Tag Archives: renovation

E+J Bedroom Redo Update

by Erika Firm Posted on October 27, 2011

gray zig zag chevron bedroomOur bedroom is slowly coming along. We installed gray-blue curtains nearly the same color as the “Heavy Goose” walls (and no, they don’t always look crazy like that — just were pinned back behind the door handles to let in some light for the photo shoot earlier this week). The curtains are from Ikea.

Today I ordered a gray chevron rug and zig zag pillow shams from Urban Outfitters. I realize that at some point I will tire of chevrons, but I think a $100 price tag for both zig zag-a-riffic pieces is keeping it under control.

Urban Outfitters MusicSidenote: did you know that Urban Outfitters has free albums and streaming music? Nice. I’m listening now (Phoenix … excellent). Thanks, UO!

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Bedroom renovation update: yellow to gray

by Erika Firm Posted on September 22, 2011

bedroom goes from yellow to gray bedroom paint yellow and gray bedroom after We’re busier than ever at the studio, so why should it be any different at home? who needs to rest? We’ve been working on redecorating our bedroom these past few weeks (every night, any available minute not working on client projects weekends). What do you think so far? I’m SOOO happy to finally be rid of the dijon mustard walls —and ceiling. John repainted in a beautiful light gray color: Martha Stewart Gray Goose paint.

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renovation: plaid for the big boy bedroom

by Erika Firm Posted on November 24, 2010

photos by DELPHINE

FINALLY! The plaid dresser is done and put in A’s bedroom. To be fair, I must admit that the dresser started with light blue and white stripes, so we had a head start.

Ever since we finished the room the cat has started hanging out in there.

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week in review

by Erika Firm Posted on November 21, 2010

This week flew by, didn’t it? We had a little party at our son’s school, which really made me realize how close the holidays are!

In case you missed it, here’s what happened on the blog this week:

• We celebrated Mémé Delphine’s birthday.

• We started a massive studio cleanup and listed some treasures on Ebay. (Yes, we’ll have a warehouse sale soon!)

• An in-depth behind the scenes peek at what goes into a massive photo shoot at Delphine, as well as final photos from our recent 2011 desk calendar photo shoot.

• Spotlight on artist Kevin Gilmore’s paintings, which I happened upon in a Brooklyn wine shop.

• An update on our son’s Big Boy Bedroom renovation.

• New font discovery/new to my wish list: ambicase modern.

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renovation: big boy room update

by Erika Firm Posted on November 17, 2010

Thought I’d give you a little update on A’s room. All his furniture has been painted. The step stool used to be pink, with white sponge painted details (it was in my bedroom circa 1985). I also painted a boring white shelf from Target — it is now painted grey and is stenciled with meaninful numbers and letters. I WISH I had thought to take a before photo of the bookshelf. It was in really super bad shape. We bought the bookshelf, the paint and the stencils for less than $20. It took a few hours, but stenciling was fun, and totally worth the effort.

A has been sleeping in his “new” room for a week now and he loves it. We have yet to hang the shelves and the curtains (which means he is in OUR room at dawn now, to report “it’s dawn.”) On the agenda for today: hang the curtains!!! Once everything is placed and cleaned up I’ll post some after photos, along with photos of the plaid dresser. Yes, I said plaid. Trust me, it’s cool.

If you have any questions or comments about the room re-do please leave a note. I’d love to hear what you think so far.

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week in review

by Erika Firm Posted on November 5, 2010

This photo pretty much sums up the week … hammering away. What will you be doing this weekend? I’ll be finishing up some designs for a series of gift bags (a collaboration with another stationer … details to come soon), planning for a big November beach photo shoot with my friends Adrianne Smith Floral Design and Bixby & Ball, going over the details of a business launch with a friend, reviewing tons and tons of intern files, uploading a portfolio to another new business launching next week (y’all are going to LOVE it), going to Brand You seminar, touring a private school (looking for somewhere new to send our little star student), and finally finishing (hopefully) the makeover in our son’s bedroom. Sleep doesn’t seem to be in the plans. Ugh.

In case you missed it, here’s what happend on the blog this week:

• We peeked into Delphine intern Courtney Fone’s head to see what inspires her (Paris!)
• A wish list masqueraded as an inspiration board for our son’s bedroom makeover
• A cool statement necklace, lovely for a wedding day, or any day
• The scoop on the Brand You seminar I’ll be attending this weekend (I think a few seats are still available)
• Top 10 trends in holiday cards and Thanksgiving traditions: Delphine in the press

• We have a new DELPHINE FACEBOOK page. Be a dear and click over to check it out

 photo by John Arquette

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renovation: big boy room inspiration

by Erika Firm Posted on November 2, 2010

These are some of the things that inspired A’s “big boy” room renovation. Each of these things has been approved by our son. He’s especially keen on the owl lamp and the hopscotch rug!

1: Owl Table Lamp (West Elm) “Oh, Mommy, I really need this for reading”  2: Pictorial Dictionary (Chronicle) is more for me than him, I think … I love the old illustrations  3: Alphacritters mouse pad (Alexa Pulitzer for Anthropologie) has been purchased — yay! 4: Hopscotch Rug (CB2) is THE missing link to tie the room together … hoping it will go on sale soon  5: Green sand hourglass (CB2) would be awesome for helping to limit computer time  6: Grey stripe flannel pillow (CB2) would be great for the reading chair (which he also needs)  7: Cool white and steel gray metal trunks (CB2) for a secret stash of Legos  8: A picked out these pretty mercury glass knobs (Anthropologie) and I picked out no. 12 knobs (though we decided to keep the clear glass knobs he already has on his furniture).  9: Wire basket would be a perfect “jail” (aka storage) for stuffed animals (Wisteria) 10: Wire shopping basket — fun for putting the kitty in jail, A says (similar at Wisteria)  11. I love the idea of C clamps for book ends (West Elm)

1: Vintage radio (West Elm) would be nice … but I think A wants one that he can plug an iPod into, because he’s only into “music that rocks, and they don’t play music that rocks on the radio.”  2: We have a little mahogany writing desk like this one (sorry, I can’t remember where I found the photo) that we will put in his room as a “homework” desk (to be used for computer games, I’m sure) 3: Menlo lamp (Anthroplogie) is cool — but A really wants the Owl, so maybe Santa will pull through. 4: I cannot remember where I found these  vintage looking metal bins — they would be perfect for storing toys (though I may steal them and put them in my studio)  5: Zinc Letter A (Anthropologie) is the perfect accent for his room. I’ll be using lots of initials and numbers in the décor and furniture design 6: A LOVES to read. I think a cozy wing reading chair like the Ellery chair from West Elm would be sweet in his room. He picked it out himself.  7: We used this Rust-Oleum magnetic paint to apply a giant stripe on his wall. He loves it and can’t wait to start “magneting stuff.”

Progress report: the baseboards are in, the bookshelf is painted, and the bed has been put back in the room. We have to finish up the baseboards (fill the nail holes and touch up the paint), paint the dresser, and re-install the curtains.

UPDATE: I fixed the linnk to the key piece, the hopscotch rug from CB2. Thanks to everyone who let me know the link was wrong. Sorry about that!

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renovation: e+j bedroom

by Erika Firm Posted on October 27, 2010

Yes, I know we are in the middle of renovating our son’s room (just purchased the flooring last night … install to take place this weekend … yikes!) but I just couldn’t resist tackling our own bedroom as well.

As I have lamented before, our bedroom looks like the inside of a Dijon mustard jar. I love Dijon mustard, don’t get me wrong. Just not on my walls. Even worse: the ceiling. I have no idea what the previous homeowners were thinking when they picked this paint. Perhaps, “this sandwich could use some mustard” was running through their mind as they sat over lunch perusing swatches. All I know is “barf” is what runs through my head every morning as I open my eyes and see this icky color.

What I would love my room to be is a restful, peaceful, calming place. The colors that do that for me are celedon, watery blues and greens of any kind, greys and taupes. I’m taking inspiration from my favorite pieces of artwork and the sea as I build the color palette for our bedroom.

Each time I go to Home Depot (which feels like every five minutes) I have the lovely paint peeps mix up a new test jar of paint for me.

So far three have made it onto the wall: 1. Light French Grey (Behr 720E-2); 2. Pensive Sky (Behr 710E-2); and 3. Sea Anemone (Martha Stewart MSL087).

The verdict: French Grey is too blue; Pensive Sky is too boring; Sea Anemone is too chalky. Looks like we’re headed back to The Home Depot …

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renovation: update

by Erika Firm Posted on October 25, 2010

Here’s a little progress report on A’s bedroom renovation. We’ve finished all the room painting, including the magnetic paint stripe, and re-hung the surfboard.

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color palette: big boy room renovation

by Erika Firm Posted on October 25, 2010

We pulled the color palette for A’s Big Boy Room from a few of his favorite things: his “cool” jacket (from H&M), chalkboards, and the surfboard in his room. 

photos ©Delphine

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renovation: a’s “big boy” room

by Erika Firm Posted on October 25, 2010

Our first grader has been asking for a “Big Boy Room” for more than a year now. He loves Legos, his kitty, experiments, trains, matchbox cars, computer games, and being mischevious. Two weekends ago we started the project by painting his ceiling white and the walls a medium cool grey with blue undertones.

Before: the entire room was a medium blue shade, which came with the house, and was fine for his baby-blue and white striped furniture and pale green crib.

A few things we’re keeping: his white twin bed with star headboard, Ryan’s surfboard, his armoire and dresser (though they will be repainted), the cute side table, and the star lantern. We’re losing the gross shaggy carpet, the bleached out rug, the “baby” artwork, and the curtains.

This past weekend we finished painting the room and started on the furniture. I’ll post photos soon of the progress. My favorite things so far is a big magnetic strip of paint on one wall, so A can post up favorite pictures.

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decorate: the bedroom

by Erika Firm Posted on May 7, 2009

photos by Jessica Davis • painting by Constance Athens

The only thing I really like about our bedroom is this gorgeous painting by Constance Athens, a painting my grandmother did and our Charleston bed by Baker. We’ve lived here for about five years and each morning I wake up to dijon mustard yellow ceiling and walls. Ick.

We’re using the painting to pull inspiration for a new paint color, and I’m on the lookout for some nice velvet fabric in a fun color for the couch, a new coffee table  and a new bedspread. Suggestions welcome! (Oh, and no, we don’t usually have our curtains like that…was just to get more light in the room for the picture)

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sweet dreams

by Erika Firm Posted on June 10, 2008


I’d love this Brocade bed frame for our guest room/boudoir/closet room. After living in our house for 4 years it is finally time to start “decorating.” Our bedroom doesn’t have a closet (long story), so we converted the guest room into a “closet room.” It works for us, but when guests come they have to sleep amidst clothes racks on my childhood twin bed. First, we need to build armoires to hide all our clothes … but next step will be a darling bed like this.

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