Curating a Collection...Part One

My friend Mademoiselle D is a global gal...she was born and grew up in South Africa, lived in Italy, has traveled everywhere...and happens to love design and "objets d'art"...and trust me... she has quite the collection of fab finds...and they keep coming!

Recently she decided she wanted a total redo of her house...a "curated, modern, eclectic, functional" reboot! As her friend and co-design enthusiast I was thrilled when she offered me the chance to just "take over" as she put it...she runs a fabulous store that is getting busier by the minute...and her energy to "take on" a massive redo was understandably waning.

Before I arrived she put everything on tables so I could go "shopping"...I added a few things as well that I had in my "closet"...items that just belonged in her spaces!










She found some super fabulous tall acrylic shelving that became the launching pad for the entire "redo"..which as these things tend to do...keep rolling into space after space. Here are a few recent "before shots" of the different incarnations of her living room and dining room.

My brave friend actually let me pick out all the new paint colors and I opted for bright white and a sophisticated black throughout her spaces...in order to let her collections shine. All of these walls were a butter yellow...here they are with their first coat of new paint...

After...the dining room



after...the living room

A view from the top of her stairs... 

from the entry hall...

A close up of the walls before...

after... taking the same space a bright white...

we found this vintage Lucite, glass and brass coffee table and it worked perfectly in the room...




close ups...

 

We took a table from another part of the house and had it painted white... and Dawn found great knobs to bring out the cool factor...

we moved it into the living room...

 

it now works with some great modern stools/tables that can be used for extra seating or little tables for drinks or small plates in the living room...

the clear shelving was the perfect platform to curate her collection of wonderful things...including this sculpture (below right) that Dawn purchased at an art sale...the piece has wonderful meaning on so many levels...Art is food for the Soul..right? As an added bonus this piece was created by our artist friend Jackie....(who also did the painting above her armoire below). I just LOVE both creations in this space!

Dawn turned her armoire into a functional bar...

One of her favorite pieces is this carved elephant with rider...it weighs a ton and brings a ton of personality to the right spot...as you descend her staircase there are a few ledges...we painted them black for impact and placed these favorite pieces.

it's all in the details...

 

we painted this nook in her stairwell black as well for some extra drama...we are looking for something large in scale (this space is very tall) but until we find that perfect thing...Dawn had this plant and pretty planter and I love the blue, green, white, black combo...we both agree that a huge fig tree would be the right scale and color...that will be on it's way soon...

                                                     the hall before...and after

 

another part of the entry hall...with such an extensive collection of blue and white vessels...she can keep mixing things up with different pieces and greenery...I love the simple freshness!

a wide angle...

The dining room before...

the dining room at night...after

I am in love with this chandy!

 Things are still evolving as they always do and we are still have a few things to do and search for... but we are well on our way ...Ready for Curating a Collection Part Two...as we move on to the family room....click here!

XO Emily