The Original Herringbone

I feel like this one needed to be mentioned on the blog. This was one of my all time favorites and pretty much what made this style into a signature piece for Peacock Door Designs. The frame and legs of this coffee table just screamed to me "Make me pretty!!!" I don't have the before pictures but it was that orange/brown with black speckles. I have no idea what the center originally was either, it was completely missing when I got a hold of it. I had a friend that was looking for a coffee table and liked my work so I made the suggestion that I paint the frame black and figure out what to do with the center. He ran with it and I am so glad!

This became the first herringbone coffee table.

(drying and before it was sealed)

This one even went out of state! He sent me some pictures of it in his home and I'm so glad he enjoys it. This has become one of the most requested coffee tables for me now.

Another Herringbone Table

The herringbone pattern is one of my favorites, I love it. I love the texture and the look of the angles. I made this table a while back for another male client and then had many many requests for the same. This one is a little bit different. The request from this particular man was to have it be very rustic, plain legs and the entire table stained, no paint at all. So, I got to it!

If you know me at all, you know I am a huge nerd...but I did steal this mug from my son.

I love how this one turned out too. This pattern just makes me so happy!

Chaise and Settee

Let's kick off this "back to blogging" with some pretty cool upholstery. I wish I could tell you some funny anecdote about how I lost the before pictures but quite honestly I am not certain I ever took any this time. It was a busy time. I can tell you that these two pieces were rescue pieces and taking off each layer of the previous upholstery was a bit on the gross side.

This little antique settee is to die for! Those legs, that carving! I'm a sucker for something with stunning detail, it makes me happy. I also have a pretty huge soft spot for the fabric that was chosen for this piece as well. I made some amazing draperies and pillows for my own home with this very fabric at one point and time.

This is the closest before picture I could find. I had a super helpful friend taking off the old upholstery to help me speed up the process and put out more work. She was such a blessing to me.

That detail...I just love it so much. I think this piece is probably one of my favorites I have ever done. I wanted to keep it.

This chaise was a fun piece. I have no clue how old it actually is, but when I say that it was VERY old, just trust me. 

The client chose this fun gray and orange ikat and kept the upholstery detail the exact same. Putting a modern twist on something antique is a look that I absolutely adore. I find this piece whimsical and endearing.

Much more to come!

Transitions

Wow...it's definitely been a while. In decorating and design the "Domino Effect" is often discussed. You start a project that inevitably leads to another project and so on and so forth...That has been my life for the past year. Technically it has been my life for four years, but today I'm going to focus on the most recent year.

I'm in a time of serious transition right now. Growing the business, having a car accident that totaled my car and left me with nothing, leaving my time capsule house, moving three times in one summer (yes, you heard that right), and dealing with things in my personal life as well. To say that it has been eventful is a major understatement. 

There have been a lot of negatives this year: opportunities that raised hopes only to fizzle out and become nothing, multiple personal things that have had this normally emotionally level woman reeling, and a few truly troubled times. These things are a part of life. They are going to happen, you cannot control that. 

But there have also been some amazing moments as well: my daughter dancing for Disney's Dance the Magic,

 being Annie in the school play, 

my son growing into this awesome teenage kid that I just adore, 

him making huge leaps in band, 

(photo by Shine-A-Little Photography)

us making transitions for our wellbeing, and all of the wonderful friends in our lives that have kept us going strong. These are the things that I choose to focus on the most. I can control that part - what I dwell on is what is important. 

It is so hard sometimes to stay positive and this year was the first time I've ever had such a huge struggle to maintain that positivity. It's only gotten harder all year, there are no breaks from it. But, I am still here, still doing my work (in my new location), and still making it all work for me and my precious children.

Things are really going to be amazing this year! I am really looking forward to many of the things that are coming up this year AND I'm really looking forward to getting back to the blog again as well. I'm finally able to breathe a little bit now and will be playing a bit of catch up to show a little bit of what went on this past year. Peacock Door Designs and my sweet little family are going strong! Thank you all for your love and support!

Bright and Fun Upholstery

Sometimes you get to do something that is completely out of your own personal style and you end up LOVING it!!! These chairs are a perfect example of that. They were in fantastic condition so it made the upholstery job much easier...not that it is ever actually easy.

This was during the time period that I lost everything on my phone. Four months worth of pictures, client names and numbers, project texts, and other extremely important things.  Lost the names and numbers of 26 clients...it was devastating and yes, I cried buckets!!! 

So the only before picture I have is this one. This is not the worst fabric ever, but definitely dated and no where near what the client had in mind!

(yes, my formerly compulsively clean spaces are complete chaos constantly now. I'm learning to adjust. I can now sleep when there is still mess. We all have to make compromises)

Now on to the super fun part. My client wanted something fun, fresh, and bright. Taking these tradition style wingback chairs and putting this pop of colors fabric on it was perfection!

My client was kind enough to send me a picture of the chairs and matching pillows. Here they are in all their bright glory!!!

This was such a fun project to do and I'm so glad I get to experiment with with colors like these.

Monica's Kitchen

Sometimes when things get too busy you find yourself making mistakes or oversights. This was a HUGE oversight!!! I did a makeover on my friend Monica's kitchen. I didn't take good before pictures and I only took instagram snaps of the progress. When it was complete...there were dishwasher flooding issues, flooring being replaced, touch ups on cabinetry paint, and we were all so busy that we simply forgot to take any pictures! Then Monica's family moved. It happened so quickly and we were all excited and had a million other things on our minds. We were not exactly thinking of taking pictures of the kitchen so I would have a great blog. So, jump ahead to when I'm trying to put together a post about said kitchen and I have had to research to find pictures. I looked everywhere. Monica didn't have any, plus with her being a photographer I can't imagine what it is like to search for pictures on her computer...seriously, that is like trying to do calculus for me. I get a headache just thinking about it!

I feel like Sookie when it comes to math:

image

On a side note, how many of you are so excited about the new Gilmore Girls coming to Netflix in November? I cannot wait!!!

Back to the kitchen...Monica and our friend Molly finally found the real estate pictures of the finished kitchen (it takes a village). I have no clue who took the pictures, but I stole them so I could show off my work!

Before (pictures from old real estate ad):

 The peninsula in the old layout severely limited the amount of dining space in this kitchen. Monica's husband and father-in-law removed this pretty early on after they were in the house. When you have a large family, the dining space just needs to work better for you!

In Progress (pictures by me):

 They had the countertops refinished

 New flooring installed:

 While the counter top people and flooring people were busy,  I had all of the doors and drawers back at my place and was busy painting away!

 Drawers and drawers everywhere! My garage, my hallway, and even my living room. Hey, at least they matched my living room ;)

 Now it was time for me to start on the backsplash:

Finally we had a finished product!

(pictures from most recent real estate ad):

This kitchen turned out so cute! That backsplash people!!! It is still one of my favorite things I've ever done! So lovely!!!

French Linen, Pure White, and Leather

This is, quite possibly, one of my favorite dining sets of all time. 

It was chipped up and in need of a little love. In the picture below you can see that it had been "repaired" by someone just putting screws into the legs. I repaired this first and made sure that it was sound and secure.

So many little details on this table.

You can see a bit of yellow paint peaking through the black in this picture.

Originally I wanted to do my signature stained top and painted out base and chairs, but after hours and hours of stripping off many layers of paint, I found out the table was not wood. It was MDF and not stainable. I informed sweet Brooke and together we came up with the option of a two-tone paint look. Y'all!!! It turned out so pretty!!!!

Next came the chairs with paint, distressing, and new upholstery. The style of these chairs is just so pretty to begin with, but OH MY STARS, the leather! I finished the first seat and sat there stroking it. My son said, "Mom, what are you doing?" So naturally I busted out my inner nerd and best Gollum voice and said, "So pretty, my precious" while still stroking the leather. My son laughed so hard he fell off the sofa, "Mom!!! You are so weird! So stinking funny!!!"

All joking aside, you guys should know that it is highly stressful to cut into the expensive leather. Monica was at my house and can explain to you that I measured about three times before the first cut and after I began cutting, I was sweating like I had been in HIIT for 30 minutes. This is serious business!!! Mistakes cannot be made or it comes out of my paycheck.

Look at this chair...

I cannot explain how much I love this.

This space was still being renovated when I dropped off the table. Since this time, a beautiful buffet cabinet has been added and there are new gorgeous drapes on that big window.

 Recently I had to go and refinish the top of this table due to an adorable little girl and fingernail polish remover. It is still stunning in my opinion. I just smile every time I see it.