SANDRA'S NOTEBOOK | Sandra Forbes Interiors |Making Homes as Individual as You Are

There is a strong architectural statement in this style. Whether the walls are white or a creamy neutral, the textured stucco or plaster walls create a rustic and inviting atmosphere. The stone or hardwood floors are often distressed and earthy as if they have stood the test of time where generations have walked. Arched windows and doors abound with their gracious curves. Colorful tile is often seen in the kitchen and decorative ironwork may be seen.

terra cotta tile
arched doorways
natural exposed wood beams
decorative ironwork
french doors
natural stone
colorful tile
outdoor spaces for family living

In keeping with the connection with the outdoors, green plants are used generously in these neutral rooms. in this example a large potted plant is used along with woven baskets on the wall and on the floor. A highly textured pillow is thrown on the floor which adds more high texture. The bed look as if it has natural cotton linens. A vibrant color was not chosen for this room but they let all the textures be the star. Even the rug is high in natural texture.

ceramics
mosaics
vibrant colored rugs
jute or sisal rugs
woven baskets
pottery
minimal wall decor

February 20, 2024February 23, 2024

IDEAS FOR DECORATING IN TRADITIONAL STYLE

Some features of Traditional Style furniture might include:

Upholstered seating with carved or turned wood frames
Skirted upholstery
rolled arms with decorative trim or nails
button tufting
dark woods like mahogany and cherry

Examples of Traditional Style Furniture:
(Look for the above features in the following pieces)

upholstered wing back chairs
upholstered chaise lounges
upholstered loveseats
upholstered club chairs
upholstered sofa
wood framed occasional chairs
secretaries
hutches
chests
wooden benches
wooden stools
vintage pieces

This picture from Luxdeco demonstrates the soft curved lines in Traditional Style furniture seen in the stuffed upholstery, furniture arms and carved wooden legs often contrast with the crisp linen lamp shades and straight lines of the room’s architectural features. The tall vertical lines in the draperies and architecture draw the eye up and give a sense of grandeur. The symmetrical placement of furniture also offers straight lines toward a focal point.

The Traditional style is all about balance of form and line.

July 10, 2020November 25, 2020

Updating My Dining Room Chairs

Since we are holding up in our house more right now, I decided to finish my ongoing project. I have been updating my dining room tables and chairs.

I am happy to say that I am done! It has been a long project.

It all started because our tables and chairs were bar height. We found that the tall height was hard on some of our backs. The tall height was also a less formal look than what I was looking for.

The first thing we did was to cut our table legs down and the chair legs down. As you can see from this picture, the cross bar ended up to be pretty low to the floor but we were willing to live with that. It was far easier (we thought) to refinish the chairs and to use what we had rather than buying a new table and chairs.

My table and chairs, on the other hand, were not very expensive but they serve us well. We have two 5′ square tables that allow us to sit up to 16 people. Each has a leaf that can change the table size to seat either 6 or 8 people. We sometimes push them together as one large table that seats 12. I love the versatility! I rearrange them depending on the number of people we are hosting.

I wanted to keep them if I could.

So, I decided to first refinish and update the table first. I don’t have any pictures of this process but it is pretty much what I did on the chairs as well. I primed and painted the table legs and apron the same color as the buffet. Then proceeded to distress them by hammering small indentations with a tip of a nail and sanding them a bit. I finished with a glaze.

I then sanded and stained the tabletop to compliment the walnut floors.

I spent several days priming and painting the chairs.

Thankfully, I had a hand-held sprayer that I bought for a client project. Each was lightly sanded and then primed and painted.

The painted chairs looked great but they looked too new when compared to the distressed finish on the buffet and newly refinished table. Each chair needed to be glazed to create a more antique look.

I was able to achieve this by wiping a glaze on each and then wiping it back off with a damp cloth leaving a small residue in grain lines.

I spent several days priming and painting the chairs.

Thankfully, I had a hand-held sprayer that I bought for a client project. Each was lightly sanded and then primed and painted.

The painted chairs looked great but they looked too new when compared to the distressed finish on the buffet and newly refinished table. Each chair needed to be glazed to create a more antique look.

I was able to achieve this by wiping a glaze on each and then wiping it back off with a damp cloth leaving a small residue in grain lines.

Lastly, each chair seat needed to be recovered. The pads that came with the chairs were not very comfortable. They were not very dense and not very thick. The fabric was very stained as well from many years of use.

I took this opportunity to take apart the covers and replace the pads with a more dense and thick foam to help cushion. To do this, I needed to remove all the staples from the cover fabric so I could get at the padding. First there were approximately 20 staples on the facing fabric and then over a hundred staples holding the fabric on each cushion!

June 15, 2020March 12, 2021

Traditional and Vintage Nursery Design

I decided to design a nursery using this chair as a stepping off point. Stay tuned to see another design using this chair in a sitting room in a more traditional design. This is the style I really enjoy. A mix of traditional and contemporary.

I don’t know about you but I am tiring of white. Don’t get me wrong. I love white. In fact, it has always been my favorite color! I know – weird. Right?!

White is a combination of all colors in light so it isn’t surprising that I love all design styles too. That’s why I love design. There are so many different directions to go.

So many of us have furniture that has been passed down to us from our family members and we want to incorporate those pieces but want to have a more up to date look. White is more difficult to blend with traditional dark wood pieces and still create a muted, understated and mellow environment in a bedroom.

This one fits the bill. It is a combination of traditional with 70s boho. Here’s what I came up with… Let me know what you think and comment below.

Passion Flower Kilim Club Chair – Sundance

My inspiration. Great for a contemporary nursery and move into any room when it is no longer needed in the nursery.

2. Japanese Textile Design Print on Paper – Perigold

The gold frame pulls in the warm tones in the drapery rod and table and the print brings in the tones from the chair.

3. Simmons Kids Tivoli Pine Wood Convertible Crib – Amazon (White or Chestnut)

Both the chestnut and white should work with this design. It also converts to a bed as they grow.

Spiral Felt Ball Mobile – Neutral – Etsy MatthewAndMae

I love how this mobile brings in the neutral and muted colors.

Authentic Vintage Brick Mold Bookshelf – Farmhouse Fresh

Incorporate tall shelving with this vintage bookshelf or with something like this, which has a similar look but with soft curves to match the desk and chair.

Hemp Woven Rug Color: Sage – Sundance

Can’t lose with a neutral rug.

Bumblebee End Table – Anthropologie (Love the bee accents!)

The bumble bee accents will be loved by the kids and it brings a contemporary feel to the nursery.

Brushed Brass Bernie Series LED Floor Lamp – Lamps Plus

This floor lamps brings a contemporary feel to an otherwise traditional space.

A Most Unusual Old Teak Floor Desk with 3 Drawers – Jugs Furniture

I love this idea of a low desk with a vintage vibe.

Belgian Linen Curtain, Natural – West Elm

Stay with a soft white curtains

Monkey Bookends – Grace Hill Design

Choose décor to accent the colors in the chair and you can’t lose!

Antique Brass French Curtain Rod – Target

Hint: Use a French curtain rod to close that gap on the sides in combination with a black out shade to minimize light during nap times!

June 2, 2020March 12, 2021

Easy DIY Spring Flower Arrangement

I thought you would enjoy seeing how I put together this easy DIY Spring floral arrangement and enjoy it all summer long.

Forsythia was abundant on the east coast in Virginia and I absolutely loved seeing it burst forth every spring. It was one of the first signs of spring along with the crocus and dogwoods. If you aren’t familiar with this spectacular bush here is a link to a collection of google search images. I wanted to capture that feeling in that moment of Springtime by putting some forsythia in my family room. Today, I am going to show you how you can too.

I got these artifical stems at Jo-Ann fabrics for about $2 a piece on sale. Two branches came on one stem so I cut many of them apart. It’s always nice to use at least two different size blooms to create interest and texture, especially if you’re making a flower arrangement with only one color like this one. I thought these would be a nice combination.

This is artificial foam. There is a darker green foam that you can use for fresh flowers. Since I am using artificial flowers and an open-topped vase, I’m using this foam. The vase came from my inventory of decor items I bought for decorating a hair salon each Christmas. So I thought I would use this for my base for my flowers.

Okay, so, to begin, what we need to do is just take some artificial foam and cut it with a bread knife or a serrated edge knife to fit into my vase. It’s easy.

Because it’s a glass vase I don’t want the foam to be seen and have it touching the vase. I am going to put Spanish moss between the foam and the glass. Cut off the corners so it is not touching the vase. Then put some spanish moss at the bottom of the vase because there’s going to be a gap between the foam and the bottom of the curved vase. Fill in around the foam with the moss. Simple as that. Making sure that, as you go, that you’re pushing the moss down to cover the foam so you don’t see the foam. I use a long knife to get down to the bottom because my fingers aren’t long enough. It doesn’t look very natural when you see the foam. Right? Making sure that you can’t see the foam and there’s no gaps.

Before I can put the stems in, I want to put some greenery in the base here. Grab your wire cutters. You’re tempted to just cut at the bottom where the side stems meet the main stem but that’s a little bit too long for what I’m intending. It’s okay to go ahead and cut it even shorter than that if that’s what you need. The key to flower arranging is balance. So if I’m going to put a little bit on one side, I am going to put one on the other side so there is a balance and a symmetry to your floral arrangement. And put those on the other two sides so that there’s four or more coming from center. Those are going to be the base.

So we have laid in the foundation greenery to create the base. The next part is to create the height. The height of the flowers should be about one and a half times the height of your of the vase. My vase is seven and a half inches so we want to shoot for around 10 to 12 inches more for the flowers. I created height with those branches and a piece of the same greenery that I used for the base placed in the center. I want to bring the greenery from the base up into the inside of the floral arrangement to create cohesivity. You don’t want all the green on the bottom and the yellow on top. You want the green to be mixed up so I’m going to put that piece of greenery in the center.

Take the yellow… your main pieces and start working from the outside of the circle in rotating as you go. We are going to go around the outside first. Always fluff up your pieces as well so you don’t just keep them all together. What’s nice about artificial flowers is that they can be fluffed up a little bit. So I put one on the right side and I turn it around and put another piece on the outside of the other side working and rotating as you go. As I put a piece on one side, I turn it around and put another piece equal on the other side. So now it’s all balanced and even. You don’t want to have more flowers on one side than the other side. There will be spaces in between. I’m going to go ahead and fill in some of those spaces. One on this side and another on the opposite side, sticking that into that foam. Now, I am going to grab my smaller flowers. I place one in between the two and flip it and go to the other side. Continuing to do that all the way around, filling in the spaces. Looking at where there are holes. Just making sure that you’re symmetrical as you go along. Put one on this side and I want to put one on the opposite side. Keep working until you feel like it’s the full enough that you’re happy with it. Work around and toward the inside increasing the height of the pieces as you get closer to the center. Here is a link to a video explanation if this helps.

Stand back and look at your arrangement and see what you think. Look at it and see if you’re happy with the way it has turned out. If there are any holes and if you need to add more You can always edit and take out. If you aren’t happy with it, you can always take things out. It is very forgiving to do floral arrangements. It is very subjective. Don’t be scared of them. It’s basically all about balance. Put one on one side, the other on the other and just keep rotating. If you only have 3 of something, make them equal distance apart instead of four. You don’t have to have to be equal in number but they do need to be balanced.

February 5, 2020March 12, 2021

Valentine’s Day Table Setting

December 12, 2019March 12, 2021

How to Make Small Christmas Tree Decorations

Easy and Inexpensive

Here is a quick tutorial on how I made these Christmas Trees. I needed 50! It wasn’t in the budget to buy 50 bristle brush trees. Even at $5 each, I would have had to spend $250! Here is how I made 50 trees for ZERO DOLLARS.

I had this 3 foot piece of artificial garland left over from last year. Why not take it apart and make trees out of each branch? That’s what I did. You can do it too.

My garland had 3 wires. 2 made up the base wire and then the third wire wound about the base of each branch tying them all together. I simply unwound the third wire to separate the branches. Then all there was left to do was to cut the small bristles in the shape of a tree. I have to say that they aren’t that beautiful by themselves but they make a nice statement when put together in a grouping.

My wonderful husband braved the cold and cut some 1 by 2 boards into 10-11 inch pieces. I needed 10 because my client was a Hair Salon and they had 10 stations that needed a decoration.

Each board was then stained a nice walnut finish and 5 holes drilled. The holes were drilled unevenly on purpose. I didn’t want the trees to be in a row. I wanted them overlapping a bit to help the look be more natural. Then each tree base was dipped in glue and one was put in each hole. All that was needed was a simple spray of snow. Voila! The only thing left was to print out a beautiful Christmas message to put under each piece.

Merry Christmas Salon Oriana!

November 25, 2019February 13, 2020

The Woodbury Retreat – Creating a Home

A Private Place to Reflect

She wanted to rest and retreat from the stress in her life. This focal wall as you entered her apartment set the stage to what you would experience throughout her home. A restful retreat. This statue was purchased at one of St. Thomas Academy’s annual auctions. It is now a comforting feature in my client’s home.

After selling her long time home in St. Paul which I helped her stage, she asked me to help turn her new apartment into a home.

More pictures of her St. Paul home here.

She needed a place to get away and reflect. She was entering a new stage in life.

Feature Wall

The first thing she asked me to do was to help with this feature wall that greeted you as you first entered the apartment. She wanted the statue of the Blessed Mother here but the statue seemed to fade into the white wall behind. It wasn’t featured enough.

I decided to raise it up and center it more in the space and create a faux painted wood panel to be installed behind it. This helped the statue of The Blessed Mother become a prominant feature without making it look “churchy”.

Layering paint creates this beautiful faux wood panel to bring out the colors in the statue.

Then there was the challenge of hiding the modem wires and finding a place for the grandchildren’s toys. This buffet provided the additional needed storage.

A simple solution to hiding the TV and modem wires was these covers from the local hardware store. They worked wonderfully.

Hidden wires can help make a room feel less cluttered.

Now, this wall happened to be the wall she saw from her bed.

It was the first thing she saw as she left her bedroom and started her day. This print by Steve Henderson entitled “Ocean Breeze” [from greatbigcanvas.com] was a delightful find that was an emotional lift at the start of each new day.

Another inspiring painting was one done by her nephew when, also, going through a traumatic time in his life. The painting, entitled “Eternal Hunger”, represented a nursing child finding solice in his mother’s arms.

Then it was just a matter of tying together her existing decor to create a cohesive color scheme that was calm and relaxing.

Guest Room

In the guest room, we worked off the colors in a picture she treasured from a friend. We took the soft teal from the ocean in the picture and repeated it throughout the room by painting the oak frame and hand painting the pillow to coordinate.

Lastly, we needed to add to the blank wall behind the dining room table. It was an open floor plan with the living room so the colors needed to be cohesive. In an otherwise muted decor of soft greys and cream, she found delight in the colors in this grouping. We centered them over the dining room table.

A home is all about surrounding yourself with things that you love and inspire you.

It was an honor to be a part of her journey to help her create a retreat to refresh and reflect and rejoice in God’s love for her. She is dearly loved.

Contemporary Styles

Contemporay Style Color Palette

Mid-Century Modern

Scandinavian

Minimalism

California Coastal

Art Deco

Hollywood Glamour

Global

Pop Maximilism

Rustic Contemporary

Industrial

Urban Modern

Modern

Contemporary Style Furniture

Mid-Century Modern

Scandinavian

Minimalism

Transitional Styles

Modern Farmhouse

Urban Modern

Modern Traditional

Modern Bohemian

Coastal

Shabby Chic

Modern European

Japandi

Gustavian Scandinavian

Wabi Sabi

Modern European Villa

French Country

Modern Western

Maximilism

Eclectic

Grandpa Chic

Cottage Core

Coastal Mediterranean Style Color Palette

Mediterranean Forms & Line

Mediterranean Style Furniture

Mediterranean Style Architecture

Patterns & Prints

Textures, Materials and Finishes

Fabrics

Window Treatments

Lighting

Art & Decor

Traditional Design Styles

Rustic Farmhouse

Rustic

English Cottage

Coastal Mediterranean

Victorian

Bohemian

Vintage Cottage

Arts and Crafts

Traditional Style Color Palette

Furniture in the Traditional Style

Architectural Influences in the Traditional Style

Patterns and Prints in the Traditional Style

Form & Line

Textures, Materials & Finishes

Fabrics

Window Treatments

Lighting

Art and Decor

… Variations of the Traditional Style

Compliment Your Existing Furniture

Whew! That was fun but I was not looking forward to finishing the chairs. THERE ARE 16 OF THEM!

Updating My Dining Room Chairs

Updating My Dining Room Chair Pads

Ta Da! Finished!

I love to put a statement piece in every room and this fits the bill.

Here’s everything with a link if you find something you like.