Betsy Brown

The vignette above is my idea of perfection. It might possibly be one of my favorite compositions ever, if not the favorite. The house belongs to Birmingham, Alabama interior designer Betsy Brown & was featured by House Beautiful in the Summer of 2007. I remember it clearly: I was on the beach in the Outer Banks, my baby was only 3 weeks old & asleep in his seat under the umbrella & I had an unopened issue of House Beautiful featuring neutrals. Could life get any better for me? (Ha! Yes! I could have been back to my pre-baby size already! ;) But I opened it & saw this & was in Heaven. (Check out the Queen Ann's lace in the beakers!!!)

I love this vignette because I feel like it has everything. The lime washed oak plank floors, the antique demilune table, crazy ornate mirror, modern art & a little piece of nature, the seashell. You're not forced to choose between wood finishes & this shows you can have it all! I think it really pulls you outside of the box. It's so perfectly "off." Sometimes people fear the mixing of all the woods & this shows just how beautiful it can be.

Above, she created a modern boxwood garden. The roof is gorgeous.

Below, Betsy Brown's use of all-white with restrained accent colors is amazing. The tiniest pop of green in the living room, below, gives a playful edge to the room (as does the huge wooden ball!) The best part is, you could change your color scheme at any time!

How simple & practical is her kitchen? Check out the saw horse legs under the table. She used a limewash on all the oak throughout the house.

Oh wow. The table top is a massive piece of weathered wood. You know that's on my COVET list. ;)

The bathroom is just so fresh!!! Again, her limewashed oak is gorgeous. I love it paired with all the white. It's so sculptural.

Her family room is laid-back yet kind of glamorous. I love all the layering: the fur throw and all the art:

Check out these magnolia blooms!! I can imagaine how good they smell & can't wait for spring!! (I def have the bug already!)

Her daughter's bedroom is the perfect teenage girl's room. The purple pops so much against all the white, yet it's still not crazy... Just fun & a little swanky!

How great is her office? She had this Moroccan design stenciled around the room & puts her inspiration photos in the lines. Talk about a blank slate! What a great inspiration room. Even her piles of magazines under her desk look good in there!

Some drama:

The floating vanities in the bathrooms are just incredible. The gray veins in the marble floors & countertop looks beautiful against the limewashed oak. It's just so pristine & simple & raw.

Her bedroom is so luxurious. I love the juxtaposition of the modern nightstands & headboard against the chair & the ornate gold mirror. (I also love that layered effect of the mirror in front of the draperies... I like it with art too.)

But you could just sink right in that bed. And, shes got a little bouquet of peonies. Maybe she's getting it ready for me?? ;)

When asked about her predominantly neutral pallete, Betsy says, "To me it just feels appropriate and comfortable. I love color, but I think it should either declare itself as the major player in a composition or quietly add the crucial notes that balance a room and make it intriguing. I usually opt for the latter."

Go Betsy!

Honning & Flora

Check out this amazing place, Honning & Flora, in Denmark. I was on the Laurel Hedge & I saw her favorite sunroom (above) & followed the link to the Honning & Flora site. Now I don't speak Danish so I'm not exactly sure what type of store it is, but I think it's a home shop & maybe a garden center too? (Haha I might so be barking up the wrong tree! If anyone knows anything about it, please let me know!) The room (above) is one version of Heaven for me. From all the white to the chandelier to the linen roman shades, to the sink-in comfort of the furnishings... a perfect "base" room!

Queen Anne's lace may be my all-time favorite flower (followed closely by hydrangea & peonies- look below!) What a pretty summer arrangement!!!



Look how beautiful their display is... I love how they're selling beauty products out of a medicine cabinet!
I'd love a powder room sink like this one (below). It would be so simple to make out of thrift-store finds. (The pot of roses on the left side of the sink is gorgeous although I'd probably kill them... roses are tough for me!) Check out the hanging wire basket on the right- what a great idea!


These cute little blue cannisters (below) just made me think of how easy it would be to paint thrift shop cannisters. I had such a tough time finding cannisters I loved (and the white Fireking ones I did find were out of my price range!) but painting some old uglies would definitely do the trick!

Pretty shot (below) of crystals & a lovely little portrait... The basket reminds me of the fact that I was going to ditch all my plastic laundry baskets & switch to pretty ones so my room looks better with the pile of clean laundry in it is waiting to be put away.. (ha! I know myself well enough to know that that's one habit I'll have a tough time breaking!)

How bright & pretty is this room?!! Ah I love it! All the natural elements... the linen, the rough baskets... The aged finishes... The chairs that look like mine (hee hee)... The walls are also a really beautiful beigey-white that sets off all the white furniture.

A little cauldron of horns : (I love quirky)

GREAT chandelier... It's so out of place which I think it makes the room.

I also have a thing for hutches & this one doesn't disappoint:

Just so pretty (below) and vintage-looking. I'd love it if all my beauty products were in bottles like these:

The street (sign) below reminds me of a client's home I was just in who had a few in her kitchen & they were just such a fun element. I usually don't think to do stuff like this but it's great.

Garden cloches are so pretty to me. They showcase perfectly whatever is inside of them & if they're empty (like below) you appreciate the elegant form of the glass. I don't have any & have been looking for a couple of years. (I want a steal & I haven't found one yet! :)

Below, the beautiful chandelier again (looking even better in daylight!) The juxtaposition of the chandelier against all of the rustic elements is amazing.

And, finally one last picture. The little tree adds just the right touch of green & is a sculptural silhouette that looks beautiful in these spare elegant interiors. And the pale gray walls- wish I knew that color! I love all the rough wood & white painted pieces... And the white throw on the chair is a must. (I add throws everywhere because I always like to cuddle up)

And the best part is I emailed my friend who lives in Denmark & he says he lives right near this place!!!! We've been meaning to visit him for a while now, so when we go (probably still another year or so off) I know where my first stop will be!!!

Pure Style: Guest Bedroom

I wanted to share some photos of a guest bedroom I just finished for a client of mine. Her request was for a homey, pretty guest bedroom with natural touches that her mother-in-law would love. This (below) is what it looked like before:

The only items we kept were the oil painting (above the bed) and the duvet cover. I started out with this fabric (below) because the the duvet cover had the tiniest hint of a blue strip in it & the blue flowers in this linen worked perfectly with it.

My upholsterers (who have just started out their business & are AMAZING) created this custom nailhead trim headboard for me with the fabric:

I pulled the aqua out again in linen for the casually elegant drapes & paired them with a light natural woven roman shade & simple rod & rings:

We couldn't resist this contemporary oil painting which had all the colors of our fabrics & added that modern edge the room needed. The accessories on the dresser are different things I found at antique stores & flea markets. (I regret not taking a close up of the adorable iron compote filled with little wooden acorns!- next time- paired with an old tin ceiling tile and some books & candles) The lamp is a porcelain crackle in the aqua.

I took her closet from her to make the bathroom next door larger so we hung these adorable little hooks with painted vintage hangers on them for guests to hang their things. (from Lucketts of course!) ("Don't worry, there's lots of space for guests' clothes in the dresser!" :)

And I almost didn't want to give up these 2 little vintage suitcases!! I found them in Straussburg, VA & they were such a steal!!! Great for extra storage in there... (We usually keep them under the pedestal table to the right of the bed but I had to take them out for pictures- ha!)

And I had to include a little birdie in the room because of the birds in the headboard & because I thought he was great:

The gourd lamps have the roughest burlap shades & I COVET them. In the picture below you can see the oil painting that was once above the bed reframed:

The mirror above the bed reflects the oil painting when you walk in, which always makes me happy. The aqua pillow is the softest courderoy ever & the white furry throw is incredible. (Also from Lucketts... and my husband surprised me with one for Christmas because he knew how much I loved this one!)Well, that's about it. I can't wait to hear what her mother-in-law thinks!!! :)

ps- the "something off" in this room is the painting because its blues are more true than the aquas used in the rest of the room. I worried about it working with the room, but it turned out to be the item I think that makes the room.

My 5 Addictions

Sarah from the honest, insightful & witty blog, Shift just tagged me with the Fabulous Blog Tag: (Thanks so much Sarah!!)

[When you're tagged you're supposed to list 5 of your addictions & then pass on the Fabulous Blog Award to 5 other bloggers with links to their blogs. (It's great for finding new blogs!) Then they list their 5 addictions & link it back to you. ]

So here are my 5 Addictions.. hmmm.. (in no particular order because seeing what #5 is, that would be really terrible!! hahaha)

1) Interior Design & all things house/ home... enough said.

(photo of my dad's kitchen, a project I've almost completed)

2)Entertaining: I love having friends over & getting the food/ drinks out & the table/ buffet set up... putting on the music while we wait for everyone to show... eating and/or hanging out hopefully followed by dancing to cheesy music (yeah, I know that's not your normal dinner party thing but I really do love an "impromptu" dance party ;) ... And I really love having parties... especially Halloween (below is a picture of a ridiculous pirate party) and here are some pictures from a party at my old townhouse:

Ok.. and here's a pirate party we had in college that I must include because it was one of the best! (Check out the walls & ceilings- black trashbags- & doors! --- it still makes me proud- ha!.. that's one of my bestfriends, Erin, on the right)

3)Another one has definitely starting to become blogging (I've started logging on at random times to see if anyone commented!!! or It's time to do something around the house (like make dinner!) & I'm reading voraciously ;) oops!

4) My business- I'm thinking about my clients' projects constantly

5) My husband & toddler. I don't want to get too gooey here, but they're everything to me:

Okay! So, here are my 5 fabulous blogs (there are so many more but I could only choose 5!) (again, in no particular order) ... and guys, PLEASE don't feel you have to pass this on if you've got too much going on!

1. Everything LEB

2. High-Heeled Foot in the Door

3. Eddie Ross

4. Haven and Home

5. The Newlywed Diaries

You're It!

xoxo,

Lauren

Darryl Carter

I know you've probably already seen all these pictures but I just had to express my love for Darryl Carter so here are some pictures of his work & his country home in Virginia.

BUT -- I'm torn. I LOVE his interiors and I also LOVE color. There's such a struggle going on inside me! Sometimes I want this all-white look (my friends make fun of me for how much I love white & neautrals!) and other times I want a really bold, gorgeous, colorful room.

I usually settle for neutral bases & then switch out my accents & certain furnishings seasonally or whenever I feel like it (I'm so bad I can't even decide between warm and cool!) to try to get the best of both worlds.

The above bedroom is just perfect to me. It's a base that I'd have to work from. Sometimes I'd want it all white like this & other times (like Christmas!) I'd love to inject a little color & fun.

I don't think I could ever be as much of a purist as Darryl Carter, but I seriously can't get over his interiors. Below, there's a bit more color & texure that I could live with year-round:

This picture (below) is from the Washington Post a few years ago. My grandmother cut if out for me & she's the one who introduced me to Darryl, saying she thought his style was similar to mine & that maybe I should call him. :) yeah.

His mixes are always perfect contrasts (modern-traditional, rustic-clean, rough-smooth, etc.)

The wisteria climbing the breezway is a dream of mine: (I could handle grape vines too.)


I LOVE his stacked log nooks. They're in so many of his rooms in 'The New Traditional,' his book. (I've now got two floor-to-ceiling log nooks planned to go on either side of my fireplace in my future house... that has yet to be purchased... or found... or saved up for... ;)

The painted white floors are amazing & would work for us because our dog is white & we have what we call "white dirt." (You know white dog hair, light dust bunnies, ets.) I think the best thing is to figure out the color of your dirt & decorate around it. (I love white upholstery too, so now we always have to get white dogs in the future so you can't see dog hair on the furniture... the sad part is I'm SO not kidding.)

Below, this is such a great dining area to me. (Table, anyone?? ;) ;) You could switch up your tableware & flowers Eddie Ross-style anytime you wanted with this neutral backdrop.

I love the modern-rusitc feeling of his countryside living room. I also hope to have a living room large enough to have two distinct areas like this one. Then the whole family can be in the room & be doing their own thing if needed. Picture hanging out, talking, watching movies on one side & someone reading or working on the other... love it

More of his sculptural simplicity:

And a very cool tub:

This dining room blows me away: the lines on the chandelier, the furnishings, the horse= so well thought-out

The white stairs are amazing. talk about rustic-modern look:

And, finally, check out this living room. He so effortlessly pairs a modern sofa with a traditional wingback & Queen Ann's chair & rustic-modern table. All in a sea of perfect white :) It's another perfect base room.

pics from Elle Decor & washington post

How do you feel about color vs neautrals & the "struggle"???

xoxo