What a whirlwind

You know when Comcast gives you a four hour window and you’d rather pull out your hair then sit waiting for them for four hours?  Well, the movers gave us a fourteen day window for when they would arrive with our stuff!!  The only catch is that I live (temporarily) in New York and I couldn’t just pop over to be there for the movers.  Of course, I received a call yesterday that they had arrived early and the ONLY day they could drop it off is Wednesday of this week.  Now my Thursday trip to San Francisco has changed to today with less than 24 hours notice.  Oh Lordy!

(Print available here)

Back on the planes.  As much as I’m excited to move in and thrilled for my cousin’s wedding this weekend in the Bay Area.  I am dragging my heels to get on that plane.  Didn’t it feel like yesterday that I was flying across the country?  Well, actually it was 8 days ago.  I try to stay upbeat on this blog.  But, my oh my, I am tired of flying.

(Watercolor available here)

Think positive….I get to be inside my new apartment and reunite with my furniture.  Hee hee!  Now that will be fun!  Plus, I get the new experience of having movers.  Glorious!!

Then for even better times, I have my cousin’s fun-filled wedding at our ranch.  I’ve been waiting all summer for this wedding.

Why should a silly flight with a layover in Chicago get in the way?   Perhaps because this will be my eleventh time flying  cross-country this summer.  Okay, okay – I’ll stop my griping.  I know there are way worse things out there then flying to wonderful events and awesome experiences on either side of our grand country.

(Print available here)

The most positive outcome of all, my fear of flying has greatly diminished.  Practice, practice, practice. They say facing your fears, is the way to get over them.  I’m facing them alright.  My most frightening flights were in Namibia, about 9 month ago, where the runway consisted of an orange flag and they figured out how to land based on which way the flag was blowing.  Scary!  But survivable.

(Thank goodness, we never had to land in a herd of elephants).

Dare I say it, I don’t think I’m afraid of flying anymore.

Art on the Floor

About a month ago, I showed pictures of Ellen Pompeo’s house in a post you can click to here.  My brother pointed out the art that was sitting on the floor.  Like this….

It seems to be a trend or may even be a decorating tip that I have not learned about as of yet to display your art on the floor.

Image via Apartment Therapy

Image via Apartment Therapy

Image via Apartment Therapy

While it is something that I have seen done many times before, I do not agree with the look.  I think it looks like you just haven’t figured out where to hang the art yet.  I also think it’s a great place for the art to collect dust, get knocked over and generally be ignored.  To me, art is one of the most absolute important parts of any room and to just put it on the floor seems a bit neglectful of the artist’s work.  The only exception would be if it is a large art work or sculpture that is too large to be hung.  Like these two pieces below –

What do you think?

Dorm Room Design

Happy Friday!  It is time yet again to let down your hair, trade your flats for stilettos and dance the wee hours away.

I am very happy to be in NY this weekend because some of my favorite people here.  My uncle Garland and aunt Brenda are in town to drop off my cousin, Austin, for his first year at NYU.  Today, in celebration of Austin’s big move, I thought I would design a dorm room for him.

College boys do a lot of sleeping in late.  For all that snooze time, he needs some nice bedding.  I thought Draper Stripe Chinois Blue duvet and sheets from DwellStudio would help him with his ZZZZZ’s.

Now, I think boys bedding should be kept to a minimum so the only thing that I would add is this fish pillow from Thomas Paul.  It can remind him of fishing in Santa Barbara (where he is from).

Besides sleeping and going out, he does have to do some studying as well.  So I figure he might as well have the right look for studying.  He should use this Kartell Papyrus Chair as his desk chair which can also be pulled out and used as stylish additional seating for when guests come.

For his desk space, he is in luck because there is currently a vintage desk set on ETSY that fits the masculine, west coast relaxed vibe I’m going for:

The set includes the lamp, vintage wood box and corkboard.

He could also change out any overhead lighting that I’m sure is generic for this fun and useful cork drum shade pendant.

I would take down whatever depressing blinds the dorms have up and replace them with bamboo blinds from Target and the Aina curtains from Ikea

I would put down a weathered antique turkish rug, which could possibly act as a conversation starter for all the places he has traveled.  The antique kilim rug pictured is from Antiko and it is priced at $550.  The price is a little steep for a dorm room so I might suggest this one, which is available from e-bay and is less than half the price.

Lastly, I would blow up pictures from his surfing and sailing trips around the world.  I know he has fantastic photos from all the amazing places he has been with his family.  But in case he wasn’t satisfied with any of them, there is this photo from ETSY that would look nice, blown up large and hung above his bed.

There you have it.  A dorm room fit for a cool Santa Barbara surfer, ready to take on New York City.  Good luck, Austin!

Eziba: The New Guilty Pleasure

Overstock.com just came out with a new site Eziba.com.  Eziba works just like One Kings Lane or Gilt Group.  They have daily sales on majorly discounted home items.  The best news?  Since Eziba is owned by Overstock, it shares their wonderful shipping policy; shipping costs $2.95 on every order, no matter what it is.  Like all other sites, you have to get there early or items do sell out.  They post new items at 11 EST daily.

This is what I would have picked out from yesterday’s selection, note they may have sold out by now.

Teak Wood Antique Bench: $619.99

I’m in need of sette so I would add a cute upholstered cushion and put this in my living room.

Iron Swivel Stool: $122.99

These would look lovely as bar stools

Hand Tufted Namur Wool Rug: $299.99

Abstract Beige Wool Rug: $439.99

Happy shopping!

Adorable Oxfords

Photo Via Le Fashion

Today, I thought I would take a little break from interiors and talk about exteriors.  Not the exteriors of a house, but rather what I want to be covering up the exteriors of my feet.

You see I have been coveting a pair of Oxfords for about six months now; it is a look that will carry right into the fall once again this year.  I don’t think they are going anywhere.  Last time I went shopping with my mom, I convinced her to get a pair and she looked adorable.  Now if only I could find that matching pair to hers.  We also got a matching pair of leggings on the trip – oh, imagine the fun of a matchy/matchy mother daughter day at this age?  I don’t know that either of us would be willing to step out in public, but we’d have fun around the house.

Of course, the open toe heeled oxford has been very in style, but I don’t know that’s the look for me.  I’m more of a casual kind of gal.

Then comes the issue of what color to get them in.  I would either get them in a nice relaxed brown or a flashy color like silver.

As of now, I’m thinking brown.  I’d love to wear an outfit just like this…

What do you think?

Hanging with the Rue Gals

I had a reader tell me that he was curious about what happened with my design dinner last time I was out in San Francisco and that he was sure other readers wanted to know as well.  I never want to let readers down.  Especially when the reader I talked about above was my husband. 🙂

So about a month ago now, I flew to San Francisco where I signed a lease on a place – at Presidio and Clay (come visit, once we have moved in).  And more importantly I went to a very fun party hosted by the girls who are starting Rue Magazine: Crystal, Anne, and Caitlin.  We went to Bin 38, sipped wine and gabbed about all things design, blog and shelter magazine related.  It was great fun!

Besides the ever so talented Rue girls.  I also got to meet some people who I respect in the design world.  There are two that I have to mention and show their work.  One was Catherine, founder of Rikshaw Design.  You may have seen her stuff in Lonny Magazine.  It is beautiful; her collection of Indian block printed textiles includes crib sets, pillows, accessories and women’s clothing.  I love her kurtas:

I also had the honor of meeting Grant K. Gibson who has been featured in pretty much every major shelter magazine.  Just to sit by such design greatness had me so pleased.  Here is his apartment in Pacific Heights; it is a rental, that he asked for two months free in exchange for him to renovate it.  How smart!

(Grant’s own bedroom that was scheduled to appear in Domino Magazine but the magazine folded and it was featured in the New York Times instead).  The canopy bed is from Pottery Barn Teen which he added a headboard to.

He sanded the floors and stained them walnut.

I’m in love with this bay window; the bamboo romans are from Target.

He added in mirrors at the back of this built in cabinet.

The serving tray at left was a hand-me down from a client and the black and white flooring in the bathroom is 99 cent linoleum tiles.

Isn’t his place fabulous?

I hope you enjoyed my little recap of the night.  It was a perfect evening and I’m so happy the Rue girls invited me to share in the fun.

Design Question

I’ve had a bit of an internal debate going on and I’d like to throw it out to all of you readers.  Please help me out.

While in California, I squeezed in some Craigslist shopping time and I bought this headboard for $40.

I’m not in love with the way how it is painted currently.  I like things a bit more modern and little less French country.  It is beautiful the way it is, it just doesn’t match my style.  But, I do think the lines of the frame are fantastic and at a $40 price tag; how can I go wrong?

Option 1:  I could upholster the entire frame giving it a similar look to the York Headboard

Option 2:  Paint the entire headboard a color, perhaps a fun poppy color like orange, coral or mustard yellow.  I couldn’t find a painted headboard in the same shape but I’m sure you can imagine it.

Image via Little Green Notebook.

Option 3: Upholster part of the headboard and leave part of the headboard’s wood exposed, like this:

Or like the Cookie Magazine headboard that I have wanted for years now with the Otomi fabric

Hmmm.  Decisions.  Decisions.  I would likely attempt to do the upholstering myself which could run totally amuck but save us money.  Painting it would be the easiest and cheapest option.  But who says I have to take the easy way out?  What do you think?

Happy Friday

Happy Friday, everyone!  What is that sweet, sweet feeling in the air?  Oh yes, it is the feeling that a weekend is upon us.  Yippee!

I’m back in California for the weekend.  I couldn’t be more happy about my reason for returning home; one of my best friends is getting married.  Shannon and I met in the first grade; we were besties at first giggle.  She, Julie and I were like three peas in a pod growing up.  Shannon has an amazing ability to make the most mundane thing (like grade school classes) fun and exciting.  She is passionate, caring and determined and Chris is a lucky man to be marrying her.  And she is a lucky girl to have such a kind, charming and loving husband.

The wedding will be in the Presidio tomorrow evening.  It will be at the most gorgeous church and then a beautiful reception to follow also in the Presidio.  Shannon’s invitations were so pretty; the calligraphy was like a work of art that should be framed.  I’m sure tomorrow will follow suite.

I can’t wait to see my childhood friend walk down the aisle tomorrow.  And I’m so happy that we have remained important in each other’s lives all of these years.  Next stop raising children together – can’t wait, Shan!   For the record, as not to start rumors, neither one of us is pregnant. 🙂

Come to Mama

Oh boy, oh boy!!  I did it!  I pulled the trigger on a pair of Jonathan Adler lamps that were for sale on Craigslist.  When I first spied them a week ago, I couldn’t stop saying, “Hello, sir.”  Here are the gentlemen…

The lamps have the perfect amount of manliness to keep my husband from feeling underwhelmed by a sea of coral, orange and chartreuse colors in our new place.  They have the most insane amount of style and intrigue to keep me happy.  And who knows, maybe I’ll recover the shade in coral.  Kidding…I think.

When I first spied these bad boys on Craigslist the owner was asking $300 for the pair; he paid $790.oo for them.  So $300 is a steal.  But, have I mentioned that we are broke?  Business school swept away our happy little nest egg.  So $300 is too steep for me.

Oooh but the top stitched crocodile, the pristine white porcelain, the charcoal linen shade .  I knew they would have such a happy home in San Francisco.  I decided to pay them a little Craigslist visit the other day to see if perhaps they weren’t all that.  Oh but they were and the lovely, wonderful, gracious seller was willing to go $250.

Are you insane?!  $250.  Pretty please!  I wanted to put my high school running days to some much needed use and sprint to the closest ATM.  But the wife in me knew I had a husband to discuss this with.  So home I trekked with a speech prepared.  My husband took one look at the photo of them and he loved them…by loved them, I mean he gave me a “yeah, their nice” in a monotone voice.  Hey, good enough for me!

Yesterday, I trekked back down to West Village and swept up two of the most gorgeous lamps this little one has ever owned!  Look how happy I am!

Side story – he also had TWO Madeline Weinrib rugs and is considering selling me one.  At the right price, this could be a tough one to turn down.  But the wife side is telling me, “stay strong, woman…in due time, you’ll own a Madeline Weinrib rug”…yes, this is how I talk to myself.

Storage House

With moving on the brain recently and repurposing constantly on my mind, I was pleased to see that architect Jim Poteet could actually combine my two interests.

For most of us, we are enjoying the sweet, warm days of summer (I say most because poor San Franciscans have been freezing all summer long).  There is nothing better than to have friends get together and play in a backyard into the wee hours of a warm night.  But when they want to stay over and you don’t have a bed for them, what do you do?  Hmmmm.  Stumped.

No worries, if you have the backyard space, why not bring in a shipping container…

Stacey Hill wanted to add some extra space to her home and she was able to add a playroom, guest room and garden shed.  Jim Protreet put in floor to ceiling windows, glass doors, heating and air conditioning.

The landscaping was done by Jon Ahrens of Madrone Landscaping.  Notice the plants growing on the roof; not only is it green, it adds some nice softness to the industrial look of a shipping container.

They did keep the original shipping doors which leads into a garden shed – loving the car!

Inside of the space, complete with a bathroom.

This is an electric composting toilet.

Source: Dwell Magazine

Would you have a shipping container in your backyard?