How To Paint a Refrigerator

Seriously. You can, and Caroline has directions and pictures to prove it! Check it out...

A client had a little refrigerator with the pretty standard, ugly wood grain paneled front. Not something that you would particularly like to showcase... I didn't take "before" pictures - but I think you can envision what I'm talking about.

Here is the finished product:


Want to know how to do this? Here you go...

Materials:
1 Quart of Stix primer
1 Quart of Benjamin Moore Ocean Deep
1 Custom spray can of Ocean Deep
Stencil
Acrylic paint
Acrylic sealer

Directions:
1. Clean the fridge and apply one coat of Stix.

2. Lightly sand all surfaces to be painted.

3. Begin to spray on color.
[Since this was not over-the-counter spray paint, each coat has to be sprayed very lightly and horizontally on each side. It will run if you try to spray it on a vertical surface. The number of coats required will depend on the paint color you choose and how dark the surface is.]

4. When paint job is completely dry, paint on an acrylic stencil of your choice.

The stencil and colors were chosen based on inspiration from this Mucha print.


I have an old Arts & Crafts Stencil book from 1925 where I found the perfect stencil. I blew it up on our copier and cut it. The actual image on the front of the fridge is four panels, and the vines in the middle are four "branches." The color of the stenciled image is just a mix of red, cream, and gray acrylic paint that I mixed to the desired shade.


A nice little face lift for a "dorm room" refrigerator. Perfect for chilled beverages and snacks in an office or craft room!

**Thanks to Meaghan at Strunk Ace Hardware who told me everything I would need to paint the refrigerator.

Blogging, Business & Bites

While at AmericasMart, I decided to give my tired feet a rest and attended "Blogging, Business & Bites" panel discussion featuring four prominent design bloggers and moderated by University of West Georgia professor Barry Leach. So I'd like to introduce you to them and to their blogs, if you don't already follow them.


Jennifer Boles was born and raised in Atlanta. After 10 spent in the business sector, Jennifer decided to pursue her passion for interior design and the decorative arts. Her website focuses on design trends, historical homes, history of design, and all things design related. Recently named "blogosphere darling" by Departures magazine, Jennifer has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, Town & Country, Elle Decor, and Array. In 2007 Jennifer became a contributing editor to House Beautiful, and she recently completed her first book, House Beautiful Fabrics for Your Home.


Brian Patrick Flynn is a television producer turned self-taught decorator/designer. The moniker "Decor Demon" comes from Brian's fast-paced weekend routine of furiously raiding garage sales and flea markets for one-of-a-kind pieces with which he creates edgy-meets-elegant spaces. In addition to being as an associate producer, Brian is also the set decorator and on-air design talent for the TBS series, Movie & A Makeover.


Barry Leach followed his true passion--interior design--following a successful career as an advertising creative director. Some may know him better as "Blue," the scholarly voice of the sometimes contrarian but always considered design history blog The Blue Remembered Hills.


Niki Papadopoulos is an interior designer based in Atlanta with a degree in fine arts. She works on a variety of projects from residential and commercial spaces to educational buildings. Niki and her work with Mark Williams Design Associates has been featured in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Top 10 Under 40 for 2010 (along with Mr. Flynn).


Claire Watkins is an Atlanta based interior designer. After interning with Lee Brian Interior Design and Ivan Allen Workspace, both in Atlanta, Claire began her design career at a high-end textile company, Ulster Textile Mills. Following her stint there, she spent 3 years working on commercial photoshoots as a food, prop, and fashion stylist. Since beginning Claire Watkins Interior Design in may 2009, Claire's interiors have been shown n HGTV.com and she has been quoted in Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles magazine.

Enjoy! We'd like to hear what you think of their blogs...

Atlanta Market Report

Last week I was in Atlanta to visit AmericasMart. It had been a few years since I've been to market, but once I entered the building, it all came back to me: SHOP TIL YOU DROP! Woo hoo!

I had spent quite a bit of time setting up appointments and listing all the showrooms that I wanted to visit so I didn't end up wandering aimlessly for three days. My first stop was the Christian Mosso Showroom which features our two lines of bedding, Pine Cone Hill and Peacock Alley, and our Dash & Albert rugs. After two years of Pine Cone Hill and Dash & Albert discontinuing some of our most popular items, I was pleased to report to Jo that the new introductions are perfect for Style Key West.






I also found a showroom in the temporaries called Natural Habitat. Their super-soft quilt and pillows in bright prints will coordinate perfectly with our other bedding.



THE major trend I noticed is that vintage is hot. Practically every showroom featured vintage accessories, pillows and ottomans, lighting and more. I loved it, and although vintage lacks the color that Style Key West is known for, I think the comfort that vintage expresses does fit in with our style.








Practically every showroom featured some version of this:


...or this...


Those colorful jackets hide not literary classics, romantic poetry, or vintage children's books. Nope...just random Readers Digest condensed books and more of that ilk. I don't know about you, but I have enough real books that I treasure to bother with filling my shelves with faux books. And the postcards tied with twine? Seriously? It's all I can do to keep important papers from swallowing my dining table without tossing around little packets of paper for effect.

I did wander up to the 20th floor where the holiday decor is. You can take the girl out of Key West, but...






What fun!

And my favorite item...in the "things that make you go hmmm" category is this chair.



I think it speaks for itself.

It was a great time, I found lots of inspiration at every turn, and I'm so grateful to Jo and Terry for giving me the opportunity.

Smells Like Team Spirit

I've been working out at Stay Fit Studio ever since I moved to Key West two years ago, and this year the gym sponsored the first ever Key West Triathlon. Several of my friends trained faithfully for months and completed the full Olympic length triathlon: 1 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 10K run. This is not their story.

Meet The Team:


Mary and I had been planning to compete all along; we even went to some training sessions: open water swims, long bike rides, but as the training threatened to interfere with our social calendars, we decided that we would find a third and be part of a TEAM! Yes, that's it! We couldn't manage the rigorous training to compete individually, but with the pressure of being part of a team, we would surely press through with whatever training our schedules permitted. We couldn't, we wouldn't let the team down.

We did find a third. However, three weeks away from the event we discovered his devotion to "The Team" was even weaker than our devotion to training. I begged my significant other, John, to please, please, please fill in for this slacking ne'er do well who let the team down. John had been on swimming teams through high school, and his level of commitment in all things matched our team philosophy completely. He agreed and a new team was born.

So on the morning of December 5, 2010, the very last person to jump in the water was John:


Biker, Mary's team affiliation was in question...are we team 619 or 617?


And finally, the senior member of the team crossed the finish line....I know, it looks like I'm walking, but if you look closer, neither of my feet are touching the ground...pretty cool!


We had a blast, didn't make too bad of a showing at all, and we've vowed to do it again next year. We might actually train!

And Now - Caroline's Favorites...

[Continued from last week's post with Jo's favorite designers featured in Elle Decor's "top 25" for 2010.]

For the most part, I agree with Jo's favorites from the Elle Decor list of designers. I think most people prefer their surroundings to be comfy and and inviting. It's one thing to look at photos of a "perfect" room, but you have to be able to imagine actually living in the space.

This photo of a Victoria Hagan interior caught my eye when I saw it in Elle Decor. I think it's a dramatic take on basic blue and white, and I just love it.


My coffee table would never stay that uncluttered, but a girl can dream.

This photo of a Madeline Stuart interior is my favorite. First of all, I love that it's a barn...I've always been a fan of adaptive re-use. Secondly, her mix of rustic and contemporary harmonizes with the architecture perfectly.


I could totally see myself living there, and I just wish we could see the rest of the house.

Well, I guess I'm drawn to "fanciful wild child inteiors" after all. This room of Kelly Wearstler's has a lot of personality...it makes me want to get to know the person who lives there.


I love that the room is fun and looks uncontrived, and I love that smoky blue wall color. It's a far more interesting backdrop for the colorful furniture that a typical neutral.

And finally, I love this bathroom of Marie Turner's.


What a cool space! I'd be late for work every morning because I couldn't bear to leave the bathroom.

So those are my favorites.

We'll have ONE MORE post about this Elle Decor list later in the week, but it won't be about the designs...it will be about the language used to describe them. Until then!




*Unless otherwise specified in the original posts, all images procured directly from the designers' websites.

Not So Mellow Yellow

I moved into my apartment late last summer, and my landlord painted the bedroom, living room, and bathroom the colors I requested before I moved in. I wanted to wait on the kitchen to see what color it "wanted" to be. The cabinets are white, and my counter top and back splash are white ceramic tiles with a few blue denim tiles scattered randomly. My mother's kitchen was always yellow, so I decided my kitchen wanted to be yellow too.

I love yellow...whenever I answer one of those chain emails that tells you what color you are, I'm always yellow. Sunflowers, lemons, cute little baby chicks - how can yellow be wrong? So I'm thinking...


and this is how yellow can go wrong...


Yep, that's my mom's kitchen, circa 1970, minus the weird pattern on the soffitt and ceiling. I've reached age where retro doesn't necessarily appeal to me; it serves as a shocking reminder of how many fads I've lived through that are suddenly hip again.


This one isn't so bad, but factoring in the blazing Key West sunlight that bathes my kitchen every afternoon, it's safe to say I'd be ordering more takeout than my budget allows.

So, off to the Internet for inspiration of yellow palettes that evoke the sunny warmth of yellow that I love without making my eyeballs ache. Something between a baby chick and Big Bird.

Yellow was last year's Pantone Color of the Year, so how does it look paired with this year's darling, Turquoise?


Not very inspiring


Not very uplifting


On the right track


That's more like it. It's a bridal palette, but I can work with that.





These combinations are much quieter than I had envisioned, but very beautiful. Uplifting without making me feel like I'm walking into a pep rally every time I enter the kitchen.

Then I thought about sunflowers. There are so many beautiful and exotic flowers in Key West, yet I find myself missing the sunflower.


So I went in search of bolder palettes and found...





So somewhere between the sublime and the ridiculous, between quiet sophistication and retina-searing garishness my little kitchen will decide what it wants to be. Is there a room in your home that suffers from color schizophrenia?