Designing Women

So my Mom has a new mission: repaint her entire house. My Dad is "thrilled." While he welcomes the chance to sit back and watch some other sucker paint his and my Mom's two floor co-op, he realizes this is not without headache. See my Mom had a brainstorm inspired by Trading Spaces: sponge paint the whole house. Sponge painting consists of mixing two different shades of paint and painting it on the walls with a split-sponge. It gives the paint a rustic, patchy, spotted look. It actually looks as cool in person as it does on Trading Spaces. I know this because I have already seen my Mom's newly sponge painted kitchen.

While this new adventure in interior design would make Ty Pennington proud, the painter my parents' hired was less than thrilled. Not only was he clueless on how to sponge paint (Mom guided him step-by-step), but he said it isn't "a real paint job" and instructed my parents to not tell their friends and neighbors that he did it. Ya gotta love old school craftsmen.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree
I moved into a new place last May, a few days before Memorial Day weekend. Between work, family, friends, baseball and a quiet lil band called Metallica, I have yet to add finishing touches to my new kick ass abode.

Yesterday I went window shopping at home furnishing stores. I hit jackpot! I found the curtains I need for my kitchen and bedroom. I also found the two other finishing touches for my bedroom: a black wrought iron full-length mirror, and a wall mirror for above my dresser.

I found the perfect curio for my living room. Its square-shaped design is comprised of muted silver and glass. The muted silver matches the legs on the other furniture in my living room, such as my coffee table and computer chair. The curio will hold my porcelain Disney collectibles. I also picked out a wood end table for the left side of my sofa. The end table also doubles as storage for a blanket. Eight mini mirrors carefully placed to form one design will hang over my sofa. My living room is black, white, red and silver/grey.

The coolest touch to my living room will be on the wall across from my sofa. I stole this idea from Trading Spaces (unlike my Mom, with this idea it is not Ty that will be proud, but Vern). I found black clock hands that stand by themselves. Surrounding the clock, in lieu of numbers, will be wrought iron tealight candle holders. KICK ASS!

Of course purchasing these final pieces to my decorating puzzle translates to one online order, trips back to the furniture stores on 86th Street, Linen N Things and IKEA (YAY!). Oh, and let's not leave out my friends, the Benjamins! When I think about a finished, completed apartment, I get so stoked! As soon as it is complete, I will host pics and include them on a future Blog.