There’s a new paint line available in Atlanta. And for someone as obsessed with color as I am, I’m not sure that’s a good thing! Especially since I just repainted! On my way home today, I stopped into the Jerry Pair & Associates showroom at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (a to-the-trade complex open to design professionals and their clients) to pick up a fabric swatch I’m considering for two chairs I bought this past weekend at Scott Antique Market. While I was there, I ran into Jerry Pair Vice President Barbara Brown who showed me the new paint line they are representing called Stark Paint (it’s from the same venerable company that owns Stark Carpet). The palette is just gorgeous and is created in conjunction with London-based color specialist David Oliver. Since I literally popped into the showroom right at closing, that’s all the information I could gather. Oh, and that it is a low-VOC line. Click here to read more about it.
March 15th, 2010 at 05:03pm
Clinton
As a mom of a 4-year-old, I know the challenges of trying to containing toys in a home and I’m always on the lookout for well-designed homes on the market with space for kids that don’t take away from the style of the home. Think the opposite of the home in the ABC show “The Middle” and more like the homes on the set of “Desperate Housewives.”
That’s why this traditional three-bedroom, three-bath Brookhaven home at 984 Stovall Blvd. N.E., priced for $1.3 million and listed with Julene Hodges of Harry Norman, Realtors, stands out with its kid-friendly details. And unlike some homes, it doesn’t assume that the only kid space should be in the basement, which can make it difficult as a parent to watch them and get other things done.
The bright sunroom is devoted to a kids’ playroom, with plenty of seating and the white walls serving as a backdrop to display artwork. And best of all, it can be closed off with French doors from the rest of the house, which you can see during an open house from 3-5 p.m. Sunday.
Outside, there’s a brick patio and playground space, and the home also has a separate cabin with a stone fireplace. Inside the main home, built in 1940, the living spaces include details such as built-in bookcases, which also appear in the cabin. Just the right balance, in my mind, of adult and kid space.
March 12th, 2010 at 11:00am
Lori Johnston
Before working at our wonderful magazine, I didn’t really understand my design aesthetic. I had pretty much just graduated from UGA, where futons and Georgia paraphernalia (Go Dawgs!) were the standard design ingredients of college apartments. But after a year-and-a-half here, I’ve finally determined my style is “feminine chic.” I’ve constantly found myself drawn to cozy, romantic rooms that feature restrained color palettes, sumptuous fabrics and soft lighting.
Phoebe Howard’s guest bedroom in the 2008 Christmas House is the epitome of serene femininity.
InStyle Home featured this stunning SoHo loft three years ago. I’ve been hanging on to the magazine in hopes of re-creating this look in my own home someday.
This charming bedroom was featured in Country Living.
What design style best describes you?
March 11th, 2010 at 09:12am
Sejal
My husband tells me that he can read me like a book. If he comes home and finds me standing in the middle of a room with my finger on my cheek, he knows we’ll be rearranging furniture before dinner. On the other hand, if he finds me tapping my finger on my cheek, we’ll be buying new furniture before dinner.
Tonight–or at least sometime soon–I think he’ll find me tapping that telltale finger. I’ve been searching for the perfect chair for my living room and have finally narrowed it down to a select few. First up, these Louis XVI chairs from a recent Margaret Bosbyshell project; upholstered in black leather and accented with embroidered fabric, they take on a certain modern glam.
Or I could just as easily go with this pair of spring green wingbacks from the same project. I love how the color alone gives the traditional frames a fresh new vibe!
Or maybe it’s not a chair at all I’m looking for but, instead, a more unexpected settee. Barbara Howard recently fashioned this one for a client and I’m crazy about the zig-zag pattern!
Although I haven’t made any final decision, one thing is abundantly clear: The perfect piece will have some kind of traditional silhouette with a decidedly up-to-date covering.
What do you think? Any others you think I should be considering?
March 10th, 2010 at 10:32am
Heather
Ever since I was a very young child, I have taken an invested interest in art, and have been producing my own since the day I could first pick up a pencil. Fortunately, my degree allowed me to take a number of art-centric classes in college, from art history and issues of contemporary art to advanced painting. But as I neared the end of my coursework, I veered away from the realism I once preferred in favor of abstract expressionism, an artistic discipline that remains one of my favorites to this day.
Years later, I feel just as fortunate to be immersed in Atlanta’s fantastic art scene and to be inspired daily by the works contained in our local galleries. Creating art is just a hobby for me, but it has allowed me to truly appreciate the talents of those that far exceed mine. Until my budget allows, I will continue making my own artwork or sourcing it second-hand from antique stores, but I eagerly await the day when I can purchase large-scale pieces by the artists I so admire.
So naturally, when I was creating an original art piece for my bedroom, I was very much inspired by many local artists’ works, even just peripherally. (Probably the most valuable lesson my painting professor taught me was to be mindful of my influencers, because even subconscious inspiration from great artists is an inevitable and wonderful part of the creative process.)
Take the colorful abstract expressionistic paintings of Sally King Benedict, who is based in Charleston but represented locally at Gregg Irby Fine Art. I might describe them best as "stunning," and "gorgeous," but as pretty as they are, they're also perfectly in step with modern aesthetics, making them well-suited to a range of interiors. The fact that this young artist also graduated with me at College of Charleston just makes me doubly supportive of her work. I took the above photo at an art show for her work as well as others represented at the gallery.
Delightedly, I discovered the next artist on my list, Tina Steele Lindsey, via her comments on this very blog! Her acrylics-on-canvas, especially, are vivid, intricate and pleasing to the eye, but the examples shown here are only two of many that have recently captured me.
Lindsey works mostly on commission and specializes in media such as acrylic, oil and charcoal. Even her wedding portraits are imbued with energy and seem to tell very interesting stories. Lindsey posts her works—and the stories behind their making—on her blog, tinasteelelindseyart.blogspot.com, which is without a doubt one of my favorite new places on the net. She produces pieces on commission and also shows at Gallery 4463 in Acworth, Georgia.
Perhaps one of my favorite rooms we've ever published—the living room of interior designer Courtney Giles—features a large abstract canvas by Will Cay, represented through Carter Kay Interiors—which unequivocally demonstrates how art can make a room.
The works of Lorraine Christie, a world-renowned artist who's known for creating romantic street scenes of lovers and friends meeting, most often in the rain, are both beautiful and moving. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and now residing in Roswell, Georgia, Christie's work has soared in popularity in Atlanta thanks to local representation at Huff Harrington Fine Art. More Impressionistic than abstract, I love the linear qualities of the figures in these urban scenes and how well reflections are rendered in luminous oil pigments.
At last, my handiwork in oils below:
As you can see, I broke the cardinal rule of photography by capturing this image at night in incandescent light, but I intend to snap another shot in the daylight soon!
What artists inspire your own creative pursuits? Let us know in the blog comments below!
March 9th, 2010 at 04:48pm
Kate
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