Hi Friends!  I hope you had a wonderful week!!  As you might be able to tell from the magazines which we all read, the use of hand-blocked papers for walls and ceilings seems to be a growing trend. You know the beautiful ones with birds and trees that we all adore including me!!  Two of my favorites are Gracie and de Gournay. Although they are artistry at its best, they are also very expensive and hand painting in most cases is much more affordable.  All of these well done papers have served as great inspiration for me in creating original wall murals! Today we will see the “wow “hand-painting these designs made in  Designer Chandler Sulton’s dining room!  

This is Chandler and cute daughter Emory–a designer in training.   With lots to tackle, Chandler decided to begin in the dining room because you could see it from almost every room in the house. She wanted a “wow”–spectacular, formal, sophisticated, but in a way that she would never tire of.  The home has an open floor plan and currently is painted the same neutral gold tone throughout!!

Here is the “before” photo of the dining room.  The formal living room is to the left and there is a hallway in front of the room that leads to the more casual den and kitchen area. Her decorating style is traditional but she loves color and contemporary art and accessories, giving her designs somewhat of an eclectic feel.  Eventually, she wants to paint all the walls in her home, but for now, her focus is the front area of the house.  The new colors had to flow with what was already there.  For the entrance and living room, SW 6170 Techno gray was painted, and the dining room received a coat of SW 6200 Link Gray.   Chandler had found some Gracie Wallpaper that she fell in love with but after crunching the numbers decided to call me to see if we could achieve the feel for much less money.

Gracie papers come in panels which are 30″wide.   22 panels would be needed which would be $28,000 dollars not including installation!! These panels are all hand done and do have the look of silver leaf squares behind them.  They are absolutely beautiful, but were not in her budget.   We decided to hand paint a simpler version using a solid paint color for the background rather than the  silver leaf squares, a much less expensive application. Segreto’s muralist Allan is painting away to create Chandler’s dream room!!!

The outcome was stunning–warm and dramatic without competing with the art and furniture in surrounding rooms!!

The ceiling color was left the same that was originally painted throughout the house. This ties together the old with the new and creates a flow.  Eventually she wants to change the chairs to a persimmon-colored linen velvet.

“We love to entertain and host our friends and family.  At our dinner party Saturday night, one of the guests said she never wanted to leave my dining room-she’d like to just live there!” Chandler exclaims, “Leslie, I never thought I’d say it, but you’re a bargain!!!!”

I wanted to share these oh-so-simple appetizers with you that my sister-in-law made when we were recently visiting. Creating the spread which was so delish in 10 minutes, I said “You must share!!” Just mixing these two items together from Trader Joes made such a tasty dip!!

She added in dishes, olives, a cheese platter and these dried apricots and truffle Almonds!!

I am going to start keeping these things on hand!  Heather is always the hostess with the mostest and I think loves Trader Joe’s as much as I do!!  I hope you all have a wonderful week!  Till next time!! xo  Leslie