Be Your Own Client

I had a revelation this weekend while watching HGTV's Clean House: We needed an intervention! Yes, even someone who makes other people's homes beautiful and functional has dysfunctional spaces of her own. We have been remodeling our master bathroom and, as a result, our bedroom became the repository of leftover paint cans, various tools and strips of unused flooring, etc. We knew it would be chaos for awhile until we finished, so instead of putting our clothes away, we just tossed them on top of the pile with an "oh well, what the hell" attitude. Several weeks later and "what the hell" had turned into "what a mess!" So I hauled everything out of the room, cleaned it to within an inch of its life, and brought in new curtains and curtain rods, fresh pillows and some Mid Century Modern-Regency"esque" pieces to create a serene and peaceful bedroom. Still not completely finished, but aaaaahhhh, what a relief. So the take-home message is: Be your own client. Whether you cut hair or fix cars, whether you paint signs or write ads, take as good care of yourself as you do your clients/customers. Give yourself the gift of your own talents. You will not regret it.

Natalie's Room Redux

We neutralized the color scheme a little in Natalie's/the guest bedroom, still keeping the Hollywood Regency look, but this time employing a shot of yellow in the lamp bases to add that all-important drama. We accessorized with fresh white and black accents to make the yellow "pop."

Want Change? Just Add Color...

Color...

Color...

Color...

And more color!

A Small Price to Pay

Just finished redesigning three rooms in my friend Debbie's apartment. She already had a lot of great Asian-influenced pieces, and we did a little shopping together. She told me she wanted more space for entertaining, so we gave her more seating options and opened up the space to take advantage of the square footage. We angled the couch and pushed it further toward the window, adding a Japanese screen to hide the bicycle stored behind it. Then we took the rug from under the dining table and gave it center stage in the living room. We added two more chairs and an ottoman where there had been no seating against a wall, and added in a couple of low stools that can be pulled up for even more seating to make this apartment totally party-ready. Then I asked my friend to let me take over her apartment for four hours and above you will see the "Befores" and "Afters." True to Pomegranate's philosophy of high style on a low budget, I owe it to my readers to let you know the price tag of our recent apartment makeover. Each "After" photo above shows the total cost of the new items added. Several items were already in the apartment or not purchased by Pomegranate. Proof that it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to freshen your space!

My Latest Luvs and Obsessions

I have been given the opportunity to design a friend's apartment. More about that later. But first, a few luvly things that Pomegranate has been recently obsessing about... A pendant lamp from Ballard Designs, six different fabrics I would love to buy and use somewhere (anywhere!), along with a bedroom that looks absolutely dreamy.