Dream Living Room — i call it “gothic glam cavewoman”!

ARHAUS wanted to know what my dream living room would look like.  i had to think about that. would it be zen and neutral…would it be pumped-up energic jewel tones?  after taking inventory of how brain dead i am at the end of the day, i came up with this:  i wanted to climb into a dark beautiful hole.

think:  sumptuous fabrics, slubby silks, italian glass, antique mirrors, deep plums, electric azure blues, gilded finishes, and a roaring fireplace!  the tufted ARHAUS sectional has that classic look that sets the tone for the rest of the room. paneled walls, coffered ceiling and lots of books would line the walls. in my brain, a room MUST have wallpaper — mural-sized installation from the ARHAUS paper collection would set off an antique French limestone fireplace.  lighting fixtures from Nancy Corzine, ArteriorsHome, Donghia would light up the space. Textiles from all my favorites — Romi, Osborne&Little, Rubelli, Sahco, Organic Looms, Tufenkian… delicious. and of course the TV is hidden in a cabinet so it’s only seen when i hit the remote and it lifts up!

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Vallejo Street HighriseCloud Ben – Organic Looms

 

ARHAUS wallpaper inventory book

 

corzine  nancy corzine

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Mirror Image Home: bunny williams *FINAL*landscape - Lapchi

 

 

Athena Bassa Lamp donghiaTurner Center Table from the Alexa Hampton® collection by Hickory Chair Furniture Co.

 

Baker Furniture : Atrium chair.sofa pillow fabric

 

Murano Chest with Wood Top from the Atelier collection by Hickory Chair Furniture Co.Arteriors | Kern Floor Lamprubelli 10199_2Ajax-Chair - Olystudio.comPrimrose Stand from the Winterthur Country Estate collection by Hickory Chair Furniture Co.

 

Bellamy Hand-Carved Leaner Mirror

Greetings from Hannah the Intern!

We asked Hannah to keep in touch with us …she finally came up for air in her last year at Iowa State…:

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Hey all!! I’m back! I hope you all missed me cause I sure missed all of you!  It is now second semester here at Iowa State… Which means my FINAL semester as a college student…and as a student in general! Which I never thought would actually happen!

This semester is going to be quite the busy one. My studio for this semester is architecture based. So as an interior designer you could only imagine how intimidated I was when I learned the amount of work I was in for. Now I’m not saying that Interior Design isn’t as tough or as prestigious as architecture, because it definitely has its own difficulties. But coming into the studio as an interior designer, I have the mindset of an interior designer, so I basically have to rearrange how my mind works to that of an architect so there are going to be some rough times ahead.

The cool thing about this studio is we get to learn a whole new computer program called Rhino – it’s a 3D modeling program that can produce anything imaginable. It is way more advanced than anything I’ve ever used before. It’s like AUTOCAD, but 3000x as intense and developed… Basically AutoCAD on steroids.

So many of you may be asking, “what exactly is this studio you speak of?” Or “Wow sounds like fun, will you tell me more?” Well, of Course! So this studio is called “Fabricating Potentials”. It is a design-build studio and we are designing an interactive pavilion for the Des Moines music festival 80/35 that takes place this summer. (So if any of you fine folk feel like stopping by, I will most likely be there!)

So far we haven’t come up with a concept ….yet. But very soon we have to present 2 proposals to our sponsors, OPN, an architecture firm here in Iowa. Cross your fingers for us guys! I’m pretty sure it’s all our first time presenting a project that will actually be built to a firm!! (signal excited squeals)

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Top Five things Hannah misses most from Lisa Wolfe Design:

1). Playing with the kitties all day. We all know they love me the most…although I have yet to bring Coco to the dark side…mwuahahahaha

2). I miss the weekly trips to the city with Lisa and jamming out to “Welcome to The Jungle” (Guns and Roses) on the way home.

3). I miss helping pick out fabric samples and printing out cut sheets and organizing all of them! (Lisa probably never thought I would say that).

4). I miss aiding in the design of residences with Lisa and Maria. I’m sick of all the studios that I have very little interest in at all!!

5). And most of all, I miss being part of the Lisa Wolfe Team and having all those good times in the office!

Top Five Things Hannah Will Miss about college:

1). I will miss the freedom to do whatever I want without any real world concerns or effects.

2). I will miss the nightlife (we all do right?)

3). I will miss being in close proximity with all of my best friends

4). I will miss being able to eat junk food all the time (aka ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner) and blaming it on the “Oh I’m poor because I’m a college student so I can just eat whatever I can afford” phrase.

5).I will miss NOT having to pay bill

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obsession = 2016 ANTHROPOLOGIE catalog

just when it couldn’t get any better, the 2016 ANTHROPOLOGIE catalog is delivered to my door!! so many beautiful things. i’m obsessed!!! OBSESSED!!!!!  they hit my sweet spot everytime…damn them. a little boudoir, a little hippie, a little feminine, a little whimsical…always texture with fun shapes and sometimes in-your-face color. yum. some of my favorites are here!

anthroanthro bookcanthro chairanthro chandanthro chandebraanthro decanteranthro dhurrieanthro drapesanthro drapes 2anthro finialsanthro hand lampanthro land and skyanthro nightstandanthro ottoanthro otto2anthro pendantsanthro pillowanthro rabbitanthro rugsanthro scissorsanthro sconceanthro shelfanthro tiebackanthro vintage holderanthro vnaity setanthro wallprugscissors

A whole new way to use chalkboard paint

 

From HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, this Client hired a local artist to create this French-inspired motif on CHALKBOARD!  don’t ask me about the functionality but i’m sure there is a slight finish brushed on the top to keep from smudging. but maybe not. perhaps the client is such an adult that its just not necessary

 

 

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Moving to more modern…!

Our Client in Bannockburn was ready for a change — she was ready to move from a very traditional look of golds and burgundy to a more modern look filled with taupes, purples, and pops of vibrant red. Keeping in mind the history of her 100+year old home, we needed to keep things rooted in classic lines. Also, given the very narrow footprint of the room with two back entrances, we had to be very cognizant of our furniture depths.  Our goal was to freshen up their look, lighten up the space both with fabrics and new colors and add more seating.

After a trip to the Mart, it turns out her and her husband had very distinct likes and dislikes. Given their preferences and special furniture depths, we customized almost every single piece of furniture. We also chose to ‘hide’ the TV in a custom lift cabinet vs having the TV always out or housed in an enormous armoire (like it was previously).

We also did some initial work in the basement but i need some serious new shots of that work!

BEFORE and IN-PROGRESS shots are attached. still have some finish work to do (accessories!!!) but Client is happy with the results (and happy to have it done before the holidays!)

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What do you do with your wedding dress…? make it your own artwork!!!!

what do you do with a special ITEM that reminds you of the best day of your life? shove it in a drawer? wrap it carefully and put in the attic? take a picture of it?

i didn’t want to shove my beautiful wedding dress to the back of my closet for the rest of time. sure i hoped that my sister or a cousin might want to wear it, but who am i kidding!? they want to pick their own dress!

so i decided to stuff and frame it so we can remember our big day EVERYDAY. puts a big smile on my face everytime i look at it. Alfonso — my custom framer — helped me to design and execute this strange request! we laid it out, spec-ed out a custom acrylic box and selected the deep indigo raw silk that the dress was to be mounted on. we installed this as our main focal point in our dining room. talk about a great conversation piece.  next custom piece — my violin from when i was 11 years!  hey alfonsa!!!….

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time to get out of the 1990s….wallpaper re-do

never been a fan of botanical wallpaper…or artwork…so when the new ROMO BLACK wallpaper collection debuted, i KNEW it was time to make a change. as scary as it sounds, i’ve taken the violin up again and that room has become my music room.  and that black wallpaper wasn’t inspiring me to practice (i have to blame something so i’m blaming my environment!!).  with the new paper up, there is a renewed sense of spirit and perspective…and i mean LITERALLY perspective bc the wallpaper is a bit psychedelic…i see gray women and moths…another person sees horses and geisha girls!

papering OVER black wallpaper is not quick to easy to do.  cara had to first PRIME the walls, then CROSS LINE  and then finally PAPER.  minimum of 3 steps to get my fancy music room.  stay tuned…new chandelier to be installed…and then we need to talk about that plaid silk upholstered chair …and animal print ottoman…..   🙂

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WORK IN PROGRESS

 

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Wallpaper obsessed — the larger the print the better!

Obsessed with the ARHAUS wallpaper collection…!! (yes, that was my reaction…ARHAUS has a wallpaper collection??). it is custom sized to FIT YOUR WALL. imagine this at 10′ high!!! love love love. i can’t imagine sitting down to my desk everyday with this vibrant POPPY wallpaper behind me!

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Penthouse-the reveal!!!

this has been a labor of love for EVERYONE involved. very little to go before we can call it a ‘wrap’ (you can still see workman’s ladders and trades folks in some of the pictures b/c it was still a ZOO when we were there!!!!). we shaved 2.5 months off our original timeline and came in under our initial budget projection. and that’s just the beginning.

let me introduce you to 5700sf of party space with one of the best views in chicago. we folded in EVERYTHING in this project — reclaimed vintage classics, bathroom renovations, custom stencils & wall treatments, custom furniture & built-ins, light fixtures galore (hello antique gold!!! yum!), flooring (including a hand painted black & white checkered floor), a new bar, a tree that grows out of the top of a sofa..all wrapped in an art deco meets banana leaf-inspired elements — all thanks to our muse and design icon Dorothy Draper.

i broke my record for the most wallpapered spaces on this one!  with nicknames like the BIRDCAGE and VERSACE suite…what more could we bring to the table????  enjoy the show!

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