Obsessing

Tara Guerard soiree offices via Style Court  

I'm currently obsessing over these mirrors.  I like the rustic look of them and am thinking of using a mirror like this for my bedroom.  I smell a DIY project.  Stay tuned....

sara gilbane via lonny 

Ebay: Friday's Fabric

image via here 

I love Los Angeles clothing designer Trina Turk especially her line of fabrics for F. Schumacher.  While, I am definitely drawn to the boldness & color of her fabrics, it is the patterns that I really adore .  Suited for any room, I would particularly love to use her fabrics in an outdoor space - they just scream summer, beach & moijitos to me.  The crafty side of me would love to use her patterns as a stencil on storage boxes, a wall, a table or even a rug. 

image via here 

image via here 

Since,  we don't officially have a patio or deck with some hip furniture, I might just settle on buying yard or two and making some fun placemats, napkins or a table runner.  Some of my favorite patterns:

Zebra pattern in orange

Trellis pattern in pool

Arches pattern in bamboo

Santorini pattern in marine

Just so happens I spied some Trina Turk fabric on ebay starting at $9.99!  Trellis pattern here , here and here.   Arches pattern here .  Pisces pattern here .  Paradise pattern here .   Enjoy the weekend and happy bidding!

Pantry love

I love the simplicity of this pantry.  It's perfection.  I love how everything is visible.  This is the pantry of the uber talented emersonmade who makes those gorgeous handmade flowers.  Have you seen them?  They are wonderful!  Anyway, I saw her home featured on Design*Sponge this week.  I related to her comment explaining how she likes to see everything at once because they eat mostly unrefined products - no sugar, flour or processed ingredients.  We've recently changed out diets after reading a couple of books on real food and have been following suit.  It's been great (but v. time consuming).  I currently have my jars in my kitchen cabinets, but one day (when we have a kitchen big enough to hold a pantry), I envision having a shelving type unit with loads of jars lined up filled with rice, beans, oats, nuts, spices, etc.  

Sunburst Mirror Giveaway

Ada-Marie is graciously offering a sunburst mirror giveaway from CSN Stores .  Who doesn't love a little sunburst?  This mirror is fabulous and would certainly provide the glam factor.   And, while you're at it, check out her blog, Spark!  She's a "fledgling home designer" who has accomplished some amazing decorating projects in her home.   

Cole Haan Ad Campaign & The Selby

I saw my first glimpse of the 2010 Cole Haan ad campaign on The Selby .  Todd Selby, a portrait, interiors and fashion photographer and illustrator,  features personal spaces of creative individuals on his website, The Selby .  It is hugely popular and Todd's first book called, The Selby is in Your Place , will be released in May 2010.  My good friend introduced me to The Selby and seriously, I can't get enough of it.  Here are some pictures of Cole Haan's Ad Campaign that I'm totally loving right now.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

My husband, being Irish, feels compelled to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  Given that our son is only 2 1/2, he can't drink a Guinness with his father.   So, instead, we decided to make swirly green cupcakes for Luke's daycare.  On our first attempt, I grabbed a random cupcake mix from the store.  It wasn't until we finished mixing the batter up that we had a taste, only to find our mouths burning afterwards.  Why you ask?  

I think the box speaks for itself.  Who puts cayenne in cupcake mix?  Who did the market research on this?  Anyway, our second attempt was much more successful.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Molly Luetkemeyer

Molly Luetkemeyer, of M.Design Interiors, Inc. , is by far one of my favorite interior designers.  Her style is so captivating and is so hard to describe.  She is not afraid of color as illustrated in the above picture (one of my favorites).  She also appears to use white a lot as a backdrop to her colorful interiors.  Her are some more of my favorites:

Check out those lucite table legs!

Okay, am I doing something illegal here - posting all these pictures??  Can't help it.

Suzanne Kasler and Ballard Designs

Browsing through my Ballard Design catalog this weekend, I saw the Suzanne Kasler designed rooms.  Coming this fall, she'll be teaming up with Ballard to do a line of furnishings.  This is all very exciting.    Am I the last one to have just found this out???  Here is a bedroom she designed for Ballard.  Check out more here .  

Meanwhile, I couldn't resist including some of my favorites of her work.

Bookcase Styling

I am more a 'big picture' kind of gal, then a gal that is obsessed with the 'details'.  So it comes as no surprise to me, that I lack patience when it comes to styling.  The irony is that I love interior design and a lot of design is about the details.  With that said, I'm in the process of learning and I have to say I am appreciating the 'details' much more.  For example, eating my salad yesterday, I noticed the color of my tomato was more a persimmon red than a hot tomoto red.  Mind you, this was more a passing thought, but nevertheless, I noticed that detail.  And, that was kind of exciting for me.  Now, if you're still reading, I'm impressed because you probably thinking, "Get a life!".  So, when Emily from Emily A. Clark blog asked readers to volunteer pictures of their bookcases, I immediately thought, "Awesome!".  So, here is the 'before' picture of my bookcase.

BEFORE

While I love the bookcase (I scored it from Lillian August at 70% off), the styling is a sparse.  Not much pizzaz.  So, while playing fire truck with my son, I did a little of re-styling.  Here is the 'after'.  

AFTER

So, what do you think?  The back of the bookcase is bothering me and I feel like it's missing something.  Maybe I need some more art learning against the back inside wall of the bookcase.  Or, I could paint the inside of the bookcase like this one - to give it more depth and pop!

Martha Stewart 

Don't forget to stop by Emily's blog to view all the bookcases submitted by her readers!  Enjoy and Happy Weekend!

Pelmet Boxes

In my last post , I mentioned I was tired of the current state of my office and it needed some sprucing up.  So, I've started to make some changes.  Very slowly.  First, I want to state that this room isn't solely my office.  Let's be realistic.  We live in a 1450 square foot cape cod, so this room does overtime duty as my office, my son's room to store his toys (b/c we don't have a playroom) and the guest room.  And, to top it off, the room is merely 13 feet x 10 1/2 feet (130 square feet).  When I saw Betsy Burnham's office, I really liked a lot of the elements.  One thing that caught my eye were her window treatments.   

I like the scale of the pattern and the black and white color scheme.  It reminded me of some black and white fabric I bought not too long ago on clearance from Pottery Barn.  The scale is different, but it is B & W.  I believe it is called 'Bailey'.  Here is a picture of PB's lewis bench slipcovered in the bailey fabric.

After my husband and I got married, I moved into 'his' house, now 'our' house and he had these pelmet boxes on his windows.  He made them (he's very handy) and used them for the guest room.  Well, I just took those same boxes, ripped off the old fabric (kept the batting) and reupholstered them.  Here are some shots of work in progress.

Here is a before shot of my 'office' window without the pelmet.

Here is the 'after'.  Mind you, I need to get a new lampshade on my lamp

More office shots to come soon as I finish sprucing up.  Also, I'm open for feedback so let me know your thoughts, ideas, opinions, etc.  Thanks!

Spring is coming....

This weekend was fantastic. We went on a long 2 hour hike this weekend around the reservoir, it was so gorgeous!  I couldn't help but share this image.  How insanely cute are these?  Click here to see source and tutorial .

Ebay: Friday's Fabric

You know how I love fabric.  Just did a little browsing on ebay and found this sweet number, Lulu DK River in chocolate, for only $9.99.  Imagine the possibilities!

via decor8 

via decor8