I was hired to re-design a master bedroom for a gentleman in Allentown PA. This was the first man's bedroom I had done and I did not want it to be overly monochromatic, and NO BROWN! I asked him "What inspires you?" and he mentioned the Scottish painter Jack Vettriano. Perfect jumping off board. The great contemporary artist Vettriano (born Jack Hoggan) is also an inspiration to me for the romance he creates in his work, and for his belief in himself and his art. He chose art; it didn't choose him.
Jack Vettriano left school at sixteen to become a mining engineer. For his twenty-first birthday, a girlfriend gave him a set of water color paints and, from then on, he spent much of his spare time teaching himself to paint. He put his artwork out there, and it paid off!!
-For those who dream of taking a different path in life, think of Vettriano and go for it!
MY DESIGN PLAN AND FLAWS:
I didn't let the traditionally mission style furniture he already had stop our plan for a contemporary feel. We 'contempo'd' it up with steel grey walls, lots of chrome, including three new framed Vettriano's, deep 'manly' eggplant window treatments, and of course a bit of zebra and mink. I also added a wall tattoo to cut the squareness of all the hard edges and add 'whimsy' and interest (the decal was bigger than me).
When I presented my ideas to my manly client, he said 'Shosh, that's not eggplant, it is purple." I said 'eggplant is the new purple'. Then he said "Shosh, animal print?" I said "Grrrr...don't get me mad." And he shook his head and rolled his eyes when I showed him the decal idea. Design should be fun; there is no right or wrong-just opinions. He gave me the green light and I went to work.
Here is the before and after:
BEFORE
AFTER
These drapery rods were a splurge but so worth it!! To bring the budget back down I found the pillows on sale. Changing the doors and door hardware made a HUGE difference.
BEFORE
Bye bye blue walls and doily sheers.....
AFTER
BEFORE
"Is that the sun rising from that faux stucco sconce?
AFTER
A sleek Zylinder satin black with chrome wall sconce fits in like a long lost friend.
BEFORE
This dresser was actually against the closet wall first. I recommend placing a high piece of furniture under a high window to conceal the awkwardness, then ditch the doily window treatments! Also what you can't see is an unorganized closet that we quickly addressed. And are those doors or shutters?
AFTER
Roman shades are more functional on a high window. And for this long and narrow window, they add height and fullness.
Bring on more glitz with this mirror and chair from Pier 1.
I found this decal at www.walltat.com and thought it was beautiful. It is called‘Graphic Floral 3-Wall Decal’ and is 63" x 40". I played with the positioning of it using painters tape, and I have to say, it was easy to put up (just took an hour to make sure I didn't rip it and to get all the bubbles out).
So how is my manly client enjoying his bedroom? He chuckles and nods which is his way of saying 'he digs his new 'diggs'. Actually we just made changes to his upstairs bathroom and he was all for more purple-
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