kids pick a color, but when the child says “I want green!” what they hear is ” We’re going to go with this understated olive from the sophisticated historical palette, ok?” If you can bear it, sometimes it’s ok to let the kids go with what the kids want. After all, it’s my job to make sure we can make that neon yellow work, and work it will. Anyway, last night, we also ended up incorporating chalkboard paint into the kids’ rooms in restrained but still very fun ways – both near desks, and both only on portions of the wall.

I love infusing kid’s spaces with novelty, and chalkboard paint is a great way to do it (you’ve heard me say this before). That said, chalkboard paint can come with some issues, so allow me to lay out some ground rules that will save you headaches should you choose to use it. Pay careful attention!

Chalkboard Paint DOs

- DO choose a small area to apply the paint to. There’s really no need to make every wall a charcoal colored art surface, so choose a small nook by the desk, tape off just a section, paint on the back of a door, or apply it under a chair rail.

Painting a piece of furniture is a good intro to this concept. (image via ModernChicTots)

- DO monitor how your kid uses the wall for a while after you implement it. Start slowly by giving your kid one piece of chalk, or by storing the chalk in another room or a high place. To be super clear: don’t give your four year old a jumbo chalk bucket, lest you actually WANT to end up with six million broken stubs of chalk and marks all over surfaces that are painted with interior flat white. 

Needless to say, a child that can be trusted around white floors and many large and heavy propped up things can probably be trusted not to destroy the walls. Where do you find this breed of child? (image via spicerandbank.blogspot)

- DO place a play mat or cheap rug under the surface if you’re worried about dust. Truth be told though, if there’s chalk dust it will probably land on the molding (which is likely high-gloss, so just wipe it off regularly).

This Ikea bench allows a(n older) kid to climb up and utilize more of the drawing surface, while protecting the floor and maybe even providing a place to store (and put away) chalk and the eraser. (image via OhDeeDoh)

- DO explore other uses for this fun surface. I used it in my own home on a wall behind the kitchen where the fuse box is located: it camouflages the ugly box AND the surface is magnetized, too! If you’re tired of chalk clean up, I recommend giving your child a teeny tiny cup of water and a paint brush to “paint” the wall. Monitor this activity so you don’t end up with a soppy mess.

 

Chalkboard Paint DON’Ts

- DON’T use those chalk markers. They’re very hard to erase.

Just use chalk. No markers. Lots of chalk. Like this girl! (image via Green is the New Black.)

- DON’T use extra hard chalk: you may think this will prevent dust, and it will, but if you press too hard it can leave indentations in the drywall. (You say you have plaster walls? Lucky you – press away!)

If you're starting to become chalk-phobic, you can also use a magnetic primer to create a magnetized surface, like this fireplace guard! (image via http://pinkgreenandzebra.blogspot)

- DON’T paint above a crib, bed, or near an upholstered piece. Your bed/seat will just be a depository for colored powder. Young, mobile creatures have been known to reach out of the crib, touch the wall, and rub the powder all over themselves and their surroundings. And they eat it, too.

Looks very cool, but NO CHALK ON THE BABY! (image via Stylehandler)

- DON’T incorporate chalkboard into stripes unless they’re very wide (10” or greater). You’re just asking to mistakenly color outside of the lines.

- DON’T freak out about erasing it! Use a lightly damp sponge or paper towels. Also, know that it’s not ever going to look perfectly clean. …and that’s part of the charm.

 

Do you have any other fun uses for chalkboard paint? If so, share in the comments!

 

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Color Friday is: Crazy Colorful!

17 Feb

 

It’s hard for me not to do this post every week. And yet, when I do write this post it’s still hard. Not because finding gorgeous colorful things is difficult, but because my son is sitting by my side yelling things like “I WANT THAT ONE!” and “When I grow up I’m gonna be a chocolate maker and I’m gonna give everyone chocolate!” and “Can I have some chocolate now?” So there you go – everything featured on this week’s Color Friday passes the two year old seal of approval! I know I’m relieved.

As per usual, here are eight sort-of-for-the-home things that I’m sure you’ll adore. My personal favorites are the garland, Missoni rug, and of course the chocolates (I’m a sucker for variety packs).

From garland at top: Paper Garland, source unknown - let me know if you have it!; Liuwa Rug by Missoni (image via Missoni); Test Kitchen Measuring Cup from Mod Cloth, $15 (image via ModCloth); Dylan's Candy Bar Signature Chocolate Wheel, $42 (image via Dylan's Candy Bar), Art, also from an unknown source. I'm serious when I say my kid was distracting me this week! Help!; Multiplayer Wall Hook from Land of Nod, $15 (image via Land of Nod); Dot Matrix Rug from Land of Nod, $349 (image via Land of Nod); Grosgrain Rainbow Pillow from Dranesfield and Ross, (image via House Beautiful)

 

Enjoy your weekend, and if you find yourselves with some spare time and a significant abundance of Jell-o, you can find the recipe for those beautiful rainbow cups pictured at the top of the post here at Glorious Treats (which, of course, is where that lovely image is from). Happy Friday!

 

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Color Friday is: Red! (Really this time…just red.)

3 Feb

Last week Color Friday was red, too. And by “Red,” I mean that I talked about the play currently running at Arena Stage…not the color. Well this week, there are no games: Color Friday is red. Red as in strawberries and fire engines and Coke and all of the other lovely red things I’ve picked for you below. Enjoy them, and have a great weekend! I hear there’s a football game on…

Clockwise from pendant at top: Cage Fuel Pendant Lamp from CB2, $149 (image via CB2); Design Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney (image via Amazon.com); Marquis Alphabet Light - Multi from Urban Outfitters, $179 (image via Urban Outfitters); Updated Louis Chair at Wisteria, $329 (image via Wisteria); Gradiated Stripe Pouf from West Elm, $219 (image via West Elm); Thai Silk Decorative Pillow from Target, $50 (image via Target); Berry Bowl and Tray by Robert Seigel at Uncommon Goods, $65 (image via Uncommon Goods); Verlag 3 by Carol Padberg, a print via 20x200, $60 for 11'' x 14'' (image via 20x200)

 

…did you notice that everything but the Louis Chair was under $300 — what fashionable steals!! For the record, I think the Updated Louis Chair from Wisteria is worth all of it’s 32,900 pennies! – Gorgeous!

 

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Color Friday is: Red! RED at Arena Stage, that is…

27 Jan

Last night I was treated to a performance of Red, the acclaimed Tony Award winning play that just opened at Arena Stage. The play is about Mark Rothko, the Russian-American, abstract expressionist painter who was active in the mid 1900s. You know: the colored squares guy.

(image via Arena Stage)

I don’t refer casually to him as “the colored squares guy” to be sinister or suggest his work is silly. In fact, I’ve come to really appreciate and enjoy many of the seemingly mundane subjects of abstract expressionism over the years. In the play, Rothko’s character discusses his paintings as being highly vulnerable objects that pulsate, glow, and he even goes so far as to suggest that they have emotions. This hour and forty minute long show has only two cast members, and focuses on the relationship between Rothko and his fictional assistant, Ken, as he works on a commission for the Four Seasons restaurant in Philip Johnson and Mies Van der Rohe’s Seagram Building; three of these paintings are on view at the National Gallery of Art right now. As the title if the play may suggest, the works are largely in red tones.

I chuckled when Rothko’s character mentioned that he rued the day that his paintings would grace living rooms as decoration, or that people would pair his thoughtful, serious color blocks with chips from the Sherwin Williams fan deck. I can’t say I recommend matching art to your throw pillows, but as a designer, I advocate some semblance of purpose or cohesion. I’m guessing he wouldn’t like these much:

(image via Design Crush)

The art history student in me was thrilled to hear the names of so many artists: the characters discuss Caravaggio, de Kooning, Matisee and others throughout, and if you are at all familar with the history of art you’ll be reminded of many favorite images (and appreciate the dialogue on a much deeper level). They talk about what red means to them, what black represents, and what white connotes. There’s back and forth between the men about different shades of red that lasts a few minutes, and the color theorist in me was thoroughly entertained. There’s a gorgeous set, wonderful lighting, and real painting action happens right on stage mid-performance. If you sit in the front row don’t wear anything you like too much (you’ve been warned).

(image via Arena Stage)

The discussion of the point of abstract expressionism — more specifically, Rothko’s work; or to generalize, art on the whole — is a central theme. Rothko, as the artist, obviously has a stake in making his work mean something important. His assistant, on the other hand, suggests that “Sometimes, you just want a f*cking still life.”

Feel free to form your own opinion sometime over the course of the next five weeks: Red is running at Arena Stage, in the Kreeger Theatre, until March 11th 2012. You can purchase tickets here.

 

Arena Stage provided the tickets to this performance.

 

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Find(s) of the Week!

25 Jan

Yesterday I was browsing Crate & Barrel for some quick finds and a few things jumped out at me. JUMPED, I tell you. I was excited to see some truly great items.

First was this gorgeous Grey City Map. I’m showing New York, but Chicago and San Fran are also available. Each is $199 and measures 21” w x 27” h.

New York City Map, $199 (image via Crate & Barrel)

 

Second was this “And” Pillow. For $29.95, it’s a steal! It would be perfect sandwiched in between two other pillows.

"And" Pillow, $29.95 (image via Crate & Barrel)

 

Finally, I am loving this Grey C Table. I adore C tables to begin with for their utility and small footprint, and for $59.95 you can not beat this one! It’s also available in a bright blue, lime green, and white.

Grey C Table, $59.95 (image via Crate & Barrel)

 

Just a few Crate & Barrel basics to get you through your design dilemmas. Remember, it’s totally fine to get your furniture and accessories from catalogs: it’s about curating them to be a unique mix, and occasionally throwing in some truly unique finds. (I know that’s a difficult task…that’s why I do what I do!…)

 

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Vintage Frames!

17 Jan

I love accessorizing with a few thoughtfully placed vintage items, and I find that frames are one of my favorite things to use. They come in all colors and sizes, all kinds of materials, and they are pretty cheap in the grand scheme of accessories. You can often find bundles of antique frames in thrift or antique stores, or sold together on Etsy (which saves you the hunt of trying to put together a coordinated frame collection!). I once got a group of three white frames at an antique store in Tennessee for about $20. I still use them. Here’s one that I recently styled for an article on vintage pieces; I think this would be perfect for a teenager’s room!

One of the challenges with frames like this is that they often have no back or hardware (see above!). If this is the case with your recent find, you can always take the frame to a local shop and have them work their magic. For a more cost effective method of displaying your frame, you can just attach you own hardware and display it au-naturale like the frames below.

As you can see, a little spray paint never hurt anyone. (images via L - HGTV, R - sfgirlbybay)

 

Another image I saw this weekend that I just loved was from a favorite site of mine, Design Sponge. It’s the upstairs hallway from Sarah Fowlske and James Milward’s home in Toronto. You can see the rest of this lovely, typography-heavy abode here. This image of the virtually grayscale hallway is just perfect!

Monochrome minimalism at its best! (image via Design Sponge)

 

Finally, though this isn’t a frame it evokes the idea of using a frame to store jewelry. I am totally enamored with the way this home uses a strip of simple wood and hooks to display colorful beads at the top of the wall! This idea could be easily emulated on a smaller scale with a few frames rigged to hang your beads.

A neat, non-traditional take on molding. (image source unknown)

 

Do you have any creative uses for old frames, or good places to find them? If so, share in the comments!

 

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Urban Graphic Maps: Hi and Low.

16 Jan

I’m a big fan of graphics: type, maps, logos…all of it. I’m especially a big fan of text- or shape-intensive maps, so naturally I love Ork’s city posters; they range from about $20 to $30 depending on the type of printing you choose. I own the DC version in gray and white. It was $27 and measures 18” x 24.”

Frame from Target; Poster via Ork Posters.

I came across this beautiful graphic map this weekend, which is by Bo Lundberg. It caught my eye for its use of color and it obviously reminded me of Ork’s work (I mean this in a complementary way, not in a “you’re copying them!” way, of course).

"Manhattan" by Bo Lundberg (image via Stampa)

It’s a map of Manhattan, and part of a series of other places; “Manhattan” however, is really the only map that evokes the Ork aesthetic. Others are less recognizable as maps, and some aren’t maps at all .Prints are available from Stampa, starting at $100 for an unframed 8”x 10” and going up to $800 for a framed 18” x 24.” You read that right: $800. 

Ork’s Manhattan is equally lovely, and you can snag one for far far less: $22 – $27. There are six colorways and two printing options. For you NYC folk, there’s also a greater New York City version.

"Manhattan" by Ork Posters (image via Orkposters.com)

What do you think? Do you prefer one print to another, or are you over the whole text-map thing already? I can tell you I’m definitely not over it yet, and I’m thrilled to see them thriving.

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Dots Here, Dots There, Colored Dots Everywhere!

5 Jan

I love polka dots. Black and white ones, differently sized ones, and all-over-the-map rainbow colored ones! Turns out I’m not the only one…

This beautifully imperfect color-splashed room is part of an interactive space at Queensland Gallery of Modern Art in their ‘Yayoi Kusama: Look Now, See Forever’ Gallery: it’s called The Obliteration Room. The photo is my Mark Sherwood. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama did a similar installation in 2002, which was the inspiration for this vibrant experiment. The installation features a room filled with Austrailian-made (local to the Queensland Art Gallery) furniture, painted white, and subsequently decorated with stickers by visitors, particularly the little ones (I sure know my little one loves stickers). 

A few years ago, my husband took me to a Valentine’s Day Dinner at the Kennedy Center, which was then hosting an exhibit by Yayoi Kusama called “Dots Obsession.” It, too featured a room full of polka dots that rendered the fixtures indistinguishable from the walls and floors (and ceilings!), but these were not stuck on, rather they were amidst inflatable protrusions and printed onto the walls, floors, and inflated shapes. You could literally walk through the huge shapes, feeling wonderfully disoriented. The best word I have to describe it is “fun,” and it was even more so because we visited very late at night after dinner. Almost no one was there.

Yayoi Kusama's Dots Obsession, "Day," featured black dots on yellow. "Night" was yellow on black. (image via eyecontactartforum.blogspot.com)

 

I think one of the things that has always attracted me to one of my favorite spaces (featured in Domino Magazine long ago), Jenna Lyons’ NYC  apartment, is the painting above the mantle. It features dots not dissimilar to those from Yayoi Kusama’s Dots Obsession installation. The repetition combined with the variation of the sizes is consistent yet exciting. I just adore these dots.

Jenna Lyons' former townhouse in NYC. (image via - the late - Domino Magazine)

 

If you’re interested in a similar look, consider perusing Etsy for polka dot decals and try curating your own Dots Obsession. It’ll be some of the most fun you’ve ever had with stickers, I promise!

 

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Christopher Stott Paints Super Realistic Pictures of Average Things…

20 Dec

…they’re wonderful.

Red, Green, Blue. 16''x 24',' oil on canvas, 2010. (image via Christopher Stott's website)

I have a soft spot for beautifully realistic oil paintings on a blank minimalist background. Christopher Stott, a Canadian artist, does just this. He paints art supplies, household objects, and candy. He reminds me a lot of another artist I adore named Michael Fitts, who paints similarly mundane-but-beautiful things on scrap metal. (I mention him frequently on this blog…perhaps I should feature him one day!)

About his work, Stott says: “The banal and ordinary subjects of [my] work are painted in a celebratory way, turning them in to iconic vestiges of the not so distant past. The simple yet bold compositions are set in variations of neutral grey and white tones. The paintings have repetition, rhythm and an emphasis on the basic geometric designs of the subjects with their finger firmly on the pulse of contemporary representational art.” He mentions Wayne Thiebaud as an inspiration; say no more Chris, you had me at your reference to beautiful cakes.

Here are some more of Christopher Stott’s incredible paintings.

It's What's Inside That Counts. 30'' x 24,'' oil on canvas, 2010. (image via Christopher Stott's website)

 

Yellow Rotary Phone. 20'' x 24,'' oil on canvas, 2011 (image via Elliot Fouts Gallery)

 

Vintage Electric Fan and Three Glasses of Water. 30'' x 36,'' oil on canvas, 2009 (image via Christopher Stott's website)

 

He is represented by the Elliot Fouts Gallery in San Francisco. You can see more of his work here on his website. 

…and if you’re coveting that fantastic yellow rotary phone, you can find one like it here.

 

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Five Under $50: Perfect Posters!

14 Oct

Everyone loves a good poster. Even for those of you with the most expensive and refined tastes, a poster that pops is perfect in a basement, plays space, or child’s room. …and for the rest of you, posters can definitely find a home in your living room or hallway. Framed or not, infographic or homage to pop-culture, there’s a poster for everyone. Below are five of my favorites right now. Forgive me for being heavy on the text…I just love it!

1.) 99 Cent by Andreas Gursky, via the MOMA Store, $25 (image via MOMA); 2.) Bird Ave Skyline Poster (your choice of dozens of cities with customizable colors), $20 (image via BirdAve - an Etsy Seller); 3.) El Jefe Alphabet, $25 (image via El Jefe Design); 4.) Charley Harper National Parks Posters from the Cincinnati Art Museum, $40 (image via Cincinnati Art Museum); 5.) The Delectable Kaleidoscope of Candy Bars, $25 (image via Pop Chart Lab)

I love those Bird Ave skyline images — custom on the cheap! And the Gursky photography is a longtime favorite of mine; every time I see it I want to think it’s a painting and not a photograph. The El Jefe Alphabet was recently installed in a client’s 10 year old son’s bedroom — talk about perfect!

What’s your favorite poster?

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

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