Dallas Blog | Material Girls | Dallas Interior Design

Every designer in Dallas has their go-to vintage stores that they frequent for the best deals and hidden treasures. EJ Interiors would like to share one of our personal favorites for finding the best in vintage furniture and accessories – Antiques Moderne! (We are not alone, this is even Barbara Bush’s favorite spot for vintage furniture shopping!) They are a one-stop shop – you can pick your piece and they will refinish, restore, or reupholster for you as well.

John Bacile is the owner of this 20,000 square foot space that is packed full of furniture, art, lighting, and accessories. He has a workshop in the back where they are busy restoring, upholstering and lacquering unique pieces for their wide range of clients. John finds some of the most amazing pieces that you just can’t find anywhere else, and he’s always got the history behind each piece! This guy really knows his furniture.

Take a look at some of the furniture pieces our clients have purchased and the amazing job that Antiques Moderne has done refinishing them -

Wing Chair AFTER!:

We refinished the wood in a glossy white and reupholstered it in a fun gray and white fabric with shiny silver nail heads. Didn’t their team do a great job? Our client just loves it, and we do too!

This credenza stopped me in my tracks when I first saw it. I completely fell in love, and our client did too!

This is it BEFORE:

And here is the AFTER!:

We had John and his team lacquer this piece in a gray-blue color to coordinate with a fabric in the room. It looks absolutely fabulous now!

For the same client, we purchased two wing back chairs that were in need of a little T.L.C.

Here is the BEFORE:

And AFTER!:

We had Antiques Moderne reupholster the pair in a vibrant orange velvet to pop in the navy room. They turned out amazing!

If you live in, or ever visit, Dallas you must stop by Antiques Moderne to see their huge inventory of great vintage furniture. You’re sure to fall in love with something!

Their address is 1208 N. Riverfront Blvd. Tell John we sent you!

This year has been a pretty fast-paced one for EJ Interiors- we moved into a new office, added some fresh faces to the team and have worked our tails off!  It’s hard to believe that it’s already December and 2011 is coming to a close.  We’ve been really lucky to have worked on a lot of exciting projects this year (and have been having so much fun with our clients in the process) that we thought we’d give you a sneak peek at what EJ Interiors has been up to for the past eleven months or so…

Living Room

Dining Room

Breakfast Room and Kitchen

Office

Dining Room

Kid’s Room

Family Room

Wine Room

Living Room

Guest Bedroom

Family Room

Family Room

Living Room

Office

Game Room

Living Room

Master Bathroom

Piano Room

Dining Room

Guest Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Our Material Girl dreams are coming true… Schumacher has announced that they are collaborating with THE Mary McDonald to create a fabric collection for 2013!! It is such a shame that we have to wait so long, but we thought it would be fun to predict what her amazing line will look like!

For those who don’t know, Mary McDonald is an acclaimed interior designer based out of L.A. and was recently on Bravo’s Million Dollar Decorators. Her signature style is timeless, elegant, and modern all in one! There will definitely be some greek key, bold colors, black & white, luxurious silks and velvets, and funky animal prints in her line (at least we hope so!!)

There’s a little greek key in almost all of her designs. As you all know, we can never have enough greek key! She uses a lot of bolster pillows with greek key tape trim on the ends.

More Greek key pillows!

Gorgeous navy and pink room. Did you spot the Greek key bolster?

Her line is sure to have some bold geometric prints- possibly in black and white? She is the master of black and white color schemes with bright pops of color!

She uses black and white chevron patterns a lot too! See the rug above and the amazing floor below-

This is a room Mary designed on Million Dollar Decorators. I am so obsessed with that floor.

Another great example of Mary’s layered black and white patterns.

She’s not afraid to throw in a little animal print here and there, and we hope she includes some in her line!

She really loves that zebra, and we do too!

Leopard wallpaper, so fab! Just wait until you see the whole room…

Wow, lots of leopard!

She includes stripes in a lot of her designs, so there are sure to be some in her Schumacher line. (And I do believe I see Schumacher wallpaper in the background!) I would just love for her to create a wallpaper line as well.

This room is girly in pink with chinoiserie accents. She frequently travels to Europe and the Far East, so we’re guessing that her line will contain ethnic prints and global influences.

We like to think that we’ve got her all figured out, but Mary McDonald is full of surprises.  All we know is that her line is sure to be ahhh-mazing! I guess we will just have to wait and see in 2013!

We are so excited to announce that the winner of the Peacock Alley Soprano sheets giveaway is Ashley from Midland, Texas! Congratulations!

She is a girl after our own hearts…she graduated from OU with a degree in Interior Design! She is also a new mom of a two week old baby girl, so these luxurious sheets will provide a great getaway to sneak in some Z’s!

Ashley was also kind enough to provide us with some info on her favorite design material: fabric! This girl really knew what she was talking about!

“I love fabric because you can really make a space special with it. It’s easy to toss in a few new pillows or a throw on your couch, or change out your curtains with the season to make your space seem fresh. I love mixing graphic prints with stripes and solids with interesting textures.” – We couldn’t agree more!

She also told us that her major inspiration when it comes to fabric is Sarah Richardson. “I love that she doesn’t just use bolts of fabric in obvious ways, but can sew interesting tea towels into accent pillows or frame an interesting print fabric as artwork.” We love her work too!

Thanks so much for sharing Ashley, and congratulations again! We hope these sheets provide you with some much needed R&R! Also, thank you to all of the MG readers who participated.  Be on the lookout for the next MG giveaway coming soon!

We are extremely excited to announce that Material Girls will be doing a giveaway with Peacock Alley this month! Peacock Alley is known for their luxurious bedding and towels and their comfy, classic style. Now one lucky MG reader will have the chance to win a Queen set of Peacock Alley’s “Soprano” sheets for themselves! They are 420-thread count, 100% Egyptian Cotton, and valued at $495!! (And you thought getting out of bed in the morning was hard now…)

To enter the giveaway click HERE! The contest will end October 2nd at 12 pm ET and will be announced on our blog Tuesday, October 4th.

We also took a little trip down to their Dallas showroom to see all of their fabulous products for ourselves!

How about these gorgeous, classic neutrals?

Check out the fun fur!! Love the orange pillow with the bit of detail too!

Beautiful, subtle geometric pattern on the Giovanni Matelasse shams and coverlet-

Tons of coverlet patterns to choose from-

Luxurious towel selection-

Sheets! (One of these could be yours!)

Fun geometric accent pillows-

I seriously wanted to curl up in one of these displays and take a little break from work…

Dog Beds…Zoey needs one of these!

The mix of pattern and textures make this bedding combo so interesting-

And finally, my favorite vignette in the whole showroom! I’m really digging the orange and grey combo here.

Again, be sure to enter for your chance to win a fab set of sheets from Peacock Alley!

I’m currently working on a project where we are using some incredibly fun Quadrille fabrics.  I had never taken the time to visit their website before and let me just tell you, it is one site FULL of eye candy!!  When I clicked on their “Editorial Portfolio”, every single room that I’ve ever loved was on there!

{Meg Braff}

Truly, their site had some of the best photos for inspiration that I’ve ever seen and of so much variety!

You’ve probably seen a lot of these photos from the big shelter magazines before, but like I always say, they are oldies but goodies!

{Chloe Warner}

{House Beautiful}

{Elle Decor}

{House Beautiful}

{Traditional Home}

{House Beautiful}

{House Beautiful}

{Domino}

{House Beautiful}

{Domino}

[The Devil Wears Prada}

{House Beautiful}

{House Beautiful}

{Meg Braff}

{Traditional Home}

{House Beautiful}

{Ruthie Summers}

{Architectural Digest}

Are you loving the sound of this collaboration as much as I am- Allegra Hicks + West Elm?

Mmmm…I think yes!

When I got an email that Allegra Hicks had teamed up with the modern retailer, it had to be the most exciting thing since…sliced bread? (or to put it in designer terms, the best thing since Suzanne and Ballard)!

This totally made our day knowing that someone with such great taste has whipped up some fabulous designs for one of our favorite retailers (and one that’s just half a mile away to boot!) I can’t wait to see these in person, but for now, feast your eyes on Allegra’s newest designs for WE-

And to top it off, if you are an Elle Decor reader, you get an exclusive opportunity to shop the new collection before it hits stores and the online shopping world.

Click here for the sneak preview- now through July 12!

What to design for a creative and energetic eight year old who wants her bedroom a little bit more funky and mod?

{Accent pillow inspiration}

{Chandelier- incorporate new white shades}

{Desk Lamp}

{Roman Shades}

{Table Lamp}

{Desk Chair with new seat cushion fabric- blue and white geometric}

{Existing rug}

Here’s how-

Duvet cover and shams- Multi colored Duralee printed fabric

Custom bed pillow- 20″ square; turquoise monogram centered on Pindler and Pindler white solid fabric with Schumacher black and white greek key tape trim on face of pillow (surrounded by small Pindler and Pindler black cording and small white solid flange)

Bedskirt- Pindler and Pindler pink mini stripe with solid black banding at bottom edge

Walls- Sherwin Williams 6710 Melange Green (50% lighter)

Rug- existing

Window Treatments- flat roman shade; Overall: white Pindler and Pindler solid fabric with 2″ black Pindler and Pindler solid fabric as tape trim accent

Desk chair- White “tulip” chair;  Seat cushion- blue and white Pindler and Pindler geometric print

Chandelier- PB Teen Delite Chandelier with new white shades

Desk Lamp- Worlds Away- Venus Pink Lamp

Nightstand Lamp- Arteriors- Elise Beaded Polished Nickel Lamp

I was reading an interview with Kelly Wearstler on Design*Sponge and took notice of how adorable her outfit was- particularly her skirt.  It took me a second to realize that she is wearing….one of her own fabrics!  I pass by this fabric every time I am at Lee Jofa and have checked out a sample of it on multiple occasions. Who would have thought that it would make such an adorable outfit!

As we bid adieu to 2010, I can’t help but reflect on the past year.  I’m so grateful and blessed to have been given the opportunity to work on some amazing projects with such wonderful clients.  And through these projects, I have gotten to specify the things that makes me most happy in design: FABRICS!

I usually start out each client’s project by initially selecting one patterned fabric that catapults the entire room’s design scheme into motion.  These fabrics are far from muted or subtle.  They are usually dramatic, graphic, or full of color.  These fabrics are statement makers and can take a room from drab to fab pretty quickly.

I thought I’d share my top ten patterned fabrics that I used in 2010 on client projects and why I loved them!

#10- Duralee- Metropolitan Contemporary Prints- Kelly

You get a lot of bang for your buck with this one!  This fabric is at an amazing pricepoint, so when you’re having to purchase eight yards of fabric per chair, it’s a lot easier to swallow with this inexpensive cotton duck print.  The best part is- it comes in a few different colourways.  I used the blue version for my own desk chair and the bold geometric print makes a nice graphic statement in the room.

#9- Kravet- Pelagos- Archipelagos- Lime (Windsor Smith collection)

Windsor Smith currently has a bunch of great linen fabrics at Kravet, that it’s really hard to choose just one to spotlight here!  I have probably written down “Pelagos” on my sample form at Kravet, more times than I can count.  I think I just need to keep a sample around in every colourway.  When I think of her fabrics, “light and airy” come to mind- which is probably why they make such great slipcovers and drapes.  Windsor offers this fabric in a few different colors.  I particularly love Clove (not pictured) because it’s really hard to find a more grayed out brown fabric and she seems to merges the two wonderfully!

#8- Lee Jofa- Groundworks- Hexagon Tile- Gray

Can you tell that I love geometric prints yet?  This 100% linen fabric was the perfect solution for a client’s wine room.  She had a lot of existing elements that we had to take into account when planning out her new paint, fabrics, furniture and artwork.  Her flooring, backsplash and fireplace weren’t going anywhere (and they included a lot of natural stone) so when the client told me she wanted to incorporate grays into her new scheme, I had to find something to tie it all in together.  Enter: Groundworks- Hexagon Tile.  What a perfect answer to our warm/cool predicament.  (and it didn’t hurt that there was a pop of black in the fabric either- it ended up tying in nicely to the black tile in her existing backsplash.)  I love this fabric because it’s a really interesting neutral fabric (one that you won’t tire of) and it will go with just about any accent color.

#7- Schumacher- Peacock Print- Punch (Trina Turk collection)

Trina Turk’s outdoor fabric collection had me at hello.  I knew that I wanted to use one of these textiles SOMEWHERE.  A sunroom turned out to be the perfect place to experiment with Trina’s ikat-inspired print.  Made of 100% acrylic twill, this fabric can withstand all sorts of outdoor elements  (but don’t be afraid to use this fabric indoors too!)

#6- Schumacher- Hot House- Flowers (Celerie Kimble collection)

This linen, tree of life pattern from Celerie Kimble was the jumping off point for the color scheme of four rooms- (living, dining, breakfast, and kitchen) in an open floor plan at a client’s house that I recently worked on.  The beauty of this fabric is that it is a modern take on a traditional floral print.  It took a little bit of convincing to get my client to agree to this fabric (as I promised her that it would not look overly-traditional or cottagey), but once her chairs arrived, surprisingly enough, it ended up being her favorite print in the whole house!

#5- Highland Court- Marakesh Collection- Tangerine

This fabric was absolutely perfect for a young, stylish girl living in Dallas’ Uptown area.  There were many reasons why I was totally and utterly attracted to this fabric.  Not only were the citrus colors in it fresh and exciting, but the little bit of shimmer in the fabric was something that I noticed immediately.  This touch of glam coupled with the chartreuse, lipstick pink, tangerine and cream colors made me want to buy a few yards of it for myself!

#4- Kravet- Old World- Seaglass (Barbara Barry collection)

This 100% silk fabric is incredibly gorgeous in person.   The pattern really captivated me as it felt like a cross between a modern floral and modern damask.  Of course, we all know that Barbara never disappoints with her textile designs so how could we expect any less?  I based a guest bedroom around this fabric and cannot wait to see the final results and how this luxurious, soothing colored fabric transforms the room!

#3- Lee Jofa- Bengal Bazaar- Magenta (Kelly Wearstler collection)

Now this has been a fun fabric to plan a room around!  With an icy blue background and a magenta foreground, this unique color combination is not one that you would normally see.  But when is Kelly ever designing “the norm”?  This amazing fabric is composed of 100% linen and looks great made into a pair of accent pillows for a sofa or a queen bed.

#2- Lee Jofa- Chevron Ribbon- Navy-Slate (Oscar de la Renta collection)

You might remember my blog post a few months ago, where I was raving about the newest Oscar de la Renta fabric collection at Lee Jofa.  I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of this fabric for a client’s roman shade.  It’s been on backorder for a few months (which doesn’t surprise me- as I’m sure it’s a sought-after fabric). Mr. de la Renta did a fantastic job with his fabric collection and the fabrics remind me of one of Oscar’s beautifully-made gowns.

#1- Schumacher- Blades- Lush Summer Lawn (Jamie Drake collection)

I have never gotten so many compliments on a fabric when I’m out and about.  I have taken this fabric to other showrooms to match with coordinating fabrics and I get stopped mid-search by other designers asking “where in the world did you get that fabric?”  Unfortunately, I can’t take all the credit and have to direct them to Schumacher.  This fabric is one of those that you must see in person in order to completely understand its greatness.  It’s made of Viscose and Cotton, and is one of the most dramatic fabrics that I’ve used to date.  The colors and scale of the Blades fabric are pretty incredible and explains why it’s #1 on my list of favorite textiles I’ve used in 2010.

Here’s to more new and exciting fabric collections in 2011!