DesignHER Gives Vivid Hue a 'Nod'

When I was in middle school, there was a talented and artistic "upperclassman" (eight grader) whom I admired from afar.  Everything she touched with her paint brush turned into a beautiful masterpiece.  Her work had meaning and substance.  I silently kept notes on how she operated and I observed how she performed her craft.   She seemed out of my league and I was pretty sure I was non-existent in her world.  Mid-year, our school held an art show.  I looked for opportunities to be involved with anything having to do with art and so I volunteered to help hang the wall gallery, including some of her work.  During the show,  she approached me and inquired if I'd had involvement in setting up the display.  I nervously nodded yes.  "I love how you set up the gallery," she said.

In my mind, it was the equivalent of winning an academy award.  Ok, maybe that's overly dramatic.  But my point is, I was so thrilled to have that praise from someone I admired so much that I was filled with dancing butterflies inside my tummy.   Really, I was thinking, "Wow, that's pretty neat."

Yesterday I had a similar moment of "wow, that's pretty neat" when I learned that Julianne Taylor (Creative Director + Founder of Taylor Burke Home) gave lil' ole Vivid Hue Home a mention in her DesignHer book that she released earlier this year.

Photo Courtesy of DesignHER and Taylor Burke Home

Julianne is a sweet Southern gal from South Carolina who spent almost a decade living abroad and further enriching her interior design knowledge.  This experience inspired her to establish Taylor Burke Home,  a modern and luxury furniture brand company.  During my years as "just a home decor blogger," I kept tabs on the Taylor Burke brand through social media.  When I opened the Vivid Hue Home retail shop, I knew immediately I wanted to bring Taylor Burke Home to my area of Connecticut.

Photo Courtesy of DesignHER and Taylor Burke Home

We launched the shop in 2015 with Taylor Burke Home's Dallas Sofa along with their fabulous Beaufort Bamboo Chair upholstered in Cotton + Quill's Midnight Koi custom fabric).

Photo Courtesy of Vivid Hue Home

Earlier this year, Julianne released a truly inspiring design book called DesignHER which highlights 35 female entrepreneurs that are shaping today's home decor industry.  Each have launched their own businesses and pursued their true passions in design and are making quite a statement in the design arena.  The book celebrates many of the designers that we offer in our shop and have become friends with including Roxy's Society Social  and Mary Catherine's Cotton + Quill. and Meg's Meg Braff Designs.  

As a side story, ya'll know that I have long been a fan of Meg Braff and her incredible wallpaper designs.  I have used her Up In a Tree in my mudroom,  her Roxy in Navy in my daughter's room and her Vintage Trellis in the Vivid Hue Home shop.

So where do I fit in?  Well I don't want to steal the spotlight from these talented ladies, but I do want to share my butterflies-in-my-tummy- that's so cool moment.

Yesterday one of my fabulous clients (S.C) brought to my attention that our shop gets a mention in Julianne Taylor's DesignHER book under Meg Braff's feature!

Photo Courtesy of Sheila Casey

"I can recall seeing Meg Braff published in every magazine under the sun for as long as I can remember.  Then the gorgeous green trellis wallpaper installed in the Farmington, Connecticut retail store, Vivid Hue Home, alerted me to the extent of her talents.  A beautiful photo of our Kings Grant Chairs in ebony with zebra print cowhide placed in front of Braff's wallpaper was Instagrammed across the universe.  It has me gasping."  

-  Julianne Taylor, Taylor Burke Home

Here is the photo that Julianne was referencing: 

Photo Courtesy of Vivid Hue Home

There is a funny backstory about the Meg Braff install in the shop.  Our cottage is an historical building and the land lord made it expressly clear that I needed to maintain the integrity of the shop in the same state as how I inherited it.  The trouble was, the walls were a non-historical knotty pine and there was no easy way I could envision selling my colorful products within their confines.  I had to get creative with hanging the paper.  Here's the rest of the story about the evolution of the Meg Braff wallpaper here. 

Here are more shots of Meg Braff's wallpaper in the Vivid Hue Home shop.  

Thank you, Julianne, for your sweet nod to Vivid Hue Home in your book.  Though I know the props really go towards Meg Braff for her brilliant designs, I am thrilled to have the mention.  In my mind, "it's pretty neat."  So thank you.

And for those of you that would like to delve into the DesignHER book in more detail, of course I am carrying it in my shop.  You can also purchase on Amazon or directly from Taylor Burke Home.  

xoxoxo

Heather

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Wallpaper on Ceilings and in the Modern Home

In February 2012, I wrote a post entitled The Sky's The Limit: Painted Ceilings where I discussed the benefits of painting the ceiling in a room.   I'm amazed at the number of people that are interested in painted ceilings.  It continues to be my most viewed entry even four years later.

I have fully embraced the concept of painted ceilings in my own home to provide additional visual effect in a room.  Depending upon the color used, it can soften the appearance or elongate the room.   For example, here is my sunroom with Benjamin Moore Spectra Blue 2049-50 Walls and Arctic Blue 2050-60 Ceiling.

Today, I wanted to discuss using wallpaper in a room to create visual effect and character.  Wallpaper often gets a bad rap.  Many envision the hard-to-remove paper from their grandmother's era.  (Think large florals and Golden Girls).  For that reason, it lost popularity for awhile but has recently undergone a resurgence.   As you know by now, I'm a bit more daring than many people and I actually love to wallpaper the ceilings of my house.

For example, when I decided to renovate my guest bedroom room, I wanted to use elements that were unexpected.  I decided to add wallpaper to the bedroom ceiling using Meg Braff's Roxy wallpaper.  I had selected an over the top urchin sputnik chandelier for the room (which would have stood on it's own) but I wanted something to push it over the top.  I loved the idea of dark navy walls (Sherwin William's SW6510 Loyal Blue) complimented by a patterned ceiling.

My daughter has now taken over this room for her own and between the Turquoise Urchin Sputnik Chandelier and the Meg Braff Paper, it's a wonder she is able to fall asleep in this room (giggle).  But I purposely went solid on the walls so that the ceiling could have a splash of fun.  No, this isn't for everyone, but this is a perfect example of how a wallpaper ceiling can add texture and fun to a room.

I decided to go a bit more subdued in my son's bedroom  .  I wanted to give the ceiling an appearance of wooden planks.   The Thibaut Rodanthe Wallpaper fit the bill perfectly.  

On the support walls, I used a custom vintage wallpaper with the global design from   Design Your Wall called Sea Explorer.

 

Sometimes, people get caught up in design rules and are uncomfortable taking a plunge in the decor.  I'll admit, wallpapering the walls AND ceiling in a room can be a bit much.  And, though, it's not visible in these photos, I ended up only covering two of the non-ceiling walls and painting the other two a neutral color just to the eye could catch a break from all of the patterns.

For my upstairs bedrooms, I decided to take more daring liberties in the decorating.  However
in a more formal room, like the dining room, it's important to support the mood and purpose of the room.  For example, wallpaper is still acceptable, but must be utilized in a more classic form.  For example a grass cloth is a tasteful way to cover a wall, add character and still maintain the rooms formality.  This is Phillip Jeffries Grass Cloth.

In a transitional space such as a mudroom, there are no rules that say the room must be boring or  neutral.  Why not be greeted with a splash of fun color upon entering the house?  No surprise, I went with a Kelly Green chinoiserie pattern by Meg Braff in the mudroom entry off our garage.  It's bright and cheery and, what I love most, unexpected!  Again, not for everyone, but I like to reiterate that it's ok to be daring and push the limits a bit.  

Additionally, wallpaper does not have to be permanent.  There are creative ways to create the effect of wallpaper in a room without using paste and permanent paper.  For example, this is a vestibule in our upstairs hallway and it's simply a strip of striped fabric that I nailed to the wall and trimmed with grosgrain ribbon.  

The kids have a shared bathroom and I used removable wallpaper strips to create a bit of dimension to the room.   The walls are painted a neutral beige and I added red stripes that have self-adhesive backing.  They can easily be removed when we want to change out the look of the room.

I'm such a fan of wallpaper, that I used it in the Vivid Hue Home store as well.  I wanted something that felt like retro Palm Beach.  Golden Girls meets Connecticut, in a good way!  Meg Braff designed a vintage trellis paper in kelly green (my favorite) and, voila!   

Where do you stand in the use of wallpaper?  Are you reluctant to plaster it to your walls for fear of the amount of effort it will take to remove?  Or do you embrace the use of wallpaper in moderation?  Have you used wallpaper on the ceiling in your room?

Cheers,
Heather

Masculine but not childish...what's YOUR choice?

I started a poll on Instagram and decided I'd ask for feedback here too. 

I'm making over my 7 year old son's bedroom and asked followers to vote for their favorite choice of fabric for roman shades.  I want something masculine without being too "kiddy."

I'm wallpapering the ceiling in the tree house bark Thibaut Rodanthe in Grey (Pattern T10071).
Two of the main walls will be in the Vintage Global Map wallpaper from Design Your Wall. 

The fabric selections above are choices for the roman shades and they will be against the global map wallpaper. 

I have since made my decision but I'm curious to see what you'd select:

Choice #1 adds color and ties in the countries from the map paper. 
Choice #2 is a linen fabric that ties in the beige and pewter accents in both papers.
Choice #3 is a more bold fabric but also ties in the browns and grays in the room. 

What would you select? 

Mudroom Gets Groovy

 The mudroom is ready for the Meg Braff Up In A Tree Bamboo Green install!  (If you missed it, I decided to put this wallpaper in my mudroom...read more here).  

The install is happening TODAY!

 

How did this all go down?  Ya'll know I had to have this paper *somewhere* in my house!  Literally about a month ago, I was walking around my house with the sample swatch desperately trying to find it's home.  That's when it happened.  That light bulb moment.  I recalled Annie Selke's  garage painted in brightly colored vertical stripes (see here).  This transcended into her mudroom.  She was quoted saying "Why live like a cave dweller?" 



Annie Selke's Garage Makeover Courtesy House Beautiful

Suddenly, it all made sense!  Now granted, I'm not painting vertical stripes in my garage/mudroom.  But it's the same concept.  Why can't a transitional, usually functional space have pizazz and spunk!? 

Introducing, the before photos of my mudroom.  It will never be the same again.  (Thank Goodness)

And Annie, honey, thank you for the inspiration that I've held onto for years!  I have finally put it to good use!!!

 

 

 

So now it should all make sense...here's that mudroom door I wanted to paint in a high gloss...The choices were a) turquoise, b) tangerine, c) yellow, d) black lacquer e) other...

 I decided to go the turquoise route for starters. I am starting with Benjamin Moore Tropicana Cabana 2048-50 first. I've done the first coat. Will let it sit overnight and see how it looks once the paper is installed tomorrow. If it's not bold enough I also bought the next darker turquoise, Ben Moore Poolside Blue 2048-40. If I'm not in love with that, then I'll do the black lacquer!


 

Look for "after" photos of the mudroom later this week!

xoxoxo
Heather

Dining Room Wallpaper

I have exciting news to share!   The wallpaper for my dining room arrived and was installed this week.  You may recall from my last dining room house tour that I was considering the Moroccan tile Phillip Jeffries grasscloth paper.  (Read more here).    I think it adds so much character and depth to the room. 

 

 

  Here are some before and after photos. 

 

 

Before | Entire Room : 

After | Entire Room:

 

 

Before | View to Foyer:

 

After| View to Foyer:

 

Before | Side Room View:

 
After| Side Room View:

 
Additional After Views: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out my original dining room post for more sources and photos.  Here are a few of those photos: 

 

 

 

 

I still need to add artwork but I am thrilled with the results. It's just the extra oomph I was wanting for this room. Of course, this has sparked my wallpaper enthusiasm and I am now eagerly pursuing the Meg Braff! (Only I have changed the focus from the guest bedroom to the Sunroom to now a completely different *secret* location in the house. More on that soon).