Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Think Pink! And Yellow!


I dyed the toile slip cover Rit Rose!
Poor Cholo is pooped - he was up all night helping me!



I love the green crackle finish on the pair of the mid century tables
Memphis style HEAVY metal table and antique French metal chair in the corner



I re-deranged the furniture a bit...
Not many choices since each wall has windows or doors
I left the cow hide rug in the closet for the Summer



10' long mid century Fornasetti style painted credenza with pecan wood top
It has three sections, and I treat each one as a separate unit
A genius piece, each section comes apart,
and there is a clever locking system that keeps them in place
Left side has big clock and smoky mirror lamp vignette
Center is for the flat screen
Right side has large blue and white lamp and Fornasetti vignette



Pink toile couch and the big clock - I just love a BIG clock!!!
My new smoky mirror lamp from Juliet Home Furnishings HERE



First I would like to thank everyone who encouraged me to go for this color combination, especially Sneaky Chic.
I went online to the Rit Dye site to see what kind of pinks they offer. They have only one true pink called Rose Pink. Fine. We were out for a walk, passing the Rite Aid. I know they sell Rit. Damn! They only had one box of Rose Pink! I have a slipcover, and two very long pairs of linen curtains to dye, and some pillow covers too, so one box won't cut it. Zoom zoom over to Wal Mart. Searching the craft department to no avail, when I asked a young lady if Wal Mart sold Rit. She directed me to the grocery side, the soap aisle (!). Damn! There were only three boxes left of Rose Pink! I'm telling you, pink never goes out of style!
So home to the washing machine and the chemistry lab of salt and mixing dye. I did it in two batches, letting each one soak for a few hours. I didn't put anything in the dryer. I was freaked out to see that one pair of the linen panels ripped! It is fine handkerchief linen that I had made into liner curtains for the poison green velvet drapes. They once were a vivid chartreuse, now faded to a pale cream yellow from the sun, and I think I might have bleached at least one pair too. I haven't used them in four years; they were folded and stored in a cedar chest. But me panic?! Hell no. I can always make do.
At first I thought about taking down the velvet, and just hanging the linen. But since one pair of panels is ripped, I can't do that. I'm mulling this over on the porch with a beer, when I look down at my pink and green Caladium plants, and duh, why not replace the dull brown sheer scrim panels with the pink linen! Just genius girl! Have another beer!
It's now three in the morning, and I 'm wired. So I drag the really, really tall ladder to the living room (the ceilings are 12' tall), and try not to wake up the hubs. The dog is restless, because he won't go to bed (our bed) until I go to bed. He's miserable because I'm moving furniture like a banshee, displacing him from the couch, the chair, the room.
I'm on a roll! I manage to have enough rings with hooks for all the panels. One of the ripped panels isn't too bad, and I can hide the rip within the folds. I whip on the damp slipcover, rearrange the furniture, fluff the accents, and just can't get over how much energy a simple thing like some pink linen curtain panels, and a pink slipcover are giving me!
Why haven't I used pink before! And the Rit Rose is just the perfect shade - everything looks tea stained pink...it is very pretty.
So off to bed at 5:30.
I wake up at 7:30 - I want to see the morning light in that pink and yellow room! The hubs is up, and I ask him to come and see what the elves and fairies did while he was sleeping. He was amazed, and knew it was just one crazy visual vampire up all night.
I photographed the room in natural light at a slow shutter speed, as advised by some pro photographer Decorno featured last month. The amount of light coming through the pink panels made it kind of hard to get good photos. Plus trying to hold the camera steady using a slow shutter speed is a bitch. Also the light was changing from minute to minute. The pink is really spectacular!
So there you have it! It's not perfect. I'm using what I have, alot of old stuff. It doesn't look slick or sleek, but I sure do love it, and I think I finally am happy after four years of going through 10,000 changes in this tiny little living room.

3 comments:

Sneaky Chic said...

Holy S***! I cannot believe you did that all so fast! You are amazing. What a great idea to dye things that you already had - very green. :)

I looks great! I have LOVED that room ever since I first saw it on RMS when you got that gorgeous blue and white lamp. You have style.

You go girrrlllll!

gitanguera said...

yes, i love it, too! i've been contemplating the rit dye for my drab duvet. i'm hoping to get something like a mauve-to-orchid-pink. but i love how that rose turned out. think i'll go for it!

Visual Vamp said...

google rit dye - they have a web site with the best color mixing chart. i'm sure you can brew a batch of mauve-to -orchid-pink. they have both colors: rose pink and mauve - maybe you just mix 'em together! voila no more drab duvet!