Chip It

I

I recently installed a new app on my mac and I love it.  As you are browsing you simply hover over the photo and click on the chip it app and it will give you colors found in the palette of the photo.  Here are two done based on a photo of a room.

For those folks that are truly color challenged this can be a powerful tool.  A person can take any photo displayed on the internet and use Chip It to make this happen.  Once you have been through this process you are able to save choices to a file on the chip it program.

These two Chip It profiles were taken of photos of art prints on the William Sonoma Home site.

These profiles of color were based on photos taken during fashion week.

This is such a fun app to play with and to begin to sift through the thousands of colors available.

A person could spend hours Chipping It and come up with some pretty interesting colors.  Could use these pallets to select neutral for walls and accent paints or fabrics.  I highly recommend this app to you for making paint color choices or just for fun.

Kitchen Confidential: Part IV

The kitchen is painted, some of the new and old items are in place.  Going from Signal Red to Italian Straw paint has been traumatic for me.  Don't know when that will feel normal.  Have not done new counter tops yet  and perhaps that will pull the look together.  I am still in a dilema regarding the table in front of the settee.

The English Pub table is beautiful and quite functional.  We have had several meals here and it as cozy as I imagined.  I have been on my computer blogging and it works just fine for that too.  Sadly the table is too high and too large.  I am just not sure I am willing to give up the function for the look.  We have tried this space with a tea table [ barely enough room for a cup] and I also I tried an antique card table I pulled from the attic [functional but temporary].  Dilemma:  Leave the table we love that works for the two of us or find one that is round and smaller that gives room for folks we entertain to feel invited into this area?  That decision will have to wait for awhile as there are so many final issues to resolve.  I could certainly use some comments and suggestions here so have at it.

The chartreuse light fixture is going to replace the pendant light over the sink.  I will have to move down a notch in wattage as it already is bright enough to land a plane in the kitchen and one more chandelier will add to this problem.  I like good light is the kitchen but 360 watts plus 240 watts is just overwhelming.

New fixture over island turned down with dimmer.  Love this light.  Perfect.

Pendant light over the sink currently looks sad.  Whimsical chartreuse light to the rescue.

Here are more photos.  Need more art and will definitely change as time goes and seasons change.

Arts and Crafts chair with new fabric.  Beautiful and comfortable.

Overall view from kitchen.  That tiny inappropriate light definitely has to go.

Here are a few views of the kitchen without the new counters.

More to come as progress is made.  Maybe new thoughts will come to me as I do my taxes.  Doubtful though as doing taxes just doesn't fit into my creative thought pattern.

Nobody Knows this About Me

Most people will be shocked by this revelation.  Most know that I am a right brain, creative person.  I love all things about entertaining people and welcoming them into my home.  I am generally a happy person with happy thoughts.  But this time of year I become someone entirely different.  I get my readers or bifocals on and get my adding machine out  and do the family taxes.

Tubotax for Home and Office is my tool of choice.  I have to fie a schedule C because of my design business.  This is a tool I have used for at least 10 years.  Now the tool is great but only as good as the one gathering the information.  Of  course, being the right brain person that I am, I have not kept these records well so I will spend days gathering the charitable donations thrown in drawers.  Having bank records online has helped me tremendously as I don't have to haul out the bank statements to gather figures for income and deductions.  As all this is scattered all over no professional could piece this puzzle together and by the time he/she did I figured out 12 years ago that I could do the final figures.

The gathering begins and every year I swear I will be more organized and put things in a file and then something more interesting and happy comes along.  I always choose to do the happy and interesting which causes me much aggravation for about two weeks during tax filing days.  If you run into me during the next two weeks and I am not focused it is because I am doing what my grandmother knew I was not suited for, dealing with figures.

It is amazing to me that our lives can be summarized by a tax return.  Seems so cold and "calculated" but so true that one can see what is important by where the money is spent.

I believe because I know I am not suited I am much more careful.  I am always so satisfied when finished and the program shows no mistakes.  So on to the task at hand so that I can get back to the joys of life and now everybody knows this about me even though some won't believe it.

That is Just Wrong Made Right

You blog followers may recall this is the light fixture that started it all.  You may recall when the fixture arrived it was a horrible color and not as pictured: 


                     










The white with bright gold accents was not the desired finish to achieve the look I wanted in the breakfast room.  After painting three times, first oil rubbed bronze, next glossy white, and finally a lovely shade and desired shade of chartreuse.  Unfortunately, it was hung as a flush ceiling light instead of a hanging fixture.

This made the fixture appear tiny and old fashion.  "Hollywood" to the rescue.  Hollywood is my go to guy for painting, floors and anything the husband fellow can't do.  He has informed me that he can rewire and hang the fixture properly.  So what was just wrong will be perhaps just right soon.  Stay tuned for photos of the progress as it happens.

One more chance for this fixture.  If it still is not pleasing then it is on to something totally different.

Tango Tangerine: 2012

Those of us in the design industry are very familiar with Pantone.  The company was founded in 1963 by Lawrence Herbert.  It is a company that makes accurate color samples and swatches that are used by fashion designers, graphic designers, paint companies, and interior designers/ architects.

Tango Tangerine is the color of 2012 as selected by Pantone.  You may not find this too interesting but you will see this color everywhere this year.  It may be in a blouse, a dress, a lamp, or an advertisement.  For the adventuresome it will end up on the walls of a room.

It may be interpreted in coral, orangy red, or many other shades.  It will not so quietly begin to appear on items in big box stores such as Target, Pier I, and Walmart.  This is not a new phenomenon.  In 2011 the chosen color was Honeysuckle

Now I don't know about you but as a Southern girl I would have assumed that Honeysuckle was some shade of yellow.  How many of us saw this color "popping up" everywhere last year.  Maybe it was on an invitation.  Perhaps at a wedding.  Touches of it were everywhere as you see even on cookbooks.

Sometimes these chosen colors fade quickly and sometimes they linger.  2010's Turquoise is a good example.  As you can see turquoise is still hanging out with baby sister Tangerine Tango. 

This elegant timeless room designed by Arkansas' own Tobey Fairly is an example of how Pantone colors such as the Turquoise of 2010 can have staying power.

This is another well designed room that illustrates the lasting power of some of the Pantone choices.

This use of Tango Tangerine is shown with timeless antiques.  We will have to wait and see as to whether Tango Tangerine has the staying power of some of the past Pantone colors.  Watch touches of the color appear in fashion, home design and graphic design.  Time will tell.

Repurposing: What Every Southern Girl Has Always Known

I love that my profession and the public in general has caught on to repurposing.  My grandmother did it, my mother did it and my mother in law as well. Most of the southern women I have known in my life have done it.   I have many examples of that new trend in my house today. 

This pewter punch bowl belonged to grandmother and it was brought out for teas and luncheons.  We don't do teas and luncheons much anymore so I have put it to use as an attractive bread basket in my kitchen.  It had been stored in an attic until I found an adapted use.

This secretary served in a my great great grandfather's doctor's office in the 1800's .  He might be appalled to discover a variety of potions, lotions, make- up and hair gizmo that it contains today.  Toilet paper and wash cloths are stored in the drawers.  There is also a silver tray that belonged to my grandmother inside the cabinet that serves to hold my perfumes.  The secretary was unwanted by everyone including me when breaking up my parents household but I just couldn't  let it go.

This silver tray belonged to my aunt.  I don't really think she would mind that it now houses our liquor for the bar.

This silver tray belonged to my maternal grandmother.  She was Southern Baptist to the core and might be appalled that it now holds our liquors and brandies for after dinner.  Elsewise it would be relegated to some corner of the attic sitting lonely in pacific cloth.

This bamboo sofa belonged to my husband's maternal grandmother and has served many well since the 1950's.  It was used by us in the beginning of our marriage as our only sofa.  It was a natural bamboo at the time.  Now painted black it is perfect for our screened porch.

The bergere belonged to my husband's maternal grandmother and had no springs because it was manufactured during WWII.  It has a double and has been reupholstered and used by many in the family.  I love these chairs.  The Chinese chair is one of a pair and is a recent addition.  These chairs were in my paternal aunt's house during her Asian phase in the 1960's.  They were rescued from her tiny apartment upon her passing in horrible condition.  They have been refurbished and are quite comfortable.  I have also incorporated many items ordered from clients that just did not work for them.  That is where the lovely leather topped tea table came from.  I love it and am so happy it did not work for that client.

The oil painting is quite beautiful.  It is not by a listed artist but came from a well known gallery in Chicago.  I recovered it from a man who had bought a bank, found it among the refuse and was going to dispose of it.  It is one of my favorites. 

Of course, we all have our favorite junk store/ flea market stories.  This Italian charcoal is from the 1950's.  It is from a respected St. Louis gallery.  It has had a prominent place in my home since discovering it.














Not every item in my current home is a found item or repurposed item.  I do love the pieces I have kept from the landfill.  What a great example set for me by the Southern women I have known.  Keeping and repurposing these items has made my surroundings and my life richer.  I hope I have passed this passion to my daughter and she will pass it on to her son.

People often ask me about the eclectic decor of my house.  Now that I consider that question it has so much to do with my past and what I found too valuable to dispose of.

That Is Just Wrong

Sometimes the best laid plans........  While working on my kitchen breakfast room project I was excited to replace the lighting.  One light fixture worked out beautifully and the other was a complete failure.  As my sister said when seeing the failed  fixture  "That is just wrong".  My banker husband is fairly handy around the house but I must blame a large part of this error on his lack of electrical training.  I will claim the rest of the responsibility.  If you have been following the project on "Living Life with Lillie",  you might remember that this is the fixture that was purchased and planned on for the breakfast room area.

Crystorama light purchased for breakfast room.

In the first place  it came in a white with seriously gold finish not the promised oil rubbed bronze.  I might have been willing to hang it in a bordello if I had been working on a project like that.  the cost of spray paint was less than shipping the item back.  I first tried spraying it oil rubbed bronze.  The finish looked black.  I then spray painted it white.  The white was attractive but not the look I wanted to live with.  I finally found the perfect color -   A color called Apple that looked much like what I would call chartreuse.   Perfect color.  Fixture painted, check.  Chain painted, check.  All ready to be hung in the freshly painted breakfast room.  I tried to avoid being in the house when my husband hung the fixture.  This always seems to work better for the condition of our marriage.  Much to my disappointment this is what I saw when I returned. 

Yes, it was just wrong.  My perfect fixture was not hanging from the chain because my husband said it just wasn't made properly and that's what happens when you order online.  As he had been gone hunting for a month, this was not the time to question his electrical abilities.  Besides, he had cut the wires to install and so past rewiring the light fixture was a total loss.  I have discovered also that even hanging from a chain that the fixture might just have been too petite.  I now am searching for another light.  And, yes I will be shopping online.  And, yes I will hire an electrician to install the light.  After all I don't want the next one to be "just wrong".