Thursday

I recently took on a project that had to be completed in 72 hours.  Typically I would never take on this type of project, but since it was for my friend Matt, I accepted the challenge.  The home is in an older building with a large open plan.  Since time was of the essence I needed to find inspiration fast.

All projects need a starting point and that is why an inspiration piece is so important.  When I showed Matt this picture of a tree trunk I saw in England and said this is our starting point for the design, he thought I had lost my mind.  But once you isolate the details you begin to see how anything can inspire an entire design.  More specifically it was the exposed band of the ruby colored tree trunk that gave me the idea for using ruby colored drapes to highlight amazing large windows.

Once the decision was made to use the ruby colored silk draperies (from Pottery Barn!), the rest of the room began to fall into place.  Since these drapes brought in a punch of color, I selected a sofa that was in a neutral linen with an organic hand.  Adding in a green chaise lounge felt natural as the green grass behind the tree trunk was a great accent to the ruby color.  To keep everything else neutral, I opted for black and white pieces (it helped that these pieces were sitting in my storage unit).  In order to complete the room, I found 2 pillows that married all the colors together.  And there you go, a design that started from a tree trunk in England all done in 72 hours.