Designer's Block: Next Projects

I am stuck on the kitchen-dining areas and finishing the foyer. The collaboration with Megan helped us move forward with the living room and guest bathroom, but I think we can be even more true to the inspiration as we work on the rest of the house.

k i t c h e n  &  d i n i n g 

(table, chairs, art)

We would like an expandable round table to seat 4-8. I found some white upholstered chairs out of our budget and my impulse to keep them spotless would drive me crazy. Non-upholstered chairs make me feel stiff and, therefore, old. The Georgia chair is cute, but something isn't quite working.

(new counter & backsplash, cabinet refacing)

The current option is to do a white counter with plain/smooth cabinet doors in a brownish-gray color and a glass/ceramic aqua tiled backsplash, but it doesn't feel close enough to the Inspiration. The backsplash either brick-mosaic or pennyround:

white marble countertop

f o y e r (art above chest)

Although initially skeptical, I do like the darker wall color for the entry. It highlights the crisp white accents (chest, lamp, ceramic owl umbrella stand, wallflowers). I love the unexpected retro/girly vibe of the blue catch-all. Megan hit the nail on the head there! One idea for the wall behind the chest is a series of 3 relevant wood signs in cheery font, great for its relevance, playfulness and color (aqua, of course). It's a tad more casual than I wanted and we already have a grouping with the flowers...

Maybe a framed series, to cover a larger area, would work. I had hoped to use one single large piece since we already have a series of flowers on the adjacent wall.

We considered these options, which we picked up during our travels, to place above the chest facing the door. The first one (12x16), from Florence, for the foyer above the chest - but a larger, vertical piece would work better. Maybe this one should go to the right of the console, but my instinct says that we need a series of 3 to avoid adding another single rectangle to that wall. The second one (13x18), from San Salvador, reframed for another spot (to the right of the living room windows?).

Megan suggested this 5x5 tweet-patterned rug. The problem is that reviewers claim it doesn't withstand dog-scratching. Also, it's so plush that we'd have to have our closet door shortened, which wouldn't be a problem if crickets didn't invade our house every summer. (How would you like crickets in your coats and shoes?)

kitchen, foyer, catch-all, Florence painting, Fernando Llort lithograph: natalie @ calliope; dotted kitchen chair, aqua penny round tile, annsacks chrome pennyround tile, marble countertop via apartmenttherapy, balloon prints via blancagomez, wood aqua hello sign via williamdohman, tweed rug via cb2

related posts: Evolution of Personal Style, Designer's Block: Next Projects

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