If Money Was No Object: My Vintage Top 10

What would you choose for yourself if your budget was without limit? I was recently asked this question and was happy to shop with abandon for my dream room, selecting gorgeous vintage items from Decaso, Decorative Arts Society.

If you are familiar with the online vintage site Chairish, this new sister site is founded by the same stellar team.

About Decaso: “It is an ultra-curated selection of exceptional antique and designer furniture offered by the world’s most respected dealers.”

As a blogger asked to choose my “Bucket List” favorites, I fell in LOVE with the 10 vintage items above. Details for each item with links to more info are listed below.

My theme? A classically glamorous room to entertain guests, enjoy a cocktail or two, put my feet up and get cozy.

My fantasy budget? Just over $30,000 (without adding in the cost of the original art). Not unreasonable for custom and vintage, but certainly outside of my typical price range. A girl can dream, right? If I had to choose just one of the ten, I would probably take home the bar cart. What would your fantasy room look like?

1 // Still Life With Upright, Oil on Canvas by Anne-Louise Ewen

2 // Leaded White Glass Sphere Pendant

3 // Italian Brass Chiavari Chair in Mongolian Fur

4 // Regency Style Designer Taboret Bench by Randy Esada Designs

5 // Charles Hollis Jones Lucite Faux-Bamboo and Brass Serving Cart

6 // Four Capiz Star-Shaped Pendant Lights

7 // Italian-Inspired Settee by Stripe

8 // Early 20th Century Oushak Carpet

9 // Pair of Fishskin Covered Chairs

10 // Custom Mid-Century Coffee Table

Choose your vintage favorites at Decaso.com

One Room Challenge: Master Closet!

It’s time to finish our master closet design project, and what better motivation than signing up to participate in the Calling It Home One Room Challenge! Above is my dream closet mood board along with a photo of the carpet that we will put on the floor of this walk in space that runs the full length of our four square Colonial farmhouse.

As I always say, our house may look big, but really it’s just tall. The third floor attic that we transformed into our master bedroom is large enough to include a decent sized room, a modest sized full bath, and a walk in closet that spans the width of the house and has been on the back burner for far too long. Truth be told, I am looking forward to the day when I can move all of my party dresses upstairs from my second floor office closet (who am I kidding, I am starting a fresh wardrobe with all new clothes once this project is ever completed!)

Come back next week to see our layout plan for this time-to-get-it-done new and functional space. In the meantime, check out the other guest participants who are committing to accomplishing at least one of their home renovating dream projects over the next 6 weeks. Will you be one of them?

media sponsor ...

House Beautiful

items on mood board ...

pendant light via Arhaus

typography art via Minted 

velvet hangers via Amazon 

little black dress by Emporio Armani 

wedge shoes by Ugg via Zappos

ribbon stitch bag by Fendi

collage created in Polyvore

check out Arhaus on Instagram

for more design inspiration

California Cool: #BlogTourLA Revisited

#BlogTourLA design bloggers at WestEdge Design Fair:

Geraldine Tan, Gudy Herder and Ronique Gibson

In honor of #TBT (Throw Back Thursday) I am reminiscing about my October visit to sunny Los Angeles with my design blogging friends from #BlogTourLA. One of the highlights of our Modenus sponsored trip was checking out the inaugural opening of the WestEdge Design Fair in Santa Monica. We also toured a wealth of West Coast design destinations including the studio and boutique of designer Kelly Wearstler, fab shops in the La Cienga Design Quarter, plus numerous art studios and design industry showrooms. There was a lot to love!

Below are my favorite snapshots from the trip that capture a dozen design trends that are currently in fashion:

Malachite

Lighting that Shines

Vintage Glamour

Bright Colors

Nature Inspired

Reclaimed Materials

Industrial Design

Geometric Patterns

Organic Sculpture

Rock + Roll Edgy

Succulents

Brass

faucets as art: Gessi Goccia on display at

Snyder Diamond Los Angeles showroom

Will Taylor of Bright Bazaar and Ashlina Kaposta of the Decorista

visiting Gessi at WestEdge Design Fair with #BlogTourLA

Brass lav faucet from Gessi at WestEdge Design Fair

Natural Curiosities design studio

monarchs as art via Natural Curiosities

vintage screen at Dragonette Ltd.

colorful dinnerware at Heath Ceramics

design bloggers getting cozy at the WestEdge Design Fair:

Veronika Miller, Emily Anderson, Cheryl Kees-Clendendon, Andie Day, myself

honey comb sculptural lighting by Patrick Weder

vintage dining featuring custom wallpaper and brass accents

at Dragonette Ltd.

lighting by Apparatus at WestEdge Design Fair

lighting by David Trubridge at WestEdge Design Fair

furnishings from BDDW at WestEdge Design Fair

unique lighting design from Zia Priven at WestEdge Design Fair

industrial lighting at Lamps Plus

pattern and texture at Mecox Gardens

bright and bold leathers from Moore and Giles at WestEdge Design Fair

repurposed Dhurrie handbag at Will Leather Goods

succulent gardens outside Sherle Wagner on La Cienga Boulevard

sidewalk succulent garden

succulents with orchids

Geraldine Tan, Mindy Miles Greenberg, and Lynn Byrne

relaxing on set at WestEdge Design Fair

colorful mix and match lighting at Lamps Plus

vintage pattern play at Dragonette Ltd.

Kelly Wearstler designed accents: ceramic, brass and stone

brass accents and grand scale in the conference room at Kelly Wearstler studios

photo op with Krista Nye Schwartz, Kelly Wearstler, Tami Ramsay

Marble Kiss on brass etagere at Kelly Wearstler’s LA boutique

ALWAYS IN FASHION ...

friendship, champagne, sunshine

apres shopping at Kelly Wearstler boutique:

Susan Serra, Will Taylor, Cheryl Kees-Clendendon

macaroons and champagne served at Dragonette Ltd.

Lynn, Emily, Gudy, Ronique, myself, Geraldine, Mindy

Krista,Will, and Tami enjoying a West Coast sunset

Click below to discover the design trends that Modenus

and BlogTour have seen lately. Since my #BlogTourLA trip, they have gone to Vegas, New York and most recently Milan!

{updates from Modenus BlogTour}

Color Trends in Fashions + Furnishings

A Pantone Spring 2014 inspired Living Room:

my curated collection of What’s New, What’s Next

What’s New, What’s Next // September 19, 2013

at the New York Design Center

from Pantone’s Fashion Color Report Spring 2014

I was recently asked to curate a collection of trending products from the New York Design Center for their upcoming “What’s New, What’s Next” design forecast event being held on September 19. What a fun assignment! It’s currently fashion week in New York, so I chose to look to the color palettes being shown in the designers collections for spring 2014, since what walks down the runway usually ends up in our living room.

To begin my collection, I was inspired by a warm red cabinet from Grange that I discovered on the NYDC “What’s New, What’s Next” Pinterest board. From there I selected a roomful of furnishings from NYDC showrooms, including Dering Hall, that coordinate with my favorite four colors in this soft pastels paired with energetic brights spring 2014 palette. The four colors when used together are elegantly understated yet creatively confident. The furnishings share a classic look updated with a fresh and energetic vibe, creating a room that is both thoughtful and artistic.

The colors as described in the Pantone Fashion Report:

Violet Tulip, a romantic, vintage purple, evokes wistful nostalgia. 

Paloma serves as a quintessential neutral, interesting enough to be worn alone or combined with any color for sophisticated poise.

Sand, a lightly toasted and amiable neutral, conjures images of the beach and the carefree days of summer.

Cayenne, a high-pitched red, adds a dash of spicy heat to neutrals.

As a Blogger Ambassador for WNWN, my inspiration board will be posted in the New York Design Center during the September 19th new product event. It will also be featured on their Pinterest board starting on September 9th. Please visit it here and repin my board to share “What’s New, What’s Next!”

– all of my favorite NYDC items are pinned here –

What NYDC pieces would you choose?

Jonathan Adler Studio #Blogfest2013 part 2

Our first night of Blogfest 2013 in New York started with a cocktail party at the Jonathan Adler retail location on Madison Avenue. I have always been a fan of Jonathan Adler designs. Graphic patterns, happy colors, and spirited style with a sense of humour. Surrounded by a showroom of his artistic expression was a real treat, and a fab way to kick off our “we love to blog about pretty things” field trip.

photo credit: Linda Holt

As I mentioned in my last post, Linda and I dressed in JA-inspired cocktail attire. Traveling with a former portrait photographer has its advantages (Linda’s specialty was head shots for models and celebs in the Boston area). 

Jonathan Adler cozy throws in my

favorite patterns and colorways.

Pops of color combine effortlessly with black and brass accents. 

Smiles all around. A happy place.

Tobi Fairley Design Campers meet again at Blogfest 2013:

Leslie Hassler, Linda Holt, Ann McDonald

Brass lovelies from the hard glamour collection.

With Mindy Miles Greenberg, Colleen Carney, Linda Holt and Lisa Ehrlich

(I met Lisa at the International Gift Fair a couple years ago)

Simply mahvelous: white porcelain Muse vessels.

Southern charm: Kevin Wild, Brandy Scott and Shay Geyer

(I met Shay in the Nate Day blogger audience in 2010)

Adoring these agate coasters!

Boston bloggers: with Linda Holt and Laurie Gorelick

Our cocktail party surroundings were quite distracting what with all the shiny objects and bright baubles (including furnishings AND blogger fashions!) Being the first evening of our three-day design adventure, we were all excited about our Blogfest agenda. Meeting up with aquaintances from past design related events and twitter chats made the evening feel oddly familiar.

A couple of designers in the crowd were also from the Boston area, and a large number of the attending bloggers were Brizo alum like myself, so we will be seeing each other again in Memphis come July for the Brizo Blogger 19 Reunion. Woo hoo! I think I am finally starting to enjoy traveling (okay, I admit it’s a little easier to unwind when I’m not responsible for the packing and entertaining of an energetic family of six, with myself the only girl!)

Pick-a-card networking: Jeffrey Johnson chooses his favorite color

from Linda’s selection of newly printed business cards.

The Leo in me loves this guy.

Thank you, Jonathan, for welcoming us! After the Adler team closed up shop, a group of us headed out to enjoy a late dinner.  

Laurie Gorelick, Courtney Price, Linda Holt, Vicki Bolick

With Manvi Hildago Drona and Mindy Miles Greenberg

photo credit: Courtney Price

Sharing a meal together is the best way to really get to know each other. We found out who has pets, who has children, who has a daughter living in the city, who loves photography, and who used to be a regular on HGTV (that would be Mindy!) While we were enjoying our girl talk, there was a long table next to us seated with New York pre-teens enjoying the birthday celebration of one of their girlfriends. They were adorable! One of them said she liked my dress as I walked by. I hope it was a sincere compliment – too many episodes of Gossip Girl makes me wonder : )  

Quick cab ride back to Yotel for one more drink before calling it a night.

Next up: Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse!