So Sylvie

San Francisco Interior Redo : Part 2, The Living Room

This is a San Francisco Family home interior design job that I did (Part 1 here).

Before & After shots; click on the photos for enlargements.

 

Corner of living room with TV, toys, wreath, & pink walls:

  

 

Same corner with bookcase and a reading wingback:

 

 

 

Living Room Mantle Before:

 

Mantle After:

 

 

 

 

 

Living Room Bay Windows Before:

 

 

 

 

Bay Windows After:

 

 

Sofa Wall Before (note black exercise machine on right). Button-back sofa reupholstery quote was prohibitively high. You'll see the solution below:

Sofa Wall After:

 

Clients needed living room to double as guest a space, the sofa converts to a full bed:

 

Asian details. I seperated the panels of an antique silk screen ($20) for more interest, the green wall frames each panel:

 

 

Took readymade curtains ($25/pair) and added a custom border to the hem; painted a $5 ginger jar ceramic lamp a bold peacock blue, shows off the lines against the green walls:

 

Part 3 HERE

Marcello

Listening to his guitar teacher:

 

 

Hot days in Roma:

 

Curry on a hot day in Trastevere:

 

At the Villa:

 

 

Best friend:

 

 

 

Harvesting:

 

Peace:

 

 

From his garden:

 

With Italian cowboys:

 

 

 

San Francisco Interior : Former Punk Rockers' Family Flat

Okay. This is a draft of a post from October 24, 2010. I never completed it as you'll see. I have a weird block about follow-through once I've completed an interior design job, I never get around to posting the documentation. I'm too much like a locmotive, moving forward, on to the next job, not looking back. But I had an incredibly lovely long chat with my dear friend Scott this morning -- a fellow blogger and designer whom I've communicated with by email for years and exchanged gifts by mail, but had never ever heard his voice until this morning! -- and he urged me to post some of my work. So I'll begin by sharing this snippet of a post.

 

Here is a Victorian flat in San Francisco that I designed, on an incredibly low budget I might add. The home is a rental and the job had a lot of constraints. The landlord would not allow me do any of the following: tear up the sad 1980s dusty rose wall-to-wall carpeting to reveal the hardwood floors, paint the somber fireplace bricks, or to paint the cheesy 1980s oak kitchen cupboards. I really was dreaming of working with the original Victorian architecture and returning the place to its former glory. I'm pleased with the changes within the limitations. Click on any of the photos for a larger view.

Living room before:

Besides the dusty rose carpeting you can see that the living room walls were a whisper of pink. Might have been nice for a little girl's room in the 80s, but not for grown-up sophisticated San Francisco living. Which reminds me, "Those toys gotta go." The country hutch in the corner, sold on craig's List, had no place in this scheme. We kept the client's lovely wing back chairs but couldn't work with the period sofa. It needed reupholstering and with the button-back the cost was prohibitive.

The walls were painted in what we came to call "The Queen's Green", as both the client and I were in love with the color of the queen mum's room at Balmoral Castle.

 

 Continued HERE

Ugly Beauty: The John Lurie Effect

I was watching Down By Law the other night, for the umpteenth time, and I thought of something while looking at John Lurie (Jack in the film). He walks a line between being ugly and totally beautiful.

 

 

It occurred to me that this dynamic, this dual perception, happens frequently when I'm browsing at a thrift shop, "Is this really ugly or is it unbelievably beautiful?" I've learned that when this question pops into my head to not deny it: buy it! If I hesitate and don't buy it, it's the kind of item that will haunt me later. 

Exhibit A, a pair of big ass lamps:

 

 They are made out of plaster that's been re-painted bright algae green. They have a combined weight that's greater than my own:

 

Red cords from Goodwill in Petaluma, little bolero sweater from Salvation Army in Santa Cruz. 

 

The best part, the total cost of the lamps -- $10

(found at the Eureka Rescue Mission thrift shop)

Woohoo! I may get some different shades for them. This was just a trial run to see how I felt about them.

(Note: I realize that I need to get my warehouse/warehome organized.)

And the verdict is...I still think they're both ugly and beautiful. From now on I will call this the John Lurie Effect. I think I'll go play the piano now. Happy Valentine's Day!

P.S. My son Jesse shares the same birthday as John Lurie. For a period of time, between 2 and 3 years old, he asked me to play the video for Down By Law regularly. He was mesmerized by it.

 

Seven Year Blog Anniversary

Is it unreasonable to be celebrating my blog anniversary when I've been so terribly absent...and without any excuses?! Life is so much busier now than it was seven years ago. And not necessarily in a good way. How did I ever have time to post as much as I did 'in the old days'. I haven't been able to get my hands on an app for psychic-blog-composing, "Why doesn't this computer know what I'm thinking without me typing it?" It's like having two husbands. heh.

 

 

So here's my real excuse: I have been much more interested in doing creative things with my hands, thrifting, reading, hiking and visiting with live people. No offense to any of you 'virtual' people. I'd be happy to meet some time for tea!

 

 

 

Not to forget the barn conversion project I'm in the midst of. That is a big focus. I am documenting it well, taking photos, just not having the time to upload them! Maybe I just need to manage my time better. Oh here we go, blog as therapy. Thinking out loud to diagnose the error of my ways, "Aha! I've got it. Time management." Yeah right.

So I read that the seventh anniversary for weddings is symbolized with copper and wool. Did you know that........ "a copper pendant was found in northern Iraq that dates to 8700 BC" and "raising sheep for wool production was one of the earliest industries in the ancient world. By 3500 to 3000 BC sheep rearing was a major industry"? Boy do I feel lazy. Primitive people were making copper jewelry and wool clothes and I'm complaining, with all of the tools available today, that I can't get things done. Perspective is everything!

 

 

 Wish me luck with my new "time management" scheme. Maybe I should first buy a wristwatch. Ciao for now!