Giuliana and Bill: I Love You and Your New Home!

Ok… I have to admit my addiction to certain reality tv shows… ie. Giuliana and Bill, Million Dollar Decorator, and shhh… Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. But I have an excuse, can you watch anything on tv where you can see better homes and interior design? Seriously, the houses on these shows are AH-MAZING…

Before I started watching Giuliana and Bill I have to admit, I kind of found her annoying. I didn’t get her, didn’t get her story or why she was famous. But one episode of their show changed my mind. And now, I think I have a girl crush on her. Here’s the deal, they are actually somewhat of a real couple, and have gone through real life experiences. I connected with them on their infertility issues, her battle with cancer, and now their beautiful baby boy. AND… they just bought and re-designed the most adorable house in LA… so cute I just had to share with all of you in case you missed it! Designed by the fabulous LA designer Loni Paul.

Baby Duke’s Nursery

Another view of the nursery

Gorgeous family room

Simple and classic dining room

Love this living room!

Eat in kitchen with casual classic cabinetry.

Ok and seriously this backyard?

To die for!

Outdoor living room… if only this would last in Minnesota!

I could move in right now. Love everything about it! Beautiful house for a beautiful couple 🙂

A New Kid In Town…

As a designer I’m always looking for new resources for my clients. Something fresh and fun, something a little different.

Well I just happened to stumble by a new little gem on “Furniture Row” in Edina.

Andrew Martin Furniture has come to town. I would call it Restoration Hardware’s crazy brother.

Who wants to work on a bachelor pad with me???

check out all of their product at www.andrewmartin.co.uk

Harrow Ticking Fudge Chair

Hardrada Coffee Table

Brando Desk

Rebel Mao Red Star Sofa

Beetham Stool

Ok Ladies, don’t be jealous… there are things for you too!

Winston Side Table

Barclay Coffee Table

Curtis Chair

A few design boards…

Awesome retail stores with awesome accents

I have a few Go-To stores that I use for client accessories and decor. Thought I would share a few with you and why I love them so much!

Z Gallerie:

So sad they aren’t open in Minnesota anymore 😦 For those Kansas and Arizona peeps of mine I’m envious that your stores are still open! I guess that means more trips for me to visit!

Z Gallerie has great pillows… Good size (sometimes hard to find), great patterns and colors, for a good price.

Linx 24″ pillow, $69.95. Purchase here

And a fun selection of window treatments…

Mimosa Panels in Charcoal, $59.95. Purchase here

I get a lot of modern art and mirrors here. This is a mirror that could work in both modern and traditional spaces… I love this mirror, always have…

Quatrefoil Mirror, $499. Purchase here

Love to decorate with boxes. It’s a simple touch that can add height and weight.

Bodega Storage Box Set of 2, $69.95. Purchase here

Ballard Designs:

I’m sure most of you get their adorable catalogs in the mail… sometimes it feels like 1 a week! But how many of you have actually ordered from them? They have great style for a great price!

Their upholstery has awesome STYLE with a fraction of the cost of other retailers. And I LOVE that they are semi-custom. You can pick from their selections of fabric, or they will let you send in your own fabric to upholster their pieces. (I have not done this yet)

Elsie Club Chair, starting at $689. Purchase here

Love garden stools. I used one from Ballard for Louie’s nursery. (see here) Watch these because they go on sale, A LOT. Sometimes for $99!

Garden Seat, $139. Purchase here

Suzanne Kasler, one of my favorite designers, creates product for Ballard Design. These ceramic forms are beautiful to decorate a big bookshelf or mantle.

Ceramic Form, starting at $69. Purchase here

She also has the adorable tote bags… definitely got one of these for Mother’s Day this year!

Canvas Tote Bag with Leather Straps, starting at $35. Purchase here

Home Decorators Collection:

Ok, some places like this you have to be selective. But, crazy enough they do have some pretty cute things, and talk about a steal!

Just found these barstools the other day. They look just like the Colette Collection from Crate and Barrel, (which by the way they do not make a barstool to match!) These are on sale right now for $199! You have your pick of a ton of different fabrics, and you even get to select between brass and nickel nailhead! For $199, that’s a serious bargain.

Straight-Back Counter Stool, $199. Purchase here

Every Crafters dream…. an organized beautiful craftroom. Martha Stewart designs product for Home Decorators that suit any Crafters needs. Check out all the colors it comes in too!

Eight Drawer Flat File Cabinet, $399. Purchase here

Really cute lighting… TONS of pendants to choose from.

Capri 1-Light Pendant, $184. Purchase here

Cute glitzy flush mount…

Lola Roux Flush Mount, $519. Purchase here

Overstock:

Ok, so this is a site I would go to for furniture that just needs to look pretty. Hard to have any guarantee of quality, but you can find a lot of pieces with style that will help you fill those spaces that you want to look nice but wont be a high use area.

Camden Bench, $339.99. Purchase here

Lighting…

Crystal Rectangle Column Lamp, $127.99. Purchase here

Area Rugs…

Handmade Luna Moroccan Trellis Wool Rug, $240. Purchase here

Where do you like to shop? Do you have any secret retail stores that you keep in your pocket for your decorating needs? Please share we would all love to hear!

The Most PINTERESTING Things of the Week: September 21st

Here are my top 10 of the week!

Love this Jonathan Adler bedding!

I really love this bed… a twist on the oh so popular upholstered headboard…

Cute new chair from Ballard Design… I’m really starting to dig their upholstery line. Such a great price!

So funny when I come across things that I showed interest in before… just saw that I had pinned these pendants and now we are possibly using them in a clients home!

Love this! I had to share! A new app for your phone where you can photograph your children’s artwork, and then have it made into a book to keep later!

I LOVE this for a nursery! Sooo cute and soooo easy!

Getting ready to start planning a baby shower- and we are going to have a baby pool. This is a cute way to do it!

Love these sunglasses! So girly 🙂

Louie’s Grandma Bena just bought him these Sperry’s, and they are by far my favorite shoes so far. You really do get what you pay for… they fit so well, easy to get on, and STAY on!

Don’t these look yummy? Definitely going to have to try this recipe!

That’s it for this week! Until next time, happy pinning 🙂

OKL- Are you a member?

Not sure what OKL stands for? Well friends you are in for a treat! One Kings Lane is the latest and greatest place to shop for up to date discounted home decor. A place for great style, and a deal. But OKL is not for the indecisive heart…. there are limited quantities on items and sales typically only last 72 hours.

What I use OKL for the most:

I love to search OKL for accessories for clients, accent furniture, and unique home decor items. Sometimes I find a beautiful sofa that is perfect for a client… but the client definitely has to be open to buying a piece of furniture they haven’t sat on before. I will say that the website is very good about giving a detailed description of construction and style on all their pieces, which helps give me confidence to specify a piece.

Here are some items on sale at OKL this week:

Love the clean lines of this sofa… I like to use this style in great rooms with soaring ceilings to help visually fill the space.

On sale for $2589.00

 

How cute are these club chairs? The nailhead and casters make this a classic piece that will always be in style!

On sale for $419.00

 

A row of x-benches along the foot of a bed or a long hallway can add interest to an otherwise boring space.

On sale for $199 each.

I just saw these rocking chairs in their outdoor living sale… how cute are these? I can just imagine adding these to a big front porch of a Nantucket style home.

On sale for $329.00

Hello? Waterworks?! That’s right they sell waterworks on OKL every once in a while! Oh to get me some plumbing fixtures and bath accessories from waterworks… on sale… what a dream!

Visualize with me… master bathroom double vanity… upper built-in cabinet dividing the two… with these fixtures hung over each sink. LOVE!

On sale for $279.00

Ok one more waterworks piece. A tub faucet that is so sleek it belongs in a penthouse in NYC.

On sale for $1199.00 (stop choking, I know, but when it retails normally for $2410 its a steal!)

I feel like it is so hard to find good rugs these days without taking out a new mortgage… but I’ve had really good luck with OKL! Here is a nice modified trellis pattern rug that has dark colors (cleanability) and a nice geometric pattern (helps dress up a space)

On sale for $879.00 (8’x10′)

And finally… OKL’s little hidden secret… “The Downstairs”. Kind of reminds me of those shopping trips to China town in NYC where we would get taken to the backrooms to see “the good stuff” (and by good stuff I mean cheap knock off Louis Vuitton and Prada purses that we thought were cool to buy back then)

Love this beverage dispenser… I can just see it- one labeled “adults” and one labeled “kids”.

On sale for $22.00!!!! Now THAT’S a deal!

So friends, if you aren’t a member yet… why not? It’s free! Actually, if you click on this LINK they will give you AND me

$15 for joining! Hard to pass up a deal like that!

 

 

 

 

Kansas City Dream Home!

I had the privilege to work on one of my best friend’s homes in Kansas City last fall. What a project. She has a great sense of style and loves all things glam! Needless to say we get along very well 😉

I FINALLY got a chance to get back there now that the project is complete and get pictures of some of the rooms we did. By no means am I a photographer, so please excuse the sub-par photography! If only I could fly my sister-in-law to all of my jobs to photograph them all…

One of the rooms we worked on was this fun space she has in her lower level. I call it a lower level because it is the farthest thing from a basement I have ever seen.

There was this empty space at the bottom of the stairs when you walked down that they had used for the arcade games. The clients wanted this area to be more of a wow factor to introduce this space.

Here is a before (I apologize for the horrible picture, I never try as hard with the befores… something I will work on!)

Before

After- Added wallpaper, chandelier, new furniture, and draped with panels to add drama

Their foyer is amazing! It didn’t take much to make this space look extra beautiful, but I think we were able to step it up a notch!

Again- quality of before picture… I apologize

Before

Adding a new piece of furniture that was a better scale, changing the paint color and adding the statue in the “nook that no one ever knows what to do with” really helped to make this space more welcoming.

The dining room right off of the foyer just took a little primping… new paint, window treatments, and chairs helped to tie into the adjoining rooms.

Before

After

And finally, the great room. This is quite the great room- in the center of the house you see this room from a lot of different areas… Foyer, upstairs, kitchen, dining room… We needed to make it fabulous. When a room needs to be WOW I always like to pick one item to bring the WOW, instead of a bunch of great pieces that “steal the thunder” from each other. In this case, it’s the chandelier. It’s by far my favorite piece we added to their home, definitely the crown jewel of everything. And man, does it make you say WOW… the pictures don’t do it justice!

Before

After- new furniture and accessories, paint and the chandelier is all we had to do to make this room FABULOUS!

Another shot of the beautiful chandelier

And a few more shots of the room…

Great Room- After

Great Room- After

Great Room- After

What a fun project this was… and to work on it with one of my best friends, truly a great experience.

Just thought I would share with you what they have been up to since we wrapped up this project last winter…

Their beautiful new backyard. Their own private grotto…

They added an awesome swim up bar, hot tub that over flows into the pool… and a fire pit area to have campfires at night.

We were in Kansas City for almost 4 days, and we only left the house once! That is a sign of a wonderful home! Who would ever want to leave this place???

Needless to say we can’t wait to plan our next trip to visit our dear friends and stay in this beautiful dream home again!

A casual modern living room makeover…

Today I’m getting really excited for an install  for a client’s living room in the next week! Before’s and After’s to come… but for now, I thought I would share the concept and design board for the space.

The style of home: Casual, somewhat modern in style, with a hint of craftsman style in the fixtures, colors (lots of cherry wood, slate tile… you get the idea).

Location of room: The room is in the center of the home in a very high traffic area. So function AND style were equally important in this design.

Design Challenge: A main concern for the room was having comfortable furniture for the clients, but because of the location of the room, also a place where they can entertain when company is over. Finding seating that was comfy enough to cuddle up and watch a good movie, but also a place where they could have nice conversation with friends over a glass of wine was the main priority.

The color tones in the home are very warm, and before their room was decorated in all complimentary warm colors. Sometimes I find that if you contrast the warmth of a room with cooler colors, everything seems to have more importance instead of all blending in together.

Here is the floor plan of the room:

Living Room Floor Plan

And the design board:

Design Board

Installation pictures, before and afters to come in the near future!

 

Campaign Season

No, I’m not talking about politics, that is one topic I will avoid as much as possible on this blog! I’m talking about the classic, but redesigned campaign chest that is popping up all over the design community. Campaign chests can be used in all kinds of different spaces for all sorts of different functions.

As a fun bedroom piece…

Leather with rivets campaign chest

A campaign chest can be a nice way to add a pop of color to a room…

Lonny Magazine Campaign Chest

A great storage piece for a nursery/kids room!

via Project Nursery

Or how about a fun entry way piece?

via Stuart Membery Home

And for fun… a DIY how-to for turning an Ikea piece into an updated campaign chest:

via apartment therapy

via apartment therapy

Where do you see yourself using one of these fun pieces? I can think of all kinds of different places in our home I would love to have one!