Paint It What I Tell You

Monday Color Explosion!

jgbinteriors — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:30:03 +0000

If there’s any day that deserves an explosion of color, it’s Monday.

Don’t you agree?

1.) Pillow 2.) Towel 3.) Dress 4.) Chair 5.) Painting 6.) Tray

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Five Under $50: Cool Coir Doormats for Spring!

jgbinteriors — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:59:19 +0000

I am loving these fun, cheap doormats for spring. Especially after all the long hikes we’ve been taking as a family. Hooray for a child who can walk more than 1/4 of a mile, but sigh at the child who thinks it’s fun to jump in muddy puddles and step in the occasional pile of mysterious nature stuff.

Which is your favorite? I really like the understated two-toned mat in #4 – it comes in lots of colorways!

1.) $34 2.)$34 3.) $34 4.) $26 5.) $10 + craft supplies

(Hey – don’t forget to enter my $75 Novica GIVEAWAY – you have until Friday!)

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

I’m Just Going To Brag For A Moment Here…

jgbinteriors — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:35:01 +0000

On the first ever Mother’s Day I had as a mom, my husband set a pretty high bar. We’re not much for giving big gifts to each other, but we do make small, meaningful gestures and get a little crafty when the time calls for craftiness. Naturally, when I was allowed to sleep in until the luxurious-to-a-new-mom hour of 8am or so, I was bowled over with love and laughter to see this sitting in the living room for me:

Don’t worry: that’s infant-safe tape adhering the flower to his hand. At least that’s what my husband told me…

I look at this picture every few weeks and laugh-cry at how sweet my husband and son are.

Now, four years later, we are veterans of all the holidays-you-do-with-a-kid. I don’t expect too much.

But this weekend I was pleasantly surprised when my son crawled into bed with me – at the ever-so-luxurious-to-a-mom-of-a-four-year-old hour of 7 am – told me “Happy Mother’s Day,” handed me my phone, and told me to check my email. I found a link to this, my “card” for the day:

My favorite part is when he throws the mulch at me. True life, you guys.

Sunday was a beautiful day. It’s always nice to spend time to reflect on being thankful for my kid, my own amazing mother, and all the moms who help make your and my life brighter.

(Hey – don’t forget to enter my $75 Novica GIVEAWAY – you have until Friday!)

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

MAY GIVEAWAY! Win $75 from Novica!

jgbinteriors — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:12:51 +0000

Last month, a fair trade home decor and more retailer called Novica approached me and asked that I review their new website on my blog. When I agreed to, they graciously offered a $75 gift certificate to one of my readers! How lucky for you guys!

Novica is a fair-trade online retailer, in a partnership with National Geographic, that supports artisians around the world. They offer lots of unique goodies in the form of home decor, jewelry, art, furniture, and clothing. They even have really neat musical instruments! I really like how they provide biographical information on each of their artists, thereby facilitating a real connection with the products; for fair trade items, that’s really fitting and very neat.

Here are my top five picks for “home” from Novica. Each items is unique and lovely:

1.) Vase 2.) Basket 3.) Table 4.) Mirror 5.) Painting

They offer a wide range of price points, which makes Novica a fun place to shop even for those on a budget. For example, the rattan basket is under $60 while the painting is over $450. I scored this lamp for about $85 (notice it from the sneak-peek last week?):

Interested in some fair trade goodies of your own? Well, here are three super easy ways to enter into the drawing for a $75 gift certificate:

- you can COMMENT on this blog entry

- you can “LIKE” this blog post here on WordPress

- you can “LIKE” or “SHARE” this giveaway post via the JGB Interiors Facebook page

That’s it! But make sure you enter before noon (eastern standard time) on Friday, May 17th.

I’ll announce a winner on Monday the 20th.

Good luck!

(Disclosure: In addition to providing a $75 gift certificate to a random winner, Novica provided the blogger with a $75 gift certificate as well. )

UPDATE: The winner is Sarah (comment #2)! Thanks for all your shares/likes/comments! This was my biggest giveaway yet at over 40 participants! I hope to do another soon!

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Rainbow Church Wins the Weekend!

jgbinteriors — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:33:06 +0000

This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in DC in a while. We spotted it this morning, on the way back from Pentagon City (we took a little detour thanks to the race).

This is the work of painter Alex “Hense” Brewer, an Atlanta-based artist, who was commissioned to paint this vacant church at 700 Delaware Avenue, SW. The building, formerly Friendship Baptist Church, was built in the early 1900s and was designated a historic site about 10 years ago. The painting was done in November of last year.

Here’s another shot of it, courtesy of the artist’s website.

And another (via Miguel Martinez and Alex Brewer via WJLA.com).

We need more of this stuff in DC.

I LOVE IT.

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Giveaway coming soon…

jgbinteriors — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:22:49 +0000

On Monday, May 13th I’ll be doing a giveaway, and this one’s REALLY GOOD.

The above is a mystery sneak peek of what’s to come.

Stay tuned! Have a great weekend!

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Animal Pillow Round-up!

jgbinteriors — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:01:36 +0000

I’m a huge fan of animal pillows, but sometimes, they’re a little too technicolor or kitschy for my taste. Here are five great neutrals that will be at home in a forest of beige or in a technicolor landscape. Take your pick…either way, these add punch! Bonus: they’re not very expensive, either.

Raccoon Pillow Bison Pillow Cat Pillow Monkey Pillow Elephant Pillow

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

A Pretty Great Weekend.

jgbinteriors — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:19:11 +0000

This weekend was pretty great.

We made clover necklaces.

We found about 50 “wishing flowers.”

I had a nice relaxing day at Spa World with good friends (no pics of that, sorry).

Went to H-Mart, which is always exciting.

Got to spend a lovely, long evening with my husband because our little guy was exhausted from a big hike and went to bed very early.

And got to bake some treats, which is always a good ending to a nice weekend.

Hope your weekend was fun and your week is wonderful!

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Artist Brendan O’Connell paints Walmart interiors. He makes them look fantastic.

jgbinteriors — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 17:55:59 +0000

Brendan O’Connell, an American painter born in Georgia but now residing in Connecticut, likes to paint the interior of Walmart stores.

In addition to sweeping scenes which capture – pretty accurately – the bad fluorescent lighting of these vast warehouses, he does a lot of vignettes that prominently, though sometimes very abstractly, feature grocery store branding that we’ll all recognize. I’m a sucker for branding; food branding especially.

R.I.P Wonder Bread!

I really love this highly abstracted painting of a Crisco cooking oil display, which you may also recognize if you frequent a grocery store as much as I do.

According to his website, his work ranges from photo-realistic to abstract expressionist painting (which is what I’d say is most fitting to this series), and he studied his craft in Europe before returning home to America. His wife is also a painter, so that must be a house with very adorned walls!

You can purchase originals here.

(All of the images above are via the artist’s website, which is linked to throughout.)

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.

Another Instagramed View of Durham.

jgbinteriors — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:33:24 +0000

The other weekend my husband and I got away for a much-needed trip to Durham, North Carolina. We went for his law school reunion, but we really enjoy the town, so we spent time visiting places we love and enjoying the awesome weather. Last summer we took a similar long-weekend, during which I took a lot of pictures with Instagram. So I decided to carry on the tradition for this trip as well.

The town is filled with lots of old (mostly tobacco) warehouses which have been converted into any number of new uses: housing, communal art space, restaurants, and other creative adaptive-reuses. Here’s the side of one of the old buildings, featuring one of my favorite combinations: candy and soda.

Another old building, this one a showroom for Organic Transit, which sells what I like to describe as a space-aged green golf cart. They were parked out front one of the days we were there, but I didn’t snap a picture that day. I adore the signage.

An old building in the middle of downtown. Loving the green…

…and you know I’m not lying. Look at my pants:

Not all of the architecture is so hipster-y. The Carolina Theater at night is pretty classic.

And the new Cupcake Bar and The Parlo ur, and ice cream shop, are pretty cute. Here’s a shot of the exterior of the cupcake shop – prime real estate on a prominent corner, plus a very “apple store” aesthetic – and a shot of the neat art inside The Parlour.

Of course I can’t resist a photo of a dilapidated public health building. This is what Instagram was made for. Not sure why, I just think it’s beautiful.

But all else aside, you can’t go to Durham and not go to Parker and Otis. Because candy. That’s why.

Can’t wait to return again!

Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.