Bring on '11

Her Majesty's Pug

Paper Scissors Cake

My Card Boutique

Almost Midnight Clutch

Hudson's Holidays

Corso Studio

Piggy Bank Parties

Brooklyn Bookbinder

Toasting Flutes

Decology

Guest Towels

Eleven Etsy goodies in honor of the New Year!  

Thanks for tuning in to my blog, I appreciate your comments and support.  Come back often in the coming year as I hope to keep it fun, interesting, motivating and helpful here on Room Rx. 

Happy New Year ~ May 2011 bring you health, hope and happiness.

In need of a Room Rx

A while back a friend contacted me about some help for her living room.  She was tired of the matching leather upholstery and had recently acquired a piano.  It was time for this room to "grow up."  A little research on her part had turned up this Ikat settee and natural fiber rug.

Despite the great start and her wonderful sense of style, the small sized room, window and door openings and high ceilings had her perplexed.  This is the perfect situation for a Room Rx, especially since this room is in another state and my client loves to do things herself and really just needs a little know how and a plan. 

"Stylishly Casual" was the goal so, between many e-mails, phone conversations and shared photos, the ideas began germinating.  What fun this project is, as I have been wanting to work with the gray and yellow color scheme and love Ikats!  Stay tuned as I share the Design Concept Board, a little "Design 101" on Ikat fabrics and ultimately the finished room, as things are well under way. 

Does your room need a “prescription” for a change of decor, function or design? If so please contact me.

Getting the vision

HGTV Dream Home

Arriving home after spending our family holiday celebration with my inspiring in laws (especially creative, sewing CSIL and detail oriented, talented carpenter BIL) has me filled with ideas  as well as design solutions to conjure up.  Often, going beyond simply describing, but showing, "inspiration photos" are the best way to get across the message about the look you envision for a room.  So when my SIL mentioned freshening up her family room, we went to work while together, brainstorming and searching the internet for looks as well as items. I continued this process at home and came across the HGTV 2011 Dream Home.

The images above from the home's living room, contain many great ideas for some of the things that my sister in law and I discussed.  A simple color scheme (3 colors,) pale walls, graphic patterns, textural accents, how to deal with storage, styling shelves and framing photos.  I love the clean lines and simplicity of many of this room's elements as well as it's casual, approachable feel.  Oh, and did I mention I am a sucker for green?  Especially this type of bold, saturated green?!
Hope this helps, CSIL!

Move over Martha

 

My sister in law and her family received this wonderful gift box of exquisitely decorated cookies and darling, handmade ornaments from a family friend.  From the initial presentation and packaging to the painstaking decorations on the cookies, this was such an impressive and thoughtful gift that I had to share it. The most amazing part is that it was put together by a busy, single, working mom and her kids.  Seriously, move over Martha, you've got some competition!  

How do I get on the list for next year?

Merry, Merry

As I was having my whirlwind day in the kitchen yesterday, a bit of nostalga washed over me.  I was remembering the last time my kids sat in Santa's lap, oh so many years ago.... so I dug up a couple of  photos.  Unfortunately the ones I really wanted to post are pre-digital camera....photos of each of them squirming and crying while in Santa's lap, but these "oldies but goodies" will have to do.

Our routine for those years was to venture to Marshall Field's on State Street in Chicago and wait in the line to see Santa, look at the incredible windows and then go out for a special meal, either at the Walnut Room or Ed Debevic's....such fun!  What makes the holidays so special are those wonderful traditions and memories. Even though the days of sitting in Santa's lap are gone, my teenagers still get EXCITED for this season.

Have a beautiful holiday full of traditions and special moments.  Thank you for following me here at Room Rx, I look forward to more fun blogging in 2011!

Up to my elbows in meatballs

via

 My grandmother, "Gim" was the only child born to a couple of Swedish immigrants (who met on the boat dock  prior to the journey from Sweden to the U.S.)  When she married my grandfather "Benny," another Swede, she married into a large extended family as he was one of 9 children. The traditional Swedish Christmas Eve Smorgasbord that I mentioned in my post the other day was a huge affair among the Bensons.

Some of my earliest memories of the festivities include many strange foods that did not sit well on a child's pallet and doting great aunts whose names I usually confused, hugging and loving my brother and me.  Because we lived in the Midwest, it was not often that we were able to enjoy the celebrations with the whole extended family. Many years my grandparents would come to visit for the holidays and my grandmother would lovingly re-create the smorgasbord in a way that we could enjoy.  My personal favorite was her Swedish meatballs.  Just as with any traditional recipe there are an abundance of variations, call me sentimental, but I love these more than any I have tasted.  I am sharing the recipe with you today as I am off to make them for my own Christmas Eve Smorgasbord.  Let me know what you think if you make them....(yes Charlotte, I mean you!!!)

Gim’s Swedish Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef, twice ground

¼ lb. ground pork, twice ground

½ C bread crumbs

½ C mashed potatoes

¾ C evaporated milk

1 TBSP grated onion

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

½ tsp ground allspice

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Roll into small balls (about 1” in diameter.)

Bake at 350 degrees on a foil lined baking sheet for about 10 minutes, watch carefully.

Makes about 30 meatballs

Tips:

For meat, ask to have chuck beef ground twice with a fat pork chop.

Be careful with the allspice.

As only Martha can do

Curbed National

Intrigued, I signed up for the relatively new online newsletter called "Curbed".  The city versions of Curbed focus on real estate, retail and food and recently a national version was introduced with "a focus all-things design, decor, and shelter, from Malibu dream houses to Wyoming ranches to Maine cabins, and all residences in between."

As part of Curbed National's roll-out, dollhouses were sent to the editors in chief of 6 shelter publications with hopes that each would put their signature on it.  Martha Stewart's was the last to arrive, but it is so Martha and well worth the wait.  Check out the other Operation Dollhouse entries, they are also fitting for both the editor and the publication.  

I never had an "official dollhouse" as a kid, instead, I spent hours with my neighbor friend building Barbie "compounds" with scraps of fabric, cardboard boxes and whatever else we could find.  Perhaps that is where my love of thrifting, re-using and re-inventing pieces began...

Change your accents, change your look!

Last week I showed you some of my favorite  items from Viva Terra, today I thought it would be fun to show one of those items with some other room basics and two different looks created by using different accents.  I do little things in my own home to change things up by season or when I simply need something to feel new, but I love the idea of having different artwork, window treatments and accessories for one room so that the change is more significant.

Since budget is always at the forefront when I do a room design, changing accents could be as simple as "shopping" the other rooms in your home.  Having a well planned color scheme throughout your home will help in enabling you to do this. A shift of color, texture and style can keep a room fresh and interesting.

For this design, the foundation is the woven leather rug and a sleek leather sofa with chrome legs.  The subtle gray wall color and more rustic feeling tables help tie in the rug.  Lamps are something that are also easily changed, but for this plan, I chose to keep them the same.  The two different looks I was after are achieved by following the textural and overall color thread on the warm side and picking up on the grays, metals and more modern lines of the sofa on the cool side. Enjoy!

Genova Side Table, $298
Steele Leather Sofa | Crate&Barrel, $2,999
Belgian Farmhouse Floor Lamp | Classic | Restoration Hardware, $584
Barneys New York Ibiza Throw, $365
Buttonwood Curtain, $208
Zinnia Camel Pillow, $139
Williams-Sonoma Home | Nito Weave Vessel, $138
Mum Silver Pillow, $119
Maeve Harris 'Umber View II' Framed Canvas Artwork | Overstock.com, $112
HAND PAINTED CIRCUS STRIPE VASE - SHORT- Lazy Susan, $110
Williams-Sonoma Home | Chunky Pomegranate Embroidered Pillow, $98
Williams-Sonoma Home | Indian Flower Crewel Pillow, $98
Handloomed Silk Window Panel | west elm, $79
Bijoux Dots Pillow Cover, 16"x16", Natural/Gold | west elm, $34
Pier 1 Imports - Ivory Throw with Flange and Ruffles, $30
VivaTerra - Scrap Leather Rug, $10
VivaTerra - Recycled French Bottle Lamp, $10
French Heritage
ferm LIVING US: Pillows & Tea Towels > Knitted Floor Cushion (Yellow)
KEISARINNA GRAY
Shades of Gray - Gray Paint - House Beautiful
Waterfall Woven Wood Shades Online at The Shade Store
 

 What do you do to "change it up" in your home?

Holiday Prep and a Swedish Smorgasbord

Swedish Interior Design

Anne's Food

This week, as is true of many of you, I will be engrossed in the last minute preparations for our holiday festivities.  In my family, one of my favorite traditions is our Christmas Eve Swedish Smorgasbord.  This year my brother and his kids will be joining us to celebrate Christmas Eve and enjoy all of the delights of the smorgasbord.
The recipes have been unearthed, the grocery shopping is done and I am now off to make my grandmother's Swedish meatballs, Pepperkakor cookies and few other goodies.  As the week progresses and my load lightens, I will share a couple of these sentimental recipes.  In the meantime, enjoy the images above and if you want to know a little more about the Christmas Eve Smorgasbord, this is a little history and  here is a suggested menu.

A project for the new year

 Apartment Therapy

Christmas is not even over and I find myself already thinking about 2011, my goals, dreams and to-do list! Inspired by a shoebox full of vintage family photos, an article in  Sweet Paul and an image of photos in an apothocary jar, I have promised myself to finally display some of these treasures around my home.  A couple of Christmases ago, I made my brother a mixed media collage using some of the photos, ( I tried to find the photo I took of it, unfotunately it was not to be in the mess of my photo files) but I have yet to do more. 
The assortment of photos summons up memories of sitting on the couch with my grandpa, "Benny" and sifting through them as he told stories about the people and places depicted.  Fortunately "Benny" labeled many of these treasures, so while I do not remember everything he told me, there is usually a tickler on the back to get me thinking.  So much inspiration in these links, the ideas are swirling, so tune back in after the new year and see what I have come up with!

Higb Brow - Low Brow: lucite chairs

avram rusu interiors

No, they are not very practical, especially if you have kids, but are these chairs not to die for?!!! They are just edgy enough, dressed in their lucite legs and bold fabric, to be a scene thief, but the other elements in the room give some balance. Lots of pale color, a few pops of bold color and a zebra rug, it works. This chair is the Madamoiselle by Phillippe Stark for Kartell and at $899 each, they are a splurge.

 Y Living

Check out the low brow version below...

EZMOD

At $199 each, a set of these is sure to make an impact with a designer look at your table, penninsula or island. without breaking the bank.  Would you dare....?!