Tag: <span>decorating</span>

Around the World Travel and Design blog
If you haven’t noticed, HoneyTrek.com has become my new labor of love. Seeing Design was meant to be the aesthetic arm of our blog about our 4,685-day (and counting) honeymoon around the world, but the style and stories behind each of the 80 countries and 700+ places we visited can’t be separated from our journey to find them. HoneyTrek chronicles the twists and turns of our unconventional path and everything that inspired us along the way. Stunning architecture, charming homes, chic designs, talented artisans, exotic cuisine…these tenets of Seeing Design can all be found over on HoneyTrek…but within a context that means so much more than what meets the eye.  We couldn’t be more proud of HoneyTrek (and all the press it’s been getting!) so we hope you check it out and join us for the adventures to come!

 


If you want to catch up on our past two years of world travel, watch this video, full of highlights from a trip that has truly changed our lives.

 

honeytrek 2014
Even though we are back in the States we still have 12 more countries-worth of stories to share, so…

FOLLOW THE HONEYTREK!
Sign up for our newsletter to get a dose of weekly inspiration and follow us across social media to catch our most recent adventures.
Travel Newsletter: http://www.HoneyTrek.com/subscribe
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/HoneyTrek
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/HoneyTrek
Instagram: http://Instagram.com/HoneyTrek
Pinterest: http://Pinterest.com/HoneyTrek
YouTube: http://YouTube.com/user/TheHoneyTrek
Google Plus: http://Plus.Google.com/+HoneyTrek

We look forward to hearing from you and having you along for the ride!

Places Projects

bookshelf-design-ideasFor those of you who participated in the Bookshelf Runoff over the summer, thank you for your vote! With your fine taste and discerning eye, you picked the Left Bank by Vivaterra and it couldn’t be more perfect for our living room. The gray-washed wood shelves and exposed rivets give the room a little edge but the classic shape lets me know we’ll love it for a very long time.

With the bookshelf built and in place, the fun part begins: Accessorizing…

bookshelf-design ideasBookshelves are like one big showcase for your favorite things. Little collections, one-off objet, happy photos and quirky art get a new sense of purpose and importance when strategically placed among tomes.

Here a mix of fashion, design, fiction, photography, and travel books become pedestals and frames for beloved objects like our red-handled wine corker from the old bottling rooms of Burgundy to pieces from our camera collection (featuring Mike’s antique accordion Kodak and a cheeky ceramic Polaroid I got him for Christmas).

objects as bookendsReally, anything heavy and interesting is a bookend. Here, a charcoal-heated iron that Mike found in India keeps our literature in place and looks quite sculptural in its new found role.

Bookshelf accessorizingFilling the formerly empty expanse next to our fireplace, our bookshelf of favorite things makes the living room feel like a much more personal place.

Finds

silver wall sconceHanging by the front door of his former bachelor pad, Mike had sconces made of old terracotta roof tiles. They were definitely a bit rugged for my taste but I loved their simplicity–just a candleholder drilled into a found object. Then I started thinking, with that formula, a sconce could really be anything. For the best light and shadow, the material should be something reflective with an interesting outline and for drilling reasons, it’s got to be durable. I had a scalloped silver plate that was perfect, now I just needed to figure out the logistics of attaching the candleholder. After doing a good amount of brainstorming and research on Grand Brass Lamp Parts, I decided a candelabra arm was the closest to a ready-to-go candleholder (since welding wasn’t exactly an option).

sconce

So I took a trip to my favorite resource for outlandish decorating projects, Jamali Gardens, and found this inexpensive nickel-plated candelabra and an aluminum tray to practice on.

wall decor candelabra
Like many candelabras, the one I bought was made from two intersecting arms and fastened with the center candle. Once I separated the two arms, I took a hacksaw and cut it where the candleholder’s curve met the decorative center portion.

wall decor candelabra armThe next move was connecting the arm to the plate (this is where Mike’s skills come in). We drilled a hole into the plate and the arm nub and then with a screw, two washers, and a cap nut, we fastened them together.

a sconce as wall decorThis was our practice sconce but we were actually so pleased with it, that we’ve gone on to make a number of sconces out of these Jamali plates as wedding gifts.

bedroom wall sconceToday, the first few we made are hanging in our bedroom as a mix/match collection.

Projects

Staying at a bed and breakfast always sounds like a romantic notion but I’ve found that its decor rarely supports the theory. In search of a B&B in New Hope, PA for a recent getaway weekend, the options all looked Victorian-charming on the outside, but like Granny’s quarters on the inside. Then I came across Porches on the Towpath. No quilts, no wooden ducks, and no doily-knit bed skirts—this bed and breakfast was the perfect marriage of sophisticated and cozy.

Staying here felt like you got the keys to a friend’s country house for the weekend. And the owner John Neville Byers’ passion for collecting makes the space feel loved and lived in. Byers has always been avid collector and can’t help but shop for the B&B. “I have a side table for a room that I don’t even have yet,” says Byers. Porches is decorated down to the desk accessories but to keep things fresh he believes decorating “is all about having a closet full of treasures and pulling them out when you need them.” I love the fact that he has three storage units and uses them as constant reference of inspiration for the B&B.

design-hotels-dining-room
The dining room is the first room you see when you walk through the door. The carefully-selected antiques, rich art collection, and sunny colors let you know you are in the hands of a decorator.

design-hotels-sitting-room
The entire hotel has a help-yourself quality. Whether it's coffee service or grabbing a book from the shelf, each element is inviting. This sitting room is place I'd want to sit and read all day.

design-hotels-fireplace
Suite #6 was the room we stayed in. The original fireplace and incredibly wide-plank floors show a bit of the history of the 19th-century space. The fireplace isn't functional anymore but with just a simple bronze tray as a reflector, a candle can light up the space.

design-hotels-powder-room
Art filled the walls in this hotel. Even the tiniest powder room got three paintings.

design-hotels-canopy-bed
Room #5. Nothing is more romantic than wall-mounted canopy.

design-hotels-plaid-room
Room #3. Sunny yellow, navy blue, and plaid--this space is so preppy, it's fabulous.

There are 12 rooms on the property, each one completely distinct and lovely. The prices are all incredibly reasonable with rates as low as $105 for a room in main house and as high as $250 for the carriage house on weekends. And no matter where you stay or what you pay, the entire experience at Porches is one well-spent.

Places