Ann-Marie Barton - Style in Salt Lake City

Last week I went to Jeni Goichnour's Art Open House which was held at the Holladay Gardens Condominiums model unit. The open house was great and Jeni's collection of painted gourds and goodies is always so much fun. Of course, I was totally distracted by the beautifully decorated condo by interior designer, Ann-Marie Barton. I quickly went home and looked the property up on the MLS. All photos are from the MLS, however, the listing is currently expired???

The floor plan is perfection. At 1800 square feet it really lives large and packs a punch in all the right areas (kitchen, master suite, laundry room and study)

I love the hood, and milky white cabinets, subway tile and tropical brown granite countertops. The commercial grade range is my personal favorite brand - Decor (it is what I have in my home too, I will have to tell you about the digital meat probe later- it is the best!)

These photos do not do that white linen slipcoverd sofa justice. It is beautiful - it looks a lot like the furniture by Giannetti Home - which I adore.

The colors in the home are a soft mix of butter and sea salt blue. I wish there was a picture of the head board and pillows that Ann-Marie picked out for this space.

I like the mix of natural stone and subway tile. In the other bathroom (not pictured), the walls of the shower are white subway tile and the floors are slate. I love all-white spaces but natural stone on the floor (limestone, slate and some travertine) hides a lot of dirt and warms up a space.

I love this office. Say good-bye to expensive cherry wood cabinets. This space is more feminine and flexible. Beautiful! If you would like to see more of Ann-Marie's work click here.

How color can change your life

If you are not already reading Maria Killam's blog, Color Me Happy, you should bookmark it right now. Not only is she a great designer and an excellent writer, she is also a great friend and mentor. She changed the way I think about blogs when she wrote about blogging here. She said; "The instant friendships you make blogging are the greatest thing about it." Until then, I thought blogs were more of a one-way street and I never left comments. (even though I read them everyday). She said that it is only polite to comment after reading a post and that "if you comment on [her] blog, [she] will always post a comment on yours. It’s just good manners." Since then I have left comments on every post I have read and it works. Most people leave a comment or email back and I have made some nice friends.

Photo courtesy: Maria Killam

Maria introduced me to another great blogger, Penelope Trunk, a career therapist. It seems that every post relates to me, personally. Start reading and you will see why I love her, unless you have all the answers to life, your career and finding eternal happiness (then you'll hate it). In a recent post: How to be more interesting to other people. She said “We each have spots in our lives where two colors are coming together and we're not sure what will happen.That's the part we should talk about when we talk about ourselves. If you limit the conversation, discussing only what you are certain about, then there's no chance to stand on equal footing with your conversation partner. You stand on equal footing when you both reveal your struggles with what you don't know yet, and the conversation can contribute to the answer."

Photo: fliker

Lightbulb moment. My blog has been a one-way conversation and that is really not the point of blogging, is it? It made me sad to think that I don't know my readers and they don't know me. Most of you know that I am a full-time-mom who just finished building/remodeling my third home (I only own one at time). I love everything to do with homes; buying, selling, fixing up, tearing down, remodeling, redecorating, or starting from scratch. I have always worked with clients as an interior designer, however, that has never been my full-time occupation. Before becoming a mother, I worked in the corporate world as a marketing and communications consultant. I am an entrepreneur and designer by nature and I love to have a project.

Those are the things I am certain about. However, This is where my two colors are colliding: I planned to have another baby at this point in my life. The first one took eight years to produce so I am not sure if/when another will come our way. In the mean time, I am picking up more design clients and having a blast navigating the design business. I am not sure what this next stage in my life looks like but so far the path is beautiful and intriguing.

Thank you for reading my blog and for sharing your feedback and ideas!

Maine Cottage Furniture

I can't believe that I have never mentioned one of my favorite online stores, Maine Cottage Furniture. It is kind of like the old Bunglaow, with colorful cottage furniture, however all of the furniture is new (and expensive, if you ask me). I can't decide which is my favorite part, the pieces, the color options, or the names of the colors (Shrimp, Sprout, Clay, Porch, Bark). Sometimes I will go on the site and customize a piece of furniture with different colors, just to get some inspiration. I love to see how a piece is transformed with a coat of paint, and not have to do any of the work.

Some of you may remember when I painted my kitchen chairs curry (OK they were bright yellow). Well, this is the place that made yellow chairs so appealing to me. How could you not love these colors?

Color Choices

I am really enjoying this tool that I found on House Beautiful's web page. I like it because I can pick the exact colors from Benjamen Moore and Sherwin Williams that I am considering and see how they look in a room. Of course, I would never rely solely on this tool to pick a color but it helps get an idea about the color and how it relates to other colors.

When I was building my new house, I spent over $100 on paint samples and painted a small section (about 3' X 3') of each wall the color that I was considering for that room. It was money well spent because that is the only way to really know what the color will look like. Lighting in your specific room will make a big difference on how the color comes across.

Since we are not sheet rocked in yet, and I want to get a head start on my colors, I have been painting poster boards the colors that I am considering. This has been helpful because I can take the poster boards with me to the tile store and make sure that I am picking tile that will go with my color scheme.

Just so you know, Sherwin Williams is the best place to buy paint samples. They will make up a sample for about $5 and it doesn't have to be one of "their" colors. Other places will make up a quart for you and charge full price. Benjamen Moore has some $3.99 samples made up - ready to buy - but they are limited as far as colors.