2011 Designer Showcase

It was a labor of love and far more work than I anticipated, but the Designer Showcase came and went and I'm glad to say I'm still standing...barely. I knew from the beginning I wanted to step outside the proverbial box and show a space representative of my personal style, but living in the Quad-Cities, I also knew this was a gamble as our area is far more conservative than most. What I showcased in the end was a true representation of how I design for my own home and how, in theory, I do for clients as well. If you look beyond the overall style and start to break down the individual elements, it becomes easier to see how you could switch out the large horse print for a framed landscape to work into a more traditional look. Or if you take a look at the drapes, you can focus on the beautiful construction and how, by switching out the fabrics for others, you'd have a totally different look. I incorporated some new pieces and some old to exhibit how it's possible to work with any budget. Anyhoo, I thought some of you who couldn't make it over to the show would like to see pictures. Kristin Geerts did all the photography and her work is amazing. I'll fill you in a bit more about her in a bit.

Find her at http://www.kristingeertsphotography.com/

You can see a bit of the lower detail of the drapes here. The two fabrics were separated by two trims...on a black chiffon ruffle and one a rhinestone trim.

The wall color I chose was Cooled Blue by SW and it's the perfect Tiffany box blue.

Surrounding yourself with things that make you smile or you find beautiful is the key to a successful space. It doesn't matter if it cost pennies or thousands...if it moves you, you should display it.

Memories of my first Tiffany gift make me grin. It's not so much the bougeyness of it as the beauty of the moment and of the classic box that held such a thoughtful gift. So, I kept it and use it to hold paper clips!

These great lamps, available through Interior Image, were custom ordered for the show. I jazzed them up by adding some black grosgrain ribbon to the top and bottom of the shade and used a couple of adhesive gem letters from Hobby Lobby to personalize it.

I love her. Is she reaching for her dreams or reaching out to help the world? Either way...she calms me.

Like sands through the hour glass....

Story of my life. 

Do you like to tear out pics from home magazines and collect paint and fabric swatches? Get organized!

I don't even like Pellegrino...but I think the bottles are lovely.

Ghost chairs...these were quite the topic of conversation. Everything from..."What are those? Patio furniture?" to "Oooohhh, GHOthT tHAIRS!" (said by a kind, but elderly woman who had forgotten to put her teeth in that day). :D

Hootie's got my back.

I backed my $3.00 Goodwill bookcase with houndstooth wrapping paper.

Think outside the box and see how things around your home can work for something totally different. This little piece is meant to hold pieces of toast, but is perfect to keep my files upright.

If you have questions or if you'd like to inquire about purchasing any of the items you see here, please email me at jenofalltrades@ymail.com. Most of what you saw here and beautiful things like them can be found through Interior Image in every style imaginable. Our in-house workroom constucted the custom drapes and we can do yours, too! Hope you enjoyed and have a wonderful day! 

JULIE AND JULIA AND JEN

So, last week my mom and I went to see Julie and Julia and I'm fairly sure I grinned the entire way through it. Paris as a backdrop for Meryl Streep's portrayal of Julia Child's utter charm mixed with a girl like myself struggling to find a creative outlet, was exactly what I needed to get my mind off...well, everything.

It filled me with bliss, yep, bliss and more importantly inspired me to cook, to blog, to eat, to pack up and finally move to Paris. I have always, as far back as I can remember, desperately wanted to live in Paris. No. Scratch that. I have wanted to BE Parisian. I wish I had been born there and often fantasize that I was...that I learned to read French by fumbling my way through "Le Petit Prince" while ma mere sipped cafe cremes and ignored the basket of warm croissants sitting in front of her because she just COULD NOT eat another croissant! (Imagine living in Paris for so long that you would actually tire of eating a freshly baked, warm croissant!)

 In my "I grew up in Paris" dreams,  I would have gone to an all-girl's school like Madeleine and worn a little uniform and would have expressed myself by wearing a different beret every day. I would have lived in a pied-a-terre with 12 foot ceilings, beautiful architectural details and a view of the Eiffel Tower from my bedroom through the windows that look like doors. In 12th grade, my boyfriend, Jean-Luc, would have climbed the ivy wrapped trellis out of my window and whisked me away on his moped to Versailles where his Uncle, the groundskeeper, would have snuck us into the castle where he had arranged to have the chefs prepare my favorite meal by candlelight in the gardens. I would have broken up with Jean-Luc that night after pouting in that way only a French girl can get away with because I needed to spread my wings. A couple of years later I would have attended both Le Cordon Bleu AND Les Ateliers Paris Design Institute. Speaking 6 languages (for the sake of argument, let's say they were French (bien sur!), English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Italian), I would have traveled the world studying different foods and ways of life until I landed in New York City where I would meet and become business partners with Barbara Barry, designing both furniture and home accessory lines and opening several small but smashingly successful bistros in NY, Paris, San Francisco and Chicago.

But, I'm not French, I'm mid-western. I have a degree in design but no shop of my own in which to spread my wings and I often burn my bagel. And frankly, because all roads have led my to the love of my life, my husband, I am eternally thankful to the powers that be that my path delivered me here.

I digress to say that yes, I was inspired by Julie and Julia. Inspired to write. Inspired to cook. And inspired to keep dreaming of Paris, and perfect roasted chicken and being able to shop at Baker and actually buy something and someday run into Barbara Barry if only to shake her hand and tell her that one of her chair designs actually made me cry because it was just that perfect.

Until then, I decided tonight Gen-ee-fair (Jennifer with a very bad french accent) would shop like a Parisian...well, minus the local boulangerie where, back to my "I live in Paris dream",  I'd ride my bike with a basket attached to the handlebars and a cute little vintage bell down la Rue de la Never Gonna Happen and I'd place the paper wrapped baguette and fresh vegetables from the street market into said basket as I passed the guy on the street with the accordion and toss him a euro. I could do this all day, you know.

Really though, all I did in reality was shop with no recipe in mind as I walked the outer aisles of our local Hy-Vee (argh!, damn those fluorescent lights and that crappy cheese section) and let myself become inspired by what was fresh. An hour later I was home to make Bruschetta (Broos-ketta...I love to say it like that) with fresh tomatoes and basil with a touch of kosher salt, balsalmic and evoo, a lovely "Oui, Oui!" salad with homemade salad dressing (Dijon, balsamic, soy sauce and evoo with spring greens) and tilapia, lightly seasoned and grilled. Dessert was an easy, breezy blueberry pie that is currently chilling in the fridge. It was lovely. It was easy. And I felt like I had really created something beautiful.

So, I guess I have that darn movie to thank for the inspiration for all of this. I think I'll give this whole blog thing a go and see where it leads me. A little self-exploration. A lot of amazing inspiration for all things beautiful. And I hope after putting this out there into the great abyss, that someone, anyone might find me and like me and share my enthusiasm. So, until then...until I'm brave enough to publish this I should say...I bid you adieu. Bon Nuit, mes amies.

AHHHH, PARIS! JE T'AIME.

For as long as I can remember I've had a love affair with all things French. After two trips to Paris I am only more smitten than ever...as a matter of fact, there are some days that I spend hours thinking of the city, the architecture, the people, the language and of course the food. I continue to be inspired by the images below and though my camera skills leave a lot to be desired, I hope you can appreciate the beauty that so often brings tears to my eyes and inspires so much of my personal design sensibilities.

Ugh, I hate that when I downloaded these the dates were on there! Anyone have an idea how to remove them without photo shopping?