The Antonio Treatment

I don't know what's gotten into me lately but I've been watching a lot more HGTV. First my new obsession with Sarah's House, and now The Antonio Treatment. I watched Antonio Ballatore win last season of design star, and although I don't really share his funky, slightly punk rock, design aesthetic, I do appreciate his edgy set designer style.

I tuned in to the most recent episode of The Antonio Treatment because he was redoing a retail space in Silver Lake, a clothing store called Pull My Daisy. Retail design is something I've never done, but has always interested me, so I thought maybe I could learn a thing or two...and I did!

I really enjoy watching the construction side of things and seeing how the designer and crew work through problems that arise and get the job done. Here are a few before and after photos from the project. (Please excuse the poor quality of photos, I had to copy still frames from the video online, as no other photos of the project are available.) You can watch the episode here.

The clothes and accessories in the store looked kind of amazing, so I'm thinking a Saturday trip up to Silver Lake is in order.

{Before}



{After}



I'm pretty sure they scored these deco chairs from the Wertz Brothers Antique Mart in Santa Monica.

Furniture Install

Friday was a fun day because we were doing a furniture delivery at a client's home in Huntington Beach. I had gone to the upholstery shop earlier in the week to check on the different pieces, so I knew everything turned out beautifully, but I was excited to see it all in my client's home and see if she loved everything as much as I did.

I posted about the preliminary design for her dining room here, but as almost all projects go, for a variety of reasons, the design has changed a bit from the initial presentation. Due to budget, time restraints, and overall function, we forewent the built-in banquet when my client fell in love with this Restoration Hardware table...


She purchased the table, and to keep things interesting and eclectic, we decided we would do a settee on one side of the table and keep her dining chairs on the other side. When finding the perfect style, size, and color of the settee proved impossible, and having full confidence in my upholstery guy, we decided to go custom and build one from scratch.

We took the arm style, height, and nailheads from this Restoration Hardware chair...


And the tufting, wood turned legs, and scalloped base from this Ballard Designs settee...

And came up with the perfect red settee to fit my client's new table and new dining room...

It's always a little nerve racking to build such a large piece of furniture from scratch, but we couldn't be more happy with how it turned out!

Next up we have a really fun before and after. My client had 2 of these antique chairs and was about to put a 'for sale' sign on them in the front yard when I told her that they would be beautiful if we refurbished them.


The wood finisher refinished the wood in a silver leaf, and then the chair was reupholstered in a cream and chocolate silk damask. I loved how this chair turned out so much that I was tempted to pay my client and keep it for myself. This chair is going to sit in a corner of the dining room that is a little separated from the rest of the space. The chocolate and silver tones of the antique chair will help tie that corner in to the rest of the room.


Last but not least, we had an ottoman custom made for the sofa in the adjacent living room. Her living room is pretty much complete, but after going back and forth with a few coffee table options, my client finally decided she wanted a dainty oval ottoman. All of the other pieces of furniture in the room are solid, so I thought it would be fun to add in some pattern. I'm hoping to have the whole room photographed soon, but for now, here's our cute custom ottoman complete with tufts and pleated skirt...

Kitchen Face-Lift

There's nothing like a good kitchen make over! As fun as it is to start from scratch with new cabinets, new appliances, new flooring, etc., sometimes it's just as rewarding to just switch out a few necessities. Below is a before and then some after photos of my client's kitchen that we just recently completed. I had a meeting with her today and it was the first chance I had to see it all finished, so I was excited to take a few quick snap shots to share with you.

We kept the layout, cabinets, and appliances the same, but painted the walls, got a new back splash and counter tops, new knobs on the cabinets (that coordinate with the bronze liner in the back splash), and had an electrician install new pendant lights over the counter. We also kept the existing barstools and just had the seats reupholstered. My client was looking for a more contemporary look using clean lines and earthly tones. I was so pleased to help them with their kitchen face lift and I think we hit the nail on the head.

The "before" kitchen photo. Originally they purchased the model home in their housing development so there are some bold design statements that just needed to be updated.

Changing out the knobs or adding new knobs to existing cabinetry can make a big difference. The existing knobs were white so we wanted something darker that would stand out more and also coordinate with out new color scheme. The counter tops are thicker than standard counter tops, which I love, and that was actually my clients' suggestion to add to the more contemporary look they were going for.

The back splash is made up of glass brick tile, bronze liners, and a grey stone hexagon mosaic. My clients also added lighting under their upper cabinets, always a smart idea.