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}

Summer arrangements ...

Driftwood with succulents and summer accessories by Laura Thomson

Even with the wealth of flowers outside our windows in the summer months there is still much to be appreciated in the gathered variety. For the “Designers Shine with Designer Bath” award event that I planned for the showroom in July, we hired Laura Thomson to create arrangements to add a bit of nature-inspired beauty to our designer celebration. She really came through with her thoughtful designs. See them posted on our facebook page and read about Laura’s design process here.

Yard snipped hydrangeas in a low glass vase with pebbles 

This past week, the winning space of the Shine contest was photographed by Michael J. Lee. Ian Mentasti of Stephen Terhune Woodworking, a division of Carpenter and MacNeille, was our award-winning designer and his master bath project was amazingly beautiful. I brought lots of luxurious bath items to style the space for our professional photo shoot including hydrangeas from a friend’s front yard. The leftover blooms came home with me and I put them in a low vase to enjoy for awhile. Look for the winning space in next issue of Design New England Magazine as it will be featured in a full page ad for Designer Bath. The entire house was stunning! I really wish we could have stayed to photograph more of it.     

Ferns, ivy and peace lily in a large black urn by Churchills Garden Center

I took a trip to visit the York Decorator Show House today. Designer Gerald Pomeroy was a shining star at this year’s show. His living room, dining room, kitchen and sun porch were elegantly designed with lots of rich textures and subtle patterns. I wasn’t there to photograph the show, but I was able to capture the above urn on the grounds surrounding Harmon House. There is only one day left to view the 19 decorated spaces ... if you can’t make it in person, there are a few photos of Pomeroy’s work on the Design New England blog. If you do plan to visit, you’ll see lots more designer flower arrangements inside (along with some fabulous decorated living spaces), plus gorgeous gardens and plantings outside. Charles C. Hugo Landscape Design created an outside kitchen set against the backdrop of the York Harbor that looks like the perfect place to spend a summer afternoon.

After work snapshots ...

I think our bunny Shadow is spending more time outdoors this summer then I am. The boys let him run in the yard every night when the sun is low and the air is cool. I join them after work.

Herding a bunny is serious business. On the one hand I am happy to see him outside hopping about freely, but I would hate to lose him to the wilderness (although he certainly deserves a chance at bunny love). We each watch him from a different angle. Bunnies are known to change direction without notice, often turning in the air as they leap for joy.

After hearing a dog bark somewhere nearby, we quickly scoop Shadow up and leave him to rest in the safety of his hutch. I go inside to pour myself a glass of wine and contemplate how little attention I have given to my garden. Succulents, however, require minimal care so my hens and chicks appear to be surviving, but surely could use some liquid refreshment as well.   

Easy to care for ...

I am thinking about getting a pair of bunnies, but I am on the fence. Do we need more mouths to feed around here? Should I just stick to trying to fill the planters at my front door before Easter? And then remember to water them? My indoor plants have not fared so well this winter. Moss and grass I am pretty sure I can handle. Moss is very forgiving and will stay green even without water for extended periods of time.

I really love these lightweight stone resin corner planters cast from estate originals by the company Pennoyer Newman seen at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. Combining a set of four could create an intimate English garden-like seating area. Boxwood plantings would fill them nicely, or a fragrant herb garden perhaps. These bright and cheerful flowers are ranunculus. Aren’t they sweet?

This circular planter would make a stunning container garden focal point, with or without the heron statue. I love how the succulents are paired with the moss.  The egg shaped garden stones in the background are pretty cool, too. They would look neat tucked away in the wooded part of our property like fossilized dinosaur eggs. Is it too late to have them delivered for our Sunday morning Easter egg hunt?

How will you fill your planters this spring?

Last day of summer vacation ...

I based this painting “Boardwalk to the Shore” on
a photo I saw in a magazine early in the spring.


Can it really be the last day of August already? You know that feeling you get when you attend a really fun party where everyone is dressed their best, people are relaxed, the food is delicious, and the drinks are
thirst-quenchingly good ... then all of a sudden, mid-conversation practically, you start to notice the music has been shut off and people that you hadn’t even gotten a chance to say hello to are putting down their glasses and are embracing the host with a fond farewell??? Then you start to think, is it really over already? Next the lights come on, food is being Saran-wrapped, and you figure it must be time to go.

I really hate the end of a good party and that is how
the end of August feels to me. As I look around my summer garden, which I admit I did not tend to with half the enthusiasm as I had planned, I see that there are some dawdlers who have decided to stay on for awhile. I intend to enjoy their quiet company for at least a few more weeks, even though so many of their more colorful friends have come and gone. These are low-maintenance guests who do their own thing and still look impressive at a time when the party season that is summer is coming to a close.

A galvanized bucket (with drainage holes in the bottom) makes a great garden container and adds a
bit of rustic charm. I filled this one with chives,
flowering garlic and tri-colored sage.

This second container is filled with some delicate plants – a chrysanthemum from last fall, a young poppy, and a marigold that my son brought home as a seedling on the last day of school. He watered it in its little styrofoam cup for over a month and then it was ready to transplant outdoors. We put it in this mini-still life-garden that also shows off shells and driftwood from summer outings to the beach along with some hidden treasures. When it rains (which did not happen very often this summer) the vintage blue pitcher that we actually found buried in our yard collects water for future watering use.

These “hens and chicks” are successful
transplants from my Dad’s garden.

What started out as one large succulent,
has now grown some companions.

Succulents store water in their leaves which makes them the perfect plant in dry heat or if you are too busy enjoying summer to remember to water.

A tray of colorful succulents makes a design statement
indoors at FDO Group at the Boston Design Center.

If you prefer the ultimate in low-maintenance,
then these ceramic versions are for you.

Ben’s kindergarten science project turned marigold.

Think small. Planting tiny seeds
in the small space given you
can change the whole world or,
at the very least, your view of it.

- Linus Mundy


Even though the warmth of summer is coming to an end, there will be lots of projects to get started on and fun events to look forward to in the months to come.