Thursday, March 31, 2011

Home Sweet Home #8

I have been looking for a display box for awhile.  I found this little gem at TJ Maxx.  I loved that it had a nautical  look about it.  I am changing the fabric in the future for a different look. 


But, right now I am really enjoying this beachy  look.  I have put some of my favorite shells and some postcards from Hawaii in it.  The postcards were from our honeymoon 20 years ago this year, so I guess that can qualify as vintage. 

Just looking at it helps me get in a summery mood.  
Thank you to everyone participating in Home Sweet Home!  I have enjoyed visiting you very much!
I will also join these sweet ladies at their homes, go and visit them.
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Feathered Nest Friday at My French Country Cottage
Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 
My Favorite Things at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie
Open House Thursday  at No Minimalist Here
Guidelines for Home Sweet Home Party:
Please link up your intended post and not just your blog.  Link up something from your home or your garden that you would like to share. (vignettes, food, makeovers, projects, vintage, photography, flowers, etc.) 
Please put a link or my button IN your post so others can find it and join in. The button is on my sidebar.   If you are new here I hope you will become a follower.  No Etsy link ups or direct advertising, please.  Try to mingle and visit other participants.  Thanks.:)
Now let's see your beautiful homes!



Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Non-Emergency Design Emergency



Tomorrow is our final installation day for the DC Design Showhouse. We have almost everything installed except for the custom concrete parsons table (which I've just been informed is non-existent due to it breaking into pieces). SO my assistant and I are off to the design center today in a mad dash to find a replacement table.

Wish us luck that a showroom manager takes pity on us, because we need this piece TOMORROW!

Ps. I truly stand by the belief that there is no such thing as a design emergency. (That is, unless I come home tonight emptyhanded ;)

We'll be twittering during our search today!

xoxo, Lauren

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Blog Wins

Last month I was very fortunate to have several blog wins.  I would like to show you what I won and give a shout out to these generous and talented people.  I won this charm bracelet from Jill at Gypsy Brocante.   If you haven't visited her before, please go and visit this talented lady who can take repurposed pieces and make some of the most amazing jewelry.  

Next, I visited Simone at Doberman's by the Sea and won this beautiful sea inspired necklace made by Heather of Simple DaisyShe personalized it with my initial and there is even a little sea glass charm at the clasp to hang down the back of your neck.  Don't you love this!  Thank you talented ladies who enrich our lives daily with their creativity!  Go and visit these ladies you will be glad you did.
Sherry

Little Victims... Photoshoot Prep

Since Spring isn't really doing its thing quickly enough for me, I am seriously craving green:


I love what plants do for rooms.  Sometimes when I look at magazine rooms and cover up the plants/ flowers in them, they seem pretty lifeless.  There's something about a pretty explosion of green (no matter how small) that I just love.  
 
Our house looks like a greenhouse right now because I picked up a ton of plants for the DC Design House and some upcoming photoshoots I'm doing with my good friend & photographer, Helen Norman next week.  This little orange tree will sit in a kitchen I recently finished with a vintage-styled green subway tile backsplash & dark walnut cabinets:



I found this cool pot at Merrifield Garden Center and filled it with this pretty little guy (I already forgot his name) for my room in the showhouse:


Love these moss pots:


And this gardenia is staying in my office for a while because it just smells like Heaven:


I picked up a bunch of herbs  & topiaries for another kitchen:




I truly love plants.  But I'm not very good with them.  They tend to die here.  My house is sort of like a plant hospice. 

...BUT...  the other day my assistant Meghan said I had a "green thumb." 
I have played this compliment over and over in my head since then and even relayed it to my husband who argues she must have been being sarcastic. 

I'm hoping I can change.  I'm really trying. 
There are plants in my house that have been here since September.  Yay.

ps- loved all the comments from yesterday about vines.  It's so fun to see that dialogue between the "romantics" and the "practicals."  I definitely fall on the romantic side, but it's sort of like eating cookie dough...  I'm sure once I got my first case of salmonella, I'd be done with cookie dough. 


xoxo, Lauren
If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Spring Tea

I have been very inspired by birds lately for spring.  So, I have a new teacup with a poem by WordsworthThe Redbreast Chasing the Butterfly.  (Just quoting an excerpt of the poem)

What ailed thee, Robin, that thou could'st pursue
A beautiful creature,
That is gentle by nature?

 Beneath the summer sky
From flower to flower let him fly;
'Tis all that he wishes to do.

The cheerer Thou of our in-door sadness,
He is the friend of our summer gladness:

 What hinders, then, that ye should be
Playmates in the sunny weather,
And fly about in the air together!

Table Top Tuesday  at A Stroll Thru Life
 Tea Time Tuesday at Lady Katherine Tea Parlor
Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage
Tea Cup Tuesday at Martha's Favorites
Tuesday Tea for Two at The Plumed Pen
Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday at Breath of Fresh Air
Tea Cup Tuesday at Artful Affirmations
A Return to Loveliness  at A Delightsome Life
Tablescape Thursday  at Between Naps on the Porch
Go and visit these lovely ladies.

Climbing Vines

I've always wanted climbing vines on my house.  I remember reading a book when I was a little girl that pictured a red brick house covered in ivy and how I wanted it.  Yeah, I know, it's bad for the house, but I love it anyway.  There's something so incredible about a wall of green and vines growing up a home. It blurs the line between the home and the land, which is something that the houses I truly love all have in common.

{Betsy Burnham}

I attemped to grow jasmine vines up a trellis in front of our house last year but they died in a harsh winter storm.

{image from 123rf.com}

Now I'm holding out for an evergreen clematis, which I grew up all over a fence in our old townhome and really took a beating.  I'm having a hard time finding it again though.  The last garden center I stopped at asking for it looked at me like I was nuts.  :(

{image by Cassie Lee}

I would go nutty for this on my front walkway steps:

{image from bigstockphoto.com}

I might try it although I'm not sure if the treads on my stairs are deep enough.

{Image by Galen Frysinger}

Climbing vines give buildings a sense of permanance. 

{image from 123rf.com}

I love it when they completely take over like this:

{image from trendr.tv}

And I cannot get over this ivy-covered turret:

{image via ehow.com}

And, finally, here's a secret garden:

{image by Gap Photos}

What I wouldn't give for a secret garden.
If I could completely wall in my backyard with hedges & vines, I would.  I'm a pretty social person but I do love private outdoor spaces.  

I am soo ready for March's lion to give way to the lamb. 
It's time.

Come on Spring!


xoxo, Lauren

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Bird of a Different Feather

I have been looking for a little bird for my table for a least a year.  I can never find just the right look.  I found this little cast iron bird this weekend on sale for $2.49It still didn't look exactly like I wanted. 

 So... I spray painted it and then distressed the paint with some sandpaper.  This  is what I was wanting.  


I will link to:
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch 
Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage 
Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper
Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style 
Go and visit these lovely blogs.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Mad Hatter & a question

The Mad Hatters arrived today for my room in the DC Design House and I am in love:

{My first Mad Hatter Wing Chair with a taupe velvet in front.. remember flash makes furniture look bad but people look better ;)  }

I had recently seen pictures sent from the factory of the chairs and knew that they looked exactly as planned but didn't know until I sat in them that they'd be exactly what I wanted.  They are sooooooo comfortable...  And they're big and they surround you and make you feel seriously cozy.  (Can you see how tall the back is?? And I'm a tall person.)  You can sit in normally and really easily snuggle up with a kid or pet, or you can turn sideways & pull up your feet and it's perfect. 
Here's the side view which shows off the insanely gorgeous Michael Smith / Jasper Fabric called Grace (in Willow).  (Available through John Rosselli in DC) 
I could take a nap in this chair: 



Our curtains & pillows will come in on Monday and I cannot wait to see the Peter Dunham fabrics!!  I'm also mixing in a few of my own along with some others so it should be pretty collected-feeling. 

We hung art work today and I've been looking at the photos, wondering if what I selected is too disjointed?  I approached the room as I would have a room in my own home, so instead of choosing pieces that work perfectly together, I went from my gut with pieces that I loved.  Looking over the photos tonight, I can't tell if it looks like a totally crazy person did it or if it has that only-slightly-crazy Alice-in-Wonderland-feel that I love...   I am toying with the idea of swapping out some of the more random pieces for ones that fit a little better (it is a showhouse after all)...  or keeping it real and a bit off the way I typically do in my more personal spaces. 

Any thoughts???

xoxo, Lauren

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Home Sweet Home #7

 Welcome to the Home Sweet Home party!  I have been so inspired by the spring time change and our little stint of warm weather that I have my mind on gardening.  I have to start the garden indoors with more inspiration in the form of my favorite gardening books.  

To help the creative process of planning my garden, I have put on my side table a garden statue and an urn of pansies.  

And most importantly, right out of my window I have a view of the garden...

to dream...

I will also join these sweet ladies at their homes, go and visit them.
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Feathered Nest Friday at My French Country Cottage
Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 
My Favorite Things at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie
Open House Thursday  at No Minimalist Here

Guidelines for Home Sweet Home Party:
Please link up your intended post and not just your blog.  Link up something from your home or your garden that you would like to share. (vignettes, food, makeovers, projects, vintage, photography, flowers, etc.) 
Please put a link or my button IN your post so others can find it and join in. The button is on my sidebar.   If you are new here I hope you will become a follower.  No Etsy link ups or direct advertising, please.  Try to mingle and visit other participants.  Thanks.:)
Now let's see your beautiful homes!