The Birds

I love this photo posted on Instagram by none other than the talented Mrs. Price. Her photographs are just as cool as her copy, which you can check out here. 

ooh la la

I just spotted a link to this furniture designer's work over on another blog. Her name is Daun Curry, check her out here. Love her furniture. The perfect amount of glamour. Lacquer, mirror, glass and lucite, with just the right details. Boy, I need cocktail.

Crazy Kind of Love

Ok, so I finally caught an episode of Million Dollar Decorators on Bravo and I loved it. In  particular  I loved Mary McDonald and her fabulous graphic floor. After googling her I realized that this one woman has been a huge design influence on me and I didn't even know it. I know kind of stupid. But, for the last couple of years I have kept this folder of home design images that I love and there are few that have always stood out to me. I had no idea those images had something in common and that was none other than Mary McDonald. Anyway, she is  definitely my new design lady crush (sorry Kelly).  I can't wait to keep watching. It is like design crack. Give it to me Bravo.


Images are Mary McDonald designs.

The Art of the Trench

I like Burberry's use of their online experience. Users can submit pictures of themselves wearing the iconic trench. The concept being, "a living celebration of the Burberry trench coat and the people who wear it”.

Check it out here.

The Social Network

Good Article over at thedieline.com today about social media. I really appreciated this comment, "We would all do well to remember that human behaviour and motivation changes much more slowly than technology."

Check out the article here.

A Room in Progress

I am in the process of a total bedroom redo. Here is just a little sneak peek. So far, I have painted, wall papered, hung curtains and painted one of two dressers. Stay tuned there is a lot more to do. BTW - This was my first wallpapering job. I did it all by myself:)

Save It. Just Spray It.

Ok, so if any of you have Ikea furniture you know that it really wasn't meant to last through a move. Which is evidenced in my before photo. I decided before I just chucked it I would take a stab at giving it a new life. I am really liking the after. BTW - the gold spray  is the best I have found. True gold. I will write a post on that later. Oh, excuse the mess I started taking the clothes out of the drawers and then realized I needed photos. 

New Lights

My new crystal balls in my living room. I can see the future, lots of beautiful light:)

Before and After - WIndows

In my last dining room post, I talked about my before windows. However, I didn't have a true before to show. This is my Brother-in-law's house as the before, we built the same house in the same neighborhood. So, this is what I started with a cream box with three small windows. However, mine were much worse since my house sits back further from the road then his. I got no light and just a lovely view of my neighbor's siding. That is also the before chandelier as well. I think this gives a better sense of the true before dining room.


Just a quick how-to:
1. Cover windows in black out film so you can't see back of mirrors.
2. Glue Mirror to frame of window, not glass for easy removal later if needed. You can get mirror cut at Lowe's
3. Trim window with white molding.

Etsy Find

Interesting ceramic artist on etsy. The work has some what of Tim Burton quality to it.

Check it out here.

Ask Eli

As most of you probably know I have a pretty awesome talking dog. He's pretty smart, and as he likes to remind me he went to college. I think it was more like lounging around and chewing my Birkenstocks and my roommate's guitar while I while I went to college, but whose keeping score. Since he is a dog and all, he thought he was very qualified to weigh in on Cassie's dog painting dilemma. Play the movie to hear what Eli thinks about it. ** Dog treats were harmed while making this video:)

 

From Granny to Graphic. Cast Your Palette.

C'mon peeps. We need your votes. Which color should Cassie paint this fantastic creature?


Sources:
Gold, Red, Turquoise, Yellow, Black and Silver

Save it. Just Spray It. Take Three.

One last can of spray paint for the day. The first image is a mirror I have stalked for many years. I love it. This exact one is from brocade home and will run you a whopping $649. Ouch! And, I have actually seen ones like this for much more. So, you can imagine how very excited I was to find this ugly brown one for $40 at Habitat for Humanity. I almost cried, I was so happy. I new all it needed was a good coat of white lacquer spray paint and it would be gorgeous. I love it. Now, where to hang it? Oh, and to be fair, the before was taken with my real camera and looks much better in this photo than in person. The after was taken with my cell phone and looks much better in person than in this photo. Sorry about that.

Save it. Just Spray It. Take Two.

Cassie, Here are two other colors that could be fabulous! The blue reminds me of the blue coach in the photo below. I can't wait to see what you do!

Images sourced here.

Save It. Just Spray It.

In this week's edition, Cassie has written in with a dilemma. What should she do with this crazy dog? Well, spray paint him of course! The grandma quality this piece has is caused by the painting detail around the eyes, nose and feet, which can totally be masked by a coat of spray paint. Leaving him fantastically graphic. Knowing Cassie's house, (which this second image reminds me of, but this is actually an image of an Emily Henderson makeover) I think gold would be the perfect solution. Cassie also has a lot of red, so a bright pop of red would probably work as well. But, if you aren't feeling too crazy, black will always work too. So which will it be? My gut is saying go gold. Surprise us! Can't wait to see it!

House image sourced here.

Under the Weather

I am feeling a bit under the weather today so I won't be posting regulary. But, I will be back at it tomorrow with a bunch of fun new posts. Stay tuned. Thanks for the understanding.


Photography by Danny Santos II. You can view his work here.

Pattern

I figured I would kick off my posts today about pattern and texture with this image of Kelly Wearstler. I spied it on her blog this morning and I am just loving her pants. How fabulous. She is so great at mixing patterns, textures, colors and metals. It is also great to see that she still has a label on the bottom of her shoe.

Branching Out

My husband and I love trees. In fact, if you knew the meaning behind the name of my blog, you'd know it was inspired by trees as well (and my husband:). I want to do a weekly post about designing with tree inspired graphics. It is a nice way to bring the outdoors in and add some texture to your space. If you guys have any examples of how you used trees as design inspiration please email me. I would love to include them.

PS - sources are unknown for these photos. If you know, please shout and I will add credits.

Blazing the Trail

I love a good blazer, I mean I LOOOOVE a good blazer. I even kind of like a bad blazer. Maybe that's because my most hated body part is my arms. Instant cover up. For those of you who watch HGTV's show Sarah's house you probably have spotted Sarah wearing some snappy little numbers. Like the one in the first photo. I seriously think often about recreating this look. Well, after a little internet investigating I found out why. Check my source here. Apparently Tommy's (you'll understand if you watch the show) sister is one half of Smythe (the clothing collection above) who does this fabulous line of blazers and the other partner in Smythe is one of Sarah Richardson's friends from high school. No wonder she is always spotted in the most fabulous blazers. My arms are SO seriously jealous. Check out the complete collection here.

Dining Room - Look One

I call this look one, because I still need to add the wallpaper in the molding squares that will better tie the rug and the wall color together. But I still wanted to share the progress I made this weekend. The before picture isn't really the true before, before. The room started with beige walls and the three mirrored boxes were three small windows that showed nothing but my neighbors siding so I added black film and mirror and then molded them out in the white molding. I also replaced the chandelier. I found this cheap glass chandelier and sprayed it white (what a job that was) and then added the ceramic vines from Urban Outfitters. I think these were intended as wall art, but I bought two and made them a ceiling medallion (that was quite a project with super glue!). So that is what I lived with for a while, but I never really liked the blue. I had originally wanted a blue/black but it didn't turn out quite right. Plus I couldn't figure out how to decorate with it. Which brings me to the after. I painted the walls this okra color, which in person just makes the room's energy so much more alive. As I said I am still not quite finished. Stay tuned for look two. BTW - the painting of the girl is done by one of my besties. She is a wonderful painter and she has a pretty cool blog. Check her out here.

Save it. Just Spray It.

Boy, do I love a good can of spray paint. It is sort of like make-up and spanx for furniture and accessories. Not to mention it can take something broke down and busted and make it look completely new again. This weekend I found this horse head at Home Goods for $16. Not quite my style, but I knew he just needed a spray. It was actually quite funny, a woman walked by me and snickered and said to her friend that horse is ugly. What she didn't know is he was about to get a make over. I guess beauty truly is in the eyes of the beholder. 

I'd like to walk a mile in these shoes

Ok, I would really just like to sit and look pretty in them. Because let's face it, these aren't really walking shoes. I spotted these on one of blogs I read daily and I think they are just fabulous! At their current price I will just be dreaming about them. Oh and as a side note, the designer Chiara is also a blogger. Check her out here.

Image/Graphic sourced from here.

Tell Me a Bed Time Story

Forget the kids my husband would die for this bed. How amazing. You can read (no pun intended) a little more about the artist here.

Vertical Gardens

I am obsessed with vertical gardens. I want to make one so bad. A long time ago Domino Magazine (I still mourn for you) featured Flora Grubb who is a vertical garden extraordinaire. She has a great toutorial right here. She also sells the structure you would need to get started. Can't wait to try my hand at this. Very cool.

Jewelry Shadow Boxes

I love Anthropologie, but really who doesn't. Their catalogs are always a great source of inspiration. The photography is always beautiful. About a year ago I saw these lovely jewelry vignettes in their March 2010 catalog. Which got me thinking. What a wonderful way to showcase jewelry. If you are anything like me, yours would be thrown in a box and tangled. I would so love to take a few shadow boxes and create these little scenes to showcase my jewelry. Dual purposes: organization and art. How perfect.


P.S. - Sorry about the moiré pattern. These were scanned from their March 2010 catalog.

thedieline.com

So, I am in need of some inspiration for a project that I am currently working on. I was talking to my friend Elizabeth and she turned me on to this site. They are showcasing some beautiful work. Very inspiring. I loved the structure of this CD package. A nice change from your typical jewel case. Check out all the other beautiful packages here.

I Can See Clearly Now

Sourced from here. 

Tasting Parties

I am really loving the tasting party items that Pier One is carrying right now. I love tapas and hors d'oeuvres and this is just an awesome way to serve these kinds of foods. So chic and effortless. I bought a few different things that they are carrying and used them for a bridal shower I was hosting. Which was just perfect since it was a mad hatter tea party theme and the small food felt just right. These photos are from Pier One. I will post some pictures from my party later.

Beautiful Examples of Infographics

It can be tough designing something with heavy content, but it can be even tougher for the person reading it. To often content is handled in long block copy formats and boring power point style graphics. We need to be more visually responsible as designers and actually read the content we are laying out and try to conceptualize and visualize for the reader. Awhile back I came across this inspiration for information graphics. It has been a great resource to get my mind working when I have encountered the white page or should I say the sea of text.

Sit on This

Design Sponge, a blog I read religiously was featuring Jayson Home and Garden’s new furniture line. Which is a store I also love, but can't afford. After looking through their new furniture line I realized the Theodore Sofa reminded me a lot of a cheaper version that I saw on Room Service's website. Is the $1229 difference worth it?

What I am Loving Right Now

This console table from zgallerie is just amazing. Love, love, love it.

save-on-crafts.com

Some time ago I pulled this top picture off the internet. I am not sure where I sourced it, it could of been etsy or jcrew. In any case, it is expensive at a whopping $119. My idea was to make stuff like this and sell them on etsy. In my quest to find materials I came across this site save-on-crafts.com where the bottom image is from. You can save yourself a $100 and just add a pin back and maybe some lace to create a similar look for far less. This site is a great resource if your planning an event or if you have a flower business (you know who you are:). 

In Need of a Profile Picture

So, I very badly need a new profile picture and I want the end result to be something very much like this.

More Dining Room Inspriation

This is the green wall color I was talking about. I have wainscoting like this as well. So, I was thinking I would put the blue pattern wall paper in the squares of the wainscoting and make the upper wall this green color. I need to do a mood board so this all makes sense:) Stay tuned.

Dining Room Inspiration

This room from Design Star Emily Henderson has always inspired me. I love the green blue combo it feels so meant to be and effortless. Which brings me to my dining room; I have a rug that is a blue and toasted almond chain link pattern that I love. I originally painted the room a deep blue and from the start it has just never felt quite right to me so I have been thinking that I would add green to the walls and maybe a blue patterned wallpaper to the wainscoting. Stay tuned I will post some before and after photos.

More Animal Forms

So I spied this deer head over at designsponge and I had an idea. What if you created one out of shells. Crazy or Cool? Not sure.

Painted Fish

So, I am kind of in love with this white lacquer marlin (picture one). It reminds me a little of the pink birds that Antonio did on Design Star (picture two). I just love the graphic nature of it! So, I was thinking I might buy this awful colorful marlin from Bass Pro Shops (picture three) and lacquer it white myself. What do you guys think?

Another Floor

Another floor. Beautiful.

Hey Peeps, it's Easter

If you knew me, you would know one thing: I LOVE CANDY! Mostly just the sugary kind. Circus peanuts, peeps, sweet tarts, the sweeter the better. Check out these cool dioramas created with peeps. I don't know whether to eat them or admire them, either way I am salivating.

Graphic Floors

Graphic floors are so divine. Living in a new house makes this a little impossible for me, I think my husband would kill me if I painted over our new wood floors. He can be such Debbie downer:) Then I had an idea. I have a screened in porch with a concrete floor. Boring, I know. I think this would be the perfect treatment to bring some life to my porch. Better than a rug, because it brings texture and pattern without being a total dirt catcher. So stay tuned for this project. I will be sure to post some before and afters. If any of you have done your own project like this. Please, please, please send them my way. I would love to share them.

An Inexpensive Bathroom Idea

This is a great way to bring some inexpensive style to a bathroom. We all know shower curtains can feel so icky, while glass doors can be intrusive when trying to bath a kid. What to do? Why not add a window treatment. I think this kind of look can raise the value of a bathroom greatly, you can even forgo the expensive tile. 

Hello. Is anyone out there?

Hi and Welcome to my blog. I am sure at this point no one is actually reading this, but I am excited to get started. I thought for my first post it was only fitting to start with one of Kelly Wearstler's images since she to is new to the blog world as well. Not to mention, she happens to be one of my biggest inspirations and I can only hope to have the kind of success she has had. A girl can dream right:) Anyway, what's to come of this blog? I am a designer that has been working for a little over 13 years and my hope is to share ideas, inspiration and use this as a place to bookmark great design. I encourage you to share and interact with me along the way. Please be gentle, remember I am just getting started. Oh, and by the way...I am a terrible speller.