A Crisp White Home That Still Has Historic Charm

This Sag Harbor home caught my eye recently. It's at times a bit rustic for my tastes, but I think the balance of clean and modern, and respecting the homes historic charms - like exposed beams, is perfect.

In love with that rug!

Black floors in white rooms are really starting to grow on me.

The dining room is the only one that sticks out to me a little.  I would love to see a few sleeker elements brought in to counteract with the more rustic ones.

The tiny gray tiles on the floor are so pretty

via Lonny

Meet me in Austin! Time is running out to sign up for Design Camp! (And a great Austin bungalow)

I am counting the days until Oct. 24th, when I will be attending the kickoff to Design Camp in the very cool Austin, TX.

 What is Design Camp you may ask?

 Design Camp is a two-day seminar hosted by Celebrity Interior Designers Lori Dennis and Kelli Ellis, with special guests segments led by local and national industry experts in niche fields. The course is tailored for design professionals and design aficionados. Each day runs from 9AM-6PM and is broken down into 8 segments per day.

Drinks, Snacks, Lunch, and Cocktail parties included. By the end of Camp, attendees will have the confidence and ability to run successful modern-day design careers, execute magazine ready interior projects, take careers to an entirely new level, network and collaborate with local suppliers and colleagues.

 Design Camp is your destination for practical, applicable, real-life design insight you don’t get from traditional institutions. In two fun-filled days you will discover more at Design Camp, while saving time and money.

 I AM SO EXCITED!

Check out the agenda...

KICK OFF COCKTAIL PARTY

Wednesday

6pm – 8pm

Meet and Greet Cocktail Mixer

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Day One: Design Today

Thursday

8:00 – 8:45	Registration
9:00 – 9:45	Interior Design: Past and Present
10:00 – 10:45	Inspiration Boards
11:00 – 11:45	Upholstery
12:00 – 12:45	Finishes and Trends
1:00 – 2:00	Complimentary Lunch
2:00 – 2:45	Kitchen Design
3:00 – 3:45	Bath Design
4:00 – 4:45	Green Interior Design
5:00 – 5:45	Staging – Stage your Career ---> very excited for this segment
6:00 – 8:00	Networking Cocktail Party --> and this ;)

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Day Two: Design Business

Friday

8:00 – 8:45	Contracts – Successful Strategies for negotiations with contractors, vendors and clients.
9:00 – 9:45	Blueprint for Success: What your Contractor needs you to know!
10:00 – 10:45	Design Blogging – What you need to know!
11:00 – 11:45	Getting a Project and a Book Published (and Sold!) --> another one I'm looking forward to...
12:00 – 1:00	Complimentary Lunch
1:00 – 1:45	Marketing and Branding
2:00 – 2:45	Social Media --> Iooking forward to learning some new tips on this one!
3:00 – 3:45	How to become a Design Star, Spokesperson and Television Personality
4:00 – 4:45	Awards and Closing

I see Design Camp as the second chance to get the interior design education I never got - and in 2 days! October 24th is fast approaching, and I would really like to meet you there! Visit the Design Camp site to learn more and register!

 Austin also has some great shops should you be in need of a little retail therapy. I am particularly looking forward to visiting Howl.  Howl is an amazing antique store with a mix of items from all over the world, curiosities, and glam.

Here are some photos from a cool, eclectic Austin bungalow:

 the gray walls make this sunroom soo serene!

 Love the big armchairs on each end of the table...

the lights are fab too...

images via Apartment Therapy

Uplifting and functional rooms

This home office is soooo pretty.  I love the muted colors, and the soft pink in the rug, yellow in the curtains, and green accents makes such a happy trio.

Very bright colors are kept to a minimum in this rooms, which keep the rest of the colors from being too busy, but still cheerful.

Another great mix of muted colors.


The 4 images below are all from the same multi-functioning living room, that also serves as a foyer and home office.

Effective layering makes this space look more expensive than it was.

Wood in honey colors keep the space casual, and the art adds a whimsical touch.

LOVE that little console!

Everything has a pretty place to be stowed in the office nook, and an organized space is a happy space!  To read more and see all the pics from this room, click here.

via BHG

My curtains revealed and an introduction to The Loaded Trunk!

My curtains are finally finished! Some of you might remember this post awhile back when I asked for suggestions for curtain colors after we moved into our new apartment in Chevy Chase, MD.

Before:

After:

The curtains the apartment came with were drab and heavy. Our couch had to stay, and is an olive-colored suede, that depending on the light and colors around it can look gray, brown, or green. The rug is a new purchase that I love, and wanted to make it work. Our walls, though hard to tell in the picture above, are a light aqua blue.

I tried photoshopping some different color options in this post, but all of them left me a bit underwhelmed. You guys offered up some amazing suggestions for DIY's, specific fabrics, and other resources. The amazing Christine of Design with Christine came up with an amazing edesign for me, utilizing some Ikat curtains, and some throw pillows to tie the rug in with the couch. You can see the amazing job she did in her post.

The curtains Christine chose.

My photoshopping the curtains and pillows Christine found. Christine’s genius really got the ball rolling for me to find a pattern to balance out the visual weight of the bottom half of the room with the visual weight of the top. So, since I wanted to sew my own curtains, I began the search for the perfect (afforadable) fabric.

via 6th Street Design School

I really liked the fabric above, which a reader suggested to me . Even though it was above our price range, I ordered a swatch. The medallions were a bit too large for my liking, and the background was more of a beige than a white, so we decided against this one. I also ordered a few more swatches, but I wasn’t sold on any of them. Then, I noticed the curtains below on Danielle Oakey's blog, and went on an internet scavenger hunt to find the fabric.

Long story short, I finally located enough to sew my curtains (9 yards) from Red Rhino on ebay. They were actually the only seller I found with the fabric available. Red Rhino gave me a great price, amazing response times, and I couldn’t have been happier with the fabric. The match was very accurate to what was on screen.

via Danielle Oakey Interiors

So, after hours and hours of measuring, ironing, starching, sewing, and ironing and starching again, we finally had our curtains. I also added a black tape on the right and left vertical borders of the outermost curtains to mimick the black border on the rug. We are really happy with the results. I'm also in the process of testing out some swatches to sew throw pillow covers.

Another view of the room with the ikat curtains

A close up of the curtain and the black border

I'm testing out a suzani style swatch, as you can see from the bottom pillow.

Isn't this red pillow AMAZING!?!?

I couldn’t be more thrilled with the pillow, which  I received from The LoadedTrunk!

There couldn’t be a better cohesive element between my couch and my rug! What’s even cooler is the history of the pillow, called a Hmong pillow:

“This beautiful vintage textile was once part of a garment worn by Hmong women in Vietnam. The Hmong, an Asian ethnic group living in the mountainous regions of Vietnam and Laos, are known for their traditional textiles which feature cross-stitching and often indigo block printing. They have been given a second life and were re-cycled to make these lovely pillows.”

 

They offer a handful of one-of-a-kind Hmong pillows.  This one in purple is gorgeous

I love that mine is one of-a-kind. They have other hmong pillows, and lots of other global goods. I could make a really long wishlist of items from this store, but here are just a few:

These bronze hammered bowls would look glamorous and beautifully organic anywhere.

The color in this Mexican coverlet is so rich.

Thanks again to The Loaded Trunk! You can see all their treasures on the online shop.

SO..how do you think our living room is coming along so far? 

We still have some art to hang,  maybe a floor lamp for the corner behind the palm, and the rest of the throw pillows for the couch (I want a pillow that will tie in the colors from the curtains)

And how about that pillow from the Loaded Trunk?

I can't wait to hear what you guys think!

*disclosure: I received the Hmong pillow as a sample