Day of Coupage: Pimp My Sneaker Ride

I just finished taking a fun, 6-week decoupage class at Cambridge Center for Adult Education, and completed a few projects. The most involved project was my pair of Nautica sneakers purchased at Filene's Basement back in the day.

Sneakers Bourgeois

The first step was covering the bottom rubber sides and lace holes with blue painter's tape, then stuffing the insides of the sneakers to maintain their shape.

Then, I ripped newspaper into small random-shaped pieces, and using acrylic gloss medium, I glued two layers of the newspaper onto the sneaker, smoothing it over with my fingertips.

Sneakers Well Read

After applying the newspaper, I sprayed the sneakers with Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic coating. I did this outside so I wouldn't choke on the fumes.

Sneakers Take A Shine

Next, I ripped white copier paper into small pieces and applied two layers in the same way I applied the newspaper.

Sneakers White-washed

After spraying this layer twice with the Krylon coating (I allowed at least a day and a half to two days between sprays), I applied my first layer of the design — the Earth layer. The grass layer consists of images I took out of interior design magazines. The flower layer is taken from a birthday greeting card my aunt gave me years ago. I xeroxed the back and front of the card and cut out the flowers individually.

Sneakers Aglaze with Earth layer

My design theme is Earth and Sky, and for the Sky I xeroxed photos I took of my Christmas tree a few years ago, including vintage star lights and ornaments. The black and white moon faces on the toes are xeroxed from a great postcard I bought at a card shop in Manchester, VT years ago. The black stars are from a photo I took of the star mirrors on my Hollywood wall.

Sneakers Etoile Magnifique!

After applying the Sky layer, I sprayed the sneakers twice with Krylon. For the finishing touches, I used acrylic paints — cadmium yellow medium and manganese blue — to fill in any gaps in the design.  Then I removed the painter's tape and painted the tops around the lace holes with cadmium yellow. And, serendipitously, I found electric blue shoe laces as I was browsing in J.Crew, and they worked perfectly with my blue and yellow color scheme.

Voila! Sneakers Magnifique! C'est si bon?

Sneakers Pimped Out

New Orleans: Carnival of Color

My first visit to New Orleans was inspirational in many ways, especially for its fantastic color combinations. NOLA is a color-enthusiast's dream — I don't think I saw one neutral interior or exterior, except at my hotel.

Fleur-de-Lis wallpaper, Royal Orleans Hotel

Though the typical color schemes on souvenirs and such are green with purple, and black with gold, the architecture features vibrant color combinations of every imaginable type, especially throughout the French Quarter. Unlike, say, Miami or Bermuda, which feature exclusively pastels, New Orleans boasts both dark and light combinations, such as turquoise with black:

Rose with mint and celery green:

Coral with forest green and white:

Yellow with purple:

Dusty blue with deep rose:

And dusty red with green and white:

I also spotted a deep marine blue with deep eggplant but missed the photo op. This is an approximation of the colors, both deeply saturated:

Color in NOLA extends to its abundant ironwork, here in frosted purple and mint julep green:

And even to its local transportation:

Pastel Schwinn

It's a Marshmallow World ...

I saw this fantastically cool retro sofa in my most recent Interior Design magazine and have to share.

It's the Draper sofa (named after Don of Mad Men, perhaps?) by Armen Living. It's made of solid pine, and is covered in a poly/cotton chenille fabric.

In addition to the sleek silhouette and fab oblong back cushions, what totally makes it is the contrasting piping. It gives added definition to its sexy shape. I could also see this covered in white terrycloth with lime piping. Or maybe orange leather with cherry piping — delicious, delicious!

It also reminds me of George Nelson's iconic Marshmallow sofa, which I've always had a soft spot for — even more delicious, delicious!

Vintage Wonderland Part III

Here's my 2011 Christmas tree, imported from South Windsor, CT. Special thanks to my Aunt Lucille for helping me choose it.

The large papier mâché angel hanging from the window molding is from Filene's Basement back when they used to have their annual Christmas in August Sale (so sad to see the Basement go this year).

This year's tree color scheme is blue and gold. The lights are all vintage C-6 sets with some bubble lights, Reliance Krystal Stars (1930s, made in Rhode Island), and plastic stars from Japan (1940s). 

There are also metal reflectors on some of the regular cone-shaped bulbs, also in blue and gold.

Most of the ornaments are vintage with some new ones mixed in. 

The real miracle is that I managed to stuff this 7-foot tree into my Honda Civic (it's not a hatchback or SUV!) and drive it from CT to Boston without completely destroying it.

The plastic angel light on top was purchased at the Brimfield Antiques Show a few years ago. 

Her halo is broken but she's otherwise in very good shape. I'm guessing she dates from the 1950s, but I'm not sure.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

Vintage Wonderland Part II

Last holiday season, I started my vintage wallpaper collage series, debuting with these three pieces.

This one is entitled, "The Abominable Snow Monster on Vintage 'Cockington Farm' Wallpaper."

This one is "The Abominable Snow Monster with Ornament on Vintage 'The Woodstock' Wallpaper."

And this one is “Pixie Elves on Vintage ‘Laurentian’ Wallpaper.”

Creating these has become a fun hobby, and I'll no doubt create more in the coming year. 

Merry, Merry, Merry!

Vintage Wonderland

This is my new vintage Christmas-motif kitchen tablecloth ...

Most often I see these with poinsettia designs or with lit candle designs. I chose this one because I love the wavy-line border and the fun geometric trees. And, the light blue, gray and black are non-traditional colors for Christmas, so all the better to coordinate with my blue, white and yellow kitchen.

Here's the tablecloth with my vintage Star Glow cream and sugar set as centerpiece:

And here's how I have the table decorated for the holidays, featuring my vintage Mt. Pleasant glass bowl filled with vintage blue Christmas ornaments. Jolly, jolly, jolly!

November's Color Scheme: Burnished Harvest Cornucopia

Inspiration:
My vintage potato salad bowl, still beautiful and useful, chips and all.

Though the bottom of the bowl says, "Made in Japan," the painted colors make me think of the Mediterranean in summer or autumn. I pulled out the colors from this bowl to create a beautiful palette of warm hues in yellow, rust, and berry rose, which I envision working equally well in a living room, kitchen or dining room.

If I were designing a traditional living room with this palette, I'd use Mountain Peak White for the ceiling, Limon for the walls, and a combination of Rust and Yellow Highlighter for the trim, depending on what the moldings and other room features look like. If the room were lucky enough to have a fireplace, I'd use the Roseate, Italiano Rose, and True Pink for the fireplace area.

I'd use these fabrics to tie the room's color palette together:

I'd use the yellow gingham for Roman shades, the burgundy for a sofa, the variegated color fabric (which cools down the color scheme a bit) for a loveseat or chairs, the boxed velvet for a large ottoman, and the copper crushed velvet fabric for pillows.


Elements:
Benjamin Moore Paints (clockwise from top): 
Mountain Peak White, Rust, Yellow Highlighter, True Pink, Pilgrimage Foliage, Delightful Yellow, Limon, Roseate, Italiano Rose.


Fabrics (clockwise from top): 
Newfield Check by Lee Jofa® in 100% cotton. Daffodil.
Pattern 180569H Highland Court Exclusive in Viscose/Cotton/Polyester. Copper.
Boxed Velvet™ by Beacon Hill® in Rayon/Cotton/Metallic. Hazelnut.
Gymkhara Weave by Lee Jofa® in 100% cotton. Chestnut.
Mingle by LoomSource in Polyester/Rayon. Passion.