Decorating The Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 4

My Office:

Still working!  My office is underway!

As you may recall, this house is being decorated in a style I call 'Santa Fe Meets Exotic & Indulgent Chic.'  

Just about everything you see here has been painted various colors over the years (the flat blue wall color  will definitely be changed.)

The shelves:

• The black shelves were originally purchased in white from Ballard Designs years ago (bought for my Silverado Canyon, California house.)  The first alteration to the shelves was the addition of some fun motifs and a slight diamond border to the white color. This tied the shelves in with the Silverado Canyon unique copper-gold tin kitchen ceiling - and - the pantry doors that were white but that I'd 'antiqued' with touches of gold.
• They later moved with me to Rockford, Illinois  (click here to see Rockford, Illinois Loft Apartment article), and there the shelves lived in my living room.  I had an abundance of large and colorful wall art and I felt black would balance it.  It complete the look, causing flow and rhythm.  The shelves were painted black.

The wicker settee was originally purchased in off white.

I painted this wicker settee (shown above) when I moved to this four acre horse ranch. Both the cushions and the hanging paper lamp were purchased from Pier One Imports.


The black wicker side chair I don't actually remember painting, but I do remember I bought it in a forest green color about ten years ago from Ikea and somewhere along the way it got painted black.


My Office Desk and Coordinating Chair

• The desk chair was a thrift shop find some 25 years ago; it has seen numerous shades of paint.
• The desk is from Ballard Designs bought for the Silverado Canyon house office in antique white. I've always enjoyed the desk double-sided drawer's spun crystal knobs.
• In this location, my office here at the horse ranch, there wasn't a particular focal point so I decided to go dramatic and decoratively paint the desk and chair.  It's a happy work place.

Close up photos show paint detail.

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To view more about the four acre horse ranch AND the guesthouse, see below:



Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 1
Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 2
Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 3
Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 4

Pinterest Board:  Horse Ranch Photos And Guest House

Art And Decorative Items (Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder)

As a follow up to the Lalanne Sheep article, I thought I'd share another fun object d'art or decorative item - the little paper mache burro.

This house style is called Ethnic Meets Chic Style (see prior article "Santa Fe Style Hooks Up With Exotic & Indulgent Chic "). It's a highly-colorful look with many many ethnic items, such as the old, hand-painted blue trunk seen here. This 100 year old adobe house house has integrated with phrou-phrou pretty, traditional stuff, also collected over the years.

The highly-colorful, pink pom-pom fringe-edged pillows with paisley and dots from Pier One Import on the white wicker settee are perfect with the little burro and the antique blue trunk.

Can you even get over it? The little burro that belongs!

Cheers to you and your special and unique decor objects as you integrate them in your home and how they make you smile!

Decorating The Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 2

Vintage is so cool - we love seeing old houses fixed up. The thesaurus states vintage is superior, prime, classic. In reality vintage items aren't always practical.

For this house, let me share what vintage means:

In this house, vintage is the 100 year old adobe house - adobe walls are 18" thick!  That actually makes for a natural form of insulation but can be a challenge when hanging pictures (they start to crumble - ghack!). In the master bedroom of the adobe house, vintage means low ceilings that consist of dark railroad ties, and vintage also means fewer windows than today's home styles. That's a bit about a 100 year old adobe houses.

In the master bedroom the vintage issues made for a cave-like feeling.  To correct this I called on Chelsea Lavendar paint by Ralph Lauren. It lightens up the adobe room, giving it a colorful, whimsical feeling.

The brightly-colored bedding is from Anthropologie.  Hard to see in these photos is a beautiful, rare, antique Oriental rug that proved a bit of a challenge. I found that the rug had slight purple-lavender threads that came to life with the Ralph Lauren paint - - viola!!!

This sitting area (previously a desk area) is perfect for a master bedroom sitting area. The chair and ottoman are from Pier One Imports.  I think every bedroom should have a chair, they're both functional and help make a room look complete.


The bed headboard previously had been a natural wood and when painted Ralph Lauren's 'Picket Fence White,' it just POPS!

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Design Tip: These two paintings (shown at right) are opposite both the bed and the large painting that hangs over the bed.

In my attempts to balance or 'equal out' opposite sides of a room, I considered another large art piece, but this small room couldn't visually support that, the room started feeling cave-like again.  Visa versa, though, these two oil paintings on their own were not enough before placing them on the shelves.  This side of the room now had sufficient visual weight and presence. One more time: viola!

To view more about the four acre horse ranch AND the guesthouse, see below:



Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 1
Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 2 
Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 3
Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 4

Pinterest Board:  Horse Ranch Photos And Guest House

Pier 1 Contest

• $100 & $75 Gift Certificate To Pier 1 Imports


• How do I win? If you are signed up on the free Something Beautiful Journal mailing list you're automatically already entered! So, be sure you are signed up, silly!


• How many times can I enter? You can enter as many times as you like by emailing PatriciaLynne12@aol.com (maximum one entry per day) stating: I WANT TO WIN!


• First place winner gets $100 Gift Certificate to Pier 1 Imports


• Second place winner gets $75 Gift Certificate to Pier 1 Imports


• Contest ends October 15, 2009