Kitchen Trend: Classic Lines + Modern Features

In restoring our 1930's American Colonial house, the words that keep echoing in my mind are "Appropriateness" and "Quality".


In designing our new 'old' kitchen, I have been stalling on decisions for the appliances.  Until I found these.

  

One of the speakers at Design Camp was a sub zero wolf rep and one trend she mentioned was that stainless steel is seeing a digression in the design world.   Surprising, huh?  Not really.  She shared some newer subzero models that are going back to the 'classic look' we remember from Grandma's house.  Classic with modern features.  While I'd love to go with sub zero, my heart keeps taking me back to these pictured above by AGA. 

We're about to push the 'go' button on these three AGA appliances  in 'vintage white'.  And, lucky for us, they just so happen to be hosting a promotion until December 31st!

I've spoken with several designer friends who use this brand who say that it is not only a beautiful and 'green conscious' brand, but that the cooking capabilities are amazing and super long lasting.  I'm curious though, because we are buying this product blindly.  {There aren't any on the showroom floor here in the Midwest!} Any of you out there using the AGA brand or do you have a brand of appliances that you would swear by?

xx
sharon

Design Camp Attendee, Austin Texas

Hi All.  

To those in the midst of preparing for hurricane Sandy:  My thoughts are with you.  Sending strength and good thoughts your way!  

I just returned from Design Camp in Austin, TX.  It was the first of a series of more camps to sweep across the US.  It was also a first time camp experience for me.  I found it to be completely amazing for many reasons.   First, and foremost, so I could educate myself more for you.  I figure I owe that education to you, my clients, here in the Midwest.

Above, is a pic of the portfolio case I put together to take to camp, using an inexpensive portfolio case from Walgreens, a gold coin thrifted brooch and red ribbon.  {Super easy, super inexpensive, yet classically organized looking and hopefully professional. hehe.}

HGTV personalities and celebrity designers, Lori Dennis and Kelli Ellis {co founders of Design Camp}were warm, funny, and very generous with their knowledge as well as their a-list line up of amazing speakers!  I was extremely honored that I was a chosen recipient to receive a free tuition pass thru Ronda Carman's blog, All The Best.  If you are a designer or  in the line of this industry, I strongly encourage you to go to one of the upcoming camps.  The next is slated for Atlanta, I believe.

Happy Monday!

xx
sharon

Scenes from the Old and New House

I hope you were able to spend some time outside over the weekend with this beautiful weather we've been having.

I took my sketch pad outside with me while the baby napped and drew up some kitchen plans for the new house.  See the speckled stuff on the sketch?  Well, that's Bubs's doing.  Bubs woke up while I was mid sketch and, as most times when I'm concentrating on other things, he usually gets into stuff.  Often times, while I'm having he coffee on the porch, he can't stay away from a particular potted plant. He loves to run his fingers thru the dry potting soil.  He loves to scatter it too.  While I continued sketching, he became filthy, the porch became filthy and he made the sketch filthy too.  So, there you have it, a sketch with real grit.  Haha!

 This is what we're looking at right now in the kitchen.  Notice the plunger on the floor?  That's bubs's favorite toy.  Maybe he'll be a plumber!

This is the fish pond in our new back yard.  You can't tell from the picture, but it's actually a kidney shape.  I want it to be a rounded circle pond instead.  Will added the urn over the weekend. He plugged the fountain into it, and on his first try, he got it going!  It has a nice trickle sound with the water that gurgles and spills over the top.

The babies had so much fun with their cousin, Graham, who lives next door at our current 'old' house.   We will sure miss seeing and playing with him everyday.

What a golden weekend!  Wishing you golden skies and golden opportunities this week!

xx
sharon

Throw Back Thursday: Happy/Sad Day!

My past client {which turned into a dear friend of mine} texted me today with happy and sad news.  Boca Mocha, the restaurant we designed together has been sold to another restaurant operator.  She told me to come get the last tacos they'll serve today!  *tears*

scott cotton photography

It was such a sweet labor of love all around.  Special place in my heart for that project and the friendships we made there.  

To read more, go here.  I still need to share the oodles more photos of the space.  It turned out great and even won a 417 best restaurant design this past year.

Happy Thursday!

xx
sharon

  

Wed Wednesday: Matchbooks

Details I Love:  Matchbooks

I just had some matchbooks made with my logo and website to take the place of my business cards.  I think they'll be great heart warmers for the upcoming winter months.  They are much more affordable than biz cards and also serve a purpose for my customers and clients at the same time.  What do you think?

I think a personalized matchbook would make a great wedding favor too.

Happy Wednesday!

xx
sharon

Tuesday Tip: Glitterati Style

Pickwick House DIY

Tuesday's tip from Sharon Taylor.

Sharon: Here's a great tip for adding a little bit o' hip to your frames.  Lately I'm LOOOVING campaign dressers for their uniquely styled hardware that is usually brass.

Here's an example of a campaign dresser which happen to also be in the same shade of red {via pinterest}.  Take note of those super cute, brassy, sassy edges.


I thought I'd make my own nod to that campaign effect by embellishing some of our large scale frames at the shop.  We'll be using for some upcoming {spirited} weddings, but I think they'd be fantastic used in interior spaces.  This wedding in particular has a lot of gold glitter going on, so I thought, why not bling up the edges of these guys?  I think they make a great, sassy & smart exclamation mark to an otherwise boring old frame.

So, I purchased two sheets of gold scrapbook paper for $1.99 each at Hobby Lobby.  Traced the shape onto the paper that I wanted, cut them and then hot glued the pieces on.  Super easy, super cheap, and super cute, I think!  I think they give a great sassy & smart exclamation mark to an otherwise boring old frame.  What do you think?

I will share you the finished product here in a few days.

Happy Tuesday!

xx

xx
sharon

Today is trash talk: "Our American Colonial House Progress"

House progress:  Here's a snapshot of one corner of the kitchen before we got possession.  I've contemplated sharing it with you because it's a grossly descriptive glimpse into some of the living conditions of the home.  I'm not here to make judgements about it or the homeowner, but really just showing you for the sake of letting you get a grasp for what Will and his friend Creighton have gone through to get the house to where it is today.  It's still a long way from being done.

Will brought this chandelier over from the kitchen at the old house.  Which reminds me, a lot of locals have been asking me where we are living right now and if we are selling our current house.  We are still living in the old house while  renovations are going on and haven't decided whether we want to let go of the old house yet.  Between two houses, a storefront, kids, and business as usual, COMMUNICATION about the house renovations{between Will and I} can be very challenging, let alone agreeing on design decisions and things.  We've agreed for the most part though.  I will say that balancing our normal life before this, was challenging enough, but this is a whole new world I had no idea about until now!  I am grateful that we are not living in the house thru the process.  I think that would be really difficult.  I DO so look forward to the day we can simplify our lives.

Will has been manning the renovations full time and wants my design input, but it's really hard for me to find the time to focus on it outside of work.  It's definitely in my head and all I want to do is dream up plans about it.  I just need to get it down on paper and, Oh, find the time to source materials!   I hope to go check out marble this weekend, and choose a picket for the front yard.  Of course, the picket I want is not milled anymore.

This week, we had the lower cabinets gutted.  I wanted to keep them, but they were just beyond trying to keep. They had been infested with mice for a long, long time.  So you can imagine the smell that would waft out of them, when you opened the doors.

A wonderful mudroom and pantry right off the kitchen.   I'm in love with this part of the house.  We will have a really nice kitchen for the first time in our lives.

Will and Creighton and his mom finished painting the house.  I think it turned out great.  For now, we've chosen to leave the shutters off. The spindly hedges are now gone and we want to add a picket fence around the perimeter of the house for safety and for added curb appeal.  My pinterest board titled 'Our American Colonial Home Inspirations' has been blowing up with ideas I love.  Also, watch for uploads on 'Our American Colonial House Progress' board as well.
Here's a direct link to that page...Sharon Taylor Designs.

This is a shot of the boys  {Creighton, Will and bubs-ers} on the cherry picker that we rented for 24 hours to get the paint on all the up-high spots.  They took advantage of every minute of daylight in those 24 hours.  {Obviously, the light is waning in the pic.}

Hope I haven't bored you here.  I've been trying to figure out what you'd like to see more of here on the blog.. If it's more house updates on the blog, please let me know.  As always, I LOVE hearing from you.

Happy Friday!

xx
sharon

Throwback Thursday: Mod Condo

Throwback Thursday:

Here's a mod-condo we did for a really cool single lady last year right after bubs was born.  The living room turned out exactly how we wanted it to.

This is one of my favorite spots in her condo.  An inviting spot for reading, listening to piano music, or admiring a worldly collection of nature.  I love her modern sofa with inviting pillows in tone on tone texture. Our client was extremely happy with the way her condo turned out.

We took a flea market console table and had an oxidized mirror placed on top to pull things together.

{All image by Scott Cotton Photography}

Hope you like what you see here.  If you are in need of residential or commercial design, give us a call!

xx

sharon

Wedding Wednesday: Detail Love

Good Morning.  I'm posting pics today that I found while browsing thru wedding discs of our wedding design work.  These two are from the Elsie and Jeremy wedding that hadn't really caught my eye before until today.  

I just love the composition of this photo.  The form, textures, colors, and pattern are so rich, stylish, and happy.  

                                                               {photos via arrow and apple}

Sweet and simple paper detail love.

 Have a wonderful day!

xx
sharon

Three Ways to Style a Dresser

This dresser is one of my all time faves at the shop.  The brass hardware gives me crazy-highs it's so cute! {Cannot believe it's still here.}  This week, I wanted to get my juices flowing after having a brain freeze on a project, so I decided to give myself a little one hour furniture-moving retreat at the back of the shop.   Vignette above is called 'wicker-treat'.  haha.  I hope you get my corny joke.  And yes, everything pictured is for sale in all of these vignettes.

I call this one 'babe-changer'.

And here's the 'deep blue' vignette.

If you'd like to buy this dresser or anything else you see here, or maybe you want to have me come to your home to put a fresh spin on things for you, just give me a call. I'm selling the dresser for $450.


Happy Friday!

xx
sharon

Throwback Thursday: Where to Save and Where to Splurge

I thought I'd use today to share an example of how I help clients decide where to save and where to splurge with the budget when decorating a space.

Let's face it, not everyone has a huge budget to work with.

Both the table and chairs here were inexpensive flea market finds I found for a client.  The table was painted to match the  Thomasville's chairs and we had them covered in a really soft remnant leather that's used as a liner for the insides of fancy purses.  {LOVE my local leather shop!} Some of the leather pieces had blemishes and faded out spots, but we chose to go with it anyway.  We figured the leather would become worn and weathered anyway. To me, leather only gets richer with age.

So, can you guess where the splurge was on this room??

If you guessed the chandelier, you're right.  This was a commissioned piece from a local glass blowing company.  Can you imagine the time it took to build it?  The installation was fascinating.

Happy Thursday everyone!

xx

Wedding Wednesday: Things We're Falling For

Details we're 'falling' for today...  

Wouldn't it be fun to have a whole row of vintage bikes and wool blankets for a fall party or wedding reception?  A wonderful little bike ride stroll on some scenic property or maybe in a quaint neighborhood where the destination point has a great big roaring bon fire and hot cocoa awaiting...

f

Mugs of hot chocolates with rimmed graham crackers.  So pretty.

An onward from there, the group would ride back to the main house, where ever that might be, to an enticing and whimsical menu board on a paddle hints at what's sure to be a wonderful evening...

How pretty and simple are these sweet velvet ribbon ties?

And how inviting is this spot for dinner?  Oriental rugs, rustic harvest table setting with furs and throws thrown over the backs of rustic chairs.  Perfect for long and lingering dinner conversations over looking the great scenic outdoors!  Thanks for dreaming with me today:)

All images via pinterest.

Have a beautiful fall day today!

xx
sharon

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

Hi everybody!  Fall is in the air and we have been sprucing up some clients homes with fun pillows, throws, and softer, warmer textures and colors.  These items above are some of my faves for this season.  Leapord prints are supposed to be the new neutral.  What do you think?  Love them or hate them?

Bubs is now climbing ladders on jungle gyms.  We've been enjoying these crisp fall afternoons outside.  My new work schedule allows me to take off from 2 o'clock on.  The plus side to that is I get to spend more time with my babies, the downside is I'm getting up far earlier.  

Will and I had a date night two weeks ago to celebrate six years. He ordered two dozen oysters on the half shell to mark the end of summer.   Goodbye summer and hello fall!

Have a wonderful week!

xx

sharon