Betsy Speert's Blog

Wallpaper, Wallpaper, Wallpaper.....

2018-02-24T12:24:00.000-05:00

I LOVE me some Wallpaper!!!!!

Hello!!!!

it's ME!!!!

The MIA Blogger!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been working my tiny hiney to the bone,

and believe me, I have nothing left back there to loose.

All my padding is in the front.

Wouldn't it be great if we could push our fat around inside the envelope of our skin, and mold it to where it is needed and wanted?????

I mean.....

what is the point of upper arm fat anyway???????

Where is the evolutionary bonus in that??

Am I going to survive longer than someone with thin arms?????

Next time I am in a clothing store trying on my T shirts with long enough short sleeves,

and I see some svelte babe modeling a sleeveless blouse,

will think to myself .....

"Self!!!! She will not survive a nuclear blast like I will!!!!"?????

NOT #$% LIKELY

Oh, my,

where did that come from????

Could someone please bring me my meds?

I seem to have misplaced them.

Someone????

anyway,

BACK TO DECORATING!

If you have been reading this blog, you are aware of my besty Kris.

I piddle around, decorating her house, now that I am retired from the horrors of working as a designer.

I no longer work for the big bucks.

I no longer work for any bucks.

This way, if someone (friends or family) doesn't like my work,

they can ~~suck any part of their body that is handy~~ keep their complaining to themselves.

That's my philosophy.

It doesn't always work that way.

Especially with my family.

Yes, you (if you are reading this.....)

(Peter and Faye)

So, although Kris and I are still adding the finishing touches to her primary bathroom,

we have tweaked her living room.

This all came about in the hunt for an appropriate wallpaper for the aforementioned

bath.

Kris loves paisley.

I have spread it throughout her first floor.

As you enter her house, the first hint is the antique settee placed against the wall that faces the stairs.

I also covered the walls and host chairs in the dining room in paisley velvet.

(Since I took that picture, we have updated the room a little.

that will be a later blog post.....)

Now.....

let us go.....

to the living room!!!!!

Kris felt the walls were a little bare with just paint.......

that's right....

a little bare.....

So stark....So stripped down.

WELL

one of the wallpapers that I pulled for the 2nd floor bath was a red paisley,

and after I had ~~fled the scene~~ left the house,

Kris took it down to the living room to see how it would look.

The colors worked great with the rug.....

Then she looked at it on the wall

because wallpapers go on the wall.

(see, I am a decorator, and I know this kind of $%#)

It worked great with the paisley that I used for the draperies and ottomans.

So.....

then she checked it behind the sofa!!!!!

We were very excited.

Let me rephrase that.....

we were #$@%& excited!!!!!

so we had the wallpaper guy, who is a true artist, come and measure the walls.

NOW!!!!!

I told him.

THESE ARE EUROPEAN ROLLS.

Wallpaper guys never listen to me.

never

NEVER

never

NEVER.

European rolls are NOT a double roll.

He computed for a double.

THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH WALLPAPER.

We couldn't get any more of this #$@ pattern.

I guess no one else in the world is doing over the top crazy decorating anymore.

sigh.

By this time we had been waiting months and months and months for this damn paper.

First it was back-ordered until August. Then September.

Then after the apocalypse.

There were only 14 rolls left, and they were in two dye-lots.

But that was supposed to be enough wallpaper, so we decided to risk it, and to hide the change in lot color at the room corners.

Soooooooooooooo.....

The wonderful artistic wallpaper hanger came and rolled out all the rolls and cut them.

Whereupon he realized that we were three rolls short.

As you have probably sussed out at this point

I couldn't get no more of dat damn material no more no more no more.

The showroom called the line that carried the paper.

They had one more roll in their warehouse, but it had been cut into.

They would send it to us and not charge us for it.

They felt horrible over the whole fiasco.

They were very nice.

Very nice doesn't get you

any more @#$% wallpaper.

But it does create good will.

It wasn't their fault that the mill wasn't responding to their entreaties.

Soooooooooooooo...............

The project was now at a standstill.

Kris had taken down ALL THE PAINTINGS in the living room.

all the paintings.

They were all piled in the dining room.

So the dining room looked like shit.

The living room looked like shit,

and she felt like now we had to look for a different wallpaper.

Well,

I was damned it I would let that happen on

MY WATCH

I told her to let me think on it for a couple of days.

I told her that usually when something like this happens,

a better design develops because I am forced to think outside the box.

I think she thought I was

blowing smoke up her a$$.

I hate when I am sincere, and I listen to myself, and I think

"I wouldn't believe a word you're sayin' Betsy, my girl....".

But I meant it.

So.

I thought

and I thought

and on the second day I had

an epiphany!

The wallpaper guy had suggested an accent wall in wallpaper.

Just along the back of the sofa.

I felt, what was the point of doing this outrageous design only to make it look half-assed?

I am not a fan.

It really does help to think on things.

and to google things.

and to look on Pinterest.

I suggested making the fireplace look like it was paneled, using her existing mantel.

Sort of like this one I found on google.

So that's what we decided to do.

She called back the artistic wallpaper guy and he got to work.

When I go back up to Massachusetts in the spring,

I will design the paneling for the fireplace.

I think the room is going to end up much better with the break in the wallpaper in the middle of the room.

Below is one of my world famous, very hard to create collages.

It shows the before and after the application of the paisley madness.

This is definitely a specific type of look.

ha!

But Kris and I are over the moon.

In New England, where it is cold for 6 months of the year and grey for the other 6,

(I know, that's an exaggeration, but I am writing this from sunny Florida) the warm, cozy tones of the paisley just make ours toes curl in happy, yummy cozy joy.

Now,

when I look at the before shots of the room....

IT LOOKS SO BARE!!!!!!!!!!!

on that note,

Later Gator.

Continuing Kris's Fabuloso Bath

2017-10-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

HELLO KAMPERS!!!!!

I know, I know...

I've been missing in action.

But since some of you have started emailing me ~~complaining~~ letting me know that I am missed,

I have now taken time from my hectic, busy, crazy, overcrowded, lazy, reading when I want to, going for walks and screwing around schedule to write.

The remodel of Kris's bathroom was

excruciating.

It should have taken very little time, as we made sure we had all the materials on site

(in her basement)

before the first workman showed up on the job.

I won't go into all the particulars, as I don't want to scar Kris any further and I know the stupid woman reads my blog.

(being my best friend)

But it's all done now, except for the water supply to the toilet.

It is chrome, and we are trying to find it in brass.

Kris bought one in brass, but OF COURSE it doesn't fit the toilet.

When I left off telling you about the bathroom, we had just installed the vanity

and hung the mirror .

Now I can show you the plumbing and lights!!!!!

Below is a view through the frameless shower stall.

See how dark it is looking into the hall?????

I used the wonders of Photoshop and fixed the hall!!!!!

I am a rocket scientist!!!!!

This involved editing and cutting and pasting.

Well, I went to kindergarten!!!!!

Below is the view of how the bathroom looked before the renovation.

This was great when Kris's kids were still at home and this room served a 4 person family.

It allowed for two people at the sink and the shower area was more separate.

BUT NOW THE ~~RATS~~ KIDS HAVE FLED THE NEST!!!

Therefore we could create Kris's dream bath that had a more European flavor.

Kris didn't want towels to mess up the look of the room so we hid the hand towels behind the door.

She unearthed a rug she and her husband had bought overseas years ago that fit in front of the vanity, thereby saving some money. (ha)

In my last post I went over all the items I found for this space.

The mirror, sconces, chandelier, plumbing and whatnot.

So if you want to know where I got the whatnot, please scroll down to my last post.

We used the green shades from the dining room chandelier, as we updated that fixture with cream colored cleaner lines for its shades.

The plumbing fixtures are unlacquered brass that will develop a beautiful patina with age.

Kris bought a polishing wax from Waterworks to help with this process.

If left on its own, the brass would just end up turning dark brown.

All of the accents in the room are brass or bronze.

For privacy, we chose half shutters for the windows.

I always use Back Bay shutter for my shutters when doing work in the Boston area.

That's just an FYI.

Once again, we used brass.

We also used the green shades on the little chandelier in the toilet room at the end of the bathroom.

When you look into the room from the hall, you can look down the space and see the chandelier.

Kris really wanted a chandelier in her bathroom,

and this was the only place to stick one.

Below the chandelier are the double hooks for the bath towels.

The chandelier even has some crystals because Kris likes her some sparkle.

Now, all we need to do is hang the artwork.

Kris found some antique bird prints that she liked, and she is buying

24 of them, that we then need to frame in a gold tone.

The reason she bought 24 is because that's what I figured I needed!!!!!

I took white sheets of printer paper and stuck them on the walls to figure out how many pictures I needed.

WELL, I NEEDED

24.

on that note,

Latah, Gatah

The Stuff Kris and I Found For Her Bathroom Redo

2017-06-10T11:10:00.001-04:00

OK class, I am back for another post

THE SECOND WEEK IN A ROW!!!!!

I hope you guys are suitably impressed,

because I SURE AM.

Let's continue looking at what I've done to with Kris's bathroom.

For those of you just tuning in, look at last weeks post, to catch up.

When Kris decided to redo her bathroom, I didn't take her seriously, seeing nothing wrong with what she already had.

(since I had been the one to design it.)

(and as we all know, my designs are timeless.)

(and wonderful)

(and stand the test of time.)

WELL

her shower didn't.

stand the test of time, that is.

It leaked.

Down to her new kitchen ceiling.

Kris was not amused.

I would like to point out that I had nothing to do with the labor of the first renovation.

(luckily)

Sooooooooo.......

this inspired her,

now that her kids were grown,

flown the coop,

left the nest,

cut the apron strings (we can only wish),

to redo the bathroom in Kris's idea of a fancy schmancy grownup loo.

I started to take the idea seriously several years ago when we came across this server in a local auction.

Nice quality image?

Only the best for you guys!

Let's see if I can do better.

It was French marquetry.

mar·que·try

ˈmärkətrē/

noun

inlaid work made from small pieces of variously colored wood or other materials, used chiefly for the decoration of furniture.

The top was a warm toned piece of marble that we matched when we chose the marble tiles in the bathroom.

So now you know why we chose the marble that we did!!!!!!

Kris stored the server in her basement for a million years, until we were ready to redo her bathroom.

Then we started to choose what else we would need in the space, as well as take the server to the furniture doctor who turned an affordable piece into an expensive piece!!!

He replaced all the missing marquetry, and refinished it in a low luster lacquer that could hold up to the moister in a bathroom.

Here is a shot of it in the basement before it was fixed.

We had the extra ormolu pieces inside the drawers.

or·mo·lu

ˈôrməˌlo͞o/

noun

a gold-colored alloy of copper, zinc, and sometimes tin, cast into desired shapes and often gilded, used especially in the 18th century for decorating furniture and making ornaments.

I had to find a mirror to go with the glamorous look of the room as well as fit inside the space.

I decided on a Louis Phillippe mirror, as I love the look and style of these babies.

They are elegant without being fussy.

I rely on 1stdibs a lot, as it can supply me with very specific items when I am designing for a very specific look.

What could take me years to find, I can find in a day, as it represents the best of antique stores across the country.

I drew an elevation of the vanity, mirror and sconces so that I would be sure that what we chose would fit.

I never understood how decorators could design without drawing out what they were doing.

After we (I) found the mirror, I attacked the problem of finding sconces that would work with this room.

I looked at lots.

I looked at these.....

I looked at these.....,

AND THEN I FOUND THESE!!!!!

They will go great with the server.

Kris admitted to me that she always wanted a chandelier in her bathroom.

I was taken aback.

I was somewhat horrified to realize that my best friend was

one of those people!!!!!

But because I love her to bits,

I found her one.

There was no place to put it in the main part of the bathroom,

but it fits perfectly in the throne room,

commonly referred to by the unwashed masses as the toilet room.

(see what I did there????

Unwashed masses???

This is a story about a bathroom!!!!

I am funny!!!!)

It will be seen from the hall doorway looking into the room, as it will be centered on the toilet room door.

It's little, so it fits the scale of the room.

Kris wanted crystal, and I found her crystal. We love the barrel beads on the chains

It works with the pair of sconces.

This is why I wanted the wallpaper we found.

The slight gold in the pattern, picks up the gold leaf of the mirror and ormolu, as well as working nicely with the warm tones of the wood.

Last week we were able to install the vanity.

Below is the placement against the wall.

Then they hung the mirror!!!!!!!!!!

Then they placed the marble!!!!!!!

You can now see and I hope understand, why we chose the tile that we did.

Kris and I had taken the slab to a local marble vendor and had the hole cut in it.

Our furniture restorer reworked the cabinet to fit around the sink and plumbing.

The wood glows and is so beautiful.

That's as far as we have gotten.

Kris has been rambling in Cornwall, and will be back tomorrow, so I expect the bathroom work will continue this week.

We need to do the electrical and plumbing finish, then the shower enclosure..... and then add the shutters on the lower parts of the windows so no one can look in on my buddy while she is sans clothes.

All the hardware is unlacquered brass, so it will mellow over time.

Once again we chose all of it from Waterworks.

The sink is from Kallista

Kris fell in love with it because of the overflow holes.

You gots to love a good overflow set of holes!!!!!

On that note,

Latah, Gatah