FRAGILE- "It must be Italian!"

I was browsing through Tom Scheerer's portfolio (again) and found this:

Who but Tom Scheerer could actually make a leg lamp look good?!!!  I think I love it here.  It's a beach house & it looks like a couple sharing a kiss on the beach.  VERY vintage-quirky feeling and SO SO odd.  It would totally make me laugh if it were in my beach house.  And it's very reminiscent of this:

It's "frajee-lay"

And in case you don't know what I'm talking about you can check it out here.  "You should see what it looks like from the street!"

Just out of curiosity, would anyone let this enter their home?  What about the kissing couple?

xoxo,
lauren

Tablescape Thursday: Winter White Table

I did a winter white table for two today.  Since the table is set only for two, I put a rather large centerpiece of golden branches in an urn.  I really love spray painting twigs!

When the lights are dimmed this table will have a little glow.  

 

The white table is all about texture.  The plates, silver, urn, tablecloth, the deer and even the branches have texture.  This is very appealing to the eye.  I love this look. 

Ironstone: Domestications-Athena

Silver: Gorham- English Gadroon

Stemware: Cristal D'Arques- Longchamp

Please join Susan at  Between Naps on the Porch  for all of the wonderful tablescapes.  

Guest Blogger Before & After: Laura Casey Interiors

Welcome to our first guest bloggger, Laura Casey!  Laura is an interior designer in Charlotte, NC and creates beautiful light & airy spaces.   She's been chosen for blogwatch by the Washington Post and has an easy, elegant style you'll love.  You can check out some photos of her work here.   And now...  here she is!!

Happy New Year to all of Lauren's readers.I would like to congratulate Lauren on the arrival of Justin, there is nothing better than the family and a new baby to be thankful for. Pure Style Home quickly became one of my favorite blogs because of Lauren's great style and wonderful eye. I appreciate Lauren asking me to be a guest blogger. She asked if I had a before/after to share with you all so here is a room I recently worked on
for a more traditional client.

To give a family room an easy update I changed the layout of the furniture, put in a new carpet under the rug, painted the walls, fireplace, backs of the bookcases and recovered a sofa that had been in another room. I had the outdated attached fireplace screen removed as well.  The family has two young boys so the room needed to be comfortable and still have plenty of space on the floor for the boys to play. The boys are now sharing a bedroom and one room is now a play room where all the toys went. Here's the before:

The paint on the walls is Benjamin Moore Pale Smoke and the color on the backs of the bookcases is Benjamin Moore Slate Blue . Here's the after:

We moved the treadmill upstairs and brought in their piano.

They are happy and I love how painting the fireplace turned out too. Thanks
again Lauren for including me as a guest blogger.


--------------Thank you so much for your before & after Laura!!  It's amazing how these little changes can really transorm a room.  I love the blues you pulled out of the painting --especially the brighter blue in the sholves--  and painting the brick was perfect!!!  We appreciate your taking the time to do this!!

xoxo,
lauren

Guest Blogger Up Next: Eddie Ross

2nd Time Around Tuesday

I am joining Diane at  A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words  for 2nd Time Around Tuesday.  I am showing you a vintage clock that I got second hand from my Mom.  I came to appreciate it more this past week when it fit in perfectly with my New Years tablescape. You can check that tablescape out here: New Years Tablescape  I think it looks very shabby chic, it was fun to use it.  Please go over to Diane's blog and join in on the fun of all the vintage finds.

These angels were another great find at the thrift shop for $1 a piece on Christmas clearance. I got four of them.

Happy thrifting! 

What I Got From Downtown Chic

I recently got an email from someone at Sixx Design saying they read my blog &  asking if I would review their latest book Downtown Chic.  I was thrilled!  I love getting new design books and of course have been intrigued by this young stylish family of (now) 9 since I'd first heard of them.

In case you haven't heard of them, they are the Novogratz's: super-chic Mom & Dad (Cortney & Robert) who run a wildly successful design business with 7 kids!

I wasn't the only one who got the book & reviewed it so you can check out some great reviews here:

http://paloma81.blogspot.com/2009/12/book-review-downtown-chic.html

http://www.strangeclosets.com/?p=18800

http://designfabulous.com/2009/12/22/downtown-chic-a-book-review/

I'm a little late on the reviews since Baby 2 came right after I'd received the book, so I'm going to approach this Downtown Chic book "review" a but differently.  Yes, it was an awesome book design-wise (bold, a bit funky- industrial, fearless, personal and very instructional)  but my favorite parts of it actually pertained to the Novogratz's themselves & their philosophies.  Cortney & Robert met and fell in love when Cortney was finishing up college.  Since then, they've married, had a beautiful (really beautiful!) gaggle of children and fixed up an insane amount of buildings- turning them into gorgeous unique homes & selling them for a nice profit.  They've invested wisely & have taken risks where others were afraid to & it's paid off. 

They have this amazingly laid-back parenting style & it's SO refreshing to see.  In a time where kids' lives are completely structured & parents worry about everything, it's awesome to read about a family who doesn't succumb to all the HOVERING & STRESSING. 

A Novogratz kid has a birthday, so they throw a party.  Cake & food for the kids and drinks for the adults.  Simple. Easy. FUN.  No big deal & no reason to stress.  They just live.

They party like rockstars too & they even had a catered party in one of their unfinished buildings.  (Cortney & Robert if you're reading-  I'm SO up for being a "filler!" ;)  You'll have to read the book to check out what a "filler" is, but what a true/ hysterical idea & I'm on the look-out for some in my life! 

The book is full of perfect quotes like "The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow." (H.G. Wells)

and

"Enthusiasm is life." (Paul Scofield)

I ended up reading the book in one sitting & reading a lot of it outloud to my husband.  From there, he went to the computer & started looking up real estate listings- wanting to flip our house & start all over again.  The Novogratz's feats are that inspirational.  I've said before that one of my favorite things about life is the feeling that there's limitless potential & that we can do anything we set out to do & that so much excitement lies ahead of us.  Well, Dowtown Chic really got us thinking in that direction.  Not only do the Novogratz's have a bright future ahead of them, but by reading about their path so far, I really got excited about my own family's future & creative potential.

So what are your thoughts?  Has anyone else read it?  Would love to know!

xoxo,

lauren

ps-  How gorgeous is the color scheme in the room above??!! 

And thank you SO  much to my Maria at Colour Me Happy for including one of my posts in her Top 10 Posts and to Cristin at Simplified Bee for including Christian's bedroom in her Favorite Posts of 2009 Roundup!  What awesome surprises & I'm honored!!!! :)

Pure Organization 2010: Project #1

So I had an idea for 2010.  As I mentioned before, this year we're really going to focus on getting our house organized.  We've hit most of the major eyesores in our 70s split, but open up almost any closet or drawer, and you'll see a mini trainwreck.  Not good. 

In our old house,we tackled every nook & cranny and it seemed that as soon as we'd gotten everything perfect, we moved.  And I don't want that to happen again.  SO this year, we're going after our closets, our drawers, our fridge, our laundry room, our pantry- one space at a time-  And I'm inviting you to come along!

Each week we're going to do a little job or tackle a project---  most of them are small EASY steps we can take to make our life more organized and run a bit more smoothly--- and you're welcome to join me.  It's sort of my way of holding myself accountable.  If I tell you I'm going to do a little job each week, then I'll do it.  So if you're anything like me & want a friend to hold you accountable, join me!!  [image below from here]

Every Monday, I'll list a new task or project we're working on.  On the following Monday, when I list the new "to do" job, I'll also show readers' photos -THE PROOF!- of the completed project from the week before & ask for feedback from anyone who joined in.   (I'd love for you to send me photos of  your completed project & I'm even thinking of figuring out the Mr.Linky gadget for those of you with blogs who'd want to link up. )  (Some projects we're doing are pretty to look at whereas others- as you'll see- are more functional than pretty.  So maybe we'll just do pics of the pretty ones??  I'm up for ideas! :)

Some of the things we tackle will be things you've aleady done & other things we do might not appeal or apply to you, but if any of the projects are ones you're interested in, then join us! :)  I think it'll be helpful & a lot more fun if we do this together!  (And to clarify:  in most cases I'm really not talking big projects.  I'm talking about those little jobs we've been putting off.  The things that make life easier &/or prettier but don't take much effort. ) [image below from martha stewart.]

Now, for PROJECT #1:  Fill mason jars with paint for touch-ups, label them, and store them in the room where they're needed with a small paint brush. 

Paint scratches, walls get scuffed, and it's SO EASY to do touch-ups when the paint is accesible.  It only takes 5 minutes!  The big hassle is finding the paint & getting out the can & the brush and taking it to the right room.  Eliminate the hassle, and it's really no big deal.  Today I did Project #1 and it only took 15 minutes- most of it spent cleaning out out old jelly from the jar.   I also attached the paint brush with a ribbon so it will always be with the paint.

I hope some of you will join me on a few of these projects, and just think how much more organized & beautiful our homes will be after 50 weeks of baby steps!

Anyone game???
xoxo,
lauren

ps-  Thank you SO much to Joni of Cote de Texas for including a renovation of ours in her post "The Top 10 Best Renovations of 2009"!!!  It was such an awesome surprise to be listed with such a talented group of bloggers!!  Check it out here.

UPDATE:  I'm getting some awesome pics from reader!! :)  Keep 'em coming!!

Happy New Year!

A vintage postcard from 1912 wishing you a Happy New Year!  I have always loved this postcard, even though it is not in the best of shape.  The ship reminds me of a smaller Titanic which sank shortly before midnight in the same year-1912.