color me: charcoal gray

 vanity, Decor Pad

Color Me: Charcoal Gray, Pantone 18-0601

Charcoal Gray is a moody medium/dark gray color. It's a cool gray with blue and purple undertones.  This gray works nicely layered with other neutrals for subtle beauty or paired with vibrant colors for a unique style that is all your own.  Furniture, walls, home decor.. you can't go wrong with this rich, dark gray!

dresser, Design Sponge

wall, Emily Henderson

upholstered chair, Anthropologie

tile, Decor Pad

desk, HGTV

bedding, West Elm

lamp, Currey & Company

So what do you think?  Do you have any charcoal gray items in your home?  I just repainted our dining room a medium gray (Rockport Gray by BM) and am loving it!

color me: fair aqua

hutch, Schue Love

Color Me: Fair Aqua, Pantone 12-5409

Fair Aqua is a beautiful, light, robin's egg blue color. It's cool and crisp just like a mid winter frost.  Light blue is a popular color used to modernize outdated furniture.  Use this color as an accent or main attraction and it's sure to be a big hit!

upholstered chair, Manolo Home

dresser, Centsational Girl

metal fan, etsy

sideboard, Be Colorful

chair, Herman Miller

wall, Alkemie

couch, Houzz

I would love to hear your thoughts on this light aqua color. Do you have any fair aqua pieces in your home? Furniture? Accent pieces? Painted wall? Talk to me!

color me: honey gold

storage, Anyone Can Decorate

 

Color Me: Honey Gold, Pantone 15-1142

Honey gold is a rich, golden yellow color.  I love this color yellow (well, pretty much all shades of yellow).  It's sunshiny and warm and reminds me of the summer's sun.  Use this color as an accent or main attraction to add some warmth and happiness into your space.

chair, Oh Captain, My Captain

dresser, Designs by Brie

rug, HGTV

upholstered headboards, Coco Cozy

chair, Anthropologie

desk, My Fabuless Life

curtains, Eclectic Revisited

I would love to hear your thoughts on this beautiful yellow color. Do you have any honey gold pieces in your home?  A chair?  Rug?  Painted wall?  Talk to me!

color me: sodalite blue

coffee table, The Inspired Room

Color Me: Sodalite Blue, Pantone 19-3953

Sodalite blue is a vibrant, deep blue color named after the natural stone sodalite.  This lovely blue color reminds me of the deep ocean waters near Maui, HI.  Sodalite blue was named one of Pantone's top ten colors for spring 2012.  Use this color to add some richness and depth into your home. You can anchor a room with a deep blue coffee table or desk.

desk, Vintage Ambiance

bench, Metro Sofa

room, Victoria Dreste Designs

door

upholstered chair, Neiman Marcus

kitchen, Design Darling

desk, apartment therapy

color me: dark citron

door, Birch & Lily

Color Me: Dark Citron, Pantone 16-0435

Dark Citron is a vibrant green/ yellow color. It reminds me of a juicy Granny Smith apple or a freshly cut lime. Use this color as an accent in your home to breathe some summer into your space. Chairs, desks, rugs... there are lots of pieces that wear this color beautifully or go a little wild and paint it on a wall or two!

upholstered chair, etsy

desk, My Blessed Life

dresser, Luscious Life & Decor

chair, Herman Miller Eames

rug, West Elm

table, Apartment Therapy

chair, Young House Love

I would love to hear your thoughts on this vibrant green, yellow color. Do you have any dark citron pieces in your home? A desk? Chair? Rug? Talk to me!

before & after: the Victorian throne

The Victorian throne chair was a collaborative effort between myself and Urban Threads as part of their Lab series.  Urban Threads knows embroidery, I know upholstery, and together we created an awe-inspiring chair!  You may have already seen a look at the chair here, when I announced (okay, more like jumped up and down and screamed in excitement) that we were very honored to have our chair featured on Design*Sponge as part of their before and after series. 

Without further ado, I present to you the Victorian throne...

after:

before:

We found this (very) large throne of a chair on craigslist.  The chair is Eastlake Victorian style and dates circa 1890's.  The lady I purchased it from shared with me that the chair had previously resided in a beautiful Victorian mansion in the historic district of St. Paul.  Wow.  I wish I could have seen the rest of the house.  I'm a sucker for antiques and old homes.  But back to the chair.  It had great bones and beautiful detailed woodwork, but we wanted to update it into the 21st century (think modern and bright). 

So I stripped off the old upholstery

and painted the chair white!

In the meantime, a team at Urban Threads was busy creating and embroidering large designs to be used on the new upholstery.  All of the designs and patterns used on the chair are available to purchase as a part of their Mendhika collection, so you can recreate this same look on your own chair if you wish.  A special, very thick thread call Burmilana was used in the embroidery for this chair.  Burmilana is yarn like thread that offers beautiful raised textured effects which gives the embroidery a wonderful, old world folk feel.

With the newly embroidered fabric complete I was able to get to work upholstering the chair.

The result is a throne fit for a modern king (or queen).  What was previously a dark and rather clunky chair has been brightened up into a bold and modern piece. 

Who would have thought to use machine embroidered upholstery!?!

Many many thanks to the lovely Niamh of Urban Threads for inviting me to be a part of this collaborative project. Also many thanks to amazing photographer Patrick Kelley for the beautiful after shots of the chair that he pulled together in a single afternoon.

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