Moving On

Another weekend of hard labor (husband, son, daughter in law and me) and things are progressing. The boys worked on the bar in the kitchen & installing the master tub. I worked on the aforementioned cabinets flanking the fireplace. I wanted to paint them a gray washed white but it wasn’t meant to be. Instead I sanded and distressed the existing dark walnut finish and applied a briwax finish (in ebony) on top to tone it down and add depth. Colin replaced the ply board backs with tongue and groove boards which did wonders for the overall appearance. This is what they looked like before:

This is what they look like after finishing and a little staging (with what we had available)

The living area is not overly spacious so in order to maximize the seating I ordered two of these chairs from Dovetail Furniture. They are only 25 x 24 x 36. I will replace the cushions with thicker down envelope cushions for comfort.




Rachel Slip covered sofas have been ordered from Best Slipcover Company in Glynn Linen English Green






Fabulous coffee table by Dovetail Furniture



Parquet reclaimed wood top console also by Dovetail Furniture

I am pondering the idea of this rug under the coffee table from ebay. What do you think?

You can buy it here: http://www.shinerugs.com/

You may have noticed a similar one in the home that had the blog world ablaze, the home of Jill Brinson, stylist for Ballard Designs. You can view her home in the House Beautiful Dec/Jan issue, or listen to the ladies of the Skirted Roundtable chat with Stephen Drucker Editor-In-Chief of House Beautiful here:

http://skirtedroundtable.blogspot.com/2010/01/stephen-drucker-editor-in-chief-of.ht

Or read the tete a tete between Joni Webb http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2010/01/style-plagiarism.html, and Valorie, of the Visual Vamp, http://visualvamp.blogspot.com/

I think this rug would look great with the cowtan & tout livingstone fabric

What do you think?

Animals and an Animal Print for Inspiration

Villa Cantina has great bones but there are a few things that I am not crazy about. The kitchen cabinetry is not very interesting. She (Villa Cantina) is for the most part a traditional meditteranean, with a few tweaks here and there. Hence in choosing finishes, furniture, art and fabrics...the tweeks (ie cabinets) had to be taken into account when considering the overall design. Perhaps they will get a painted finish at some point but for now the have to be dealt with as they are. We are trying to accomplish a beautiful design on a budget. When I begin a project I start with a source of inspiration. It might be a beautiful antique piece, a rug, a great fabric, or even a finish. For Villa Cantina it was a painting that was a gift from our children, and a memo sample from one of my favorite fabric houses Cowtan & Tout.

Painting purchased at: Wisteria Antiques ( one of my favorite local haunts)

http://www.wisteriaantiques.net/

Cowtan & Tout # F1406-04 Livingstone (Brown)

The Cowtan fabric has to be my splurge fabric on this project, all other fabrics need to have a great look but be economical as well.

Villa Cantinas stronges virtue is the amazing vista off the main balcony. In my next post I will show the importance of bringing the outside in by incorporating the colors of the neighboring landscape.