More Dolce for your Villa!

Lets take a quick trip, shall we??  We're starting China, where we find this dresser/sideboard and decide to name it the "Shangri-chic"..since we're in Shangri La afterall :) 

 Who can deny the awesome hardware on this thing!  This is my favorite part, full of character and detail, havy looking, and a rare find.  The hardware is so unique and makes a statement in an of itself that I thought it would be best to do the redesign to accommodate it, not compete with it.  This piece was also a custom order for a client, Sara, who is in the process of staging her home to go on the market.  She needed to fill a big spot in her dining room, but also wanted a piece of furniture she could take with her to her next home and would fit in there as well.  Sara's style is warm/rustic and the hardware (chandalier) in the dining room is dark oil rubbed bronze.  So the 'Shangri-chic' was made to fit in with the scene there, but is also so versatile that it can fit with not only a variety of home color schemes, but styles as well.  It can be mountain luxe, tuscan cool, Asian persuasian, traditional, country... you get the point :).  Not to mention that it has multiple personalities, which in my biz is a BIG plus!  The "Shangri-Chic" works as well in a kitchen as it does in a bedroom, or anywhere else in the home or office.  So, umm... can you believe that Sara scored this hot piece for just...ahem.. $255! I know, right?!  Sara is a facebook follower (she selected "like" on our page LaDolceVilla) so she got the hook up and she will on every order after too!

 Okay, fasten your seatbelts!  We're heading to France!  In the French countryside, we stumble upon this lovely sight for sore eyes...

 "The Provincial" has been very well loved in a home where the wine is sweet and the crusty bread is perfect and warm.  It's been the centerpiece of many fabulous soirees.  It has royal roots, which is evident in the massive estate we rescued it from.  The curvacious feminine lines make many girls jealous, as does the sweet, but substantial demeanor it has.  Each drawer has an aged silver backplate, with french calligraphy scribed on them, indicated the drawer number one through nine.  I would be remiss if I didn't give some special attention to the detail on the dark staind top of this piece.  There you will find a handpainted design in various shades of silver, gold, and ivory. 

It's stylish while still being timeless, so the look of this piece will still be relevant years from now as the day you bring it home.  Also, there are NINE drawers on this one...whoa storage possibilities!  If the Provinicial were staying in my Dolce Villa, I would cram the drawers full of all the random stuff that is laying around that I need to hurry and hide before guests come over....and I would probably need all 9 drawers for that!  

"The Provincial" is for sale!  It can be you'rs for only $256 (that is a whopping, $29 OFF the regular price of $285, for just selecting "like" on our LaDolceVilla facebook page).  You don't have to be a FB follower to purchase, it's $285 for non-followers.  So, go get a touch of a tan and tell your friends you just returned from a vaca to France and you brought this piece back with you!   You're so Tres Chic!

To Purchase, Contact Us!

La Dolce Villa

Texts/Calls: (720) 315-3936

E-mail: LaDolceVillaDesign@gmail.com

Facebook User: LaDolceVilla

  

Orders are on a first come/first serve basis.  Pick up (in Castle Rock) or Delivery for a $15 fee anywhere from Westminster to Monument (and everywhere in between).  Like this but want it slightly different?  We customize for no additional cost!  If your intrested in that or any other custom request, let's talk!



Imagination is Everything

Albert Einstein said "Logic will take you from A to B, but Imagination will take you Everywhere". I recently read that an imagination can often be as important as math, science, or reading..in an article written by Jaime L. Hebert (link to the full article is posted below).  It makes perfect sense now that math and science were the classes I ditched in school, because I always wanted to go and be everywhere else but there!  Luckily, I had an imagination that could come up with THE MOST creative excuse to tell my mom when my friends and I would run in to her at the mall or pass her on Main Street the middle of the afternoon when we should have been in class.  I think childhood imaginative play must have cultivated this to some extent since I spent my afternoons in a world of lavender unicorns, or being the conductor of a symphony of the tallest irises in my front yard, and changing my outfit nothing short of 10 times in one day at the age of three (but still whining that the current ensemble "didn't match and the pattern was all wrong"..bless my mom's heart for dealing with that).  Oh, and I can't forget my younger sister's haircut where we buzzed off her bangs so she would look like the virgin Mary who didn't have any bangs (unfortunately we didn't realize that her look was accomplished from growing them all the way out...) 

Can't beat this imaginative play!

This relates to decorating in one very important way, play often starts in a child's own space..their bedroom.  There are endless possibilities that you can do in your kid's room where you can allow your own imagination to run wild in the planning of it.  Later this will have the same effect on your child and benefit them for their lifetime.  Don't allow any design 'rules' to limit the options here, really anything goes.  I don't really believe in design rules anyway, in any room...that's stiff and boring.  So go ahead and take that piece of furniture that looks so standard and blah and give it a look that is something you once saw in a storybook or a scene in a dream.  Don't stop there, take the drama to the wall, the ceiling, and maybe even the door.  Let this be an ongoing decorative process, one that you add to and alter through the years as your child grows.  The evolution of a room over time is a thing of beauty.  I like to consider it a living scrapbook.



Chandelier and KaiaEve Pettiskirt are available at LaylaGrayce.com

Haley and I recently finished this armoire which the client once used to house her (now antiquated) television..you know the kind that isn't flat, it's got all that junk in the trunk).  I painted an imaginative scene that isn't too juvenile, with whimsical tree, birds, and birdcage.  We decided to make this a piece which could begin as a changing table in the nursery, later it will hold poofy and glitter-drenched dress ups and plastic heels, then in the tween and teen years the inside can be plastered with zitty faced photos of pre-pubescent boy crushes, then once the girl turns back to normalcy, so will the armoire where it will once again be a wardrobe.

**This Armoire is currently On Sale at Consign and Design in Farmington, UT. $399**
(Please see "Little Black Book" section at the top of the page for store Info.)

 Article Reference: Suite101: Imagination in Kids is Important: Why Children Need Imagination to Help Them Get Ahead Socially and Mentally in Today's Technology Based World | Suite101.com http://www.suite101.com/content/imagination-in-kids-is-important-a5166#ixzz1MdjrfYTX

A Conundrum, A Question, And a Conclusion

For any given holiday or other gift-giving situation, I have become the go-to person for my brother to steal gift ideas from for his wife, but claim them as his own.  He has great taste and ideas without my 2 cents, but he also gives himself a three to four gift (per giving situation) quota.  So he runs out of ideas usually by the third gift..which is where I come in.  I was particularly proud this past Christmas when I was able to step in at the 11th hour and save him from getting her a gift that would really just be benefiting him in some way or portraying the wrong message all together (say like a vacuum or other such device or an XBox).  Being the fashionista my sister-in-law is, you can expect that her home isn't lacking any style, and it's not, except for one seemingly small relic of bachelor pad past (which actually was my husband's before my brother got it, because it wasn't old enough to be cool in our home and in the mean time it was annoying to look at because it only served a function.. and we all know fashion comes before function).  I'm referring to the black/gray/glass/maybe some silver, low-ish TV stand thing.  You know what I'm talking about, you see them everywhere.. who knows, you may have one in your family room right now and it's just begging for a listing on Craigslist, or a curbside alert.  So given the design distraction in his family room, I suggested that he refinish a dresser/sideboard that they could put their TV on, but it would also serve as a great versatile piece of furniture that would actually complete his family room as opposed to embarass the other pieces in the room.  He loved the idea..of course ;).. and before I knew it I had completed my first piece of furniture..and a great gift for Jen..from my brother..

The finding of the furniture, process of refinishing, and transforming results, was all so enjoyable and addicting I knew I was in for the long haul.  So in the end, it was a win for all of us, Jen got a great gift, Andrew got the 'atta boy', but I got the realization that you can actually "Do what you love and love what you do".



This dresser was the previous owner's grandmother's.  Prior to it's makeover it had been well loved by the last owner's daughter (original owner's granddaughter), who had carved her name into the top.  It wasn't very large and since it was pretty endearing, we decided to leave it there.  The hardware has been replaced with wrought iron handles, to give it a slightly more rustic look and 'de-feminize' it a bit (as per my brother's request).  This dresser is made by Dixie who manufactured a lot of case goods in this french style in the 1960's.  I love this style in particular because it's used a lot in French Provincial decor, which is a favorite style of mine.  Below are more of this style of dresser re purposed in various ways that I have found around the web and kept as inspiration.