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Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts

Hollywood regency inspiration

Friday, September 25, 2015


At the end of a long day, sitting down to read a good book or when chatting with friends, a comfortable chair beckons you. When looking over the choices from Chairish, an on-line shoppe dedicated to bringing you great designer pieces of pre-owned furniture and decor at reasonable prices, I chose the Hollywood Regency swivel chair as my favorite to create a style board around. Not only is the shape and style a classic but the color is also one of my favorites.


I didn't  have to look too far for color inspiration as some of the best color combinations are just right out our windows. Mother Nature makes this so easy on us. Even Vincent Van Gogh was inspired by her work.




image via

A simple breakdown:

While Hollywood Regency is associated with the glamorous era of the 1930s, I added a few pieces from other eras so the room wouldn't be so literal and I assumed that most of us aren't going to switch out a sofa very often so we have to work with what we have, which seems to be a sofa with clean, modern lines. 

The particular style of floor lamp tends to be seen often. I have a similar one as well! You could even spray paint the underside of the shade gold and the outside black to bring it in to the style era. And while many rooms of this type have white walls or saturated grays, moody black or wallpaper, I took a cue from Van Gogh and went with blue, Van Deusen blue to be exact. I think even a deeper shade would be just as spectacular.

The absence of artwork - Artwork is so personal. I range from displaying my kids' drawings, old photographs enlarged and vintage or thrift store finds. It's a mash up of just what I like with no real semblance of order or that fits into a specific genre so I left it out of this style board. I think whatever one has will work. Ultimately you have to enjoy looking at it everyday so it must be something that speaks to you. 

Some of these items are on the high end but can easily be duplicated to fit all budgets. I recently found a Hollywood Regency dresser at a thrift shop for mere dollars. But if you don't happen to find one from the era, painting an existing dresser black and switching out the hardware can give you what you may be looking for. 

Draperies can be expensive so I like to stick with something basic. I think it's great when curtains run in the same color as the wall so there's no stopping point for the eyes but again for me it's usually what is affordable. White curtains in black trim would be great here even though the walls are blue. This era was all about luxe, think velvet and silk. Accents in gold, black and white lacquer will finish off the room.

Hollywood regency was all about entertaining, so any space which is made to be inviting, while focusing on friends and family will give you great moments. Enjoy!

Go here to find Chairish's vintage accent chair collection!


hollywood


Glass chandelier
kathykuohome.com


Orb lighting
kathykuohome.com


Floor lamp
overstock.com


Modern rug
allmodern.com



Blue accent pillow
macys.com


Beaded accent pillow
chairish.com


Striped throw pillow
chairish.com


Black buffet
onekingslane.com


Round table
kathykuohome.com


Octagon table
mackenzie-childs.com


White side table
kathykuohome.com




**Not a sponsored post

Sometimes you can go home again

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Last week I flew home to Washington and Oregon. Even though I grew up on the WA side of the river, those of us from that area consider both states home. We go back and forth to Portland almost everyday for work and play. It's literally 15 minutes from my home to Oregon. The whole weekend I was wondering why I hadn't made time to come back. But the reality is that it's not always feasible when you live clear across the US. Time, money, work commitments...

Jon and I married and left for California immediately when he was in the military and we never looked back, really. We've been on our own ever since, dotting the US with moves. I think for a few years we thought we would end up back home but with every passing year, that seemed further out of reach. This trip was 7 years after the last.

But going home was fantastic. It was my high school reunion and the time I was able to see my two brothers and their families. My school was small. I think there were only 134 that graduated in my class and most of them I have known since Kindergarten. We have a lot of pride about that. We're all intertwined in some way. A lot of our fathers worked together at the mill, our older or younger siblings went to school with our friends' siblings, we had cousins in different grades, you get the idea.

So when you get together, it's not just with friends who are more like acquaintances, it's with people who know the real you. It's with the people you had birthday parties with in 1st grade, it's with people that came to your house to watch the world premiere of MJ's Beat It video, it's your tennis partner for 4 years who was also your driver's ed partner, it's your best friend Richard who passed notes to you in 6th grade and who, 12 years later, was there putting your heart back together after a break-up.

I always felt pretty lucky to grow up where I did and with whom I did. And after a weekend of laughing until I cried and dancing until 2 am with old friends, and then looking out onto the beautiful vistas of the northwest, it just reconfirmed what I had always known.

My excitement always builds when I see this volcano!

My brothers and families at Cannon beach (3 of the kids are not pictured)



And random phone photos. I kept forgetting to take pictures...






The reason why I still, to this day, have never had a McDonald's hamburger.


And sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you used to live

Thursday, July 30, 2015

I'm off to my hometown this weekend to enjoy seeing old friends at my high school reunion. I can't wait to reconnect with them, visit my brothers and their families, visit my parents' gravesite, eat real seafood, hit the coast and remember what it was like to not have frizzy hair (from humidity!) It's a jam packed weekend but will be so nice to be back in the PNW. I haven't been back for 7 years. I'll return next week with pictures, a little DIY and thrifty finds from this week.
 Have a great weekend!


Via

View from Clark County, WA where I grew up. That volcano in the distance is Mt. Hood.
 
Via

View from the building where I worked in downtown Portland. The red brick area is Pioneer Courthouse Square, aka Portland's living room. I spent many a lunch break sitting out there with a hundred other people.
Via

Cannon Beach - one of our favorites! I'll be heading there with my brothers. I got stuck out on one of those rocks once when the tide came in. My friend, who is picking me up Friday night for one of our reunion parties, took a picture of me all helpless. Thanks.