Yeay for a long weekend! This was an exhausting first week of school. So glad the weekend is here to relax and enjoy the last bit of summer. Any big plans? We will be laying low, reading, hanging by the pool, and I really want to finish organizing my house to start off September on the right foot. Here are just a few goodies to keep you entertained.
How do you start off a gallery wall? I have been helping a friend create a gallery wall for her little study. She wants something mostly black and white but with pops of color and with personality. We started off with the print of the Woman with the feather (its titled Oh Carmen) by Peggy Wolf Designs (check out her other desings....you will love them!)- intriguing right? and big personality for sure. But how to blend her in on a gallery wall? I then found this amazing pink and orange print that really perfectly complimented my mysterious feathered lady. A match made in heaven? Perhaps! And guess where its from? Uncommon Goods. I was very pleased with their print selection (see more of it here). We also spotted another fabulous print from their wall art collection-the aviator sunglasses, which of course had to be included as well (see more of their wall art here). And I love that this company really supports local artists and designers and most of their things are made in the USA (gotta love a socially responsible company).
Let me tell you about this project. We have this painting in our bedroom that just keeps growing on me (I painted it BTW). I didn't love it at first but as the years go by I'm loving it more and more. I wanted to change things up beneath it and had the idea of adding some colorful boxes. Over the summer I found the cutest little dog doorknocker at an antique store and decided it would be ideal to decorate a box. Then, the idea of using embellished buttons for the other boxes came to me (I just had the lady at the button store clip off the ring in the back)- and so my collection grew to three DIY boxes that perfectly accentuate the colors of my painting. And they are so easy to make. You just need the right box, the right decoration, and the right glue. I have some ideas for you below.
So excited to have the seventh edition of the "We love" series. Here was the last post in the series in case you missed it. To refresh your memory Sam from The Peak of Tres Chic and I
will be gathering inspiration under a certain theme a
couple of times a month and sharing it with you. Sam will guest post here in my blog and I will post at Sam's. I guess you could say we are swapping for the day. This time around its all about Coastal life!!
As of late I have been obsessing over oriental rugs. I currently have a beautiful one in my husband's library (aka the man cave!), Little Miss A. has a miniature one in her library (aka the reading nook) and I'm now thinking I need one for our entryway.
Sometimes, out of the blue, the stars align. I was contacted by Medallion Rugs offering to send an area rug my way! They have such an amazing array of area rugs from sweet and pretty to classic, to interesting, and some fabulous bold ones as well. Of course, this just fed my oriental rug fantasy and I scoured all my interior design pins to gather some inspiration of how these works of art embellish any room in the house.
Black marble! Gahhh, so dramatic and elegant. I'm in love with this bathroom so I just thought you all needed to know about it as well. Last fall I discovered gold nail polish and basically used it every other week through the fall and winter trading off with a dark grey color, so this fall I'm very excited about this particular color from butter london. Its called The Full Monty- oh no! the images this conjured up in my mind (did you see the movie?) Also, exciting for me is this fabulous collaboration between Cire Trudon candles and Yazbukey a Parisian accesories' designer who “ wanted it to smell like leather, lipstick, and hairspray”. Wao, now I really can't wait to smell it. Its a limited edition, so don't think about it for too long.
Just some more lighting beauties. I know, I definitely have lighting on my mind lately but I just love a beautiful light source. To me investment in art and lighting are key to a beautiful home. It doesn't have to be expensive just beautiful to look at- and boy are these beautiful, and you can add interesting, and daring, and even exciting. The artist behind these lamps finds vintage pieces and rewires them, hence the studio's name REWIRE LA (first spotted via Sketch 42 here)
Browsing through some interior design magazines I came across these two images that caught my attention- Carolina Herrera's zebra console table and Carlos Mota's elephant head aluminum paper sculpture. Both look really cool and like they aren't too hard to do. First off-
Ok, so this was an experiment and it was a success. Not because I said so but because everyone around me had seconds and was highly praised. But most importantly the birthday girl thought it was heaven in a dish and this is all that matters. This dangerously decadent and delicious concoction will be a fave of yours if you make it. I grabbed different parts of some of my favorite recipes for the different layers, so it was a no-fail project. Here are the deets-
I'm pooped! But what an exciting Birthday weekend it was. Here are some shots of Little Miss A's party that was small and adorable. I love how kids are so thrilled with their birthdays. Birthday and Christmas are the two best days of the year. The theme? Kokeshi dolls. Hmmm...what are those? Well they are Japanese dolls made out of wood with a simple trunk and larger heads. So cute! Let me share with you some images of the special occasion. But really, place close attention to the paper lanterns which I was so happy with....hopefully it will spark some DIY ideas for any of your upcoming parties.
It's finally Friday! My little one's birthday is this Sunday so you can imagine the excitement around here. She asked for an Oreo cake. The one above seems so divine, but really I can't do buttercream, its just too much sugar and butter so instead we are going to make up our own oreo trifle. So excited for it. I will give you all the details next week, just think of oreos, ice cream, chocolate cake and chocolate mousse. I know, I'm dieting as we speak! So, a few things that caught my eye this week-
I'm noticing eyes are all the rage lately. Kind of creepy but kind of intriguing? I'm digging the attention they give- full on alert stares. It would be kind of nice to doze off while our clothing keeps focused on the task at hand....if only.
After spending a few weeks in the country we are used to seeing the stars at night shine so vividly. And I wonder, how can I not miss them more in the city? Barely do we see stars at night here in Dallas. Stars just make you dream and hope and boy do these constellation sconces have me dreaming and hoping!! Absolutely beautiful.
I'm getting excited for fall. School will be starting soon and this for me marks the beginning of the fall season, even if in Dallas the temperatures don't reflect the fact. There are so many things to get excited about during this time of year- including lower temperatures (I love layers), fun holidays, family gatherings, beautiful foliage. And what I love about fall dressing is that it allows for a bit more drama than any other season. And I think the perfect way to add that dramatic dramatic touch is with the fall clutch. A must in my book.
What do you get when you mix peonies and fabulous photography? Why amazing prints of course! I'm, completely in love with Gaby's new flower photos (and it has nothing to do with the fact that she is one of my real life blogger friends and a real life sweetheart!) I need a large scale one for my future office (I'm thiniking 20x30 m'key Gaby?).
One of my favorite things about summer is that I have more time to read- with more lounging time by the pool or beach, in planes, or just before bed. I was starting to think about what my next reading adventure should be when a post by Jennifer from the Pink Pagoda led to me to this post about Edith Wharton's home. And I was instantly smitten- aside from being a pulitzer- prize winning novelist, she was also an interior designer and considered as a taste-maker of her time. A few emails back and forth with Jennifer and I was convinced I had to read The House of Mirth, her favorite. Have you read it? I love classic novels and somehow I had missed reading it. A few hours later this gorgeous purple edition of three of Edith Wharton's novels was in my hands. How lucky am I to hold this beauty between my fingers while I enjoy such good literature?
Another easy and fun DIY and this one is with duct tape. There are so many fun duct tape designs available (I think the manufacturers took the hint from the washi tape euphoria). My daughter, Little Miss A, as she likes to be called here on the blog, is quite an artist. We have all sorts of markers, crayons, colored pencils....you name it we have it. And so I needed to put some order to the artist's chaos and this is where this fab duct tape DIY comes in.
I saw these bracelets in a store in Madrid and was so intrigued. The colors were so vibrant and lively and the designs were adorable.....I didn't realize how big they are, as in "you need some asap". Friends, these are "IN". Have I been living under a rock? or is it just a European thing? Well, my mom coincidentally sent me this article about them where I learned that the bracelet has a celebrity cult following like Heidi Klum.
There are so many elements in this home that speak directly to my aesthetic- the art (you all know I love art), the plaid (I have posted about it here), the use of pedestals which I urgently need in my home (I posted about them here), and the mastered mix of modern and antique furniture. This home is of Spanish interior designer and architect Javier Castilla.
Ok! I'm back to regular programming! Even though we are still away I'm ready to be back on track...and take really good care of all you readers...no more 3 day weekends (for a while anyway!). I hope you are all happy and rested. We were lucky enough to catch-up with some high school friends over the weekend some of whom recently moved to England. The conversation quickly veered toward planning our potential next summer vacation when we would go and visit them. And of course this fabulous daydream vacation aside from including essential stops at the Tate, the British, and the London Bridge (this one is per little Miss A's request, of course!) , would of course entail a visit to Harrod's! Oh my!
I'm calling it in early this weekend and declaring that today is my Friday equivalent! Since it's all rainbows and colored sprinkles over here (literally as little Miss A saw her first rainbow and we have been eating so much ice cream) I chose bold and colorful beauties to ogle at today. Let's start from the top- In love with this clutch from Tracey Tanner.