Live Like You & Marmalade Interiors
  • Before/After

  • 18Mar

    5 Comments

    Sneak peek at some Design Projects

    Posted in: Before/After, Marmalade Interiors

    I sometimes wonder where all my time goes, and all I have to do is have a look at some quick Iphone shots and I get an idea. This is a super busy winter/spring where I’m completing work on several residential projects, and starting work on an additional few.  The plan is to get all the work done then take late spring and summer off from private client design work to focus on moving!

    Here are a few Iphone images from projects I’m working on.

    Two Teen girl rooms. Lisa sent me these Iphone pictures as soon as the curtains went up.  These are from my private label my REGENCY CURTAIN with brown silk border.  A great and chic alternative to custom curtains.

    On the new upcoming site (3 more weeks!) you will be able to get these in a number of colorways.

    New headboard shape LUCAS, will also be available on the new site.

    I just started putting together design plans for a couple from Santa Barbara and France, so we are creating a French inspired, classic, relaxed Santa Barbara look with a modern twist and unusual color combinations.

    Curtains, curtains, curtains. Been working on a old beautiful home in Georgetown. It’s getting thick chic linen curtains, upholstered walls in very peaceful beach ocean colors. Some of the rooms will have colored Ikats.

    The right curtains I always say is like putting the right makeup on a woman!!

    Below is another client I’m working with–

    Sometimes small functional changes can be my favorite thing. They can make a big difference in peoples lives.  So many people think their home doesn’t have enough space, but it’s normally because the space is not utilized.

    A hallway did nothing….

    Enter…

    -A new curtain rod raised it just below ceiling height to make space feel bigger-

    -Nice custom curtain in Windsor Smith fabric-

    - A new modern light fixture

    -Painted stair railing to make it more defined.

    -Add a desk, chair and you have a perfect spot for the family to check their mail.

    AFTER:

    It’s now one of the most used spots in the house. And this offered more space in the living room downstairs.

    Finally finishing up work on my project for a family in NYC.

    I’m really loving how it’s coming together, they have fun taste and open to take chances which is great.

    If you hire a designer the best thing a client can do is trust the designer. It’s the designer’s job to listen to you carefully and interpret your vision, but you in return got to trust your designer and be willing to have an open mind to what you’ve been sticking with previously.  That’s the way you will really get the value for the money you spend on a designer AND get the best result.

    Here is a quick snap shot of bedroom BEFORE….

    And here is one of my sloppy Iphone shots..

    ..of what it looks like now.

    AFTER:

    Completely different.

    Can’t wait to get this photographed. Really excited about how it’s turning out!

    Planning for a photo shoot in Sweden for my label , so playing around with updates to place there. This is my new carpet the MAZE in cream and orange. It will also be available in my new site.

    A NEW LIVE LIKE YOU site is coming in April. I can’t wait to have a FAST website!!

    Really excited about how nice and clean and big and F-A-S-T! the site will be.

    The products look like this!  I get so excited when I see this because it looks so much better than now!!!

    Can’t wait to find time to expand my label.

    And if you watch my video blog or follow me on Instagram you know of the upcoming One King’s Lane sale.

    Here are some items coming up for sale…

    I will post here in the blog as soon as my One King’s Lane taste maker sale is up. It’s items that I loved and some point in my life!

    Thanks for letting me share. Have a great week!

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  • 3Dec

    3 Comments

    From START to FINISH – the making of a headboard

    Posted in: Before/After, Jill Sorensen Home

    Headboards -  especially an upholstered headboard, is one of my favorite pieces of furniture.

    Not only are they cozy to lean your head against when you’re reading in bed at night or watching TV.  A headboard is for me the automatic start to a bedroom design. It offers an instant and pretty focal point and defines the cozy spot where you sleep, which is, yeah, the whole point of the bedroom!  There are items I would spend money on in a home, and items I wouldn’t. The headboard is a place I would not hold back. A bedroom without a headboard is like a human without a head to me. (okay one of my more lame quotes..) But really it’s just such a fun and useable piece…

    Hot Pink Lily Headboard

    I’m slowly creating more and more privately designed products on to LiveLikeYou because I want certain items that I can’t find anywhere else so I design them.

    Headboards offers another area to define your style. I however do often go for a solid headboard so that it can come with you even when you move or redesign. Really a nicely done headboard you can have for life.

    I personally love beautiful, lush but durable velvets for a chic look.

    I have a million bed designs. First I draw a ton of different ideas.

    And then I draw a bunch more.

    After drawing on paper, I come up with the measurements and scale.  Then I head to the work room where they are made. There my drawing has been done on the wood base.

    I always go in and fix shapes so they curves are just they way I want them.

    It always looks different when you see it in the real size.

    After that…

    …it gets cut.

    After cutting it out a thick layer of padding is added to the front of the headboard  (see picture below in article).

    The back of all the headboards get white plain fabric with trim for a neat look, and so that they easily can go up against the wall.

    It’s gets covered all over including the legs.

    The last step is adding the nail heads.

    I love nail heads.

    And this is what it looks like when it’s done.

    Black Lily Headboard

    When a customer orders one, we ask for the exact bed height just so we can get the best custom fit for their mattress. The headboard can just stand against the wall with the bed pushed against it, or it can be screwed on to the bed frame. Either one works well. I prefer just to let it sit against the wall because that stays put very well. In these pictures you see only the top of the legs, but it’s approximately 20″high where the actual back starts.

    Grey Lily Headboard

    This shape comes in GRAY….

    Yellow Lily Headboard

    And LEMON YELLOW.

    Here is a little sneak peek at another shape called JULIETTE HEADBOARD.

    This particular one was made for a little girl’s bedroom in NYC, but it will soon be available on the site.

    This is what it looks like with just the padding on it.

    This is what makes it so comfortable!

    Here the fabric is going on.

    And here is the headboard complete in the work room. This design has buttons.

    And here is a JULIETTE headboard in hot pink in a client’s daughter’s room.

    Hope you enjoyed seeing how they are done.

    If you have any questions regarding headboards e-mail me at contact@marmaldeinteriors.com.

    Happy Monday!

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  • 21Sep

    12 Comments

    Here’s what happened to my foyer chair!

    Posted in: Before/After, Furniture makeovers, My House

    Remember a while back… I was redoing the foyer chair?

    Many of you probably won’t like this makeover, but it’s funny how you plan on doing one thing, and then you do something completely different.

    This is where I started out…

    I had so many fabric choices I couldn’t make up my mind.

    I needed it ready for a photo shoot on a certain day, so that ruled out a couple of my front runners like the yellow bamboo.

    I then decided I didn’t want anything too cute.

    Here is the chair originally.

    Enter…

    Martin Lawrence Bullard fabric. He is a design genius. But yep, everyone might not agree with this print as the first thing you see when you enter.

    But I wanted the chair to be it’s own entertaining vibe. And I wanted all the colors to tie in with the three rooms you see when you enter the house. I also want to be able to move it soon to another room.

    Hello lively chair?

    The outside and the back of the chair I covered in black velvet. The legs got high gloss white paint.

    That way the print is only busy from one direction.

    I added contrasting black velvet piping to add some definition.

    Is it the perfect look with the wall and floor?

    No. But it entertains me.

    And I can’t really see anything wrong with that?

    After all, our home is a place we should be who we are….or perhaps figure out who we are?

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  • 6Sep

    4 Comments

    Two Simple makeovers to do at home

    Posted in: Before/After

    Coffee!! School mornings are back!

    Okay here are two simple no brainer makeovers that I swear by.  The most SIMPLE yet powerful transformations.

    First one….  PAINT A DRESSER WITH GOOD BONES A BOLD HIGH GLOSS RED AND SPRAY PAINT THE HARDWARE CHROME. (Kelly green, black or peacock blue work great too!)

    Okay not really anything new. But the fact is it works. This is a dresser I had made over for a client’s boy’s room in NYC.  Adding at least a few vintage pieces for each job I do is a must.

    Start out with a piece with really good bones and some interest.

    Sand it, prime it, then add two coats of paint. A lot of you ask….no I don’t do most makeovers myself since I’m doing so many jobs I don’t have time.  But this is easy to do yourself.

    We used RED by Benjamin Moore and KRYLON CHROME spray paint on this dresser.

    It turns it in to a chic mid century dresser.

    Looks brand new!

    Take off the hardware and spray paint.

    This is now chic for any room!

    Okay second one…

    IF YOU HAVE A STAIR CASE THAT’S PLAIN AND WOOD…PAINT IT CONTRASTING WHITE AND ALMOST BLACK!

    RUN!  DON’T WALK OUT TO BUY PAINT AND DO THIS. IT MAKES YOUR ENTIRE HOME LOOK MORE EXPENSIVE AND ELEGANT.

    OKAY I’M TIRED TODAY so getting bit dramatic…but seriously I swear by this! I will never ever leave a stair case like this…It works for some interiors but even the most basic makeover increases the look in your entrance.

    I have a clear picture for the “before” shot and only a blurry Iphone picture from job the other day for the “after”. But it still looks so much better.

    Handrails and buttons go black, everything else white.

    Here we used WHITE DOVE and BLACK BEAUTY in semigloss from Benjamin Moore.

    Railings all the way upstairs should be defined.

    Another blurry Iphone image…ouch.  But as you can see a much cleaner and more elegant look.

    That’s my two cents for today.

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