Dallas Blog | Material Girls | Dallas Interior Design

“Why put off buying today, what you can sell tomorrow?” (is my new personal slogan).  It’s a revolving door over here at casa de Larkin.  It’s not uncommon for me to buy something and then the next week it shows up on Craig’s List.  I just can’t stop myself- I have furniture and accessory A.D.D.  I will buy something vintage and then get sick of it before I even have an opportunity to recover it.  With the new house, the addiction has only gotten worse.   I’m constantly lurking on Craig’s List, Ebay, estate sales, thrift stores, vintage shops, 1st Monday at the WTC, warehouse and sample sales for that unique find.  It’s gotten so bad that I just realized my whole house is filled with faux bamboo and I’m starting to look like the crazy “bamboo” lady. If you are interested in taking any of these off my hands, please email for pricing, availability and condition (I may have more photos too)!  (I’ll also post them on a link on the Dallas page)

 {Abstract giclee art from Dallas design district.  Framed in brushed nickel frame. 49.5″W x 73″H}

 

 {PAIR of vintage  butterfly back chairs- approximately 30″w x 25″d}

 

{Vintage white faux bamboo dresser with gold hardware- 54″w x 20″d}

{Abstract giclee art from Dallas design district- framed in black frame- 31.5″ square}

{Global Views faux malachite magazine holder from Dallas design district- never been used- 20″L x 14″W x 20″H)

{Pair of 24″ square pillows with Duralee artichoke print- green and gray; One rectangular gray/white greek key pillow in Duralee fabric}

{Vintage desk/vanity chair- needs to be re upholstered and legs re painted}

{Amazing octagonal mirror upholstered in light creamy taupe fabric with gold nailheads- 42″ x 42″.  Antiquing on mirror}

Close up below-

{Global Views drum shades- set of TWO white shades with gray trim- will sell separately- 25″dia x 12″h}

Can easily make them into gorgeous chandeliers! (this is what it looks like made into a light fixture)

{Gorgeous beveled Horchow mirror- fell off my wall so has two cracks on front and one on each side- but should be repairable.  Selling it for super cheap!- 32″w x 47″h}

{Pair of mercury glass lamps with white shade- 15x10L- shade size x 24″H}

{Wood pedestal table-  22″dia x 26.5″ h}

{Highland Court/Duralee fabric- blue and white ikat- 1.5 yards}

{Curvy/glossy black vase- 12″w x 14″h}

{White armoire with acrylic Anthropologie hardware- probably needs to be re-painted- 82″h x 41″w x 23″d}

{Dark wood floor length mirror- 18″d x 26″w x 70″h}

{Set of three tall jewel tone vases- will sell separately- Green- 19″h; teal- 22″h}

{Fairly new CB2 Acrylic Counter Stool- 16″L x 16″W x 33.5″H- Seat height- 23″H}

{Craft desk- dark espresso- very similar to the craft desk they sell at Pottery Barn- 48″L x 30″W x 36.5″H; Accomodates one counter stool}

{Small sunburst mirror- 14″dia}

{5 yards of Pindler and Pindler gray-blue linen fabric- from the Dallas design district- 54″ wide- still in its original packaging!}

{Global Views- turquoise oblong shaped bowl- 24.5″L x 7.5″W x 8″H}

{Vintage plates from Roundtop- a PAIR}

Also selling- two Pottery Barn natural rugs.  One is a 5×8 seagrass rug with neutral border and the other one is a 5×8 sisal rug with a black border, black iron patio dining set, tv stand, TV, white outdoor rocking chairs, wood table desk and more fabrics!

There’s a lot more where this came from…email if you need something specific. You never know, it may be collecting dust in my garage!

Although it’s fun to keep up-to-date with the latest and greatest in design trends, it sometimes pays off to look into the past for a little inspiration.

Campaign furniture as we know it has been in use since the traveling armies of Julius Caesar, but is most commonly associated with the British Armed Forces. Why the war-time trend? Because that’s where the ‘campaign’ name comes from.

 

 

Considered to be any type of furniture made to be easily broken down or folded for easy transportation, campaign furniture was initially designed for armies to pack up and carry with them on their marches. Demand for these portable pieces increased in 18th and 19th century England but now you’ll find them all over the globe (including in Dallas, on Craig’s List)!

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon an extremely affordable and chic campaign desk on Craig’s List that just needed a little bit of extra TLC. I had been wanting a piece of campaign furniture for a long time, but hadn’t come across “the one” yet.  Since we are moving into a new office and need another unique desk (I’m not one to buy office furniture from IKEA), I snatched this up from sweet Bonnie and immediately started searching for painted campaign inspiration.

{Desk looks very similar to this one here}

While the most common item of campaign furniture is actually not the desk but the traditional chest of drawers (also referred to as a military chest or campaign chest). These campaign cuties come in so many different shapes and sizes, the options are endless. Campaign furniture is most often made of mahogany or teak, and can be easy to distinguish because of their recognizable folding places, but others only have their standard brass corners and strap work (originally used for travel protection).

We love their worldly feel, and even though you may not be packing up your entire set of drawers for your next road trip, these pictures of inspiration show that you can still have lots of fun with them.

This kelly green painted campaign dresser quickly became an internet sensation-

 

Are these nightstands brown or black? I can’t tell…either way, I’m in love!

 

This deep blue color is stunning!

 

Other kelly green beauties…

 

Classic white paint always looks good and boy does it make the gold hardware pop!

Ok I don’t know if it’s the gold chair with the zebra print or what, but I’m completely obsessed with this set up here-

Va va voom coral!

This turquoise color is nice and fresh! Notice the black top for contrast…

And the best of every world- multi-colored campaign!

There are so many color options out there! Now I ask you dear readers, what color do you think I should paint mine? Leave a comment if you have a favorite bright furniture paint..would love to get your opinions!

This past weekend we participated in the Hope for the Holidays event with Catholic Charities.

Pettigrew Associates in the Dallas Design District was kind enough to host the event at their fabulous new showroom off of Market Center Boulevard.

Back in September, we were asked by Catholic Charities to select a few pieces from their World of Goods store and revamp them using paint, fabric and other materials.  We love a fun vintage “Before and After” and also helping out a good cause, so of course we were more than thrilled to participate!

With the painting expertise of RetroChic Renovations, the upholstery skills of M&M Upholstery, and the mirror knowledge of Alamo Glass, we were able to take these pieces from old and worn to modern and fresh!

BEFORE-

AFTER-

BEFORE-

AFTER-

AFTER-

BEFORE-

AFTER-

(All furniture pieces are available for purchase via Catholic Charities, so email us if you are interested!)

EJ Interiors was also asked to decorate a Christmas tree in the theme of our choice that was to be auctioned off the night of the event. Our “Hollywood Regency Holiday Tree” incorporated a chartreuse and white geometric printed skirt, gold peacock feathers, damask ribbon, and an assortment of funky decorations including- white feathers, gold and silver sunbursts, crystal droplets, solid chartreuse, mercury glass, pearl and mirrored ornaments. We were lucky to find the “tree topper” at West Elm which we had created using silver feather-like fans.

On Friday afternoon, we toured the new Pettigrew showroom, which had lots of amazing abstract art, incredible chandeliers, rock crystal accessories, and luxurious pieces of furniture. I loved their mix of traditional and modern in each vignette.

The best part of all, is that Pettigrew makes their own lighting! We went back to the shop where all the magic happens. They showed us a chandelier from England that they are currently working on for a client in Dallas. The scale of it was pretty amazing. Taylor is standing next to it (so you can really see how humongous this thing was!) Now if only we could see the house that this incredibly tall piece is going in….

Some more of their lighting. Isn’t the piece on the right gorgeous?

If you are a local interior designer and haven’t visited Pettigrew’s new showroom yet, it’s a must! It’s a great trade resource for clients with lots of unique and diverse pieces!

1805 Market Center Boulevard, Dallas, 75207

Now that we have entered the month of November… tasty holiday drinks are back on the menu, stores are stocking shelves with holiday decorations, and it is finally time for the once-a-year Dallas Sample Sale!! Trust us you don’t want to miss it!

This fabulous event starts with a preview night this Thursday, November 3rd, from 6-9 p.m. and lasts all weekend! The Dallas Sample Sale takes place at the Dallas Market Center (see directions here).  This is your chance to get a head start on all of your holiday shopping and get amazing gifts at wholesale prices! There is something for everyone on your list… Jewelry, toys, children’s clothing, home accessories, holiday decorations, furniture… you name it there’s a showroom for it!

Also, the Salvation Army Angel Tree program will kick-off during the preview event on Thursday! Shoppers can make selections for their angel and drop them off that night, if they’d like!

The sale takes place Thursday evening from 6-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Last year’s sale drew more than 15,000 people! Tickets are only $20 at the door so don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity! See you there!

This morning, the EJ Interiors team took a little field trip to the Global Views warehouse sale! We got there right at 9 a.m. thinking we would be the only ones there… but the place was already packed! It was crazy and definitely took a lot of work, but we walked away with some AMAZING bargains!

There were rows and rows of tables covered in fabulous accessories…vases, candelabras, mirrors, trays, lamps, fabric, furniture, anything you could imagine… and people were grabbing everything in sight!

These etageres are to die for! I wanted to buy them all.

We started a little pile of our finds (which eventually grew into a HUGE pile), and continued adding as we discovered more!

Look at the assortment of trays we rounded up! We ended up buying two of the quatrefoil ones for ourselves And the cream Barbara Barry tray was a steal! Wouldn’t these look great on a coffee table or ottoman?

Amazing selection of mirrors. We came back with two of these also…

This was a great set but we really wanted a few more to finish it off so…

We decided on this set of 6! Not really sure where they are going yet but somebody needs these!

And finally, here are a few pictures of our THREE dollies full of goodies! Please don’t show my husband these photos…

These lamp shades might be going in the office or be made into a funky light fixture for a client!

These vases were a hit! (Everyone kept trying to grab them!) They are real silver leaf and imported from Italy! Such a good buy.

As you can tell, we had a wonderful time and came home with A LOT of great stuff! Now we just have to find a place to put it all!

The Global Views warehouse is located at 7301 Ambassador Row in Dallas and sale ends tomorrow at noon! Definitely worth a visit!

For the past month, we’ve been hard at work on a vignette for Dwell with Dignity’s new Thrift Studio store which just opened up in the design district here in Dallas.  Five local designers were asked to plan out a room vignette using Dwell’s vintage furniture and accessories from their warehouse, as well as other donations from the design community.  We had so much fun on this project because it was different from any other project we had done before. We really had to stretch our creativity on this one! We had a really short time to complete it in, limited resources, and virtually no budget, but we were definitely up for the challenge!

Taking this lackluster space from this-

{Before}

To this- in just a couple of weeks was a little bit of a stretch for EJ Interiors but somehow we managed to pull it off!

{After- EJ Interiors’ dining room vignette for Dwell with Dignity’s Thrift Studio opening}

Our room centered around bold orange and turquoise. The inspiration? A pair of these adorable chairs that we managed to dig up in Dwell’s warehouse…

The process was so unique that I had to take some photos along the way to document our Dwell journey!

Phase 1- All of the designers meet at Dwell’s warehouse to grab the pieces they want to use for their vignette.  I put everything in my little pile that could be a possibility for the space.  Now the question is- what in the world am I going to do with it all?

Phase 2- There was a lot to do in a little amount of time.  Since most of the things in the warehouse were older items, I knew that re-upholstering and re-painting furniture had to happen..and quick!

I couldn’t believe my luck in finding these four matching chairs in the warehouse…

And  then I was even more shocked to find the perfect turquoise fabrics hidden in a corner…

It was meant to be!

M&M Upholstery donated the upholstery labor and Nicole Horne of Modern Relics donated the painting labor for the chairs…what a fantastic team they made!

Phase 3- Time to get the room painted!  Twenty five Neiman Marcus volunteers came out to help us get our rooms ready and I must say that I couldn’t have done it without them!  They quickly helped my vision come to life and did such a great job painting the walls and trim.

I loved our little team! If any of you are reading this, thank you again so much!

The Thrift Studio starts coming together…

Loved the entrance!

Ok we are making some progress..drapes are almost up!

Phase Four- Completion! Everything is in place for the sneak preview party and so now we just wait for people to shop, shop, shop!

For those of you that weren’t able to make it for the great deals at the preview party last Friday, not to worry because the Thrift Studio pop up shop is open from now until October 29th- Monday through Saturday 10-5:30 pm at 1616 Hi Line Drive in Dallas.

So many great deals to be had and such an amazing way to help out a good cause!

So many volunteers helped make the Dwell with Dignity event such a success.  Thank you again!  Some of the sources below..

{Royal Old Fashioned Tumblers- Wisteria Outlet}

{Mirror- taken off from an old dresser and re purposed for the buffet.  Christian at Think Twice kindly helped us hang the mirror by decorative gold chain}

{Bust- Pettigrew Associates}

{Pedestal- Dwell with Dignity}

{Custom white drapes with turquoise band on leading edge- Stitches by Carmen; wood drapery rods- Williamson Supply}

{Crystal Sconce- Dwell with Dignity}

{Vintage Gucci bag- Dwell with Dignity}

{Painted brackets from Hobby Lobby, vintage New Orleans prints, wall sunbursts, antler horns- EJ Interiors}

{Chandelier- Visual Comfort, Taylors on Ten}

{Wall Color- Benjamin Moore paint}

{Flatware, dishes, wine glasses, decorative bowls- Dwell with Dignity}

{Dining table- Dwell with Dignity- base painted orange}

{Mercury glass vase- EJ Interiors}

{Sticks in vase- found in a pile of bulk trash-no kidding EJ Interiors}

{Chaise lounge- Dwell with Dignity- repainted creamy white}

{Custom 18″ pillow- Trina Turk fabric; chaise upholstery- Childress leopard print fabric- EJ Interiors}

{6×9 Sisal rug- Dwell with Dignity}

Photos by: Fort Worth Real Estate Photography

I was so excited when I received this email from Wisteria! It is finally time for their Warehouse Sale this Thursday, Sept. 22nd through Saturday Sept. 24th! (I will be there tomorrow with bells on!)

Their warehouse is located just outside of Dallas in Farmers Branch (see map HERE). I highly recommend heading out there sometime this weekend for some great deals on fab furniture, home accessories, jewelry and more!

The other weekend I randomly stumbled upon the most fab vintage shop, called Think Twice, which is located inside Hollywood Floral in Dallas.

The owner of the store is big into collecting so a lot of his inventory are things that he has accumulated over the years.  His furniture obsession was bigger than mine if that’s even possible.

And talk about a small world- when I got there, I realized that I had been to one of the sales that he has had at his own home before, so this wasn’t the first time we’d met!

This store is a hidden gem off highway 30 and Grand Ave and prices are amazing here.  The regency chair below was selling for $30, if I remember correctly! It needs a little TLC, but hey, what vintage chair doesn’t?  I must say, that the best part of buying something used is the PLANNING process!  What fabric, what finish, do I do tufting or nailheads, and will it be skirted or have legs…the world is your oyster with vintage chairs! (especially if the chair is only $30, it leaves room to spend more money on amazing fabrics!)

They had a bunch of great pairs of chairs..

And some good looking singles too-

This tufted deep pink chair is only $95-

This glass top piece used to be a floor lamp…but why not use it as a metallic accent table instead?  (and I have to admit that is what I originally thought it was anyways!)

This channel back chair is in great condition and selling for $125…

Last but not least, I couldn’t leave without showing you one final image! It’s on their Facebook page and is my favorite- a quirky orange bamboo chair and table set that I regret to say has already sold! ($300 for the whole sha-bang) I’m a little jealous as I would have loved this for my patio! (but probably would have switched out the table for a bright white piece to prevent it from looking too orange) Sigh- a girl can dream!

I suspect that there are lots of great things to come for Think Twice!

Be sure to visit them at-

5611 East Grand Avenue

Dallas, TX 75223

Yesterday marked the three month anniversary of being in the new office space.  It’s hard to believe that ninety days have gone by and I still have a  mishmash of furniture in there.  As a designer, this normally is something that would drive me completely bonkers, but we’ve been running around so much these past few months that we’ve barely had time to notice.

{the big blank space}

Last night I finally got serious about purchasing some new office furniture.  I did some extensive research and discovered that a lot of people were giving the CB2 Bubble White Office Chair really good reviews so I took the plunge and ordered one for Taylor’s desk.  Of course, then I stumbled upon the CB2 Vapor Counter Stool and its acrylic good looks (and the fact that I had been borrowing my sister’s stool for my craft desk) had me at first glance.  Before you knew it, the darned thing was in my shopping cart too!

A few Crate and Barrel gift cards later, my order was processed.  Mission accomplished!

But wait- blank walls, a counter stool that practically disappears into thin air and a white desk chair didn’t scream “interior design office’” to me.  It was more along the lines of “chic sterile hospital”.

Luckily, visions of kelly green and shiny metallics started to pop into my head and soon after, this inspiration board was born-

Now for the reality of it all- (what I have and what I still need to make this happen)

HAVE:

• My own desk chair is currently upholstered in the blue Duralee geometric printed fabric and sits in front of a glass and chrome sawhorse desk.
• The artwork above that used to be in my home, is a perfect way to incorporate the color from my desk chair fabric as well as bring in the jolt of kelly green.   I also love how the black and cream in the art provides a nice graphic punch.
• I had the EJ Interiors logo bags made for client projects (off Vista Print) and staggered about twenty of them on Container Store brushed nickel hooks down a long, unused and really boring hallway when you first walk in the door.  You’d be surprised how interesting this looks with the repeated logo coming down the hallway.

NEED

• Touches of metallic in mirrors and furniture hardware
• A smidgen of animal print- like Jan Shower’s favorite Snow Leopard fabric
• Would like to paint Taylor’s desk a funky Kelly green color with brass hardware
• Would love to eventually have more comfy seating- four lounge chairs sitting around a round coffee table
• A very large sisal rug

We desperately need a little more color and pattern in this place.  All in due time I suppose!

But for now I’ll just have to settle with this black and white printed fabric that our EJ Interiors mascot brought in-

I get a certain catalog on a regular basis in the mail (never signed up for it, I just somehow randomly get it- kind of like my catalog relationship with The Company Store, James Avery, etc…thirty catalogs later you are still trying to remember when you signed up?)  Anywho… I have never actually opened this catalog before but for some odd reason, I got the inkling today and ended up coming across some pretty great affordable finds…

Chippendale-style chair-

Moroccan inspired buffet-

Set of gold convex mirrors-

Tufted upholstered headboard-

Colorful outdoor bench perfect for summer-

Glossy white ceramic lamp-

Stylish mercury glass candleholders-

And you’ll never guess where these pieces came from either! Click HERE to find out how to get the look for less through this catalog/e-commerce site!