Mar 20, 2009

Ashley Furniture as seen in Barclay House


An inviting and restful corner of the master bedroom.

I had a wonderful opportunity to design the condo at Barclay House -- in Clayton, Missouri -- for the Bethesda Health Group that develops assisted living communities. Pat Truit, fellow customer specialist at Ashley Furniture Homestore, worked with me.

Our challenge was to design a space that appeals to two generations -- the demographic that is buying the Barclay House condos. Children of the older generation, in many cases, are buying the condos for their parents. The children's tastes lean towards contemporary while their parents' tastes lean towards traditional.

We worked to bridge both generations by nodding to traditional design as seen in the new millennium. We did this with transitional style furniture set off by accents in both contemporary and traditional designs.

Our color palette is soothing. Throughout the condo we used my favorite Restoration Hardware paint color silver sage and accented it with velvet chocolate on the living room wall.

Here are photos by Katherine Bish.

The entry:

Welcome home! This partition wall is the first thing you see as you enter. It is made more interesting by an abstract painting hung vertically. A perfect fit. It's the first thing to draw your eye toward the view to come.

The living and dining rooms:








The master bedroom:










The office:




Katherine thought it would be fun to snap some portraits. I didn't plan on it, but luckily I wore a decent outfit. I love this key hole chair from Ashley Furniture Homestore.


Mar 13, 2009

Save the Pink Bathrooms -- embrace mid-century modern


Check out this week's LifeStyle section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Aisha Sultan writes about the Formenti home decorated in 1956 that is perfectly preserved, not a scratch on the furniture and the stove used only 28 times for Thanksgiving meals.

How, you ask?

The family lived for years in the basement and only entered the kitchen and living room on special occasions. Even at special times the furniture was covered in plastic.

The house, located on the Hill, was on tour for a while, but sadly I missed it. I would have jumped at the chance to see it.

I have had a number of clients who want to rip out or otherwise disguise their 1950's pink tiled bathroom.

Hold on folks!

Consider embracing the pink. There are a growing number of folks looking for mid-century styling and pink bathrooms. If the Formenti home is any indication, it sold for the list price before it was listed!

Hello, that's in a buyer's market!

Where are these mid-century enthusiasts? Check out savethepinkbathrooms.com and also check out retro renovation .

Locally you can find retro furnishings at a St. Louis favorite: T.F.A.

For helpful hints as listed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, click here.

If you live in St. Louis and have a pink bathroom worth saving, I would love to help!

Photo above as seen on Retro Renovation.