Moorish Nursery Design

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I celebrated my child’s first birthday yesterday. ‘Has a whole year passed?!’ Indeed it has! It’s hard to believe my lifesize-elephant-sculpture is now a distant memory or—if you are a new mom you’ll get it—barely a memory at all.

The past year has been a blur to say the least! In this order; I had a baby (while working like a dog at a shelter magazine), got laid off (decided there is a first and last time for everything), totally panicked, came up with a million hair-brained ideas to get by, scrapped them all, focused on raising a child (with my amazing husband), started a new business (interior design), and—this past weekend—threw a wedding-size birthday party for the baby & husband. Because why not?!

In the chaos of caring for a baby and managing a new business with vibrant clients, I completely forgot a local home magazine was doing a piece on my nursery design! It was such a nice surprise yesterday—and weird timing—to see this delightful article (below)… that I am ever so grateful for. Thank you Brooke!!! I’ve included several photos of the project below and even some process shots (far below).

Through the Years
WRITTEN BY BROOKE PERRY
INTERIOR DESIGN BY MEREDITH McBRIDE KIPP

Envisioning a “fun, worldly and adventurous” nursery for her daughter, Franklin Lakes interior designer Meredith McBride Kipp dreamed up a Moorish fantasy highlighted by crisp white drapery, playful elephants and even a hand-painted silhouette of the Taj Mahal. “I didn’t want the room to feel overtly like a nursery;’ says the designer, who chose pieces that can work well in the room or elsewhere in the home over the years.

In lieu of a traditional rocking chair, Kipp opted for a classic deep-gray club chair glider with cream piping from HomeGoods, toning down its “serious” feel with a blue and white stripe Turkish cotton throw and a canvas elephant pillow by Tahari Home. A leather and canvas ottoman, also from HomeGoods, is a work anywhere piece. On the walls, Kipp stenciled a custom-muted ikat pattern on light blue three-quarters of the way up the wall, transitioning to matte white to the ceiling.

The designer brightened the room’s original wood floors with the addition of a navy and white bamboo fretwork patterned rug from India. Its white background works beautifully with simple white drapes from lkea, which tuck beneath custom-built valences embellished with brown tassels. “They are a decorative homage to beautiful Moorish plasterwork;’ she says.

The room’s most charming feature is the nearly life-sized baby elephant topped with an antique riding saddle. A former creative director turned blogger, interior designer and gifted DIYer, Kipp built the playful pink pachyderm herself using a wood frame, chicken wire and papier-mache.

The antique mahogany dining room sideboard, an estate sale find, is repurposed as a changing table (not shown). “I couldn’t bear to paint it,” she says, “so I added a bold band of white contact paper down the front to add interest:’

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Mobile by Michal Dagan. My hand painted Taj Mahal in the background.

Mobile by Michal Dagan

illustrations by Scott Woods (top) and Sally King (bottom)

illustrations by Scott Woods (top) and Sally King (bottom)

 

 

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PROCESS SHOTS OF THE ELEPHANT ET AL:Screen Shot 2015-10-01 at 7.35.42 AMScreen Shot 2015-10-01 at 7.34.34 AMScreen Shot 2015-10-01 at 7.34.08 AMScreen Shot 2015-10-01 at 7.33.23 AMScreen Shot 2015-10-01 at 7.27.27 AMScreen Shot 2015-10-01 at 7.33.04 AMScreen Shot 2015-10-01 at 7.32.10 AM

Recreational Herb

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If you’re anything like my husband and me, you are already booking up your weekend with projects and perhaps even picking up some materials on your way home from work. Here’s a quick and easy DIY for your kitchen that will give you lots of satisfaction and good bang for buck.

We wanted fresh herbs on hand for all our cooking but don’t like the look of an over-crowded window sill nor did we want to install one of those greenhouse windows because—while luscious from the inside—they look completely tragic from the outside. So I came up with this simple solution—glass bathroom shelves with rectangular planters—and my husband sourced the below materials for a chic, minimalist, and bountiful kitchen herb garden.

Would be a wonderful way to bring greenery (and a little privacy) to a bath or bedroom window as well…they don’t need to be herbs!

Have a wonderful weekend and happy projecting!

Photography by Laura Moss
Glass shelves are 23 5/8″ wide HJÄLMAREN from IKEA and were $18/ea.
The 10x4x5″ ceramic containers we used were similar to this one, $7/ea.

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Born Again Kitchen

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Interior Design by Meredith McBride Kipp & Ryerson Kipp
Photography by Laura Moss
Shoot Styling by Karin Olsen

When we bought our dream home—a simple and classic farmhouse (built in 1805) in Franklin Lakes, NJ—the 50’s stained-knotty-pine kitchen was not part of that dream. Despite this fact, my husband thought we should abstain from a kitchen remodel for a few months…or a year even. I should mention now that I’m a renovation zealot? We owned the home for less than 24 hours when I demo’d one of the walls to open the floor plan up to the family room. Surprising as it may seem, we started work on the kitchen immediately.

With help from a wonderful builder (Mark Ferrero of Oakland, NJ. phone: 201.926.3967) and advice from the best local architect (my mother, Pam Watt McBride, phone: 201.805.3825) we realized our dream kitchen. Pam gave us the brilliant idea to use 4′ for an adjacent room to expand the kitchen to make space for the refrigerator and a deluxe little food pantry with french doors. By pushing the refrigerator back into the wall and adding a pantry, we were able to eliminate the need for upper cabinets—making the space feel much larger—and gave us room for a long, narrow island.

We wanted a classic kitchen—like one you might find in a formal townhouse from the 1800’s—but with a modern and industrial bent. Our farmhouse would have originally had a dirt floor kitchen with a huge hearth—still partly visible in what we are turning into a library. I’d always wanted a black kitchen, but since this room gets very little sun we went half & half.  For serious historical (yet moderne) oomph, we did an entire wall in a 6″X12″ Carrera marble tile and used modern stainless hardware and a chrome sink fixture to tie in our large industrial hood, range and ovens. We paneled over the existing brick wall to give it a more polished look and further drive out the 50’s juju.

We used a large antique banyan wood and glass case—originally from an apothecary in India, instead of more cabinetry—to give it a more eclectic, unique, and lived-in look. This element also tied in the butcher block island countertop nicely and gave a little more warmth and charm to the otherwise austere kitchen design.

I can’t imagine life without this kitchen; now the heart of our lively home. AND, a great national print magazine—to remain unnamed for now—is coming to shoot it for their publication later this month, so we did something right!

See my RESOURCES below for your kitchen renovations & CHEERS!

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LINKS & RESOURCES
Builder: Mark Ferrero of Oakland, NJ. phone: 201.926.3967
White Counters
Caesarstone, installed by Atlas Marble & Granite (in pantry as well)
Wood Counter (island): Karlby 98″ X 26″ from IKEA. Needs to be oiled regularly with mineral oil $140
Cabinets: Black ones are “Laxabry” from IKEA with a 25-year warranty. White ones under the island are from Green Demolitions, a fabulous salvage place definitely worth checking out.
Sink: 30-inch Undermount Stainless Steel 16 Gauge Single Bowl by VIGO
Faucetdanze Parma Single Handle Pre-Rinse Kitchen Faucet in chrome
Backsplash: 6″x12″ polished Millas Carrera tiles from Metropolitan Tile & Stone in Hawthorne, NJ
Open Shelves: totally custom
Light fixtures: three “Academy” semi-flushmounts from Home Depot customized to make them pendants $135/ea on dimmers
China Cupboard: antique banyan wood piece from India, bought at ABC Carpet & Home customized on the inside with shelves
Pantry Doors: 18″ tempered glass french doors from Kuiken Brothers
Range Stove and Double-Oven: both from JENN-AIR
Range Hood: by BEST and the chimney is custom fabricated and custom finished by Broadhurst Sheet Metal Works
Wine Cooler
(in island): Avanti Dual Zone for whites and reds with temperature control
Floors: Stained black bamboo flooring “Black Mamba” from Lumber Liquidators in Hackensack, NJ
Windows are original
Shingle-style architect: Pam Watt McBride, phone: 201.805.3825

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Guest Bath Makeover

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Here’s a good weekend project for you to tackle on this Saturday morning:
Breathe new life into that awful bathroom you have been aching to change.
Because I used a few items I already had, I only spent $150 to transform my guest bath in one weekend.

Here were my steps for the Guest Bath Transformation:
1. I removed wallpaper (Supplies: $30)
2. patched, primed, painted walls (I chose a cool grey so it would look nice with the existing green stone countertop. Paint: $50)
3. cabinetry: removed hardware, filled holes, and sanded the cabinets lightly all over
4. rubbed the cabinets with the wall color on a rag & let it dry
5. sanded the cabinets to the desired amount of distressed
6. drilled holes for new hardware and installed (New hardware: $40)
7. got bath mats to mask the flooring that I didn’t replace (New bath mats: $30)
8. hung a reclaimed wood mirror (that used to hang on the porch of my last house) over the existing mirror (you could do this with just a frame as well. Restoration Hardware Mirror: $$)
9. leaned an oversized photograph at the far end of the bath for drama (Garage sale from artist $20)
10. used a freestanding towel rack I already had for a little old world charm (Waterworks Towel Rack $$)

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You had me at Butler’s Pantry…

Photography by Laura Moss
Styling by Meredith McBride Kipp 

When touring old homes (and new), a butler’s pantry is always the highlight for me. It was one of the selling features when my husband and I bought our 1805 farmhouse. Despite the charm of the home, the butler’s pantry lacked the proper character and polish. We believe it was added in the 1950’s, and was in need of a major facelift. First off, the upper cabinets needed to be moved up nearly a foot in order to actually accommodate the height of a bottle.

My husband tackled this project with full steam last year while I worked on our soon-to-arrive baby’s nursery upstairs (I will post that decor story soon). Our thought was that ‘if we’re going to have a child, we’re probably going to need a proper place to mix a cocktail.’ (SEE OLD FASHIONED RECIPE BELOW) So we bumped the project to the top of the list. With that he tackled the powder room and the back stairwell. SEE BEFORES AND AFTERS BELOW

Steps for transforming the BUTLER’S PANTRY:
Removed the overhead soffit and upper cabinets
Rebuilt the upper cabinets using only the existing doors (which we think are original from the home’s first kitchen)
Trimmed out the lower cabinet doors
Painted the whole room a delicious prohibition-era-inspired dark teal
Replaced the painted wood counter with black granite
Tiled the backsplash with 6″x12″ (subway style) hand-cut mirror tiles
Installed art spotlights, under-cabinet lighting, interior-cabinet lighting, and electrical outlets
Hung a beautiful oversized, overhead, brass light fixture
Hung lion-head door knockers for a bit of (Bowie’s) Labyrinth whimsy
Installed sleek brass hardware

Steps for transforming the POWDER ROOM:
Removed toilet, sink and tile floor
Removed wallpaper and light fixture
Installed paneling on walls and repaired, primed and painted walls and trim
wallpapered above paneling
installed Julisk light
installed new miniature sink with custom-designed marble backsplash and counter
Steps for transforming the BACK STAIRWELL:
Stripped the carpet & wallpaper
Caulked and repaired walls, trim and floors
Primed and painted walls, ceiling and stairs
Cut and stapled floor runners to create continuous look
Framed and hung important historical family photos

BEFORES & AFTERS:

BUTLER’S PANTRY CLICKABLE RESOURCES:
Brass light fixture
Custom teal paint color: click to see image of scannable barcode for home depot BEHR color
Lion head door knockers are antique, but here are some similar ones 

POWDER ROOM CLICKABLE RESOURCES:
Juliska light fixture
Miniature porcelain sink
Marble sink surround and backsplash custom designed by Meredith, cut by Atlas Stone
Marble sink surround and backsplash installed with love by Sebastian Martorana
Rose vase by his talented wife, Amanda Martorana

BACK STAIRS RESOURCES:
Chevron stair runners

 

 

We Need the Bunk!

Gotta have the bunk! Perhaps George Clinton would find this room a little preppy for his taste, but I think he’d agree it’s bunkedelic. I designed this kids’ room for a Hamptons beach home a few years back and—because it’s fun, summery and patriotic—I thought Independence Day was a good time to share it with you.

Bunk beds are a great solution for a small space and often create opportunities for interesting and efficient storage solutions.

Have a cozy and happy 4th with your friends and family! xo MMK

The nautical cage lights are similar to these at Cape Cod Lanterns and are good and kid-proof.

The canvas floor totes are a great solution for toy storage and things that need to come and go (like beach gear or laundry). I bought these at Home Goods but Pottery Barn has some similar in style.

Because the room needed to be finished for a house tour and was not being lived in yet, I styled the shelves with a mix of my own books and others that I bought at Salvation Army and covered in blue faux-shagreen paper just to give it a little consistency and color.

The rug is flokati and is similar to this one from homedecorators.com.

The bedding is all from Marshall’s and Home Goods. Because of my tight time frame I picked a classic and simple color scheme (navy & white with small hints of red) and stuck with it. You can get away with mixing patterns as long as the hues are the same.
Get a similar, but more tailored, look with the following bedding by Ralph Lauren and a few of these pillows and these pillows too.

 

DIY Lamp Makeover

Newly finished lamps in my guest room.

I don’t know about you, but I have a closet of things I should bring to Salvation Army but just can’t part with. I also have a habit of picking up people’s rejects (these 60’s wood veneer lamps for example) and other sad items at antique stores and estate sales that are screaming for a facelift. Here, I help you (and myself) tackle 2 of these afflictions at once and create one beautiful product out of two unwanted ones.

Using a skirt—from about 10 years ago—I reupholster a pair of lamps. Back story on the skirt I only wore once: it was a sweltering summer day in midtown (NYC) and I was working at Elle Decor magazine at the time. We were throwing a book signing party that night in conjunction with PR team LaForce + Stevens for Martha Baker’s coffee table book about beautiful pools, The Swimming Pool: Inspiration and Style from Around the World. I would have paid my small salary to be in a pool at the moment but instead found myself sweaty, running late, and hustling through god-awful Times Sq to get to this event. I detoured into the GAP and in under a minute reappeared refreshed and in this skirt (picture Clark Kent in the phone booth). Both Margaret Russell (EIC of Elle Decor at the time) and author Martha Baker complimented me on the skirt that night, so it only seems appropriate that I’ve—hoarded the skirt until now and—turned it into a pair of lamps.

I think the tight pattern lends itself well to this small-scale project and gives these lamps sort of a French mid-century meets Herend porcelain look. Read below for instructions on how I did it. Happy DIY’ing!

GAP skirt from 10 years ago.

 

I cut the skirt into clean fabric panels, removing zippers, pleats, etc.

I ironed the fabric to start with a fresh, flat material.

After measuring the height of the lamp base, I cut a panel large enough to wrap the base with a small overlap. I used the factory edge along the bottom of the lamp so I would have one less edge to finish later. With a glue gun, I ran a bead of hot glue along the length of the lamp and slowly fit the fabric to the lamp as i rotated it and glued as I went. I did not hem or fold the finished edge because I had a very clean cut and my final bead of glue was lean and tidy right up agains the edge of the cut.

I then trimmed the excess fabric along the top and left a slight overlap so that I would have extra to finish the top with.

With a small plastic card (you could use the corner of a credit card or a thick business card), I tucked the extra lip of fabric under the metal collar at the top of the lamp.

I then measured and cut strips for the two remaining wood veneer areas.

Again, I applied the perfectly cut fabric strips to the lamp and glued as I rotated

And then did the same with the last section.

Here’s what they looked like after all was said and done. The tight pattern on the fabric gives the two tired lamps a very sleek new look.

And at last, they find a home in our guest room, flanking the bed.

The painting above is by Ellen Reinkraut. Throw pillows are similar to these ones by Pottery Barn.

English Toffee Recipe

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I have been making the following recipe for English Toffee a lot recently. I found it on allrecipes.com and have tweaked it a bit and added some helpful tips for your preparation ease…and your taste buds.

It’s incredibly simple and makes for a divine host gift for a summer weekend away…hence my custom packaging (seen below.)

If your friends and family don’t like this toffee, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

Ingredients
2 cups butter
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)

Directions
In a large, heavy-bottomed, non-stick saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Cook over low to medium heat, mixing CONSTANTLY with a small whisk. Allow to come to a simmer, and cook until the mixture becomes a warm amber color. Supposedly the temperature should reach 285 degrees F (137 degrees C) but I just drip a bit into ice water: if it becomes rock hard and brittle it’s ready to go.

As soon as the toffee reaches that proper temperature, pour it out onto 2 wax-paper-lined baking sheets and spread thin and even with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the chocolate over the top, and let it sit for a minute or two to soften. Once melted/softened, spread the chocolate into a thin even layer. Sprinkle the nuts over the chocolate, and compress slightly.

Place the toffee in the refrigerator to chill until set. Once set, break into pieces. You can place the toffee in the freezer for a little while before you break into pieces and it will make the toffee even more brittle. Then store the toffee in an airtight container.

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(Murdock is one of my nick names…this one coined by the friends we are staying with on The Cape this weekend)
Blue and white china (above) is Blue Fluted Full Lace by Royal Copenhagen.
Pink and gold oyster plate (below) is an antique but I found a few similarly shaped on eBay.
Here’s what the toffee with nuts looks like:

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Rhinestone Retro Rehab

I rehabbed a few pairs of damaged vintage deco earrings today and made a cuff bracelet to match with a salvaged beaded appliqué from a beat-up vintage dress from Salvation Army.

Earrings: I removed both the clip-on backs and post backs from the 2 pairs of earrings, to start. With fine, but heavy weight fiber wire I strung the earrings together and fastened them to new, stainless steel (hypo-allergenic) earring hooks. Side story, my grandmother wore the long rhinestone-cluster ones—that look like lincoln center’s huge exterior chandeliers—to Nixon’s inaugural ball in the late 60’s. They are my absolute favorite but were both missing a bead at the top… and were clip-on.

 

Here’s what I did to make the bracelet:

 1. Using crazy glue I secured the beads around the edges and trimmed excess fabric and thread.
2. I traced the appliqué onto the back of a leather sample (I used turquoise for a pop of color) and cut the leather smaller by an eighth of an inch all the way around so that it would not show from the other side once bent into shape.
3. Using thick, heavy-duty woven art-hanging wire and a pair of wire cutters, I ran a spiral around the leather piece—with about a half-inch setback from the edges—and secured it in place with hot glue. (sorry, forgot to shoot his part!)
4. Once the wire was set in place on the leather, I ran a bead of hot glue around the outside edge of leather piece and several more lines along the center and then adhered it to the back of my beaded appliqué. I pressed firmly on both sides to secure them together.
5. Once glue had cooled and set completely, I bent the piece to form a cuff and fit it around my wrist an adjusted as necessary.

Re-soul a Slipper

Give new life to  garage sale find this weekend. Whether it be a new purchase from your Memorial Day weekend hunting or one of the pieces you’ve been hanging onto, just rip the bandaid off and do it. Here’s a quick slipper chair remodel I did in a few hours yesterday. All it entailed was a fresh coat of glossy spray paint, a piece of fabric and 2 samples of latex wall paint from my local hardware store. Directions below. Good luck and happy hunting this weekend!

Cut a piece of fabric large enough to wrap around and be stapled. Always give yourself a little extra.

I taped off o wide stripe down the center of the fabric. Measure from each side to make sure your pretty centered.

I brushed on white latex paint for a white edge

Then pink. If you want the lines to be perfect, let the white dry, then tape a new line for the pink. I wanted mine to be a little organic so i freehanded it

remove the tape and let it dry thoroughly

if you need to replace the foam, do so by tracing the seat onto the foam and then cut it out with scissors.

Once lined up precisely, glue your foam in place so that it doesn’t shift while you’re upholstering or in the future

I staple-gunned the fabric taught to the wooden seat, pulling the foam to a rounded edge along the sides of the cushion. Again, measure to make sure your stripe is centered and straight before you staple.

Et Voila! A new soul for your Slipper chair!