Lamp

Hi friends.  Today's picture features a lamp I refurbished.  It is for sale - $45.00.  The color is called "maize" (corn) and it is my new favorite color!  It is 26" from base to the top of the drum shade. Hope you like it.  If you are interested in the lamp, email me at susanrapier@yahoo.com or call me 801 369 1947. 

Guest bedroom

These are photos of the 2nd guest room.  This is my new favorite room in the house.  We have slept in this room all summer because it is so nice and cool and dark.   The bed came from the condo and the armoire and chair have traveled with us from a couple of houses.

Remember, I love referrals.  If you know anyone who could use some help with decorating or with window coverings, let me know. 

Upscale downstairs

This is the gathering table that used to be in our condo.  I have wanted to refinish it for a long time.  These are the "before" pictures.  I have started the process and should have it finished later today.

Before and after - "the chair"

I was looking for a chair to put in the guest room (pictures to follow).  I had attended the Springville Museum Quilt Show with my friend, Marta.  On our way to lunch, we passed "The Porch on Main" a great shop in Springville.  They were having their monthly yard sale and the following chair was on the lawn.  Just loved the shape of it and it is the right scale for the formerly blue table.

 Above:  In its before state.  I loved the coral with the black and white fabric, but it just doesn't work with our home.  (The green was added by "moi" to see how it would look).

 Here is the "after".  I think it is quite "smashing".  It's a little tedious painting a chair by hand, but well worth the effort.  The seat is a soft cheetah print.  Just for fun.

Blue Mood

I had this old console table, which I bought at Target to furnish our condo years ago.  I sanded it down and had it on the back porch, hoping to keep "pool stuff" together, however it was always dusty and looked tacky.  Our friend, Jaime, had used a gorgeous color from Valspar to spruce up some plaques for her bathroom.  Saw the picture, fell in love with the color and the fact that it is glossy.  So, following are some pictures letting you know how important it is to sand properly before spraying.  I am crazy about the color and don't you just love the blue crystal knobs?  Keep looking...

I could have sold this for about $125.00.  I didn't because I realized I had another use for it.  (not in this color, unfortunately).  Stay tuned for more info on the table and the guest room.  Thanks for stopping by.  Ciao.

And speaking of bathrooms...

 We weren't speaking of bathrooms, but these are some pictures of our basement bathroom.  All the tile is stock tile.  By the time we got to the bedrooms and bath, we were on a tighter budget, so I worked with the tile guys and by turning the large tiles and adding stock mosaic, we were able to make it look very custom.  I did buy black glass tiles and we took out some tile and added black in a pattern.

This view shows some of the glass wall and a picture that had the colors in the room.  Stock mirror and granite vanity top that included the sink.  Oiled bronze faucet.  There was no room for a towel rack, so I used a toilet paper holder.  Works great for a hand towel.

Here is a view of the glass block wall.  We don't have a shower door.  There is no natural light in this bathroom.  Glass block was the solution for light when you are in the shower and for not having a shower door.  (highly recommended).  Another tip:  You may not have noticed that the towel rack is installed onto a board that is screwed into the wall.  The board is routered and painted to match the wall.  This way, we don't have the towel rack pulling out of the wall.  (also highly recommended).  Note the bead board trim. 



Another view of the shower wall (right).

View of the shower floor.


So... whether you call it "the loo", "the WC", the "restroom" or "bathroom",  have a little fun, use your imagination and see what you can come up with.

You're welcome to visit this one any time!

More about summer

Something more to love about summer.  Fresh picked roses from the garden.  These are placed in a jar that held roasted red peppers.  Imperfectly perfect!

All the trimmings.

Trim of any kind finishes a room.  Crown molding and  baseboards are a couple of the most popular finishes.  I love bead board.  It has the look of paneling and can be installed piece by piece with tongue and groove.  In my case, it is installed in the form of paneling.   In these pictures, the bead is 6" wide.  The major rule for using trim is: do not use it at exactly the halfway point on the wall.  The lower third of the wall, or taller than the halfway mark. 

In this example, I chose the height based only on the fact that I had already hung the picture above it, with vinyl writing above the picture and didn't want to move them.

 In the kitchen and back hall, the paneling is higher up on the wall and painted a deeper color than the wall itself.  Tyler, our gifted carpenter, also lined the windows and added the lintel trim to match the doors.

Another view of the paneling.  The crown molding is called "triple stack" as it is made up of 3 different pieces of wood.  I would be happy to refer you to Tyler.  Just let me know.

You can never get enough of St. George

Sorry.  I hit publish before I had loaded all the pictures.

St. George

These are a couple of walls our daughter Quinn and I designed in St. George.  We wanted a "cottage feel" for this vacation home.  These are all bargain shopping and secondhand store finds.

In the Good Old Summertime

Happy Summer, everyone!

I love to mix and match patterns and colors.  It works when you get the scale right.  Hooray for the red, white and blue!

We had a very dark and windy, stormy afternoon.  Suddenly, just before sunset, the clouds moved away and the light was breathtaking.  Smooth sailing ahead.  Cheers.

Father's Day

As you can see, these posts are going to be in no particular order.  I wanted to surprise Jerry for father's day, so I designed a "family wall" of photos. 

This wall is more than two stories tall.  What do you do with a space that big?  I took Jerry's favorite family picture, turned it black and white and had it printed 5'W x 4'H (it's called banner size).    Our carpenter made a custom frame and crackled it black with red.  Below the painting is a ledge shelf made by Tyler (the aforementioned carpenter).  It is sprayed black and lightly distressed.

Below the ledge, I hung vintage pictures from both our families.  It makes me happy to see all these pictures as I go down the stairs.  We can design/build a wall for you.

What I'm working on.

Don't you love to stay with friends who make your guest room really special?  So I have been working on one of our guest rooms and here are a couple of pictures.

This is a queen size bed.  This shade of green is one of my favorites.  So fresh!  I bought the standing lamp for $35.00 from a neighbor who is moving.  The shade was a suede-like fabric, with a criss-cross texture, done in a camel color with little dots of rust and olive.  I sprayed it black with fast-drying spray paint.

 This nightstand is two filing cabinets put together.  The lamp has a black base and the shade has a ticking stripe.  I wrapped 3 books with black paper and tied them together with black and white ribbon.  The accents are silver.  I love this room!

RapierDesign Welcome

Hello and welcome.  This blog is to allow family, friends and future clients a glimpse into my creative world.

I love everything about design:  light, texture, color, composition, layering, furniture and re-purposing.  Though I am not formally trained, I come by this love honestly, as my dad was a self-trained fine artist, sign painter and Kodak award-winning master portrait photographer.

My home is my outward expression of love for my family and friends.  I want it to be warm and welcoming.   My husband, Jerry loves our home and after 43 years is still saying "It looks great.  We're done now, right"?  He knows it is a rhetorical question, and NO we are not done yet.  He is fond of saying that "if it doesn't move, Sue will paint it".  He also says that he has to turn on the light if he comes home late at night, in case I have moved the furniture.  

So, here we go.  Welcome to my world.