West Elm Love

I know it's not very green of me, but there's just something about opening up the mailbox to find magazines and catalogs --especially home and interior design stuff (and of course the most recent Anthro catalogue!)  One of the most exciting ones that I've received as of lately is the West Elm March "In Bloom" catalogue.  The front cover features yellows and a beautiful yellow and gray ikat print chair.

Yellow and I have a thing.  We have a long history and we work well together.  Yellow makes a statement, spreads warmth and radiates energy.  Yellow can be bold or subdued, it is a harbinger of spring, and I'm so glad to see it still being featured so prominently in the home design industry.

Aside from the beautiful chair, there's this lovely dhurrie rug.  Inspired by a Moroccan trellis, this yellow and cool gray rug would be a perfect foundation piece to brighten up a living space.  

Or if you aren't quite committed to a rug, you could add a dose of it with this pouf!

Here at Chez Hicks we've been discussing the possibility of  new side table, and this little yellow shiny number might just fit the bill!  It's fun and playful, but sleek and modern.  I think it would work perfectly to round out the balance of new meets old.

West Elm has also been rocking out the yellow love on facebook. If you haven't already liked them on fb, and you're crushing as hard as I am on hues of yellow and marigold, I highly suggest you head on over and give them a "like".

They've been posting their dream house of the day with beautiful yellows like these:

                                     

West Elm also has a blog in case you want to head over and look at some of their other color crushes and dream houses of the day!

  

Pool House Cabana Completion

Today, I am wrapping up my Pool House project for Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  The Smiths are a fictional  family of four, husband Jason, wife Elizabeth, and two children, Aidan and Anna ages 8 and 10.  They live in Mount Pleasant, SC which is a modern neighborhood on the outskirts of Charleston.  The Smiths have a great house, and a beautiful swimming pool and were looking to build a poolhouse without breaking the bank.  The Smith's realized that their proximity to the Charleston port offered them an affordable opportunity by repurposing a shipping container.  The clients expressed need for:

• Covered living and dining space that could accomodate at least 4 people.
• A space for reading, and playing cards
• Views of the swimming pool
• An open and airy feel
• Additional storage

After building a 3-D model out of foam core to scale, we created a presentation board and today, we gave our presentation to the class.  Whew, I was a bit nervous (just like my paint swatch color Nervy Hue.)

We've been working on this project since the beginning of the semester (so a little more than 2 months) and it feels good to have it under my belt.  I've definitely learned a lot about traffic patterns, fenestrations, floor plans, elevations, cutting foam core, and what kind of rubber cement works best.

Here is a photo of the inside of my model with the double-sided fireplace.  The fireplace is concrete and would be flanked by  two pairs of 5 foot sliding glass doors.  

Here is the exterior overhead shot of the shipping container

And here is the floor plan of the container.  

This is the presentation board that features almost all of the elements in the container. 

From top left you see a daybed made from pallets with a twin sized mattress covered in an indoor outdoor white twill.   The daybed uses metal pipe and flanges to create the sides and backbar, and the bed is covered in an assortment of fabrics including the blue and white stripes, the small yellow and green chevron, a blue and green woven, and these two Trina Turk for Schumacher fabrics.

To the right of the daybed, you will see the two-way fireplace inspiration that I also mentioned in a previous post.  The fireplace will be functional from both inside the poolhouse as well as outside and is one of the two key components to the pool house.

To the right of the fireplace is the custom ping-pong table that was inspired by the 2012 Coastal Living Ultimate Beach House, but the one for the pool house will be striped in white Sherwin Williams Dyanmic Blue and the bases will be Nervy Hue.  The ping-pong table does double dutu as a dining table that can acommodate 8-10 seats including these foam primary poufs in blue and green that are perfect for a group of kids, and the adults can relax in these lightweight, but comfy, Kubrick chairs.

Beside the ping-pong table are the color swatches and our lighting and mirror.  The mirror is from Roost, and has been made from old salvaged recycled scaffolding.  The light fixture is by Zuo and will be used over the daybed as well as the reading nook.

Underneath the daybed are an assortment of fabrics that will be used for the daybed and for the cushions on the daybed and in the reading nook.  The muti-striped fabric will be used as a curtain that can open and close giving the Smith children a hide-away space to read or play.  The reading nook is a custom built-in that features low cabinets with doors (for storage) and a foam cushion that spans the width of the shipping container (7'7") and is covered in a small tonal green on yellow chevron fabric.

In the center of the board, you will see a photo of the 3-D model that shows the back of the shipping container and the fireplace as well as the ping-pong table.  To the right of the photo are the fabric selections from Trina Turk.  Directly below those fabric swatches are the flooring choices which include a concrete that is stained and stamped to look like wood (both inside the poolhouse as well as outside) and a rug that is used on either side of the indoor lounge spaces.

On the bottom row right side, is the oversized Knotted Melati Hanging Chair from Anthropologie.  The design includes two of these on the exterior of the pool house so the Smith children won't argue over who gets to sit in them!  Between the two swings is a lighted solar-powered side table that can also function as a seat.  Beside the stool is another stool, the Prince Aha Stool in bright bold blue.  There are a total of 5 of these stools that can be moved around from space to space to create additional seating.  The stools are super fun and kid friendly and offer additional storage to boot! Then we have the Kubrick chair again-- a pair of these chairs are inside the poolhouse, and a pair are on the patio, but again, these chairs can be moved from zone to zone to create different seating arrangements.  Between the two Kubrick chairs on the patio is a Prince Aha Stool used as a side table.

The very last picture on the bottom row is a standing height metal table by Quovis.  We decided to customize the color of the table so we powder-coated it in Pantone's 2013 color of the year, Emerald Green.  Beneath the table are two storage ottomans on casters from Ballard Designs.  The ottomans are covered in the bold ikat print by Trina Turk.  These ottomans can be pulled over to either of the lounge areas, or can be pulled up to enjoy the fire inside the poolhouse.

Look!  Somebody else thought these Trina Turk fabrics would be perfect for a pool house!

Everyone in the class did such a great job designing, rendering and presenting their poolhouses.  I was really surprised by how differently we all approached the design.  Some poolhouses were really sophisticated, some were playful, some were eco-friendly and some people even cut their shipping containers into pieces and flipped them.  There were some neat products as well.  Tables that could be adjusted to three different heights, a storage cube that could turn into stools to seat 5 people, a cutout reading nook in the shape of an amoeba, tiles made from old skateboard decks and much, much more.

 

Happy Valentines Day

Just popping in to wish you a happy Valentines Day!

Sping trends

The periphery of spring is coming more to the forefront (especially here in NC where I'm already seeing daffodils blooming!)  And for those who might still be buried under mounds of snow, you can at least bring some of these spring trends inside to add a little cheer and color .

Pantone named Emerald Green as its 2013 color of the year.  We've already seen this color popping up in clothing and apparel, and it's going to be big in home decor as well.  Used in small doses or totally saturating the room, emerald green is lively, lush and luxurious!

 

Another trend for spring is bright, bold graphics and florals for fabrics.  Big bursts of blooms and multicolor stripes and geometrics will be wrapping their way around furnishings and finding their way into our living spaces.  

And just as we have peeled down old wallpaper and decreed to banish wallpaper forever, these beautiful prints will steal our hearts and our wall spaces.

Much like wallpaper's triumphant return after being banished into exile, brass is making a comeback too.  We'll see brass in metal finishes like lamps and mirrors and knickknacks, but we're also going to see it in hardware such as door knobs, drawer pulls and handles.  

Art will also make its way into homes like never before.  Not just for museums and galleries and homes of nobility, art has become much more accessible.  Etsy lead the way with its 7,000,000 users who helped to bring Etsy's revenue to over 314 million dollars in 2010!  Shoppers can buy originals or prints for $50.00 or less and they can even commission their own pieces. Stores like Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and even Target are featuring artists who got their start on Etsy.  Here are a few of my favorite pieces.  

Former Greensboro, NC resident, Jordan Grace Owens

Ashley G

Urban Outfitters

Alyson Fox

So, there you have it-- my top 5 predictions for Spring 2013 trends.  Do you have any favorites, and what other trends are you projecting will be hot for this coming Spring?

Monday blues

I'm back from a cold but glorious weekend of snowboarding (well, actually it was more like mountain rolling) in Snowshoe, W.V.  The thermometer bottomed out at -1 which actually felt like -25 with the windchill.  Despite the cold, it was a great time.  But here I sit on Sunday night with a little case of the Monday Blues.  So in honor (or is it in spite of) those Monday bluesy blahs, I bring to you the most beautiful hues of blues I can find!

TURQUOISE

I'm totally obsessed with the color turquoise, and if I had my way, I would most likely paint every room in my house some shade or tint of that color. But as it is, I share this lovely place with 4 others who also have a say.  I've never met a turquoise that I didn't like, and I think this color is so universal.  It's used on southern porch ceilings to replicate the sky, it's perfect for a child's room, and it works so well in so many combos (turquoise and yellow, turquoise and coral, turquoise and hot pink, turquoise and orange, turquoise and chartreuse or lime or emerald green-- you get the picture.)  When I think of turquoise, I immediately feel warm and peaceful, as if I'm looking out over the calm Turquoise sea in Sardinia, Italy.

If you like turquoise as much as I do, you might enjoy one of my favorite blogs, house of turquoise that runs the gamut of all things turquoise.

COBALT

Cobalt is another beautiful and sea drenched blue.  This color is much deeper and richer and brings to mind old architectural blueprints or vintage glass bottles.  I once painted a bedroom this color and loved it.  This color is so strong and beautiful when mixed with white (and look at that blueprint!)

NAVY

This color is so sophisticated and structured and handsome.  Right out of the academy this color says it's in charge.  Navy is the disciplined brother of black.  Not nearly as rebellious, but serious and sexy.  Rooms in this color are classic, and preppy, like a wool blazer or a peacoat, which is probably why it looks so good with a bit of gold accent (the buttons) and white (the oxford underneath.)  Try mixing in some woods and rich leathers for a little more sophisticated elegance.  

CAROLINA BLUE

It's in my blood, (it is my alma mater, and I did cheer for Carolina my freshmen year.)  It's the color of the sky, it's the color that we see when the molecules in the air scatter more blue light from the sun than red light.  Instead of asking the age old question of "why is the sky blue?" we should ask ourselves, "why wouldn't the sky be blue?"  It's beautiful, it's ethereal, it's dreamy, it's a warm sunny afternoon.  Another southern porch ceiling favorite, this color whispers as softly as a cloud.  It's quiet and understated, but yet so comforting.  

After looking at all these wonderful shades of blue, I'm feeling calm and relaxed and ready to let Monday roll in.  Hope you have a happy Monday too!