We think we are on to something……we are always tossing around ideas as we drive from client to client and showroom to showroom. We have come up with some crazy things through the years….but now we really think we are on to something. Who would have thought that The People of Walmart would have over 1.2 million likes on facebook.  Sounds ludicrous, doesn’t it? Well we don’t shop at Walmart that often but we LOVE Homegoods.  Just this past week we snapped a shot and realized it’s not that far off from a shot we took in December of 2012. So we give you….our version of The People of Homegoods.

Guess we should keep thinking of new ideas…they are cute though aren’t they?

We love to upcycle…it’s funny the little red line came under “upcycle” as I type.  But yet there is a definition in the Oxford American Dictionary…..and here it is:

“Upcycle: reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of a higher quality or value than the original.”

So lately we’ve been on an upcycling kick. There goes the red line again. Geesh, I hope I’m spelling it right…We have always been upcyclers…Included here is a sample of a dresser we re-created for a client about 4 years ago.

It was a great project. We sanded, primed, painted, waited for drying, repainted, waited for drying, repainted…you get the drift..it was a long process. WELL, just recently we found a  fabulous new paint.  It’s Chalk Paint®…created by an adorable lady from England named Annie Sloan.

HEre are Some of the Reasons Chalk Paint® is So Good!

Annie Sloan’s unique decorative paint, Chalk Paint®, is a very special paint for very many reasons:

1. Chalk Paint® is the BEST paint for painting furniture by a long way
2. No need to prime or prepare
3. Extremely low VOC so it is good for the environment
4. You can use it on any surface, indoors and out
5. You can use the paint by diluting it with water to make a wash to show the wood grain
6. The colours are mixed intelligently and the website shows how you can adapt your colours for your use
7. It’s a girls’ paint, but boys can use it too
8. It’s flexible so you can be creative and change your mind

Our favorite reasons are #2 and #7.  We think #8 describes perfectly why it’s a “girls’ paint”…and #3 is important too… We’ve done one small furniture project so far with the new paint but we were just at the shop to get paint for this dresser.  We cannot wait to see this piece done up and looking all upcycled! Stay tuned.

We got our supplies at DiLucca Designs in Itasca….a delightful shop with a very knowledgeable staff!

This Winter/Spring has been miserable to say the least.  We just heard on the radio the last time the temperature in Chicago passed 70 was October 12. That’s hard to believe. We never realized how much we need Spring until this year.  Spring brings about a rebirth. We were lucky enough to get to a warmer climate this past week and we can’t tell you how much better we feel.

Maybe it’s the business we are in, but to us changing a room has the same effect as going from a dreary, miserable winter to a warm, sunny spectacular spring. We said it many times, your surroundings help set your mood….We much prefer sun…and a beautiful room.

Take a look at this transformation. This is a long, very narrow bath in a gracious home in Winnetka.  At it’s time this bath was pretty top notch..The floors, walls and even the doors were covered with Italian marble..but it was time for a rebirth.  The shower was very tight. They say people are getting bigger, if this shower is any indication people have grown tenfold in the last couple of decades…In order to gain space we restructured the layout to move the water closet to the original shower space and added a large shower on the other end of the room.  We gained some space from the master closets and made the room wider to hold a freestanding tub….There were rooms within the room, for the toilet and the shower.  See how skinny the shower is…….It’s almost like the shower on a cruise.

The above picture shows the marble door which leads to a rooftop deck..let’s just say it was a little heavy…We eliminated this door and replaced it with a french door to let in the natural light…It made a huge difference.

This view is taken from the location of the old toilet..You can see the french door in the reflection of the mirrors…and also the free standing tub. We consciously added the decorative mirror in the center to add some interest. We added a piece of art from the homeowners collection to add a pop of color to the quiet palette.

The feature wall in the shower adds another design element.  Each tile was had cut in the shop and brought as a puzzle to the home..then carefully and meticulously installed.  The shower is equipped with steam, a rain head and multiple nozzles.

Here’s us in the shower with the carpenter…I’m pretty sure we could fit at least 15 more people in there comfortably.

Here’s a close up of the floor tile…we inserted a metal square for interest.

and here is the custom velvet seat for the vanity area. The nailheads mimic the floor inserts.

We really do love this new bath and the best thing is the client told us

“I feel like a king in my new space”

Growing up Irish on the Northwest side of Chicago was interesting.  We’ve been to many a parade and many Mercy Home parties not to mention a pub or two.  Our favorite  treat is Irish Soda Bread. Is there anything better than that moist, okay sometimes it’s dry, sweet bread with a slab of butter? Corned beef on rye is also great, although we could do without the cabbage.  In high school, there were only 2 days that you could not be out sick, St. Patrick’s Day and the Cubs opener.  The Sisters would not allow it. St. Patrick’s Day is a fabulous day to meet up with friends, share a pint and sing some ballads. One of the best is Johnny Cash’s 40 Shades of Green.  He wrote it because he was overwhelmed by the beauty of Ireland.

So as St. Patricks Day approaches we thought we’d share with you some favorite shades of green….the pictures come from our new fabric books that just arrived in time for the big day……..

We love what we do.  It is so satisfying to start a project with just a idea in our heads, draw up a few plans, select the hard goods and watch it all come together on reveal day.  The majority of our work is custom and comes from our many sources. Our list of sources has taken us years to accumulate.  We’ve gone through alot..some have stayed with us since the beginning, like our favorite seamstress, and some we’ve just gotten to know better.

The age of the internet has allowed people access to information in seconds.  It is a great thing..It helps us tremendously. We don’t have to take multiple trips to the dark long halls of the merchandise mart….all our fabric companies have their inventory on line. It’s wonderful.  Many of our clients also take advantage of the vast information and use it to find the best prices available.  Budget is always a top priority with us.  And in this age of the internet it’s a great tool.  But the one thing you cannot get from on-line companies is SERVICE.

In the past week we have had 2 problems with jobs.  We often say, with custom jobs there is always the chance of something not going just right.  It’s not like you go to the store pick something up and take it back if you don’t like it… With custom it needs to be perfect, you picked it, agreed to it, it’s yours. So it needs to be right, right? So this past week we installed some woven wood blinds in a home in Lincoln Park…They were beautiful but there was a flaw in one of 12 shades…The flaw was not huge and woven woods are a natural product so you have to expect some flaws…but this one was bordering on not up to our tolerances.  So, we made a phone call, and the new shade is on it’s way.  It was that easy…no boxing up, no struggling to get  the extra long box into the car and eventually to the UPS store, just a phone call and a new one is on it’s way.

The other problem was a bit more difficult…we had a beautiful stand alone tub going into our  beautiful new bathroom. Long story short it had a chip in it.  No problem, the company sent out a repair guy to fix the chip…uh-oh…the chip is in a spot that can’t be hidden 100% with the repair.  The repair guy also wouldn’t commit to the chip being a manufacturers defect…uh oh again…At one point the client was talking about getting this tub from a warehouse-direct site on-line.  Can you imagine trying to box up a defective tub, getting it into the car and getting it to the UPS store 🙂  But seriously, we have a new tub on the way, the local supplier returned the tub, with the chip, and is sending us a new one.  We call that great service…They will be using the tub as a display in their showroom.  Thank God for our good relationships and small local businesses that put service ON TOP.

Yesterday we were out and about finalizing  a bathroom project we have been working on since the end of October…Let’s just say in the morning it was a little treacherous..We feel for this driver…but are still perplexed as to how he could get that incredibly large vehicle up onto the drift in the middle of a median. It created quite a scene……but not nearly the scene our bathroom project is going to create….:-)

We are so excited…not only because the thaw is coming and we won’t have to worry about driving our cars into/onto snow banks…but also we are nearing the end of this project.  We can’t show you the afters just yet…but to keep you on pins and needles…here are the befores.

Today is Valentine’s Day…It seems we don’t really celebrate this holiday anymore.  Our kids are older so we are done decorating shoe boxes to be stuffed with nerds, m and m’s,  and conversation hearts . Our marriages are, dare we say, older too…so we don’t have reservations at the newest restaurant in the city….we may go out, but it will be a last minute thing.  It’s not that we don’t feel the love, it’s just that we are comfortable now.  When we reflect on that, we cannot help but think of our own parents and their love for each other.

Our parents truly loved each other.  They worked together to give us what they thought we needed. We had a joyous home.  Our mom would work hard to keep us on task and we would all wait patiently for our dad to return from a day at the office.  Our mom mostly was a stay at home mom…but she liked to help out. Every so often she would go with a group of her best girlfriends and waitress for banquets.  She said it was for extra money, but now being moms ourselves, we realize she was probably doing it for the escape.  She always made sure that she had dinner ready, so our dad wouldn’t have to worry about feeding us.  Our mom is amazing, but a cook she is not….She has gotten better, but as kids, oh man we had some bad meals.  Our dad knew that our mom labored to make sure we would be fed and yet he knew we were in for disappointment. It’s been years since we were kids but we still remember the nights when our mom would work.  Our dad would look at the food that our mother had left us, give it a sniff, turn up his nose, and say “Let’s go out” The best part of this story is he had it be our little secret. He wanted to please all the girls in his house.  He couldn’t bear to disappoint any of us. He would have us help him throw away the dinner that our mom so lovingly prepared, not just anywhere, we had to hide it.  He loved her so much that he didn’t want to tell her that some of her concoctions were just shy of inedible.  He just praised her and loved her.  Happy Valentine’s Day. Isn’t it crazy the way you can feel loved.

We’d love to hear your story of how you feel loved in the smallest of ways.

It’s the time of year, at least in our town, the Girls Choice dance, Sadie Hawkins, Turn-about, whatever you want to call it.  We have a client who is gracious enough to open her home and throw the after-party at her house.  Come to think of it, I think everyone is coming for pictures too. You’d think, what’s the big deal have a group of 15 year olds in your basement, toss out some pizzas and 2 liter pops and call it a day.  Really could you do that?  I know I have been known to rush out to Homegoods to find some new pillows or something to spruce things up when a group is on their way over. …true confession….I even went and got new pillows in the basement when the boys dodgeball team was coming over. I’m pretty sure they didn’t notice, but I felt better and the old ones were in dire need of replacing.

Our clients basement was semi-finished but really not a usable, enjoyable space.  In fact her family was bugging her to make a move to improve the space enough so they could enjoy it.  That’s where we came in.  Obviously it’s a basement so we didn’t need to break the bank. We pride ourselves on being able to find a great mix of retail price finds along with treasures from discounters.  The couch is an important piece and needs to stand up to those kids and their friends so we got a durable sectional from West Elm.  We love West Elm…!

The floor was grey painted concrete…a fine surface but not warm and inviting so we used our flooring source and got a laminate “wood” to cozy up the place.  Oh my it made such a Huge difference.

Next we needed some accessories to compliment…so off to Homegoods. We LOVE Homegoods for finding inspiration and great deals.  We found the FAbuloUS rug…and the pillows and throw….

we used our favorite source for a floor lamp because the cans didn’t provide enough light…

Just a few things left…IKEA has great storage units and we needed something for the TV. No way were we expecting to find the most perfect piece…(as of this post…the client had not put together the piece….but here is a door of the cabinet sitting on the couch)  We even amazed ourselves at how great the color is. We could have gone with a grey but eventually decided the yellow was too fun to pass up.

The most exciting find of all………….our mid-century pull-up chair in white leather.  $100 at the antique store.  See, nothing needs to cost a fortune. We love to re-purpose.

Now we just needed to hide the utility room from the rec room, so we got a panel track shade to obscure the view.

We love how this room turned out.  I’m pretty sure our client may even get a few compliments from the 15 year-olds.  We’ll let you know.

Growing up our mother would often say “Are you going out like that?”  We’d roll our eyes, she’d see our frustration, and quickly add, “you need a little lipstick and put on some earrings while you’re at it” Just to be clear the lipstick comment wasn’t until we were in college. We certainly don’t want you envisioning us at a tender age with bright red lips. Her suggestions have stuck with us, and as we glance at ourselves before we leave in the morning, we hear her voice in our heads. Sometimes, like a twenty-something we ignore the voice and sometimes we find ourselves back in front of the mirror putting on something to enhance our look.

So in honor of our mother, we show you our project for today.

A lovely look but it certainly could use some enhancing.

That’s better, but “are you going out like that?”

Looking good, but put on some lipstick and earrings while you’re at it!

Such a fun project…a built in banquette, in a great home in Lincoln Park. Moms always know best!

For those of you who know us well, you know we love games and as an extension we love quizzes.  When we were young we would pore over Seventeen magazine to find out what our personality was or style of dress..As we aged we moved up to Cosmopolitan. We’d force our spouses to take the quizzes to find out just how compatible we were. They LOVED that. We say dripping with sarcasm. So on this cold day, click on the link below and find out your style.  It helps to know what makes you happy. Let us know what you get.  One of us got sassy with a touch of boho and the other got classic with a touch of farmhouse glam.  Can you guess who’s who? And in case you were curious somehow those Cosmo quizzes always had us living happily ever after.

http://www.homegoods.com/stylescope/