Archive for June, 2012
Stationary Finds
Recently, I’ve been receiving thank you cards in the mail for wedding gifts that we’ve sent. They are always written on the cutest stationary ever. ETSY is a great resource for stationary.
In case you’re looking, I figured I’d post some really cute stationary I’ve seen…
Happy Friday!! Hope you get a chance to enjoy the sunshine this weekend!
Happy Anniversary
Today is my 4th wedding anniversary. I had to double check the date on that one because four years has really flown by. I’m taking that as a good sign. We’ve had quite the adventure, from living in Chicago, a brief stint in New York, and settling in San Francisco, to trips to South Africa and Botswana, Turkey and Croatia, England and France, Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska. Have loved life with you, Graham, through the years…
Life has been good with you. Happy Anniversary!
Missed It…
About a month ago, I was invited to a cocktail party at Lily’s home of Serena and Lily. When I received the invitation, I was so, so on board. Let’s see…meet Serena and Lily? Check! See Lily’s gorgeous marin home? Check! Finally touch, feel and sit in their furniture? Check. Yes, yes and yes! Sign me up. I RSVPed yes. And then the day arrived and as luck would have it, I got sick as a dog. Really, close to nothing would have kept me away. But aches, pains and chills…well…that did. I received one of their mass e-mails yesterday that had photos of the party – so here’s a sneak peek into the party I missed…
Looks like it was a great time! A favorite piece of mine for the summer from Serena and Lily is the Riviera Chair…
So fab and really something that would look great all year round.
Outdoor Spaces
Now that summertime is finally here, it has me dreaming of chic outdoor spaces…
Ahh…summer time. The perfect time to run around barefoot all day, to sprint through sprinklers and to cannonball into pools. Unless you live in San Francisco, then it’s time for parkas and scarves and umbrellas for the thick mist. Wah wah. At least sunshine is still just a quick drive away.
Dear Ikea
Dear Ikea,
Usually, when I write to you, it’s about the awesomeness of your product and how it doesn’t look or feel Ikea at all. Sure your pieces SUCK to put together but once I get past…the drive to emeryville, lugging the heavy boxes, the “how did I spend that much at Ikea?” feeling, start putting together your furniture, have husband finish putting it together, get in a marital “why do you need this extremely hard to assemble piece of furniture?” spat, move furniture to correct space with blood sweat and tears…I’m thrilled with your store.
Domino
Not today. Today I have a bone to pick with you.
You discontinued the Edland Four Poster Bed!! Are you kidding me? What in the world were you thinking? Hmmm…it’s universally loved, designers use it everywhere, it’s been published 1 million 7 hundred ninety eight thousand times. Yeah, that makes sense to discontinue it!
I feel like boycotting your store, but then I couldn’t pick up this cute blanket for cheap.
Bring it back Ikea!!! Bring it back!! Don’t make me wallow in the fact that I didn’t purchase it six months ago when I was overcome with the feeling that I needed the Edland Bed then and there. Never thought of myself as a psychic. But that obviously was my decor psychic powers at work.
Ugh. Ikea. Ugh.
Sara Tuttle Interiors
I have a new (to me) designer crush: Sara Tuttle Interiors, based out of Washington DC…
I love her fabulous use of colors, patterns and traditional pieces with a twist. Isn’t it so uplifting?!
Rivets
This Phillip Jeffries grasscloth wallpaper with beautiful rivets is going up in a client’s hallway…
Tilton Fenwick
Tilton Fenwick
David Webb
Kristen Kelli
Could you just die over it?!
It’s the Little Things
Remember this gorgeous wallpaper that’s going up in a Jack and Jill Bath?
Well, these are the knobs for the cabinets…
When I found the knobs, you would have thought that I found gold. I printed them out and went running to show them to Graham. His giddiness was a little flat, after a long day of work, looking at other people’s knobs wasn’t really doing it for him. But, my client was just as thrilled as I was. It’s all about the little things.
Happy Father’s Day
This Father’s Day, I was thinking about how proud father’s are of their children. And how much it means to dads when the things they have taught them actually stick to their children. I thought I would go through us kids and see what my dad would be proud of.
My brother, Don, is doing an excellent job at Imwalle Properties and not only continuing to make it grow and thrive as my father did but to also carve out his own space and to make his own large strides in real estate development. Not only has Don taken over my dad’s business with an abruptness due to my dad’s quick passing but he was also faced with a huge down in economy. He has ridden the storm with intelligence and very well executed calculated risks.
Calculated risks are something my dad would be very proud of Don for. Dad always liked the people who would run out of gas every once in a while because it showed that they took risks. And I swear some of dad’s proudest moments were when he would drive into a gas station on pure fumes. This is when he would give us kids the lecture on the importance of calculated risks and how they pay off.
My brother, Miles, is kicking butt as a lawyer in San Francisco. He was recently given the prestigious award of Recorders Fast Track 50. He strives for excellence and my dad would be very proud of him. Miles works incredibly long hours and he’s a very smart, committed and hard worker. However, he also takes full advantage of the weekends.
Miles’ work hard, play hard lifestyle is something that my dad would be very proud of him for. Dad was an incredibly hard worker but he also was an extremely well versed vacationer. I don’t know any other dads that would take as much time off as him to be with his family. Sure, he always carried his legal pad and at times a briefcase; but, he believed in a balance between work and play. Miles works very hard and is passionate about what he does but he also takes advantage of his weekend. During the ski season, you’ll find Miles at Squaw Valley with his wife and two kids pretty much every weekend shredding up the slopes.
My brother, Joe, is in his fifth year of teaching third grade and he absolutely loves it! He is an amazing teacher; the kids really look up to him as a role model, in a low income district where role models are more difficult to find. Not only is Joe teaching but he’s also rewriting a book. He’s been written up in the New York Times about his amazing story as a teacher and author. This year, he plans to also take on a home remodel.
Dad would be proud of Joe’s dedication to his writing and gift of the written word. While Dad never believed he himself,was a good writer, he would keep a journal every year. Dad’s writing was a wonderful outlet for him and an amazing gift to us now that he has passed. He would be so proud that Joe has continued to find strength, compassion and communication through the gift of writing.
I am working hard at Kate Collins Interiors. I have brought on many new clients and I love keeping in touch with my former clients as well. One of my favorite things is the relationships that come from meeting new people and working with them in their homes.
I think my dad would proud of my “gift of the gab.” I can remember my senior year of college, when I interned for my dad, he made me come with him to a meeting with the COO of a Fortune 500 company. He coached me on the ride up about the importance of how to act in business meetings. I went in there and acted in the manner that my dad told me to. The COO wrote my dad later that day, saying that there was a job for me at his company after college, should I want to take it. My dad was so proud of my “gift of the gab.”
We all have taken the advice that my dad gave us and we live to do as he taught us. I can’t help but think these are some of the things that my dad is so proud of as he watches us from above. I can hear his little chuckle with each success that we find. So much of who we all are today is because of our dad and the advice he’d love to give. And guess what Dad, even though it may not have seemed like it, we were listening!
Happy Father’s Day!!
In case you were curious…
In case you were curious, what I was going to do with an orange, pink, turquoise and purple bedroom request, this is what myself and my wonderful intern, Liz, have come up with…
I’m keeping pink as the main accent color because I love how it plays with orange. There will be turquoise accents through out and one very sweet purple capriz chandelier. Do you like how I’m suggesting Foo Dogs for a seven year old’s room? I couldn’t resist. It will probably be tweaked as we move along in the process but I like how the main furniture pieces are white so that the accessories can be easily changeable as she grows. I’ve also chosen simple white bedding, with the addition of the fun ikat pillow, so that the eyes have a place to rest in the room.
I put together a room plan for her older sister as well,
She put in the request for a canopy bed and a peace sign. I gave her room presentation on Tuesday and while she really loved the peace sign, bed and lighting, she requested I change out the bedding and seat chair fabric to purple. So I’ll be tweaking this plan a bit but you can see where I started.
Kate Collins Interiors 