Inspiration: French Accents Rugs and Tapestries Inc.

While we're on the topic of ceilings, (of course you read the last post) here's another one of Belle's. 

Medallion patterned ceiling, inspired by an Aubusson rug

I did warn you in the last post that I'm a little obsessed with ceilings.  This one was inspired by an ad for a rug, though I simplified the pattern a great deal.

I left off the floral ribbons and filled in with my signature art nouveau scrolls.  Click for close-up.

Starting with their design, I pulled one shape and color, and tweaked it to work with the light fixture.

My shoulders were throbbing by the time I got this far, and I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with the pattern, so I left it alone for a couple of years.  I think I'll actually be adding some details to this in the near future, but I'm thinking pearls and seashells, rather than the flowers and ribbons of the inspiration piece.



I've been keeping clipping books since I was about four...I remember working on them during "nap time", which I think was just Mom's way of getting a break from my nonstop imagination, insisting I take some quiet time behind a closed door.

Since the inspiration clipping is about 1" x 2", and impossible to photograph, I looked them up online.  www.farugs.com  Do check them out.  They have some seriously beautiful pieces.

As you can see, the magazine clipping is mounted to a scrapbook page.  I do this with favorite clippings, creating one-of-a-kind inspiration books that I refer to when a design or project won't gel.  Sometimes it helps to see how someone else balanced a color, or combined mismatched furnishings.  It's not about copying someone else's look, but clarifying my own preferences.

I always have design clients pull magazine tear sheets, and I keep files of them to share, but for myself, I do go the extra step of pasting them into books.  It's fun to look back at the ones I did in high school, full of first apartment ideas, legwarmer fashions, and Lady Di haircuts!  And just about the time I think my style has evolved, I discover that legwarmers are back in, and I wonder if the extra fabric at the calf wouldn't balance the extra padding on my thighs!  Okay, maybe not.  To erase that scary image, I'll leave you with one more ceiling.  This is the closet of the room featured above, with a tent stripe pattern that picks up on the fan motifs from the corners.

even closets deserve pretty paint