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Thank you to Autumn from designdump for the lovely post today!

http://mydesigndump.blogspot.com/2011/03/fresh-fabric-findvictoria-larson.html#comments

Basement Re-Do (The Power of Paint)

After Before During We are in the final stages of finishing our Basement as a hang-out space for the girls. This is a great example of how paint can really change a space. We made a conscious decision not to completely finish the space. So no dry wall on the perimeter walls - just exposed concrete block and lots of paint. Some of the walls were already painted an awful celery green so we covered all walls with a nice warm neutral. The girls can still play tennis against the wall and not do any damage. We did add a couple of partition walls and big sliding barn-style doors to section off the storage and Laundry areas from the main space. We also added a small closet around the sump pump and painted the face with chalkboard paint. The floating floor helps brighten the space but also does away with the battle of the dust from the unfinished concrete floor. The panels of fabric on the wall are an old designer's cheap trick to hide the horrible, little basement windows. The fabric also helps soften all of the hard finishes and give some bright interest to the space. I have to say that my favorite thing is the "new" blue ping pong table! Ahh the power of paint. The existing table was the typical camping green sprinkled with dried glue, paint and glitter from years of craft projects. An orbital sander and a little blue paint made the table look like it belongs in the space. Since we decided not to install drywall on the ceiling (it's already just at 8'-0" and has the usual ducts and stuff below that) the solution there too was paint. The best way to do this is to call a professional with a good size sprayer so I called one of my favorites, Steve. I taped and Steve sprayed and voila! a cool, new, white ceiling. Yup, it's our Basement Loft. A new trick I learned from Steve is to mask off unusually shaped things (like pipes) with tin foil. No taping, no wrapping - just crimp the foil around the object and paint away. Thanks, Steve. By the way, here's a picture of the true Basement "Before" (when we bought the house - not our piles of stuff!

I'm Loving... Foo Dogs!

Foo Dog Bookends by cb2

On a recent shopping trip I was lucky enough to score a pair (the last pair) of foo dog lamps. I've had a long time love for these. They are sort of in the "so ugly they are cute" category. I bought this pair to go in the Guest room where I've been unsuccessfully auditioning lamps for months, but they look pretty good in the Dining Room too. Don't worry honey, they were cheap!

Foo dogs were originally created as sculptures to guard Buddhist temples and later Chinese sacred places. Actually lions, they were thought to have protective powers and appear in many forms in Chinese decorative arts. 'Fu' is the Chinese word for happiness and these creatures represent power and elegance. Who couldn't use a little happiness and elegance in their home?

Always created in pairs, the male lion rests hid foot on a ball and the female on a cub in the better versions. Foo Dogs, especially in lamp form, have enjoyed a renewed popularity in the last few years but I consider them to be classics.

I've been coveting this pair by one of my favorite designers, Barbara Cosgrove.

Seen here in a June, 2010 spread in House Beautiful

William Sonoma Home's verison

And here are my little beauties

Hope you find happiness this week.