BITS & PIECES

March 18, 2013

Today’s the big day! It’s pretty much a guarantee that I’ll spend the day counting down the hours until tonight’s big One Kings Lane sale (6:00PM PST/9:00PM EST!) so to pass the time I thought I’d share this photo of our apartment I took for the event. The OKL team asked for a photo that represented our taste so I styled up this little corner that happens to feature a few of my favorite things.

Truth be told, I feel wayy out of my league to be included in a group of such talented people with serious design creds (umm have you seen Mark D. Sikes’ House Beautiful cover or Bailey’s homes in Matchbook and Rue?!) but I’m just going to go with it and be flattered–I’ll probably be shopping the other bloggers’ items right along with you!

As always, thanks a million for your supportive comments, tweets, and emails. With your feedback on the re-design and the sale I’m feeling pretty grateful these days!

P.S That black and white print of the Piazza Navona at the top right is up for grabs tonight!

BITS & PIECES

January 21, 2013

The Pursuit of Style

When Van mentioned Christ Child Opportunity Shop as one of the sources for his amazing vintage barware I made a mental note to visit… which I promptly forgot about until a few weeks ago when Kathryn and I were talking about thrifting and she vouched for the shop as a hidden gem.

I stopped in a few days ago and was excited to find two whole floors to explore. Tons of art, china, vintage furs, jewelry, silver serving pieces, barware, and decorative objects galore.The volunteers were super sweet and chatty. I bonded with one about our lack of space for all of the treasures we find (she has a 3,000 sq foot house but says it’s still not enough ha!) She also said she spends all her money at the shop and added a silver footed tray to her pile while we were talking. Totally going to be me in forty years!

I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but ended up walking away with some pretty great finds. First I grabbed a pair of faceted crystal candlesticks. Normally I think crystal is a little grandma, but the modern cube shape brought these into the 21st century. I cleaned them up and they bounce light everywhere! Upstairs, I spotted a tiny soapstone urn (egg cup?) which I’ve re-purposed as a matchstick holder. Finally, in the clearance section I found the real bargain. A framed watercolor in the most gorgeous palette of lavenders for only $16! For now, it’s staying where you see it above, propped against the wall on a side table in my living room.

Not bad for only $28, right? I’ll definitely be visiting often!

MANUEL CANOVAS

January 10, 2013

Manuel Canovas

The Pursuit of Style | Manuel Canovas

When I saw this photo from Alessandra’s trip to Cartagena on Into the Gloss I stopped in my tracks for two reasons.

Number one: those tangerine walls are amazing. They actually kind of remind me of the color we used in our bathroom. I love that color so much I might call our bathroom my favorite room in the apartment if it didn’t sound so weird.

Number two: I’m obsessed with Manuel Canovas’ Bengale Toile. A few years ago I scored a remnant off of ebay which ended up being just enough to make a lumbar pillow. Oh what I’d give to have an entire day bed upholstered in it. Especially if that day bed happened to be located in an exotic destination like Cartagena!

Until then I’ll just be thankful for my own tiny piece of Benale Toile. The colors make January just a bit more bearable, don’t you think?

BITS & PIECES

January 7, 2013

Last week when I asked for feedback, many of you requested more personal posts and glimpses into my life. I’m flattered you’re interested and am happy to deliver! What better excuse to break out my new DSLR, right? I thought I’d call the column ‘Bits & Pieces’ and share exactly that: scenes from my home, life in DC, latest finds, etc.

I actually thought of the name for the column while looking at my nightstand which has become quite the collection of bits and pieces. My desk sits in front of a window with no place to hang a cork board so I’ve taken to tucking things I like into a vintage bamboo mirror above my nightstand. Currently inspiration includes: a grapefruit painting (note to self: get this framed!), Matisse post card, paint swatches, Tory Cowles pamphlet, and Rifle Paper card.

The nightstand itself has become yet another surface to stack my design books. This particular stack is topped with a silhouette of me as a child. A blue and white dish corrals the jewelry I unceremoniously dump there every night and Hermes boxes are just too pretty not to be displayed.

I hope you enjoyed a peek at some of the ‘Bits & Pieces’ in my home and would love to know if you’d like this to become a more regular feature!

A PELMET PROJECT

October 9, 2012

Our living room has been the hardest room to decorate. I’ve agonized over every little design decision. Remember how long it took me to pick out the fabric for our new couch? The answer is over a month! Incidentally, the couch is arriving today. Judgement day for the fabric…

After deciding on the couch, window treatments were my next project. Our apartment gets amazing natural light, but from three narrow windows. I considered hanging panels on each window but worried it would make the room seem smaller (not something our 900 sq ft apartment needs). Maintaining as much natural light as possible was also a big priority.

I remembered Jenny posted a DIY pelmet box tutorial a few years back on Little Green Notebook and decided to give it a try. The supplies couldn’t have been more basic: a few sheets of foam core board, an exacto knife, duct tape, batting, about 1 yard of fabric, and a staple gun. I picked up the foam core and batting from Michael’s and already had a few yards of Duralee’s Varda fabric on hand.

A few hours later (albeit with one sore hand from staple gunning) I had the finished products you see above. I’m thrilled with the results and even more excited to finally share a peek into our apartment. Apparently our golden retriever, Brody, was also excited to make his debut!

What do you think? Would you have guessed that these are little more than foam core, batting, and fabric?