Trimmed Out IKEA Besta

First off, Jennifer from Rambling Renovators asked me to participate in her blog series called Great Reads. It's an awesome round up of lots of bloggers' favorite post of 2010. Click here to see what post I chose.


Secondly, couldn't you die over this IKEA hack (also posted on IKEA Hacker)?


It's just some upholstery nails tacked into an IKEA Besta console ($125)!


This was the inspiration piece, the Visconti cabinet from Bungalow 5 (retails for about $2300).


Such a statement piece! Love it.


Thanks to Jennifer from Rambling Renovators for the heads up on this project. She found it from Anne-Marie at 10 Rooms.

Color Inspiration!!

I got this J.Crew ad in my email a week or two ago. Couldn't you just eat up all the color?! I'm using similar colors in our new place. Lots of grays, blacks and navy (and of course white - the floors and walls) and then really fun pops of color - persimmon red, raspberry, violet, orange, emerald green, mustard yellow, lime... sort of sounds more like a grocery store than a living room.


Anyway, speaking of colorful, I stumbled across these amazingly bright and beautiful consoles on Overstock and I had to share.


A pair of this chest would be great as night stands.


I'm absolutely dying over the green one! A little bit of fluorescent color in a room feels so modern and fresh.


I hope you're having a nice and relaxing week! We're taking things slow around here. xoxox

I hope it's the best one yet

Ikat Fabric as Wallpaper

I was recently introduced to a new friend who lives nearby me downtown in an amazing loft in Tribeca. She had a baby daughter last year. When she was decorating her nursery space, Lauren was inspired by this room from Elle Decor, designed by Steven Grambel.


She bought several yards of silk ikat from Uzbek Alive (Lauren mentioned the fabric arrived in an awesome package like this) and had her contractor hang the silk with regular wallpaper paste.





There was just enough scrap fabric left over for Lauren's seamstress to make a pelmet box and to trim out the crib bumper.






Isn't this amazing? I LOVE the results!

Winner: Burke Decor Give Away

Congratulations to Leslie for winning the Abu round pillow from Burke Decor!





Leslie, please email me as soon as possible. And the rest of you readers, don't forget the 20% discount at Burke, using the code 'LILGREEN.' Happy shopping!

Jewel Tone

Christmas parties and preparations at the Komenda household officially wrapped up earlier this week (phew!), so now that clients are too busy with their own holiday celebrations, I have a little time on my hands to get some projects done around the house.

Our entry console looks like this:


And is getting painted a shade of emerald green from the discontinued at Home Depot line of Ralph Lauren paints. I think it was called 'Polo" but I need to check. I bought the paint months ago during the big clearance sale.

It's a pretty color though and sort of reminds me of the walls in this amazing room I spied on Blair's blog.


I'll share more photos when my rug gets in and when I can corner my sweet/overworked husband and have him help me hang the ginormous mirror currently just leaning against the wall on the console. Nothing says Merry Christmas like home improvement projects.

Louis Phillipe Mirrors

We lived in Brussels for a couple of months about two years ago. I fell in love with all the antique Louis Philippe mirrors that I saw at all the flea markets in Belgium and France. I didn't buy any because I was worried about the cost of shipping such a big heavy piece. If I could do it again though, I'd just get a half or a whole freight container and go crazy at all the fleas (are you listening to me Gabby and Jordan!?)

What I love best about these mirrors is how they maximize mirror surface area with out being a boring square shape. They are really big and help to brighten a room, but still lend some softness to a space with their rounded edges. Some of my favorite rooms featuring Louis Phillipe mirrors:




Ruthie Sommers in Cottage Living


Courtney Giles



via things that inspire




Lonny




For those of us without thousands of extra dollars to spend on a gorgeous antique mirror at ABC or on 1st Dibs, IKEA sells a great full-length version for $99. Love it.



Or if you're in the market for a shorter wall mirror, this one's on eBay for $145. Wouldn't it be great gold or silver leafed or painted out in a fun color?

Elbow Grease

How about some beautiful photos of a chair redo to kick-start your week?

BEFORE:


AFTER:







Isn't it great what you can do with a little hard work? I really love the little casters on the feet.



For a tutorial, visit Janna's blog, Swoon Interiors.

Faux Deer Head Tutorial

Looking for a fun last minute holiday craft? Danielle found these gold deer at Michael's for $8.99 each.


She got them cut at Home Depot, painted them white and mounted the heads on fabric covered plaques.


I think these are so cute for the holidays. Maybe with a few ornaments or some greenery hanging from the antlers?


Thanks for sharing, Danielle! Great job!


Do you have a project to share on LGN? Email your submission to jkomenda at gmail dot com.

Give Away from Burker Decor - Robshaw Pillow!

One of my favorite sponsors, Burke Decor, is generously offering all of you 20% off store-wide through Dec. 24! Just use the code 'LILGREEN' during check out.

That's not all though. They are very generously offering up one of these John Robshaw pillow for grabs. Here are the choices.

Padma bolster



Abu Round



Jama bolster (this pillow is HUGE)



Honeycomb



Firefly Deco



Dusty Decorative



Plangi Coral Bolster



Mosaic



Trellis



Turquoise



Just leave a comment here before Monday at midnight to enter to win one of these lovelies. Tell me which one you'd choose and where you'd use it.

Good luck and don't forget about the 20% off discount! There are some amazing gift possibilities at Burke.

Lilly Bunn Weekes

Last year, one of my clients emailed me and said something about seeing my blog mentioned on Vogue's website. I was curious and thrilled. The mention was in an Vogue 'It Girl' article about Lilly Bunn Weekes, a born-and-raised Manhattanite, mother of two and talented interior designer.


She is gorgeous, stylish, accomplished and is friends with NY's social elite, so I wasn't expecting much after reaching out to her to say thank you for the mention. But, instead, I discovered that Lilly is warm and very friendly and it's been such a treat to get to know her a little.

Lilly worked for Town and Country for five years and then McMillen for two years, where she started McMillen Plus with Ann Pyne. Now Lilly is taking on her own design clients, AND she has a new blog! Aren't we lucky?



Want to see some of her recent work? I knew you did.

This is a wider shot of the room Lilly is photographed in above. The repro antique chairs were upholstered in Madeline Weinrib's Purple Mu. The table cloth is made from Pindler & Pindler fabric with trim from M&J Trimmings. The rug is by Stark. Grasscloth by Phillip Jeffries.


Lilly blogs about some of her client ideas. These are two different renderings for the same room.



Could you die over these blue lacquered walls? This was one of the rooms Lilly designed while working on the McMillen Plus team. I think the Schumacher fabric on the chair is such a fun punch. The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore's Hale Navy in satin and then given a coat of poly. The lamps are from a really great store in Southampton called homenature.


And how adorable is this little girl's room Lilly is working on in Locust Valley? The decorative painting was done by Lilly's sister, Palmer.




I spy Porthault...


Lilly lives in the West Village. Here she is at home with her two adorable daughters. The sofa is the Petrie from Crate and Barrel and the amazing artwork is by Donald Baechelor. Lovely, right?


Don't forget to drop by Lilly's Notebook and say hello.