Special Touches
Hey guys! I'm back this week during the final leg of the One Room Challenge™. If you need to review or missed any of the blog posts, you can check them out here:
Week 1 - The Backstory
Week 2 - The Plan
Week 3 - The Foundation
Week 4 - The Foundation Part II
Week 5- Cancelled
I'm a firm believer that your home should, not only be functional and beautiful, but a reflection of the people who live there. I always look for ways to infuse little pieces of my clients into their projects. Since I'm now the client, the rules certainly don't change. When my assistant and I sat down during my "initial consult" for the project, I talked about ways I wanted to incorporate meaningful elements into the space. For starters, I knew art would play a role.
Unfortunately I don't have much wall space in my kitchen. so I needed to be strategic in adding it where possible. I'd stumbled upon Ray Hart last year while sourcing for a client project and fell in love with his very loose and abstract take on figurative art.
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| Dwell by Cheryl Interiors |
This piece called "On One Accord" was perfect in my client's master bedroom. I reached out to Ray asking if he'd be willing to sponsor a piece of art in my ORC project and he graciously agreed. I'd spotted this colorful piece months prior and it immediately reminded me of my mom and sisters.
It's called "Get Behind Us" and I love the colors almost as much as I love the resemblance to my family. I figured it would be a great addition to my entry nook and I knew just how to elevate it. If there's one thing I believe in, it's the power of a good framer. Mine is amazing! When it arrived, I took it straight to her and we settled on this frame.
The piece had a more modern feel to it, so I wanted to juxtapose that with something much more traditional and classic. This beefy somewhat ornate black and gold frame was EXACTLY what I had in mind.
I love it layered atop the graphic navy and white Milton & King wallpaper.
Next, there was NO way I was doing this project without adding a piece from my absolute favorite artist, Allison Ford (Hello Allison Art). I first reached out to Allison to collaborate with me on my Julian Price Showhouse project.
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| Dwell by Cheryl Interiors |
I'd found her on Instagram and adored here colorful abstract paintings. I also loved that she lived just down the interstate in Greenville, SC. We met for the first time while working on that project and have been collaborating ever since.
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| Dwell by Cheryl Interiors |
I approached her about creating something for the narrow space between my back door and larger window. I knew it would need to be a custom commission because the size of the piece would be dictated by the space available.
I'd already planned to add a light above her art to make it a little more special. This small Holly picture light was exactly what the space needed.
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| Mitzi Lighting |
We worked to come up with a size and a scheme and she got to working doing what she does best.
Once it was finished we needed to decide on the framing. A simple floater seemed to make the most sense. It was just a matter of which color.
White?
Black?
Turns out, it was actually neither. If I was going to embrace the honey oak...I needed to embrace the honey oak!
Love, Love, Love the final result. When evening falls and that little light comes on, I couldn't be happier.
Next up was official ORC sponsor Jill Rosenwald. I wasn't familiar with Jill's work prior to this year, but I AM NOW! Jill's business is a small team of potteristas, painters, and designers in Boston, Massachusetts. Like me, they are BIG champions of pattern and color! The studio makes all of the pottery by hand. Every piece of pottery is made to order—handcrafted on the pottery wheel then drawn and painted by skilled artisans. They use a creamy white earthenware that provides a smooth white canvas for their colorful patterns. Then, each piece is finished with a coat of glossy clear glaze and a luxurious 14k gold rim. Yes please!
After checking out her site and offerings, I had to decide which piece I wanted to incorporate into my kitchen. While scrolling her Instagram feed I spotted this beauty.
I reached out and Jill informed me that she had a similar style in stock in the same color and print that might work for me. She was right! It's just perfect!
Lastly, as the overall plan for my kitchen began to come together, I started to shift my focus to styling. Because I wanted the space to feel pretty personal, I didn't want to run out and by a bunch of new stuff. Of course, the option to do so (given Covid-19 closings) was pretty much off the table anyway.
After my maternal Grandma passed in 2002, I inherited her collection of colorful Fiestaware. I have a thing for dishes and to have the pieces that she loved so much makes my heart happy.
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| Country Living - May 2019 |
It was featured last year in Country Living Magazine. What a thrill!
With new open shelves coming in, I started to wonder if some of the colors would work in my new space.
Turns out, they did! The periwinkle, persimmon and cobalt worked great, adding yet another layer of history and meaning to a space that was really starting to become something special.
Stay tuned next week for the BIG reveal! You don't want to miss this. In the meantime, check out the final stretch for the other One Room Challenge Featured Designers linked below:
