THE CONTINUING TRANSFORMATION......

After four years in this home, I have been gradually changing the foyer. Here's the transformation over the last year or so.   It started out looking something like this.

Okay but "yawn",  a little boring.  So, I decided to paint the doors black and it looked like this.  Better, but still......

(I did end up painting the closet doors black, later on.)  
So, now on to the hopefully, final stage - stenciling.  I had thought of doing wallpaper but I saw this stencil over at Royal Design Studios and loved it and thought that it would look terrific.

  

  After a couple of days painting, here's the results!

Isn't it just fabulous!  I so love it! 

Now I just need a new welcome mat.  Something with a little more pizazz!


I'll be linking this post up to Metamorphosis Monday on Between Naps on the Porch.   So on Monday, be sure to check out the other fabulous makeovers and transformations there!

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!  

Lisa

WELCOME FALL….

I just redid the floral arrangement at my front entry.  I bought some silk flowers and leaves and then added a cute little twig pumpkin and some birch branches from the cottage.  And it was done just in time for our first snowfall and the darn stuff is still on the ground…Yikes that’s early this year!

Tell me what you think.

And a close up.

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!

Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at 613-762-0818.

Lisa

SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHINGS OLD…..

Okay I’ve finally done something with the vintage wallpaper samples from my cottage. Click here to read my previous post about the wallpaper sample book..

In June when hubby and I went to Vermont I coerced him into checking out some antique stores and a salvage yard.  I love to be inspired by the many different and unique items in those kind of stores – sort of like treasure hunting.  Anyways, I did find some treasures – three old skeleton keys and two antique iron trivets.  

One trivet has a “M” initial for “Mom” and the other has two hearts back to back.  I thought they were so cute even though hubby said “What are you going to do with those?”  And even though I said that I had no idea – he knows me well enough to know that I would eventually find some way to use them.

Well, my next stop was Ikea to pick up some of their Ribba shadow boxes.

I thought I would rummage through my fabric remnant pile or use some scrapbooking paper to back the keys and trivets.  But then I got to thinking about the vintage wallpaper samples I had and I decided to go through and see which one I could use as a background.  Well I decided on this one:

Subtle but with enough of a pattern that it shows up and it would really showcase the black iron of the keys and the trivets. 

I did actually feel a twinge while I was cutting the page out of the book but I did it!! The paper is quite fragile so I made sure that the utility knife was good and sharp and I got it done without too much trouble.

Here they are in progress.  I glued the wallpaper to the back of the frame and then hot glued the trivets and keys in place on the wallpaper.  Hopefully the hot glue is strong enough to hold everything in place – I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough if it isn’t!!

I placed the matting on top and fit everything back into the frame and voila!

I think they look great and I’ve put them on the small wall in my entrance way.

I know, I know I still haven’t gotten around to painting those closet doors or the powder room door black yet!  But it will happen, probably in the fall, when life gets back to normal.

I think they are the perfect way to say “Welcome!" 

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!

Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at 613-762-0818.

Lisa

A BUNCH OF TWIGS

I was visiting The Lennoxx the other day and Linda had a great post on a bedroom done by Thom Filicia.  He had the perfect little night table in this room:

I love tables with branch and twig bases and I thought I’d look around and see all the different ones I could find. 

Elte Sherwood Accent table

via Houzz modern family room design by new york architect Dufner Heighes Inc

via Houzz contemporary living room design by san francisco interior designer Michael Merrill Design Studio, Inc

contemporary living room design by san francisco interior designer Michael Merrill Design Studio, Inc

 There’s even a DIY to make this table at The Style Files. 

Jayson twig table via HarmonyandHomeblog

Here’s a metal version

viaStylehive

Another one using twigs and LED lights.

via West Elm

  viaRoomRemix

viatheHouzz

viaDecorPad

Did I mention that they are everywhere?  They are tiny and versatile and bring a little of the outdoors in…I know what I’ll be looking for…

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!

Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at 613-762-0818.

Lisa

THEY CALL ME MELLOW YELLOW!

Love that song!! 

“Colour is but a sensation and has no existence outside the nervous system of living beings.” Nicholas Ogden Rood

Okay, I have been very delinquent about my colour posts. 

So I am back at it with

YELLOW!!!

Most people have strong feelings about Yellow – they either love it or hate it!  I used to hate it but there is one thing about studying colour and design – you really do learn to love all the colours – as you find out all about them and how they all have their place in the rainbow!

Colour psychology tells us that extroverts like warm colours and introverts like cool colours.  Yellow then is a colour for extroverts.  If you like yellow you’ll find it cheerful, radiant and expansive.  If you hate yellow it’ll make you nervous, anxious and irritable. 

Physically yellow can annoy and agitate us but it also sharpens our memory (think yellow post it notes) and stimulates us intellectually.  It can make you cautious – as in yellow street lights or very talkative. 

Yellow doesn’t seem to stay put – it seems to float into the air like sunshine.  It falls between the extremes of red and violet – it is closest to visual light and is perceived as sunlight’s natural colour.  It appears to illuminate and so it advances towards us. 

Now for some interiors.  Yellow can be glamorous and classy as shown in the following photos.

 Isn’t this a breathtaking bathroom?  It’s so glamorous!

Here’s a transitional living room with a pale yellow wall that works beautifully with the stone wall and the navy couch.

A modern, feminine space where the turquoise background wall and even the exterior blue light compliments the hits of yellow. 

What a handsome vignette!  Showcasing how beautiful yellow and gray can be.

Or it can look fun, playful

and flirty as in the

following rooms.

This room has yellow and it’s compliment purple to showcase both the colours. It is fun and young at heart.

A fun children’s room highlighting again how well gray and yellow works together.  Cute monkey!

It can even have a welcoming and classic country feel…see these below.

 COME ON IN!!

A warm entryway that has classic tones with the marble tile floor and the urn on the console – not to mention that beautiful wooden door and transom window feature.  Painting it yellow makes it less formal and more casual.  Did you notice the cute painted scene on the console table?

Navy and yellow is such a timeless combo and works its magic in this room. 

The dining room in the same home – can’t you just smell the apple pie?

And last but not least striped yellow & white fabric used in a modern way on the headboard. 

Hope you enjoyed this trip

through the colour yellow!

 I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!

Email me at lisa@lisagouletdesign.com or if in the Ottawa area call me at 613-762-0818.

Lisa

 

Photos via yellowrubberdviaflickr; righteyeviaflickr; lisagouletdesign; DP_beasley-round-master-bathviaHGTV; CallandesignviaHGTV; DP_beasley-grand-salonviaHGTV; viaHomes&Gardens; DP_wisniewsk-purple-bedroomviaHGTV; DP_Avram-Rusu-white-kids-roomviaHGTV; foyer-showtimeviaHouseBeautiful; TomstringerviaHouseBeautiful; viaHousebeautiful1; viaHousebeautiful2; AnoopNegiviaflickr; Sunshine!!!viaflickr; newly.bornviaflickr