Sneakity Peek: Client Apartment

We recently finished up with our clients' gorgeous condo & I have a couple of pics to share.   My client has amazing taste and has amassed lots of collections of beautiful objects over the years.  She was ready for a fresh start design-wise & has a very defined style.  We wanted light & textural and we used a soft pallette of whites, creams, grays, aquas & taupes.  

This (below) is the view down one of the hallways & we went with a horizontally striped rug, which visually widens the hallway:

The apartment has the most beautiful light and the views are incredible.  I'll save the rest of it for when we have it professionally shot but before I go, I do want to share a few of Maureen's collections with you:

{old pulleys}

{I can't remember what this thing is but it is soooo gorgeous!!!  She found it at a thrift store, like many of her treasures}

{Her collection of vintage trophies is incredible.  I love them just piled together like this.}

{One of my favorite collections she has is her collection of glass & crystal bottle stops that she keeps at the drink station...  so beautiful.}

...Anyway, I'll be sure to share the rest of the apartment when I can!!  Thank you so much to my clients for letting us be a part of your redesign!!



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

Purple

Everything seems to be blooming now...   (yay!!!!)   I took these photos in our yard last week & I can't believe how much greener everything's gotten between now & then.

{our wisteria}

A lot of what's blooming in the yard (and what I love in our yard- lavendar, wisteria, crocus, violets & even the weeds) seems to be purple.  And purple's not a color I really think of as liking very much for interiors...  But I did come across a few spaces where I think it's really beautiful & I think I seem to like it most when in small doses (vs all over, like on walls...  although I could probably be convinced ;) in a room.

{Elle Decor...  just a single shot of purple}

My violets (below) remind me of when I was a little girl walking around the neighborhood picking violets to press...

I loooove the purple pillows in this room:  (and the entire room to be honest)

The amethyst on the coffee table is beautiful. 

Here's another pic of our violets.  My favorite are these white & purple ones:

{I love getting violet bouquets from my boys}

And below, this room feels really good to me.  I think that when I typically think of purple, I think of it in connection with teenage girls' rooms  or cold-modern rooms and I imagine it in "flatter" spaces without much depth and that feel a little "plastic" to me, but after finding these few "purple rooms" I'm realizing that I really do love it when it's an accent in a room full of texture & interest. 

..And I think this applies to pretty much any color.  Of course I have favorites (no- not green!!! ;) ;)  but I also love the challenge of working with colors that aren't my favorites & making beautiful spaces out of them.  And I really appreciate seeing rooms where designers have done this & they make me love a color I wouldn't normally think of as even liking.   ( I wonder...  could this even be possible with burgundy for me???!!  probably.)

So, thanks Flowers, for opening me up a little & making me reconsider purple!

ps- We caught a bug in the house this week & it has seriously been one of the worst ever...  some sort of crazy chest pains along with all of the usual cold stuff.  (Even my assistant, Meghan, is out sick)  I'm definitely backed up on emails & will get to them as quickly as possible!!  It's looking like I might be on the up today!

*images via pinterest*

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

Our Nurseries from Babies Past...

Our future baby's nursery has been coming together...  For months we just piled all the baby stuff in here & I waited to attack the room.  Its plain white walls & cream carpeting were pretty much a blank slate.  I added a modern crib in a hazlenut finish by Muu Kids (amazing to work with btw) and am still working on the bedding.  (For now it's just our basic sheet set which I'll use in combination with some pretties.) 

I've done different things with all of my babies' nurseries.  In our old house, over 4 years ago, Christian's nursey was a bit coastal with tone-on-tone pale blue stripes in semigloss & matte paint...

{My cousin & I made the seashell mobile & I sewed the quilt} 

This old man thrift store painting (below) goes everywhere with us and is now in our living room...

In Justin's nursery, 2 years ago,  I wanted to go dark  & be bold.  I'd done the sweet thing before & was ready for a change.  I wanted a dark room for sleeeeeeeping.

My husband & I stencilled a dropcloth with an allover pattern and made a canopy over the crib. 

 I used the nursery walls as a gallery for artwork that we'd collected & inherited over the years.

...Most of the pieces are pretty moody and I used lots of foresty type things in there. 

You can see how we used the same pieces on both rooms but ended up with 2 really different looks...

Justin's nursery was featured on Design Sponge and I'll never forget that some of the commenters thought the room was creepy and one of them even said it looked like "Rosemary's Baby's Room."  It cracked us up at home and so we called it that sometimes :)  (I have to say, I do have a dark side & loooove scary books & movies ;)

And now...  we're onto the new baby's nursery.  And of course, I'm ready for more change :)  This time (which we are thinking of as our last, although I'll never say never until we're sure)  I decided that I just wanted to go with all of my favorite things.  I've always known that nurseries are for moms & dads (and mostly moms because dad's don't usually care very much) and so this time I'm doing a total "me" nursery.  Selfish?  Yeah, I know, but I'm okay with that ;) 

I'm starting with my Live Paisley in "mojito" for the curtains:

{I'm constantly experimenting with colorways in my fabrics and this is definitely one of my favorites, designed specifically for this room.}

And last night my husband painted the walls a paler shade of the same chartreusy-green...

{It's Sherwin Williams "Rice Paddy}

I'm working on the bedding now and a swivel glider in by Lee Industries should be arriving any week now...

{Sorry for the blurry pic...  picture it in a warm oatmeal linen}  I'm SO pumped for this glider.  We thought about getting one with every baby and finally decided to do it.  Our babies are not good sleepers and so I'm banking that we'll be gliding many a night on this new chair. 

The dresser/ changing table is in the closet so we have as much floor space as possible for playing.  I'll be sure to share pictures when we get it finished.  (Which should be in the next month a half!)

And finally, here are a couple of belly pics from yesterday...  The boys have taken to walking up to me and hugging me/ my belly saying "BIG BELLY!!!!"  or "SO BIG!!!!" in their deep little voices.  (It makes me feel so petite ;)

A month and half left... eeeeeeeeeeek!!!

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

Our Master Bath & Subway Tile

Sooooo.. remember when I wrote this post about my bathroom & vintage shaving mirror a little while back?  Well, my husband & I have both had the bathroom on our minds.  Here's a picture of our current linoleum & formica clad bathroom  complete with green fiberglass shower stall....

It's currently separated into two spaces- one for the shower & toilet and one for the vanity/ sink area.  We're looking to combine the spaces into one larger room, which is something we've been planning since we moved in.  I also want to move the toilet so it's not the first thing we see when we walk in.

I'm really excited about the possibility of fixing this baby up!!  We are planning on enlarging the shower so that it takes up the entire back wall of the bathroom (over where the toilet currently is now) and doing a walkaround glass shower enclosure.  (Meaning the glass will be fixed in place with no door, just a wide opening.)  I've been on the search for the perfect 2x6 creamy white subway tile for the shower walls & I think I've found it by Subway Ceramics.  It's really important to me that the subway tile is matte and as flat as possible for a more seamless vintage-modern look.  Subway Ceramics specializes in vintage reproduction tile that is almost perfectly flat and allows for pencil thin grout lines.  (And lots of other tiles too)

{image via sacramentostreet.com...  I'm not sure who makes this subway tile but just wanted to give you an idea of what I'm thinking...  We also have a small window that will be in our shower and I loooove the one above.}

I also want to use darker grout between the tiles... Similar to this kitchen below but with slightly thinner groutlines:

{image via littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com}

I Love the tile in this kitchen by Tom Scheerer:

...It looks as if it's not as dark as an actual black.  I think it's a bit softer & this is what I'm looking for..  We live in a 70s contemporary so I like the retro vibe of the 2x6 subways. 

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on it!   Fingers crossed!!

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

Can't Stop Thinking about this...

{Amy Howard's powder room; image via Cote de Texas}

A couple of weeks ago I was reading one of my favorites, Cote de Texas, and Joni was writing about Amy Howard.    All of the photos were all droolworthy, but I fell in LOVE with this image of Amy's powder room.  Guests turn the lion water fountain on by using the floor petal on the ground. (!!!)  The countertop normally isn't loaded with wheat grass (this was done for a photo shoot) but how AMAZING does that look?!!!!   If I were a super-planner and were having a party -AND had a powder room like this- I would so attempt this.  Gorgeousness.

Do you have any "dream" images of things that you love that might not be practical on a daily basis but that you'd do for a special event??

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

Design Element: Exposed Brick Walls

This is a 'before' photo (above) that I took a while back of a client's exposed brick wall in her DC rowhouse living room.  We recently finished the project & I have to say that one of my favorite elements in the room is the pre-existing exposed brick wall.  (which I obviously had nothing to do with! ;)

It got me thinking about good brick vs. not so good brick...

{images via sfgirlbybay}

To me, "good brick" has character and adds interest to a space.   The brick itself is pretty and it has a patina...

{image source unknown via pinterest}

It can be a beautiful focal point...

{image source unknown via pinterest}

..And is appropriate in the space...

{image via apartment therapy}

...It makes you wonder about the building's history...

 {image source unknown via pinterest}

 In these parts, there's a lot of newer brick inside of homes that isn't as beautiful the brick in the pics above.  Has anyone had any experience "aging" brick and/or giving it some character?  I've seen examples of some pretty painted bricks but would love to know about simplyadding some "patina" to newer bricks.

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

Peekaboo Spring....

... I see you!!!

Things are budding...

Lettuce is popping...

...And we can go barefoot...

Who said it can't be 75 in March?!!

Love it.

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

1st photo by Helen Norman & the rest by me

Creamy Prosciutto Pasta

I love eating & I enjoy cooking pretty much only because I love to eat.  My favorite types of meals don't take very long to whip up but taste like they did. 

Over the weekend I made a prosciutto pasta recipe from our family's cookbook.  I'm not sure where it originally came from, but it is yummmmy and I had the camera nearby so I had to share!!!

INGREDIENTS:

Pasta- approx 1 lb (1 box)

Prosciutto

Flour- 3 tablspoons

Heavy Cream-  you could try substituting it with skim milk- 2 cups

Edamame (it was originally peas but I switched it to soy beans because we like them better)- 1 cup

Parsley

Chives (I used scallions because we didn't have chives)

Parmesan Cheese- 2-4 tablespoons depending upon how thick you want the sauce

Ground Black Pepper

I did the recipe approximately- I'm not big on measuring- and it came out soo delicious so don't worry about the amounts so much. 

DIRECTIONS:

1.Boil the water for the pasta.  I used farfalle this time but anything really works.  Penne is awesome with it because the cream gets inside the noodles ;) ;)  I usually salt my pasta water once it boils.

2.  Saute the prosciutto with a little olive oil in a sauce pan for a few minutes

3.  Add in the flour & saute it for another 3 or so

4.  Slowly pour in the heavy cream & whisk it for a few minutes until it thickens.  (I skipped the whisking part & it still worked.)

5.  Add in the chopped parsley, chives, and cooked edamame.  Add a bunch of pepper.

6.  Add in the parmesan cheese & stir until it melts. 

7.  Pour it over your freshly cooked pasta, serve and EAT!  (I kept it separated from the pasta because I knew we'd have a lot of leftovers and I don't like it as much once the sauce & pasta have been sitting together for a day or so, but if you aren't planning on leftovers, go ahead & mix it all in with the pasta before serving.)



(Yes, sometimes the two year old goes shirtless at meals...  easier clean up ;)

If you get some time to try it out, I promise you will looooooove it!!

ps- Am I the only person who feels like the pictures of the food never look as good as the food really does in person?  How do those food photographers do it?!!!

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