Category Archives: Tuesday Tidbit

Tuesday Tidbit: My Architectural Fragment Addiction

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Tuesday Tidbit: My Architectural Fragment Addiction

I discovered it young

Some kids collect dolls, toys…I collected mini-alcohol bottles (that story = another time;)!!, candles & fragments from “things”

These “fragments” are from the Plaza Hotel in NYC. I re-purposed them as mirrors heading downstairs to our family rumpus room. Divine. Makes me feel as if I am in NYC about to have tea!

hummm…..

Why I love them (the “thing” fragments that is): They do three things REALLY well

I have these column fragments clustered together in the living room. At different times of the year they serve as candle holders, book ends, stocking hangers or tray holders on a buffet table! Talk about custom life…;)

Am I speaking as if these things have life? Yes, kind of…they do…

Hello fabulous! Lucite AND Architectural Fragment? This from Arteriors Home. OK, I will grant permission to use a Designed and Fabricated Combo just this once ;). And if they aren’t still making this one (2010) then let’s custom fabricate one with pieces from meaningful buildings or homes in your life!

1. Architectural Fragments add unexpected “custom” to a room

Do you recognize this photo? This is in a Client’s Entry hall and is made from Historically Significant Columns we had customized into a table. It greets guests as they enter the front door. I love the “energy” custom fragments bring to a space. They are not flat. They bring the past with them – in a good way.

3. Architectural Fragments reveal things a homeowner likes they may be uncomfortable taking risks on in larger pieces

Not quite ready for Indiana Jones in your living room? Then use a small fragment on a coffee table to hint at something that has meaning for you. This pic from Nyssa in Turkey. Photo linked to credit.

3. Architectural Fragments are affordable sculpture

This is an under-lit lucite sculpture base. One of the things we did was place a rock from the Sea of Galilee onto this for a client – it is magnificent on the bookshelf in their home office, especially at night. The fragment = earth’s architecture has personal significance and enhances their custom life. For them = reminder of what is important.

I am not talking about Pre-Fab Architectural Remnants…the kind you find at major retail outlets

I am talking about the real deal

It can be a piece of column

A piece of molding

A rock….anything!

Do you have any of these in your home? What are you using them for?

At last count? 22. Everything from bookend to makeup mirror holder & beyond”

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”™

Tuesday Tidbit: My (lowercase p) plaid Habit

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Tuesday Tidbit: My (lower case p) plaid Habit

I hesitate to share this habit I have for plaid…because there is an Emperor of Tartan…and his name is Scot – as in Scot Meecham Wood

I will call it plaid (lowercase p) for today in deference as I am a serious admirer of Scot’s talent with (Uppercase T) Tartan!

There are not many Designers who can skillfully master using this in custom spaces without making it look like a Marie Callender’s from 1970

Scot has what must be an ordained from on high way with the nuances of scale & pattern…& one heck of an installer…

I mean seriously…do you KNOW how hard this is to get right?! http://smwdesign.com/

Don’t believe me?

Our Sheldon, aka “Fabulous Beast” would look terrific in this.

Try it!!

Designer trying to use plaid well? DIY Person? 2 Couture Chateau “must do’s” for custom plaid drapery: Interlining & Hand Hemming.

The interlining prevents sag & keeps the plaid hanging well, especially important with pattern match. Use a lightweight one if needed & the hand hem? Well…I just love a hand hem 🙂

I’d like my drink now ;)!. Image linked. Beaux Mondes Designs

 I like it pink & loud: So fun for a custom teen room or studio office

How fun. (Source: thomasfleming, via giveitawhirl)

And sometimes full of vinegar

It’s the POW-er of plaid that makes it fun. It does the same in a home space. So instead of wearing it, we customize it into a fantastic piece for a client who understands…the custom fur piping on a plaid Queen Anne chair in the Aspen Home. Divine with a book. Thank you Michael Kors! And yes, I’ll take the boots ;).

So (p)laid & (T)artan…

I love this Oscar De La Renta piece…found it on Shrimpton Couture…AFTER it was sold ;(…

Here’s to making it current. Here’s to customizing your home with pop of pattern.

But please –  before you (or I for that matter) use it in a space…

I mean…how fun!

take a lesson from the Master. And “For the Record”…am glad there’s a curator out there who scans the world for people skilled enough to install it!

See the entire post on Scot’s Blog: http://tartanscot.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-tartan-office.html

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”™”

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: My Custom Lining Habit on all things Design

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Tuesday Tidbit: My Custom Lining Habit on All Things Design

Ok…so you know I love couture details

I liked this…kind of fun!

I have kind of an obsession with fabulous and personalized linings.

Hot pink, green silk, wild pattern, unexpected uses…

I found this pleated pink silk on Pinterest. Photo linked. Love it!

Am sure it all started in the – get ready – 1980’s (!) – before I was born…not…

when designing in NYC & then Los Angeles

At the time it was very chic to custom design all the lamp shades with pale pink hand dyed silk so that the glow from the light bulbs would be flattering to women in a room

This is a picture from a silk lamp shade site that I found. The pic is linked back to the creators’ site. What I noticed was the level of detail. All hand done. Even if it’s not your style, the talent required to execute this craft is supreme.

How wonderful! I wanted to live like the people we were designing for :)!

I couldn’t afford it…so I thought, well – heck, maybe I could “Custom DIY” it…

Pink Paint ! What could go wrong ;)?…..hummm…..

Saved up…bought a can of pink paint

Customized every single lampshade inside of our microscopic apartment with what I thought was the “perfect” pale pink

Mind you – I painted in broad daylight

Let me just say…daylight isn’t always the best light to use…designer (duh Ann)…especially when the product you are “creating” will NEVER be used in daylight :)!!

I was so excited to see the results…

Evening lands…

evening…the real test…I was SO excited…ugghh…thank God for humor!

And our crappy small apartment looked like the inside of a bottle of Pepto Bismol.

Design Epic Fail # 112!

I laughed – and cried – mostly because I couldn’t afford another can of paint…and learned then and there that two things REALLY matter when dealing with LINING things and the COLOR of lining things:

1. Composition of Material: Paint on cheap cardboard is NOT the same as hand died pale silk 🙂

2. Saturation of Color = Reflective Quality

(!)

Needless to say, I still love custom lining and have spent years delighting in clients who don’t mind an epic fail every now and then while we get that amazing green underlining “just right” to reflect off a polished floor when you are walking up a staircase and happen to “glimpse” the underside of a chair!

I do believe custom linings are a fingerprint from the designer. A touch of whimsy. And they show intent. You cannot rush when you are lining things.

Louboutin Lining is known the world over…it is just fun!

Live a custom life. There is only one you.™

Check out our Pinterest Board on Linings here & let me know if you have any fabulous lining stories we can share!

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: My Covered Button Habit

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Tuesday Tidbit: Custom Decorating, My Covered Button Habit

I love couture details

These are gorgeous! From “Thingshelenlikes”

Hand fabricated covered buttons make everything better…

Spectacular. Image Credit Tony Hamaway. Linked to site onewed.

From a wedding dress

To a piece of custom upholstery

To the corner of a custom Couture Chateau Coverlet

Linen Backed with Covered Buttons

If it’s standing still….beware…I will find a place for a covered button

Back side of one of our Reupholstered Vintage Settee’s….gorgeous! And notice the covered buttons…

One of my favorite places for covered buttons is on our lined & interlined pillows….no zipper in sight…just a gorgeous placket with covered button closure!

Covered Buttons & a peek at our custom Couture Chateau lining on those private label pillows…

Where can you add a covered button or two?!

Even on the reverse of one of our Antique Textile Pillows…this Designer Washed Linen makes a fabulous backdrop to the simple covered button detail. And no worries…our workrooms take great pride in sewing and attaching those buttons to stand the “husband test”! No falling off buttons here!

These are specatacular. Can you imagine them on the side of a fabulous contemporary sofa? Just this single detail?! Wow.

Think outside the box…where could you add couture details to something you are designing or having made for your home? Customize it just a bit…gotta start somewhere! You are worth it!

Have a great Tuesday!

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: Interior Decorating, My Tassel Habit

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Tuesday Tidbit: Interior Decorating, My Tassel Habit

Tassel Types

If it’s sitting still, I will hang a tassel on it :)!

Fortuny Glass with Cascading Tassel

Yes, I love tassels.

Contemporary Hand Made Tassel

Counted 17 in our Studio. Big, Small, Most all of them Custom of course…

Pink Tassel with Swag 😉

Can you pronounce the French word: Passementarie? It loosely means the decorative use of trim.

Antique Gold Tassels

Even in super contemporary, clean lined, no clutter spaces, you can ALWAYS find a spot for a Tassel

A Tassel from a Site we found called Inviting Smiles! Click the pic to go to the site.

For our Full Service Clients who have closets as part of their project, we ALWAYS make signature Couture Chateau Custom Hangers….and…you guessed it…we add a tassel.

Especially fun when the Closet also has our signature Silver Leaf Lining.

Silver Leaf makes the most fabulous statement behind a rack of beautiful clothes – especially when the custom Couture Chateau Hangers have petit custom tassels!

Easy way to “couture that chateau” up?….add a tassel ;)!

Check us out on Pinterest. Yup, new to it, but it’s a start.

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: Couture Chateau on ivillage, 16 Beautiful Fall Decor Trends!

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Tuesday Tidbit: Couture Chateau is on ivillage!

Page 12, check it out! A Couture Chateau Design Project from Moraga, California is Featured! How fun to have a local project make the “Beautiful Fall Decor Trends” ;)!…

Check out the post on Trends for 2013

Seriously! I am so stoked! You’d a thunk we made the cover of House Beautiful!!

Here are some more shots from the same room

Detail of Chair. Our amazing restorer applied five coats of lacquer to a fabulous vintage chair. We had new cane put on so the finish would absorb properly.

This is a favored client, he and his wife have EXCEPTIONAL taste

The menswear upholstery weight stripe is a wool blend. It is an absolutely stunning piece of fabric – here it is with a Versace Fabric we also have. Yum!

They understand refined design and attention to detail

I love the tonal qualities of gorgeous brown with gorgeous gray. The table is entirely hand hewn. Every inch.

They value the people in their lives and sought to create a fabulous backdrop where the living takes center stage. They understand from the core that excellence in Craftsmenship translates into the soul of a room.

A true Couture Chateau.

Tweet. Pin. Share!

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: We Love Tweed in Home Furnishings!

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Tuesday Tidbit: We Love Tweed in Home Furnishings!

Ralph Lauren Tweed Fabric

We love using Tweed in Home Furnishings. Above is Ralphs Fabric…does anything look familiar below?

As Fabulous on Shams as it is as a Suit !

I like Tweed because it gives dimension without overpowering pattern…subtle but classic!

Subtle Texture, Subtle Pattern…LOVE it!

What is your Tuesday Tidbit on Tweed? Love it or leave it?

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: My Tiffany Blue Habit

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Tuesday Tidbit: My Tiffany Blue Habit

This image is from Cup of Beautiful Blog

Love it? Leave it?

Even the binder dividers I like!

I simply love it!

Love these!

Our VIP Day Boxes are Tiffany Blue

Ok…yes, we do have grey for our male clients and white for our super contemporary clients, but I always try to start with this color!

The drape walls in my office are Pale Ice Blue (I like to think of them as subtle Tiffany Blue)

Our Studio Drapery Wall: Divides my desk from the conference table area. We can open or close off the space depending on who is in the Studio that day.

It looks great with Black, White, Red, Grey, Yellow…

Even the blanket that sits over my Office Chair is Tiffany Blue…it keeps me warm most days ;)!

Gotta have it!

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: My Gold & (Brass) Habit!

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Tuesday Tidbit: My Gold (Brass) Habit!

Sneak Peek…A Gold Panel from the Plaza Hotel in one of our Projects (not yet completed)

So I’ve shared my Herringbone Habit, My Yellow Habit and now, my Gold Habit!

Gold Bracelet

Even when Silver, Oil Rubbed Bronze and Copper were “in – out – all the rage – etc”

Finish Samples

I always looked for ways to incorporate Gold or Brass into my projects

Aged Brass Mirror

Timeless – Truly

Love using these simple Brass single Faucets in unexpected places!

Ages – Naturally

Look at this – Beautiful! I found it on Etsy…click on link below to see if it’s still available!

Love it!

Brass Antique Vase from Benton County Museum Site

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: My Yellow Habit!

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Tuesday Tidbit: My Yellow Habit!

A Fancy Intense Yellow Diamond

Yesterday I shared a picture of CR Laine’s Yellow Wing Chair

Another Chair by CR Laine!

I have a serious love affair with Yellow

Yellow Carpet from Overstock

Started when I was a little girl and the Yellow and Orange Floral Sheer Drapery FLOODED my room with light as the sun shone through

I couldn’t find a picture of mine as a girl, but these are the same “type”. Overly girly. A bit much, but oh so easy and fun as a child!

Amazing

50 West 67th Street…the Musician’s Building near Lincoln Center

Grew when we lived in NYC and the pale pale yellow walls with the 18″ Baseboards & 12 Foot Ceilings of a Pre-War Building barely 1 bedroom apartment called my name

An apartment on the 5th Floor…ours was on the 1st and had magnificent ceilings…

Today, I’ll take it in any shade

From the Decorologist Blog – Fabulous Yellow Console!

Any saturation

Love Yellow Roses

Any amount

LOVE this rug!

Love to the Yellow!

Harry Winston Yellow Diamond Earrings!

xo Ann