On.a.Whim Interiors Take Two: The Living Room

Before I even begin, I must make introductions. This is Ed Earl, Kelly's 13-year-old Heinz 57 and my new decorating companion. Not a move has been made without his steady, persistent observance. Thank you for your oversight E.E.!

The lion's share of Saturday was spent enhancing Kelly's living room. A daunting endeavor considering this is the first room guests walk into and where company is often entertained. My goals were to make the room cozy, an expression of Kelly's taste, and attractive to all potential inhabitants. Kelly sent me before pics of the room earlier in the week so that I could begin collecting my thoughts and formulate a vision for Saturday's implementation.

As you can see, it's a beautiful room with lots of natural light, hardwoods and a mainly neutral tone. Pay attention to the portrait of Kelly's oldest Lydia in the top right corner. Kelly mentioned she wanted to make sure all the additions complemented this piece so I tried to stay true to her wishes and pull out some of the blue tones of her dress and gold in her hair.

Another request of Kelly's was to do something with this space to the left of her entertainment set. She wasn't wild on leaving the ottoman there and wanted some decor on the wall as well.

I made a purchase list Friday after talking some more with Kelly. It included the following:

1. An area rug

2. Larger couch pillows to complement current ones

3. A taller side table to go next to the couch

4. Pictures for the "trouble" wall next to the tv

5. A new lamp

6. Cream throws to make the room super cozy

And 10 hours later, here's the finished product:

My favorite purchase was this Martha Stewart area rug which I found at Issis & Sons in Greystone. The colors are the perfect soft shades of blue, cream, golden and a hint of red. We were able to finagle a great deal on it since it was discontinued. Woo hoo!

At the last minute, I dropped by Homewood Antiques in Edgewood and found this cream Art Deco vase for only $12. They've only been open three weeks and have some amazing pieces and great prices. A second trip must for sure!

These bookends were also a Homewood Antiques purchase. For some reason finding classy, inexpensive bookends has been difficult; I was thrilled to find these!

The wooden bowls were created from timber at Eric's (Kelly's husband) childhood home. I felt like they made the entertainment set a little cluttered but wanted to find a special spot for these unique, sentimental bowls.

Found the pillows at Pier 1 on my way out the door; another lucky purchase. They match perfectly with Kelly's originals.

I love this table and lamp. Both were purchased from Home Goods; I think they round out this corner nicely.

And last, my piece de resistance:

Four bird prints hanging above an eclectic cream wire chair and blanket basket to make that trouble corner sing.

The prints were purchased at Harmony Landing and the chair and basket came from At Home (both in Homewood).

Below sits one exhausted but happy designer.

Kelly made a delicious dinner to celebrate the new look. Her Thai Coconut Curried Salmon & Greens recipe will be featured in Wednesday's post; you won't want to miss out on it!

Fresh Tomato & Sausage Penne Pasta

A family wedding, a Saturday morning 5K, a very special birthday (see a selection of fun pics below recipe section) and a nail-biter win (WAR EAGLE!) filled this weekend to the brim. I offered to cook dinner Saturday evening following the wedding so that my mom could rest (she ended up being my sous chef anyway) and everyone else could watch the Auburn game. Don't worry, there's a smaller television set up in the kitchen as well. I did not go without! :) We had Fresh Tomato & Sausage Penne Pasta, apple pumpkin muffins and a huge salad filled with mixed greens, apples and walnuts.

In my opinion,

+

= the perfect combination of early fall flavors: savory sausage, apple, pumpkin and tomato.

DELICIOUS!

What I absolutely love about this pasta recipe (which was adapted from Cooking Light) is that you get to make your own tomato sauce from whole tomatoes. It's so easy, and tastes unbelievably fresh. You can use any type of tomato you prefer. These vine tomatoes were on sale at Whole Foods, so I grabbed them, but I used Roma tomatoes when I made this dish last week for my roommate. For enough to feed four, you'll need at least four medium sized red orbs.

After washing, cut them up into pieces.

And set aside for later.

In the meantime, boil 8 ounces of whole wheat pasta until cooked to your liking.

Chop half of an onion. I prefer yellow over white, but you can decide.

Ask the butcher to package up half a pound of Sweet Italian Sausage

(Side note: I'm not a big pork eater. When I first saw that this recipe called for sausage, I wrinkled my nose. One bite of the finished dish changed my opinion of this delicious, savory combination. Another perk is that sausage is surprisingly inexpensive. I certainly wouldn't recommend it every day but don't have issue with occasional usage.)

Decase the sausage and saute in olive oil with your onions over medium heat for about five minutes.


Here's the fun part: stir in your tomatoes and watch as it transforms into a delicious sauce.

Sprinkle in some chopped, fresh basil.

And stir.

Pour in the drained whole wheat pasta and mix. Plate then sprinkle with fresh Pecorino Romano and more basil.

For the muffins, visit this really great cooking blog. My pictorial version is below:

Add the mixed greens, apple and walnut salad, and you have a delicious fall feast. I had to multiply the pasta recipe 2xs to feed 10, and it yielded just the right amount.


Saturday a.m. could not have started off better. We had 30 members on Team Lakeshore at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and had a blast walking around downtown Birmingham. It was amazing to see over 16,000 participants raising support and honoring breast cancer survivors. I was also thrilled to have family see a little bit of what we do at Lakeshore; thanks for coming out Tews!


After the race, Elizabeth and I drove Karen home and changed clothes. We enjoyed Starbucks and then pedicures in honor of Elizabeth’s 13th birthday which was Sunday.

My cousin Christopher married his beautiful bride Melissa at 3 p.m. that afternoon. It was such a joy to celebrate with family!

On.a.Whim Interiors Take One

Every now and then, On.a.Whim readers see postings on my blog and ask me to replicate, create or design like versions of what was posted. When this happens, I can’t help but squeal with delight that A.) someone else shares my taste and B.) that I can provide them with the fruit of my (albeit very meager & fledgling) talents. I would think it’s kind of like the feeling a painter gets when someone asks them to paint a mural on the wall of their living room or when a writer is approached by a certain publisher and asked to write a book for them.

When my co-worker Kelly asked if I’d like to help with updating the interior design of her home, I was flattered and thoroughly invigorated to create, create, create. Kelly and her husband Eric have resided in their lovely 1940’s Homewood cottage for the past seven years. Since moving in, they’ve accumulated two little girls, two adorable pups, many pieces of furniture, and many other accoutrements of family life.

A busy mom, wife, full-time employee, and volunteer (among many other roles), what Kelly hasn’t had time for is putting the finishing touch on the inside of her home. And, that’s where I get to step in! Kelly’s request was for her home to be uncluttered, charming and still kid-friendly. And her deadline was set for mid-November when she’s having family in town for her little one’s christening. We decided to begin with her study which also happens to be the first room you enter from the front door. If she liked my updates, I’d proceed through the house.

I knew the process would take some time, thought and a little elbow grease, but what I didn’t anticipate was how much FUN I’d have in the process. I love to shop and have been dying to decorate but am currently in an apartment (saving for my own little cottage) and don't want to spend money decorating a space I will not be in long. This opportunity is a dream come true!

The first set of pictures are the before shots. Beautiful room with lots of light:

Full bookshelf and desk

Kelly was hoping for some organization of the bookshelf. She wanted to keep the momentos, pictures and pieces that have special meaning, but make it look less cluttered.

If you can see behind Kelly's precocious little one, there is a really cool antique chair from Eric's grandfather stuck in the corner. We wanted to bring this into a more central location where it would be more usable and appealing. Also, see the below picture of the bookshelf. Kelly felt like there they were overstuffed, unorganized and needed something on the top of them.

And, voila!
(I apologize these pics are a little dark - they were taken at night)

The bookshelf is now rearranged with a mix between meaningful book selections, photos and a clock. The black and white photo in the bottom section is of Eric's grandfather playing professional baseball.

I got these super cute insect pictures at Three Sheets.

We took her antique eclectic chair and added a chic faux fur throw, postage stamp pillow, side table and clock to create a cozy corner for Kelly to sit in and talk with Eric while he works at his desk.

Moving the desk to the side makes the room more easy to move about, allows Eric to use the bookshelf as a place to store files (there are three drawers in the bottom section of the shelf) and eliminate clutter on the desk top. There is also a now a basket to store magazines to the left of the desk and a new, tall lamp that matches the room.

It's amazing what some rearranging and a few additions can do to a room. I can't wait to get started on the living room!

Coffee Cup Art

If you're in search of some original artwork to adorn the walls of your living room, office, nursery/child's room or any other blank wall, look no further! I'd like to introduce you to Mrs. Lisa Tew, my artist auntie who has quite a knack for making canvasses sing!

In her own words: "A recent relocation to Birmingham with my wonderful husband of 14 years and two beautiful girls (12 and 11) has given me my dream of painting full-time and sharing the journey as I go." Join in Lisa's artistic journey at http://coffeecupart-lisat.blogspot.com/.

Check out some of her work below:

You can purchase any of these pieces or place custom orders on her Etsy account:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LisasCoffeeCupArt