TayRose Design interior design March 2015 - TayRose Design interior design

Room chosen for Good Housekeeping article

17 Mar 2015

Home Decor, Home Design, Home Interior Designs, jungle, TayRose Design, theme room

Do you know how when you receive a nice compliment, or when you hear some good news that your heart does a little happy dance? Well, while scrolling through the numerous daily emails one day, one caught my eye. It was from a Rebecca, and the title was,

From Rebecca Re: Feature on GoodHousekeeping.com – Kids’ Bedrooms

I thought to myself, this looks interesting and opened it.

Hi Taylor!

I hope you’re doing well! I am a writer for GoodHousekeeping.com and I am putting together a round-up of the coolest kids’ bedroom ideas. I love your jungle bedroom , and I was wondering if I could use an image of it in my round-up. Please let me know ASAP if this would be alright.

Thanks so much!

Rebecca

All right??? Happy Dance! What a feeling of appreciation that my design work is to be recognized in this way. Of course I emailed her right back and included my blog page about working on the room. http://tayrose.com/2015/02/08/its-a-jungle-in-here/ .

It’s a Jungle in here! Parade of Homes Pigliavento Builder, TayRose Designs

A week later, Rebecca emailed me with the link to her article. There were 10 kids rooms she featured and you can find the Jungle room as #7 as you scroll through the pictures here: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/love-your-space/themed-kids-rooms#slide-1

It’s a start…baby steps, and each step a rewarding leap!!

Thank you Rebecca!

“Watch” how these items can be made in no time!

Taylor

08 Mar 2015

Interior Design Room

I apologize that I don’t have any instructions for these items, but they only need a few materials….well, actually, you will need a lot of watch parts.

When you go to auctions, at least auctions around where I live, I’ve picked up a lot of box lots of things from houses that are a mish mosh of whatever you can think of….kind of like someone’s junk drawer. I scored on a box that was full of old watch parts. Not sure why anyone had these many watch parts, maybe he was in the watch repair business, I don’t know, but I won the box…now what do I do with it?

I knew I wanted to do a collage of some sort, and I wanted to make jewelry as well, so I sorted out piles and thought about my collage first. A collage is nice for wall art, but if something can be functional as well, all the better. I looked at my frame collection, thinking I could make a frame, then spied a plain round mirror and thought a rim of watch parts would turn this plain mirror into a “timeless” piece to hang on the wall.

I again turned to my Laticrete mastic adhesive that can be found in any Home Improvement store, and I scooped out some and put into a container and added a few drops of black acrylic paint, stirred it to a nice gray color. I worked small sections on the mirror rim at a time, spreading the putty with a putty knife thick enough to set the watch part in but not too thick that it oozed up and the watch part got lost. I also layered parts on top of parts using just a little of the putty under each piece enough to hold it. Read the drying instructions from the putty container before trying to hang. The small mirror was hung mixed with other frames and art on the wall and looked great!

For the flower stem, I used lots of different found objects. I broke off the metal leaves from a wall piece that was past its prime and curved the stems to loop through an old metal gear part (you could use anything that is small and has holes, preferable round) For the stem, I had an old metal spatula that I removed the flipper part with metal cutters leaving a small square area that I folded over to wire the flower head to. I had found some metal wire covering tube called loom, I think, that was rusted and I have no idea what it was off of, but I liked how I could bend it as leaves and wired them to the stem. The face of the flower was a broken pocket watch that was used as is and wired to the gear part. For the stamen of the flower, I used a pinch of wire shavings, just tucked it in and let it hang. This flower has more of a steampunk feel to it, and I mixed the flower in as a “timeless” bouquet.

Keep “watch” for any loose parts of things laying around, they could be the perfect component to add on a mirror, frame or box for a new functional use or as a decorative piece. Some things so simple can take no “time” at all!

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Sea Shells far from the Sea Shore…..A mirrored view

One can’t say enough about shells….their shapes; colors; and sizes from a tiny spiral to a large conch- shells have been a part of decorating through out history. Shells add beauty whether displayed in a dish, or on a shelf or, in my case, adhered to an old mirror.

I have 2 examples of mirrors and a memento box that I have made that changed their entire look just by adding shells. On one mirror, I painted the shells, and the other, I left the shells in their original colors. Both I feel have done shells proud…

The first mirror I had a large oval gold-painted mirror that had some rose bas relief along the rim but only in a few places so I wanted to fill in the whole rim to make the mirror more sculptural looking.

Whenever I see shells at garage sales, or thrift stores, I try to scoop them up for I know they will be used one day, in one way or another. Or I just admire them in a bowl or jar- reminded of the waves from whence they came.

I used a putty type product called Laticrete to apply the shells to the rim, working in small sections so the adhesive wouldn’t dry out too fast.

It’s waterproof and used to set tiles. It has a creamy consistency and I used a putty knife to apply then set the shells into the soft putty.

After the putty was dry, I decided to paint the mirror plus the shells in white, with several coats, using up some white paint I had leftover in my basement.

I thought white was an appropriate color, where I could envision the mirror in a beach house at the Cape, or in a contemporary loft in the City, or cozied up Shabby Chic style in a vintage cottage. I love the mirror in white, it’s so sculptural with the shells, and you really have to walk up and look closely to verify they are shells, which makes it all the more interesting.

For the 2nd mirror, I decided to keep the shells in their original forms, and I again used putty to attach the shells, but I added some black acrylic paint to the putty to darken it to a gray color so the shells would stand out more. I also painted the inside rim in black so the shell color would pop, and give a nice contrast rim around the mirror.

I worked with the putty in small sections at a time, fitting shells and adding tiny shells into small openings, filling as many gaps as I could find with more shells. This mirror was in pretty bad shape, so by covering it with the shells, the life was saved with a little hint of it’s history at the top. The mirror too is timeless, and really fits into any style of decor be it eclectic to contemporary. It has found a spot in my bathroom, and if I tire of it there, it will find another wall in the house to be appreciated.

(And yes, the mirror is hanging on some bead board that I painted the wall color and then hand painted the seams of the bead board slats in gray….call me crazy, but for this accent wall in the bath, it works really well and didn’t take all that long to do.)

The last piece I did with shells, but certainly not the last piece I will use shells on, was a memento box I had covered in shells as a card box for my wedding. This box now holds trinkets and memories and the shells encircled a favorite photo of ours on the lid.

Shells will always be a part of my home decor, and though I may not live by the seashore, the sea is remembered by the tiny treasures found on beaches and in thrift stores that share their natural beauty… off shore.

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