bryn alexandra

Let's talk about blogging.

2012-02-01T08:51:00.001-05:00

Maybe I'm just imagining things, but it seems since Pinterest has come around there has been less blogging going on. I recently went through my Blog Love links and realized a lot of blogs no longer post or post very infrequently. I've seen some other blogs mention the same thing, I was curious if you have noticed it too?

Or maybe when you've been blogging for as long as I have (4 years now, crazy!) there will always be bloggers that come and go?

I still ADORE the blogs that I read every morning with my coffee and I obviously still love blogging.. I think it will be in my life for a long, long time. I'd love to be introduced to some new-to-me blogs that for some reason or another has slipped under my radar.

SO please do share, what are your 5 most FAVORITE must-read-everyday blogs? The ones that when you see they have a new post up, you can't click fast enough to read. Please don't list your own blog or my blog, I want the picks to be completely unbiased. :)

Here are my picks (it was hard):

Little Green Notebook - I'm sure this one will be on almost everyone's list! She is one of the best.

Rockstar Diaries - Even though it's not a design blog per say, I can't get enough of this adorable little family.

Urban Grace Interiors - Erika doesn't post very often, but when she does I love to soak it all in. She's been one of my favorites for a long, long time.

High Street Market - Kelly has such a great eye, and her posts are always so well put together.

Design Indulgence - Sherry says exactly what she thinks, and I love it. She always makes me laugh. She's also crazy talented and I love seeing the projects she works on.

Design Board Comes To Life

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

I really love when e-decorating clients send me "after" pics of their space that I helped them with. I helped Melissa with her baby boy nursery back in June. The little guy is here and her nursery was recently featured on Apartment Therapy!

Here is the original design board:

Melissa changed a couple things, but kept my favorite part - the custom orange window treatments (I like the navy even better than the green)! She did a great job incorporating her own touches to my plan.

Thanks for sharing, Melissa! And congrats on your adorable little guy :)

Meredith Jackson Giveaway!

2012-01-30T17:00:00.001-05:00

I am so excited about this giveaway from Meredith Jackson! Meredith is a great friend of mine here in Charlotte and she is such a talented jewelry designer.

I've mentioned this before, it's DANGEROUS having a friend who makes jewelry. I am constantly seeing (and wanting) new things she puts out. I think I currently have at least 10 sets of her earrings. Here is a picture of some of them on a bowl that I keep my earrings on:

I wear this casual pair of gold hoops from Meredith all the time:

And here is my emerald green pair.. she added on the smokey quartz to make them more formal for the wedding we went to (one of the perks of being friends with a jewelry designer!)

Here I am, again, wearing Meredith Jackson earrings. It's sort of embarrassing plastering my face all over this post, but I thought it'd be fun to show you some of Meredith's earrings "in action". I seriously wear something of hers almost every single day!

As you know, Valentine's Day is coming up. You could send some (not so subtle) hints to your significant other that jewelry makes a WONDERFUL Valentine's gift. Wink wink.

I'm giving away a pair of... you guessed it... Meredith Jackson earrings!! The lucky winner will pick one of these three styles:

Long Pink Tourmaline Earrings

Mother Of Pearl Quatrefoil & Gold Hoops

Green Onyx & Double Paperclip Earrings

To enter:
1. Follow this blog (click Join This Site on my sidebar to the right).
2. LIKE Meredith Jackson's Facebook page
3. Leave a comment on this post telling us which pair you would want!

EXTRA CREDIT: If you tell someone about Meredith Jackson Jewelry Design (like emailing your significant other with a link to what you want for V-day.. I can't be the only one who does that) please feel free to enter this giveaway TWICE. This is on the honor system, but if you do spread the word, THANK YOU!

The giveaway ends this Friday night at 11:59 PM EST

Here is Meredith (on the right) and Erin (owner of Isabella, wearing Meredith Jackson earrings), two of my favorite ladies in Charlotte:

They may kill me for posting this picture, though... :)

Woods in Fabric Form

2012-01-30T08:40:00.001-05:00

It's no secret I love the Cole & Sons Woods wallpaper (even after a few years I do still love it).

Here it is in one of my first interior decorating projects:

I really love this colorway:

via House & Home

Anyway, if you don't want to commit to the wallpaper, check out this fabric from Lee Jofa by Eric Cohler!

It's a splurge fabric at $198/yard. However, a couple pillows are much more budget friendly then a room full of wallpaper! (If you are interested in the fabric, email me. I always give discounts on designer fabric).

Check in later, I have a really great giveaway for you!!

Currently on my want/need list....

2012-01-27T08:49:00.000-05:00

I have this habit of putting my drink glasses on my stack of magazines that sit in the tray on my ottoman. Then I get sad when my House Beautiful gets warped pages.

These are really pretty solutions to this problem :)

Agate Coasters - High Street Market

Celestial Coasters - Anthro

Have a great weekend!

Grown Up Art

2012-01-26T11:09:00.000-05:00

I got my first "grown up" piece of professionally framed art back from the framer yesterday!

I snapped this picture last night with my iPhone during the worst time of the day you could take a picture. I'm currently at the car dealership waiting for an oil change so I can't take a better picture, sorry!!

But I'm sure you will see it again. I'm planning on putting a skirted table underneath it and a lamp on the table. We need a lot more light in our family room.

When your budget allows, professional framing makes ALL the difference. There are so many great subtle details - the way the piece is mounted up on foam core board and you can see the natural raw edges. The edge of the champagne colored frame are charcoal gray! I can't tell you how happy this piece makes me :)

I'm still planning on a large gallery wall on the wall behind our sofa but I'm saving up for that. I definitely won't have professionally framed art on that wall... IKEA Ribba frames here I come.

Real Estate Stalker - House Beautiful Addition

2012-01-25T08:49:00.002-05:00

I'm not going to lie, I love stalking real estate listings in the best neighborhoods of Charlotte. It's so fun getting a little peek into beautiful, old (and very large) homes.

Well I recently clicked on a listing and was like WOAH! I recognize that kitchen!

I'm sure you do, too....

It's really fun seeing other pictures from a home that's in House Beautiful. Here are some more pictures...

The detail shots from the virtual tour:

This home was designed by Lindsey Coral Harper. She's an interior designer based out of NYC. She actually came into Isabella a couple of times and was really sweet. I'm glad she got the front page of House Beautiful!

I'm not posting the real estate link because if it were me, I wouldn't want my address posted on a random blog. But since the home's pictures were published in a national magainze, I figured they are fair game ;)

Yay for Charlotte being represented in my favorite design mag, woot woot!

EDIT: There were some comments asking about the price... The price of the home is currently $1,875,000.

Baby Girl Nursery - 2 Ways

2012-01-24T08:44:00.000-05:00

I recently worked on a baby girl nursery design board and it underwent a couple revisions. I thought it would be fun for you to see a somewhat similar nursery done two ways!

With Blue:

With Purple:

I love supporting other bloggers/designers in my designs. The boards above feature furniture O'verlays and Caitlin Wilson Textiles pillows!

Round Skirted Tables

2012-01-23T11:46:00.000-05:00

I really love a good round skirted table. Have I blogged about this before? Maybe.. Anyway it seems as though some people feel they are a bit old fashioned, but it's something that will never go out of style. And they have such versatility when it comes to styling!

Here are some really good ones :)

via

via House Beautiful

via

I'm sure you know this already, but Ballard has some good (and inexpensive) options:

For the most part, they are pretty budget friendly. Unless you have your heart set on a pricey fabric. A 30" table takes around 5.5 yards (and that's just for a solid).

Here is a skirted table I recently did (sorry for the poor photo quality):

This nook was somewhat awkward and we had to have something to display my client's awesome original sculpture of her husband when he was younger! It is so, so cool.

I am finishing up this project and then having it photographed soon!

A New Pink & Blue

2012-01-20T08:03:00.000-05:00

Normally when you think pink and blue, little babies come to mind (like Emily's announcement this week, YAY!! So fun.)

But I've been loving a different pink/blue combo:

Soft peachy pink with cobalt blue (found via here).

Apparently I have been loving cobalt a lot lately (which is nothing new) because I've been pinning these:

Moms everywhere, rejoice!

2012-01-19T08:08:00.000-05:00

You can have your cake and eat it too! Okay I am being a bit dramatic.. but I am pretty excited about this. FINALLY there are great looking cream/light rug options out there that will stand up to messy kids and muddy dogs thanks to Dash & Albert!

Check these out!

All of these rugs are are hoseable, scrubbable, and bleachable. If that isn't kid friendly, I don't know what is.

There are even more styles on the website here.

Thank you Dash & Albert!!

(no they are not paying me, I am just really excited about this.)

An Isabella Client Home Tour

2012-01-18T08:52:00.002-05:00

I've said it again and again, my 2x a week job at Isabella has been invaluable for my own interior decorating business. I have access to so much more than I normally would and learn from the best. Another BIG perk is I get to go into the most beautiful homes on a regular basis. Magazine worthy.

This particular client is a "regular" at Isabella, and is a close friend of Erin, the owner. I would confidently name her one of the top ten most stylish people in the city of Charlotte. She is so fun and we adore her! In the fall we went to her home because she had a decorating question for us. When I walked into her home I was blown away. It was amazing!! I felt like I was in the pages of Elle Decor! And after I left, I thought about her home for weeks. Then I asked Erin to ask her if I could photograph it for our blogs (this one and Isabella's blog). And she said yes!

Believe it or not, this customer of ours did not hire a decorator.. she did it all herself! Without further adieu...

Go check out the Isabella blog.. there are more pictures and some details about some of the items in the pictures. A lot of the items are from Isabella.. if you see something that you'd like to get more information on, please email info@isabellastyle.com!

Thomas Jefferson's Home

2012-01-17T07:49:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we ventured up to Charlottesville, Virginia to visit my husband's grandparents. While we were there we went to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello home. If you are ever in the area I HIGHLY recommend visiting this home.

I was very disappointed when they told us we could not take pictures inside the home because there were so many details I wanted to remember forever. The architecture, the furnishings, the windows.. it was insane.

These pictures are from the website and they don't do the home justice (they look like they were taken in the 90s...)

There were so many elements in Thomas Jefferson's home that you still see today used over and over and over in design. And if you read my blog often, you know I am a sucker for classic and old details.

Here are spaces of today that feature many elements I saw in Jefferson's home!

[ eddie ross via lonny ]

[ lonny ]

[ domino ]

I'm pretty certain for our next home I'd really love an older home. Maybe not quite as old as Jefferson's house though ;)

Pretty Spaces

2012-01-13T07:57:00.000-05:00

Looking at really great spaces never ever gets old. Thank god for Pinterest (and blogs)!

All images and sources can be found here.

Apparently I've been pinning a lot of color lately! It's probably because I'm finishing up a pretty colorful (for me) room right now.

New Pillows

2012-01-12T09:32:00.000-05:00

I have been eying these pillows for about a year. I knew I loved them but wasn't sure where they could go. Well when I got the new World Market sofa I knew it'd be a perfect place for them!

They are Kevin O'Brien Woodgrain pillows in Slate. I love them! Now they just need some more pillow friends ;)

Guest Bath - The 3rd (and final?) Plan

2012-01-11T13:41:00.001-05:00

There is one room in our home that I have changed my mind over and over and over again about... it's the guest bathroom. At first I was thinking neutral gray and white striped walls.. then I thought I wanted to do lots of orange, maybe even orange stripes. I guess I never got started on it because I couldn't fully commit.

Well, as I mentioned earlier the time has come to finally put tile in our bathrooms and I'm nailing down some final plans.

Here is my inspiration for our guest bath from Timothy Whealon:

Yup, totally neutral and all whites & creams. I've probably lost half of you who are thinking BORING!!!! Well, what can I say... I love an all white bathroom!

I have a small budget to work with for updating both of the bathrooms upstairs so I am keeping all of the big items for now. Who knows, maybe later down the road I will replace the countertops, or maybe I won't. There is currently a cream faux marble countertop in the bathrooms and I don't hate it.

Anyway, here is the design board for the guest bath:

White Dove by Benjamin Moore on the walls (a very soft creamy white). A bright white semi-gloss paint on the vanity and trim. And I think I'll bring the same tile that's currently in our laundry room upstairs into the guest bath with light gray grout. I want a very organic/linen-y shower curtain. I'm considering this one from Restoration Hardware maybe in Ivory or Fog (I still need to look at them).

So that's where I am with the guest bath! I'm going to look at tile tomorrow and start pricing out the floors. I can't wait to have these two rooms done! They are definitely our home's dirty little secret right now... wait until you see the before pictures!

Organization

2012-01-10T09:05:00.000-05:00

What is it about the new year and wanting to get organized? Probably because it's like a fresh start.. and I know I'm not alone. If you look at all the major retail websites they have "STORAGE!" links on their homepages.

Anyway, I recently put together some of my favorite organization items (and some that I need) for Houzz.com.

The highest on my list of priorities are our bathrooms. I'm planning on a simple face lift for them and with that I need some major storage updates.

Our linen closet is a MESS. I think these bags would do the trick:

I also am on the prowl for some boxes/baskets with lids for me to put on open shelving in our master bathroom. We have hardly any storage under our sinks and I want to move some of the items out that we don't use every day.

I would love something like this, but in a more natural color:

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to get organized!

the best!

2012-01-09T08:26:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of House Beautiful there is a section called "the BEST!" They feature all sorts of products and none of them have anything in common except that they are all awesome. Besides the home tours, this is my favorite part of the magazine, don't you agree?

Stephen Antonson Table Lamp by West Elm - $149

This new West Elm table lamp is absolutely beautiful. Like a work of art (rightfully so, it was created by an artist). I recently picked up two of them for a client.

Champagne Woven Metal Mirror - $284

I just sent this mirror to a client.. I love it! It has such a funky, raw look but still manages to be beautiful.

Labradorite Ring - $72

I have been obsessing over labradorite lately.. the color is amazing!!

The Corkcicle - $25

I got these for a couple people for Christmas and they were a hit. You freeze it, then put it in a bottle of chilled wine and it keeps it cold. Genius!

Tiny Hammered Initial Necklace - $32

I got two of these necklaces (which I also love!) for Christmas, so I am exchanging one of them for this necklace above. It's so sweet and delicate.

Far Away, So Close - $30

This horse photograph is so so so beautiful. I want to purchase it for my own home. :)

Natural and Aqua 18" Pillow - $35

I saw these on Pinterest... I love the THICK banding.. a modern take on a classic. I'd have her make the pillows in a large 24" size and put two of them on a sofa.

Change of Plans

2012-01-05T13:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday after running all my work errands I stopped by World Market to purchase the bench I blogged about here. They are currently having a great furniture sale!

While I was there, I saw this brand new sofa and loooved it. After standing there and debating back and forth, I decided to get the sofa instead of the bench! I had a 10% coupon and a gift card from Christmas, so the total was $450.

I couldn't wait to share the pictures with you until this afternoon when the light was better, so here are some iPhone pictures (with bad lighting).

What I loved most about it was the curved back. I knew the back of the sofa was going to be seen before the front, so having a pretty back was important.

I'm not going to lie - the quality of the sofa is comparable to the price. I wouldn't want to use this sofa for watching TV every night, but for a living room space that doesn't get used too often, it's perfect!!

I actually purchased an 8 x 10 jute rug from West Elm for the space, too.. but decided it was too small. I will need to splurge for a 9 x 12 or maybe do no rug at all.

We've almost been in our home for 2 years and it's nice to see this room start to come together! Now all I need are drapes, a coffee table, pillows, lighting.... the list goes on and on :)

Hi

2012-01-04T10:06:00.001-05:00

Wow, I feel like I haven't "updated" you guys in a while! I didn't really intend to, but I sort of checked out in California in exchange for some much needed rest, relaxation and family time.

Right now I'm finishing up some really fun spaces and within the next month or so I will be sharing them with you. But that means right now I'm pretty busy (which is always a blessing!)

Here is a sneak peek.... striped chairs!

And although they look fabulously neutral, they are going in a room full of color.

Have you guys made resolutions? I always do and yes, some of them I don't keep. But here are mine for this year:

- Finish upstairs bathrooms (including much needed tile)
- Yoga 2x a week
- Start painting (as I've mentioned, my grandma and great-grandma were artists I want to keep the tradition going, even if it's just for fun. I think it'd be fun to have three generations worth of art in our home).
- Buy a sofa!!
- Visit DC (I've never been!)
- Get fit/healthy (this always makes the list.. we'll see).

Also, I have this share this with you...

My boss (and good friend) Erin, who owns Isabella, gave me this beautiful watercolor for Christmas!! It's by Jennifer Levine (local artist, I shared her home here on the blog before). I am going to get it framed today (Erin even gifted that to me, too! She's the best!)

It was like it was made for my Nympheus pillow!

What a random post... :)

2012

2012-01-02T11:28:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012!

We had such a great time in California but it is has come to an end and we are traveling home today. Back to reality and the fresh start of a new year!

Lounging

2011-12-29T12:39:00.000-05:00

My parents were so great and sent me a pair of Frye's boots for Christmas that I had been coveting! Unfortunately..... they didn't fit too well. Remember I said I always end up getting things for our house instead of for myself? Well I decided to return the boots and get some seating for our living room instead.

A while back while at World Market (that seems to be a theme lately, doesn't it?) I came across this lounge bench:

I immediately thought it'd be great for our living room. I've been wanting something that I can lay out on and read a book and this is perfect (and the price is great). I even did a bit of photoshop-ing and styled it with some pillows:

Once I get back home I am going to pick it up and I'll definitely let you know how it goes!

And speaking of lounging, I've really been enjoying the 75 degree weather here in California. I didn't plan on taking a break from work and blogging but every day I find myself here:

When the posting is light this week, now you know what I'm doing! ;)

California

2011-12-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

We're having a great time in California!! Here is a snapshot of our life lately from my iPhone...

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-23T08:59:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it's Christmas Eve Eve??

We are spending Christmas in California (it's supposed to be 75 degrees!) I am so excited about going back! Even though we only lived there three years it still holds a very special place in my heart. We got married there, his family (who is definitely my family too) is there, I started my blog and design biz there...

If I don't pop in before Christmas, I wish you all a very safe and happy Christmas filled with family and love and good food and maybe a great present or two. This really is the BEST time of the year!

Blogger Secret Santa???

2011-12-21T09:45:00.002-05:00

Okay, I have NO idea who my blogger secret santa is but they rock! I shared with you my first gift of the awesome silver modern reindeer.. then my second gift came in the mail and it was the She & Him Christmas cd!! Just the day before I got the CD I picked up the little free song card that Starbucks gives out with a She & Him Christmas song on it. Well I didn't need to use it because now I have the entire cd :)

Thanks Secret Santa!

Here are the secret santa suspects:

And the links to their blogs:

4 men 1 lady *** bryn alexandra *** emilyaclark
house of smiths *** the inspired room
isabella and max rooms *** la dolce vita
making it lovely *** you stir me *** thrifty decor chick
tenjune *** lovely little details ***
young house love *** pure style home *** miss mustard seed

Check out Brooklyn Limestone's blog to guess who got who and you can win a prize!

I can't wait to find out who had me! :)

Folding Screen Headboard...?

2011-12-20T09:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was at World Market picking up some stuff for clients and I came across this awesome folding screen (going into that store is dangerous... I find great stuff for clients but then I find great stuff for me. ah!)

I LOVE anything and everything that resembles the pattern of a cane back chair.

I thought it would be a really great headboard and at $130 the price isn't bad at all.

But it's a bit shorter than a queen sized bed (what we have in our guest room). Queens are typically 60 x 80. This screen is about 54" flat, so that's 6" too short (3" on each side). That would probably bug me! It would work great for a full, though!

I found these images on Pinterest...

I love this look, I was even thinking it'd be cool to hang a small round mirror on the World Market screen above the bed.

I bookmarked this image in my Cottage Living many years ago, and I still love it just the same!

Here is an example of a screen that is just a bit too short for the bed. Thoughts?

Maybe I'll search on Overstock... or hold out and someday get an upholstered headboard :)

Shannon's House

2011-12-19T09:45:00.000-05:00

I have to tell you guys about Shannon. Working at Isabella there is Erin (the owner), me and Shannon. Here is Shannon from when we all went to market:

Shannon and I never get to work together, which is probably a good thing because we would have too much fun... she always cracks me up. This weekend Shannon had a party at her house and I asked if I could take some pics to share on the blog. She said yes!

Shannon has such a cool, funky style. She's never afraid of color. Whenever I am a little hesitant about mixing colors or patterns I always ask her advice! Her new coffee table for this room didn't come in time.. it's marble top with a rustic wooden base... SO cool.

Here is her new family room... I love it!! I love how nothing "matches" but everything goes together. She's really good at that.

She pulled everything from her new painting by Robert Langford. He's a very talented artist here in Charlotte and it was her first "real" piece of art. I think everyone should someday save up for an original piece of art.. it just makes such a difference in a room! I love how her piece seems to glow. Beautiful!

You guys are going to love this part... remember these lucite chairs I found? Well, Shannon was the one who bought them! And she recovered them in laminated Kelly Wearstler fabric. They are PERFECT in her home and I love still being able to see them :)

Thanks for letting me share your home, Shannon!

Living Rooms

2011-12-16T08:54:00.000-05:00

I've been dreaming of a new sofa lately.... I think purchasing your first nice sofa is an adult rite of passage and we haven't been there yet.

Our current sofa came with the house that my in-laws owned in California. It looks okay but it's really uncomfortable and small. I had plans of putting granite in our kitchen in 2012 but my gut is saying to get a sofa first... we DO spend every night on it!

My current favorite is Crate & Barrel's Verano. It's soooooo comfortable and deep but isn't boxy.

I've been checking out sofas and sofa colors and living rooms on Lonny and Pinterest...

A Gem of a House Tour

2011-12-14T09:42:00.001-05:00

I've been finding some real gems on Apartment Therapy lately. I've pinned a lot of them but I thought I'd share this one. You may have seen it already but if you're like me you won't mind seeing it again!

I just adore the style and decorating of this home. It is chic but simple. I wouldn't mind moving right in!! (Even though Matt and I happily left So Cal we've always said we wouldn't mind moving back, but only if I was a famous interior decorator and our currently non-existent kids were all grown and we were rich and could afford a home like this in the hills. ha!! I know, it's laughable.)

Yup, I absolutely love every single thing about this home. File it away under my "dream home" file.

Monochromatic

2011-12-13T08:45:00.000-05:00

Things are pretty crazy right now! I am wrapping up some projects and busy buy busy.

Right now I am painting a dresser for a client. Her walls are blue and I chose a darker blue for the dresser to create a monochromatic look. I haven't done this before but I think it will turn out really cool!

(Benjamin Moore Advance paint is hands down THE best paint for furniture (and trim) EVER... the picture above is just ONE COAT of paint! It's pricey but well worth it... I'm a convert for life.

Now I'm off to Isabella where we are also very busy!

White Space

2011-12-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

In all my graphic design classes in school, we were told white space was the key to good design. Maybe that's why frames with very large mats work so well.

These frames above are from Pottery Barn. They range from $47 - $56 each. Not bad if you want just a couple, but pricey if you want to do an entire gallery wall.

[ lonny ]

Right now I'm working on a gallery wall with thick mats and small artwork. Instead, we are using Ikea Ribba frames and I am going to have the mats custom cut. A sort of budget compromise if you will. I can't wait for the finished product! I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh and speaking of... I snapped these pictures this weekend while watching a rerun of Sarah's House. Even though I've seen every episode, I can watch this show over and over and over.

IKEA KLUBBO Hacks

2011-12-08T10:44:00.001-05:00

I think this IKEA Klubbo coffee table is really good looking for the price:

And it's even better if you put some love into it. I've come across some really good hacks!

Jordan from Oh Happy Day spray painted the legs of her Klubbo gold.. WHAT a difference that made!

If you spray paint the legs gold or brass, you could put these casters on it and it would be AMAZING!

Kelly from Simply Kelly turned her Klubbo into an ottoman:

I was brainstorming some other ideas that you could do with this inexpensive coffee table. It would look cool if you had the top lacquered in a color.

Another idea I had was to cover the top in a faux ostrich leather, like this:

If you need a chandelier...

2011-12-07T08:57:00.000-05:00

I highly recommend this one from West Elm & Stray Dog:

It's is so, so cool and it's currently on sale with 20% off (today only!!) which brings the price below $200.

A pic of it I took in the store:

I am using this chandelier in a current project. Here is a little sneakity peek:

Also I wanted to let you guys know that my friend Meredith Jackson is having an AMAZING giveaway over at Little Green Notebook today!!

I've told you guys about her before.. she is the sweetest person and makes the most beautiful jewelry. True story - before meeting her I only wore my wedding rings and pearl studs. Now I wear dangly earrings every.single.day.

Next week I'm also going to be hosting a giveaway of hers! I love that girl. She just launched her beautiful new website, go check it out!

Less Is More Holiday Decor

2011-12-05T12:12:00.000-05:00

When it comes to seasonal decor, my motto is "less is more". (Although I tend to use that motto in all aspects of my life).

I've shown you a couple things here and there but I thought I'd show you all the Christmas decorations we have up this year.

You've seen the tree...

Our entry is super simple and all white:

The mercury bowl is from Home Goods and I'll tell you the story about the reindeer below.

See the little diffuser? It's Antica's holiday scent and it's AMAZING. It smells like a fresh cut Christmas Tree with a hint of grandma's perfume. I know, very strange but it evokes so many warm fuzzy feelings. You can get it here.

The tree I made for Waverly's 12 Bloggers of Christmas is now in our master bedroom. I didn't originally make it for our room but it works so well in there.

I still need the perfect mirror :(

This past weekend I decorated the front porch. I knew I wanted trees in my planters, and it turned out to be least expensive to just buy real mini trees. They were $16 each at Home Depot and I love them!

The wreath I found at Home Goods - it's super glittery :) Here is a shot at night (taken before I got the wreath)

That picture cracks me up.. can you spy little Char? (that's her favorite spot).

And that's it for our holiday decor! Super simple and clutter-free.. just the way I like things :)

Okay now about that reindeer above. Mrs. Limestone was so sweet to set up a secret santa exchange with some design bloggers. I am pretty sure I have the best secret santa ever because she sent me the silver modern reindeer and I LOOOVE HIM! I have no idea who she is yet but she sure nailed it. Doesn't the reindeer look perfect with my other holiday things? Here are all the possible suspects:

I already have my first gift purchased and ready to send out to my own giftee and I cannot wait :) It's so fun!

A Happy Yellow

2011-12-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was at World Market sourcing stuff and came across the prettiest shade of yellow.

You can see the shade on a lamp peaking out in the left hand corner. So happy!

And speaking of, I'm doing happy yellow drapes in a room right now similar to these:

I can't wait to show you!

Christmas List

2011-12-01T09:29:00.000-05:00

Every year when Christmas rolls around and our families start asking us what we'd like, we tell them "cash for stuff for the house". This year some cash would be great for some not-so-fun things like new door knobs and hardware, BUT instead I decided what the heck, I'll add some things I'd love but never buy for myself.

So in case you are curious, here are the "fun" things I've added to my Christmas List*!

Frye Melissa Button Boots

Celerie Kemble Black & White

Gold Link Necklace

West Elm Tree Snow Globe
(I saw this tree snow globe in the store and fell in love. It's SO beautiful! And I have a soft spot for trees because they were all around us when we got married.)

* My family uses elfster.com - it makes things so much easier and everyone except the gift receiver can see when something is purchased.

Christmas Tree

2011-11-30T08:48:00.000-05:00

It's so nice to be home! Right when I got home yesterday I yanked out the Christmas tree. We aren't spending Christmas here so originally I wasn't even going to put up a tree. But the season got the best of me and I pulled it down from the attic.

I just added my red and pink baubles and called it a day.

ps - I purchased the $10 faux sheepskin at IKEA for my parent's dog bed but Charlotte ended up hogging it so much that my mom gave it to her. She LOVES it!! '

pps- I stored our white tree in our attic which has a little window. The section of the tree that was facing the window has turned yellow. I think the heat of the hot sun shining on it all year long burned it. Major bummer! Those of you who have white trees BEWARE! Do not store near sunlight!

A Personal Design Project Before & After

2011-11-29T08:30:00.001-05:00

By the time you are reading this we are most likely back home in Charlotte from our Thanksgiving break in Texas with my family. We were there for 11 days and during that time I worked on a very special decorating project... my parents master bedroom!

A little background - I have mentioned before I come from a family of engineers and doctors. I guess you could call me the "black sheep". My dad is a computer engineer/programmer, my mom is a mathematician. She tutors math and is writing a math text book. One brother is a doctor and the other is a mechanical engineer. And then there's me.. ha!

My parents have never been into decorating and have had their current bedroom suite for 10+ years. I was so excited when they finally asked me to help them revamp their room. We had SO much fun doing it and they love the result.. which is the best part! It's very nerve-wracking decorating for your parents ;) I love the result, too and it was fun letting them see me in action.

Here are the before shots. My dad was cleaning out his desk and wasn't too excited to be in the pictures.. sorry Dad!!

As I mentioned, they have had this teak bedroom set FOREVER! Time for a change. We were on a tight budget.. here are the things we did to change up the space:

- New furniture (bed, nightstands and dresser)
- New neutral, solid bedding
- Rearrange Current Artwork
- Curtains

Here are the afters!

The artwork made my job easy. All the pieces were painted by either my grandmother or my great-grandmother. My parents previously had the paintings all around the room but I grouped them together to create a focal point above the bed. Two of the frames were previously brass but we painted them espresso to modernize the frames.

The case goods and bed were purchased at Weirs in Plano, Texas. I picked out the furniture (along with the approval from my parents). I LOVE the dresser and nightstands we found... they look so much more expensive than they were.

I originally suggested a linen upholstered bed but we settled upon this one. In the end I'm glad we did, it helps anchor the room.

The nightstands are very large and works really well with the scale of the king sized bed and large room.

A collection of my parents books that fit them perfectly..

Not only are my parents smart, they are both wonderful musicians. My mom plays the flue and my dad plays the guitar. Making room for their music things were important.

Here is all the info for the quick project:

Bed, Dresser & Nightstands - Weirs - $1,556
Accent Chair - World Market - $125 (we got it on sale)
Curtains - IKEA Ritva - $35 per panel ($70)
Curtain Hardware - IKEA Beskada (I kept the caps on and didn't use the finials) - $18
Lamps - Home Goods - $40 each ($80)
Bedding - IKEA Malou - $50
Throw Pillow on Accent Chair - IKEA - $17
Existing Wall Color - Ralph Lauren Beach

Total: $1,916 (our budget was $2,000)

Thanks Mom & Dad!! I had soo much fun!

DIY Ruffled Christmas Tree

2011-11-28T10:00:00.001-05:00

I was recently asked by Waverly to be a part of their 12 Waverly Bloggers of Christmas! We will be creating DIY holiday crafts with Waverly materials. The series runs from today (I'm up first!) until 12/23.

My holiday craft idea came from Pinterest when I saw a pin for this ruffled tree skirt:

I have a couple feather trees that I got last year and I thought a ruffled tree would look great with them.

This project is SO easy! The materials are:

- A hot glue gun
- A Styrofoam tree form
- Fabric (one sheer and one solid works well)

I chose Waverly's Peony Organza for the sheer and for the solid I chose Heritage Natural. You can search all of Waverly's fabrics on their website here.

This is the Christmas tree shaped cone I purchased at Michaels for this project:

I really liked the look of the frayed edges on the ruffle skirt above, so I decided to rip the solid fabric instead of cut it.

I measured all my pieces to be four inches wide (as shown). Just cut a little bit and then rip the rest and the piece will rip evenly.

The sheer can't be ripped because of the chenille peonies, so I cut these pieces very carefully to make sure the edges were even. These pieces are also four inches wide.

To start, I glued the end of the solid fabric onto the cone:

And then added a line of hot glue to start the ruffling:

You want to work in small sections like this. The ruffles don't have to be perfect (in fact it looks better if they aren't). Just bunch up the fabric and glue, it's very simple and there is no right or wrong way.

Be very careful!! The hot glue is very hot and my fingers were tender after this project.

Here is the finished first layer:

Next add a ruffled layer of your sheer right above the solid:

To make sure you don't cover up the pretty sheer layer, add the next solid layer an inch or so higher than the sheer:

You'll repeat these steps until you get to the top! When I got to the top I just gathered and glued the sheer carefully to make sure it looked pretty when pleated :)

And here is the final result!

And here is my new fabric tree with the feather tree I mentioned earlier.

Go to Waverly's facebook page to enter to win two $100 gift cards to JoAnn Fabrics and Michael's so you can create your own Christmas blogger diy craft!

Thanks Waverly for including me, it was really fun!

A Look Back

2011-11-22T09:23:00.000-05:00

Last year we hosted Thanksgiving and I thought it'd be fun to take a look back at our table. Of course decorating the table was my favorite part!

This year we're not hosting either Thanksgiving or Christmas. We're in Texas visiting my family and I'm helping my parents redecorate their bedroom.. so fun!!

Yesterday we went furniture shopping and found some really great things. We went to Weirs and I couldn't believe the prices! If you live in the Dallas area, this place is great. We got this awesome dresser for only $399!!

I'll definitely be showing you the before and afters!

DIY Euro Pleat Drapery

2011-11-21T10:06:00.000-05:00

Pleated drapery has been around forever but will never go away. It's a small detail but makes a room look sophisticated and tailored.

[ Lonny Mag ]

[ Urban Grace Interiors ]

Recently, a client of mine purchased white linen pole pocket curtain panels from West Elm. The fabric is really beautiful and they work well for this project.

We decided to euro pinch pleat her store bought drapery because custom pleated drapery was out of our budget. Here are the DIY steps for how I did this.. it's SO easy!!

I wanted the pleats to be more casual than a traditional Persian pleat, so I just did two folds instead of three:

First measure three inches down from the end of the panel and start your pleating. As you can see, my pleats are three inches apart:

To create the pleats, pull up two folds of fabric of equal heights just like this:

Here are some other views so you can see what your folds should look like:

Then pin your pleats to get ready to sew:

I added the red line so you can see where you'll be sewing your stitch. Make sure your pin parallel to your pleat.

Make sure you pin all your pleats before you start sewing. Make sure everything looks nice and neat and the lengths in between each pleat is the same (3 inches).

Then all you have to do is sew your stitch!

The red line shows where you will be stitching. You don't want to start the stitch at the front of the pleat; start a little bit below.

Look at the green line - you want to make sure you sew each stitch in the same location to create uniform pleats. For my pleats, I lined up the top of the panel with the end of the ruler on my sewing machine. I used this guide for each pleat.. make sure you use a similar guide.

This is what I do when I sew the actual stitch: Sew forward, sew in reverse and then sew forward again. This assures a strong stitch.

And repeat until all your panels are pleated!

Here is the finished product:

These panels above are actually double width. I simple sewed two panels together to create the double width! (The windows are foggy because we steam ironed the panels).

And that's it! If you have a sewing machine, this is a very easy way to create a designer look for so much less than if you were to have custom drapery made. Of course, nothing is as great as the real thing but this is a good improvement to store-bought pole pocket drapes.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Day Dreaming Our Bathroom

2011-11-17T09:16:00.001-05:00

Pinterest is dangerous, isn't it? It gives you so much inspiration for things you want to do. Our master bathroom is a disaster zone. It's the dirty little secret of our home and I don't think more than four people have ever seen it. I won't even share a picture (yet at least).. but let me try to explain it: vinyl floors so old and used they look dirty even when clean. Unpainted walls that have a layer of popcorn ceiling still on them from when we had our ceilings scraped (unfortunately they will most likely need to be sanded before painting). Trim around the floor that will definitely need to be replaced. It's just... gross. The vanity top and our shower has that old plastic faux-marble.

It's bad.. really bad.

Ever since we moved in I've played out in my head exactly what I'm going to do to fix it up. With this year ending, I've vowed to myself that 2012 will be the year that I will make it happen. Here are my inspiration pictures that I have been saving from Pinterest:

This is a very similar layout to our tub/shower. I'd love to have subway tile in the shower and seamless glass.

Subway tile like this... a very light gray grout.

Glossy gray trim and window treatments like this:

And my inspiration board:

(none of the items are actually sourced.. just examples of what I'd like)

I'm a firm believer in not over-renovating for your home/area. I've watched too many "My First Sale" shows where people spend tons of money on renovations and never get any of it back. I'd like to do things somewhat budget friendly. Here is a list of what I'm thinking:

- Replace vanity countertop with granite but keep current vanity.
- Replace current shower with subway tile, a new plain floor (like this) and seamless glass
- Simple ceramic floors
- New Paint (depending on budget I may do this)

I'm curious - has anyone done a similar renovation in their bathroom? I'm curious to what it would cost. I have a number in my head but would love to get some input!

It's quite comical I have it all planned out and I have no idea when it will actually happen. But what can I say.. I'm a planner!

What about you guys, do you have plans for your house but are not sure when you can put them into action?

Ikea Slipcovers

2011-11-16T10:08:00.000-05:00

Do you remember a while ago IKEA's Karlstad had an option of white slipcovers with long skirts? I'm so sad they got rid of them... I wonder why? For some reason I was thinking about them this morning and did a little googling.

I still don't know why they got rid of them but I did stumble upon a really great alternative. Bemz.com has custom IKEA slipcovers that you can buy and they are really great!!

Example - This Karlstad chair has nice lines but ugly legs.

But add a white linen blend skirted slipcover and it is much prettier!

(sorry I couldn't get a picture without the text on it)

The chair from IKEA is $249 and the linen blend slipcover is $189. Less than $450 for an armchair - a deal!

Before - a boring IKEA sofa:

After - A rich, Belgian Linen sofa:

Sofa is $399 and linen slipcover is $379 equaling around $780 or a sofa. Wow.

I am filing this baby away for future reference.

Favorite Item Of The Week

2011-11-15T08:47:00.000-05:00

So far this week I've been obsessing over this reclaimed wood side table from Overstock:

I love the sleek modern shape mixed with the rustic, worn finish. And those bits of blue! I'm pretty sure I'll be using it for a project.

This lamp would be nice on top of it:

The Rug & Other Things

2011-11-14T09:06:00.001-05:00

My new antique rug arrived very quickly and I am very happy with it! However, it wasn't nearly as blue as I had expected. This is what it looked like on the website:

It actually has much more red in it. At first I was bummed and I wasn't sure if I would keep it. But then it grew on me and I now love it.

Although I hate that our floors have so much red in them, it is what it is and the rug works with them.

Even though the colors weren't accurate, I still love the antique feel and the pattern of the rug.

This past weekend was very productive. We cleaned up the garage and I painted the downstairs doors (they were soo gross!) It's amazing what a coat of fresh paint does.

Once I got the rug I started really thinking about this front room. You may notice in the pictures I took the cream chairs away. I had planned on recovering them in a natural linen and adding a skirt. This would have been a good option visually, but the truth is I really want this space to be comfortable and usable. My husband and I sit in here sometimes, but it feels much too formal with just four chairs. I want to be able to come in here and lounge and read and actually use it. So I decided this space needs a sofa of some sort. I don't have anything picked out and who knows when I will get something, but I have decided to sell the chairs.

SO for those of you located in the Charlotte area, I am selling these two cream silk accent chairs:

I'm selling them for $200 for the pair. They retail for $300 each (here is the same chair in a different fabric). Believe it or not they are very comfortable and a great neutral accent chair.

As I mentioned earlier, we cleaned out our garage this weekend and I have some other things available for those of you in Charlotte.

When I got my campaign dresser for my office, this tall dresser came with it. However it was missing the top drawer. I decided to take it anyway thinking I could do something with it. Either cut off the top, or turn the missing drawer section into a shelf. Anyway, it's just been taking up space in my garage so if any of you in Charlotte are handy and want to work on it you can have it for free!

I'm selling our old TV cabinet as seen in this picture:

It's a great storage cabinet and holds a ton. I'm selling it for $50.

Do you remember this red rug from waaaay back when? I'm also selling it for $50.

I'll be putting these items on Craigslist but I thought I'd check with you guys first :)

Email me at brynalexandra at gmail if you are interested!

Coral & Navy

2011-11-11T08:38:00.000-05:00

I've been working on another space using Caitlin's pillows as inspiration. What can I say, I'm loving this print!

This is a "quick fix" for a master bedroom that already has the big items - the paint color, a bed and a dresser.

A little bit girly (the coral floral) and a little bit masculine (the leather mirror and navy blue). I'm also a huge fan of Visual Comfort's Antique Nickel finish.

On an unrelated note, how AWESOME is today? 11/11/11. I have always loved 11:11 and am one of those dorks who points it out when I notice it on the clock and makes a wish. And I'm not going to lie - I may be a bit jealous of all the couples who are getting married today and all babies that get to be born today. :) I hope your 11/11/11 is great!

Thankfulness

2011-11-10T10:10:00.000-05:00

I really love the special feeling in the air during the month of November. It's the month of thankfulness and I'm glad there is a holiday built around that. Blogs are all about what we want, what we wish we had, a glimpse into other people's lives that always seem more glamorous.

True story- every day I try to take a step back and appreciate all the blessings I have in my life. Usually I do this while driving up to the city.. my CD player is broken and I don't like radio so I often drive in silence.

I know this post is sort of random. I don't want to get into too much detail but yesterday I presented a very large project and now it's a waiting game to see if I get it. This is the hardest part of this business.. getting really attached to a job or project and then finding out it went to someone else. So anyway, that's what brought on this post today.. I'm so blessed and thankful for the jobs and amazing clients I do have and will be happy and thankful with whatever happens!

The Real Deal

2011-11-08T21:36:00.000-05:00

Thank you sooo much for all the comments on my post today. Two readers gave me links to two website that look to be the same company.. all the rugs and skews are the same. The sites are:

heritageunlimited.com & erugsales.com

I found exactly what I have been wanting and for a really great price ($180)! So I bit the bullet and purchased this rug:

I have really wanted a beat up old Persian rug and that is exactly what this is. I'm sure there will be some of you who prefer the brand new rug I posted this morning, but my heart has been set on something old and I'm so happy I didn't settle for the new one because it just felt a bit TOO new for me. For some reason I just really love old, beat up things.

It also came with a free rug pad. Awesome!

I'm crossing my fingers it's perfect for my space (but good news - they accept returns).

Love it or Hate it?

2011-11-08T08:59:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for a rug for our front entry and have wanted an antique turkish rug look. Well, I would LOVE a real antique turkish rug but they are very pricey (all the ones I've loved are around $800!) and Charlotte may or may not pee on it.

I came across this rug and I really love the colors and style:

And it's the perfect colors for the space:

But the picture of another angle makes me a bit hesitant. It has a great rich color in the picture above, but the picture below looks a bit softer.

It's $169 for a 3' 11" x 5' 7" which is in my budget.

What do yo think - love it or hate it? Should I order to see what it looks like in person? Does anyone have any good sources for inexpensive antique kilim/turkish rugs?

ps- I plan on a large west elm flax jute rug in the living area.

Home Goods Giveaway Winner

2011-11-07T14:37:00.000-05:00

Congrats, Jess!! Email me at brynalexandra at gmail to claim your Home Goods gift card!

I couldn't agree more with your comment ;)

Thank you all so much for entering!

It's A Sign

2011-11-07T11:34:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I had a meeting in my office and my seating situation is quite embarrassing.

Yup, that's an old settee covered in a blanket. :-/

I went to ikea.com and this is what I saw:

What a great deal right now! The Erktop sectional I've planned for months and months to get for the office is $500. This would give me a $75 gift card, which is perfect because I also have a handful of storage items on my list for the office, too.

I have until December 20th to bite the bullet!

ps - I'll be announcing the Home Goods winner later today!

A Design Board & Guest Post

2011-11-04T08:42:00.001-04:00

I recently created this living room design board for an e-client. They had a really awesome floor to ceiling old red brick fireplace, so I took the colors straight from it to create the space.

Yesterday I wrote a post on Makeunder My Life about finding the perfect pieces at discount stores like Home Goods. It's all about what is worth taking home and what is best to be left so you don't accumulate clutter in your home. Here is an example:

Take It:

Leave It:

CLICK HERE to check it out!

Smells soooo good.

2011-11-03T10:13:00.000-04:00

I am OBSESSED with candles. It's kind of like how some people are with Starbucks... a little money spent here and there but then someone adds it all up and you could be saving thousands each year. I don't want to know how much money I spend on candles a year.

Anyway, I went to Home Goods for a little guest post I'm writing and they have the best candles right now. (No they are not paying me or anything to say this.. it's just the truth). Especially since fall/holiday candles are my FAVORITE!!

If you love fall/holiday candles, seriously run to your nearest Home Goods. I sniffed a lot of them and these featured in this picture are the best (in my opinion).

Sprig Holiday (Red Box) smells almost identical to Nest Holiday which is one of the best holiday candles on the market. It's actually interesting because Sprig is a sister company of Nest. Hmm.....

Sprig Holiday (Green Box) is a really great Christmas tree-smelling candle.

In the silver Calvin Klein box is a candle called Conifer Branch and it, too, smells like a Christmas tree. It's amazing. If your Home Goods has the Calvin Klein candle I would purchase it over the Sprig green box candle. Even though it's not technically the holidays yet, I had it lit when my family was over and they all were going crazy over it.

The Sahara box is not a holiday scent, but PERFECT for fall. Hands down it's my favorite candle right now. It is amazing I can't even describe it. I'm temped to go back to Home Goods and get another one. It's by Paddywax and part of their Destination collection which appears to be discoed.

In case you are curious, I purchased a small-sized Sprig Red Box, a large 3-wick Calvin Klein and the large 3-wick Sahara. I think I'm set for the Holidays (but knowing me, I'll get some more).

Crushes

2011-11-02T09:57:00.000-04:00

Ever since I can remember I always had crushes on boys. I'm talking like 6 or 7 years old. My first crush's name was Tristan.. he had blond hair and was sooo cute.

I don't get crushes on boys anymore, excluding my husband and Robert Pattinson, but I do get crushes on pretty little things.

Here are some of them right now...

This blue-ish gray-ish side table.. it's not used in anything else in the room but it's so perfect. I love it (and I think I am going to copy the color for my little vintage cigarette table in my living room)

And speaking of the little cigarette table, this latch is perfect for it. I love hardware!!

I'm hoping it will work.. for $2.10 I'm willing to try.

I'm majorly crushing on the painting my parents just sent me. Every time I walk down the stairs and see it with the black doors it makes me happy.. especially when the light flows into the room so beautifully.

It really makes me want to get things done in this space!

I'm crushing on this beautiful frame.. but it's pretty pricey.

And this lamp I saw at market:

Skirted tables.. I have a major crush on skirted tables right now.

Are you guys crushing on anything right now?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T11:53:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween! I have to admit this day is pretty uneventful for us since we don't have kids.. but for those of you who do I wish you lots of fun tonight!

This past weekend felt more like Thanksgiving than Halloween... the weather was crisp and cool, the fire was roaring and we had a house full of my family. It was awesome!

Vegetarians... beware.

I really need to get going on my gallery wall......

The best part of the night was teaching Grandma how to spice up a photo.

I'm sad this one came out blurry... Matt, me and my parents!

I'm glad to see Halloween come and go because I am so excited for the upcoming Holidays.... it's my favorite time of the year and I can't wait to see my family even more in these next two months.

A Home Goods Giveaway!

2011-10-28T09:19:00.005-04:00

I was really excited when Home Goods contacted me to see if I was interested in a giveaway.. I of course said YES!!

If you read my blog often, you know Home Goods is one of my favorite stores. I live within walking distance to one and I tend to go there a lot. I don't usually buy something every time, but I love to go and see what's new since things are always changing.

If you remember back to this post, I got my family room lamp from Home Goods. I really love all the blues in it and it goes perfectly with my room.

Home Goods has a new video feature with quick design tips on YouTube. You can check all the videos out here. Here is a video about lamps!

One lucky winner will win a $250 gift card to Home Goods!! I will be choosing the winner at random via random.org.

To enter, leave a comment telling me about your favorite Home Goods find.

The giveaway will be open until Friday, November 4th 11:59 pm.

Good Luck!!!

Making Progress

2011-10-27T13:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday around 4 pm I was bound and determined to finish my black french doors and get them up. It took me until 9 pm but I did it! It feels good to have a project finished (for the most part. I still need to do some touching up).

Finishing the doors must have been fate because this morning I was delivered a HUGE package. I was shocked to see my parents had shipped me the painting I have been wanting for a while!! It was so unexpected, I had planned on bringing it back with me while visiting them for Thanksgiving.

And the best part, they are coming today for a short visit. I'm sure my mom planned it out this way, but I'm so excited for them to see the painting hanging in our living room in person!

There is still soooo much to do in this room (like the rest of our home). In case you are curious:

- I won the cream chairs from Joss & Main. I plan on having them reupholstered and adding a skirt similar to this Lee chair:

I'm not sure in which color yet...

- Drapery Panels

- Paint table in between Joss & Main chairs

- New lamp & Mirror in Entry

- Sconces on either side of the painting

- Rug in entry (and eventually in the sitting area too but we need one in the entry first)

Accessible Design

2011-10-26T09:44:00.000-04:00

Sure, I love To The Trade fabrics from Schumacher and Kravet as much as the next decorator, but I want to share with you some accessible options that I am using in a couple projects. These textiles come from really talented women and I always feel good supporting fellow small business owners.

I recently ordered two yards of beautiful hand-printed linen from Etsy seller Pat of Giardino. She was so great to work with and I am very pleased with the fabric I received for a client.

If you remember back to this post, I had originally planned on using this David Hicks by Lee Jofa fabric:

It ended up being too harsh for the space and I decided to go with this fabric that Pat hand prints. I had her create two yards for me and I will have some pillows made for my client.

I'm sure all of you have seen Caitlin's new fabric line... it's fantastic! She recently sent me some samples and I was sooo excited that one of them works PERFECTLY with the Japenese screen/emerald sofa project I'm working on.

The colors are perfect and the floral used in the fabric looks like a modern take on the floral in the screen.

I especially love that Caitlin offers her fabrics in pillow options. My client also loved the fabric, so we'll definitely be ordered two of these for the emerald sofa:

And last but not least, we recently had a trunk show at Isabella for Bella Studios, a very talented local seamstress. Jennifer doesn't just sew pillows, she handcrafts them. They are soooo beautiful and considering the amount of detail she puts into them, are very reasonably priced too! (click on each pillow to go to the website)

This next one is so cool.. she took plain white fabric and hand knit it and then hand dyed it to create this ombre look. Then she sewed it into a pillow. So creative!!

These next ones aren't up on the website yet, but they are available. Email info@isabellastyle.com if you are interested. They are all around $140-$160

So much talent!!

The Perfect Ottoman

2011-10-25T08:51:00.001-04:00

On Sunday I went to market with the Isabella girls. We were on the hunt for pieces for clients, but sometimes I stumble upon things I would really love for my house (I think all designers/decorators do!!)

This ottoman is what I found:

The two tops are double-sided.. tray on one side and ottoman on the other. Love!!

Perfect for in front of my two black chairs...

I'll be saving my pennies! :)

(If you are also interested in the ottoman, email me at brynalexandra at gmail!)

Giveaway Winners

2011-10-25T08:36:00.001-04:00

Tiffany Leigh & Rachael - please email me with your addresses!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered. I actually have another great giveaway coming up this week!!

Let's talk about sweaters....

2011-10-24T08:46:00.001-04:00

The weather is cooling down here in NC and I love it!! But I really, really need some sweaters. Last winter I found myself freezing and desperate so I went to Old Navy and bought three sweaters.. cheap cheap cheap. I need to get some of (better) quality this year so I can actually wear them again next year.

Here are some that I think would be good staples in my closet...

J. Crew Color Block Mockneck Sweater - $95

LOFT Poncho V-neck Sweater - $59.50

Gap Shawl-collar Cardigan - $79.95

Real Estate Stalker

2011-10-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

I love when bloggers post pictures of real estate in their area. Paula is awesome at finding amazing places (click here to see them all). This week Jenny posted a crazy awesome home in Brooklyn.

I try and look for great places in Charlotte a lot but the majority of the real estate in my favorite neighborhoods are super traditional. :-/ But I did stumble across this gorgeous home this morning! It's definitely been decorated... I wonder by whom?

There is also a virtual tour which had some additional photos:

Steals & Deals

2011-10-19T09:12:00.000-04:00

There are some great deals that I have stumbled upon lately and I thought I would share them with you!

First up is this West Elm sconce. It looks so much more expensive than it's $129 price tag.

Caitlin is the queen of finding and pinning the best things. Through her pins I found this awesome tufted chair for only $380:

It also comes in gray:

Also on Overstock is this beautiful chair for only $650:

This may not be a "steal" but it's definitely a deal... this pillow is so gorgeous. It's 26" (Euro size) embroidery on linen which makes the $125 well worth it. It reminds me of Dransfield & Ross.

I'd love to decorate a sexy bedroom around it and throw in some magenta.

And somewhat unrelated, I found these chunky heels that are perfect for fall. I think they are a good deal at $105.

I am constantly on my feet all day long so I have to find shoes that are first and foremost comfortable, then cute. All summer I lived in these (in tan) and I need to find a fall equivelent. I think these chunky heels could work?

Now the question is should I get black (above) or tan?

March Of Dimes Show House Bedroom

2011-10-18T08:36:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned a week or so ago, Isabella decorated a bedroom in the Charlotte March of Dimes Designer Show House.

Remember the inspiration?

Here is the finalized space:

There were so many other amazing spaces in the Show House. Here are some taken from Lucy and Company's blog.

[ Lucy and Company ]

[ Lisa Sherry ]

[ Luxe ]

[ Barrie Benson ]

And here we are, the Isabella team:

Shannon, Erin (the owner) and me

It was so great to be a part of this event!!

A great weekend with my husband

2011-10-17T10:17:00.001-04:00

Every weekend I look around at the projects that need to be done in my house and think I'll tackle them. Then Sunday evening comes and I never got around to it! (I usually work on Saturdays which makes house projects a bit harder to tackle).

Even though I didn't tackle any projects this weekend, I had a fun weekend with Matt. Matt is a race fan and this past weekend was the Charlotte race and I always go with him. I like going to the races because:

+ I'm supporting my husband
+ The people watching is hilarious
+ It's exciting to see wrecks (as long as no one gets hurt).
+ Jimmie Johnson is SO hot

Whenever we go to a race we always sit in the front row. We were cracking up when we watched the recap the next day.. here we are behind my husband's favorite driver:

Sunday we went out to grab some lunch and realized we had accidentally dressed the same but in the reverse:

haha!

On a side note, the car we were in is a rental my husband was given for a recent work trip. The middle console flips up to make a seat. I couldn't believe cars still did that!

I know this post isn't typical on the blog, but I thought I'd share a little glimpse into our lives since I've been a failure at house projects lately!

A Bonus Room for Boys

2011-10-14T08:52:00.000-04:00

I recently did a bonus room design board for a family with boys. The result is a mix of masculine/industrial mixed with bright color.

I think vintage WPA posters are so cool and they always seem fitting for kids/teens' rooms. Here is a link to a TON of WPA posters.

I love the vintage graphics and the straight-to-the-point messaging.

Do you need a headboard?

2011-10-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

I am really surprised at the great selection of headboards I recently found here. And the prices.... craziness!

I selected this one for my client's bedroom:

Here it is in the board:

Our guest bedroom desperately needs a headboard... I'm thinking this may be the perfect fit:

The guest bedroom needs some serious help. Right now it pretty much just has the necessities.

I want the end result to be a pretty, neutral and relaxing room for which ever set of parents are staying in it!

Emerald

2011-10-11T08:56:00.000-04:00

Emerald green is my current favorite color right now (it's also my birthstone!). I'm currently knee deep in it because I am presenting a design plan tomorrow with an emerald green velvet sofa. I think my client is going to love it, fingers crossed!

Here are some inspiration pictures I will be bringing along with me...

[ all images found via Pinterest ]

Recently I helped a friend of mine who is a jewelry designer with her blog and website, and in return she gifted me these gorgeous emerald green earrings... I love them!!

I used to only wear studs.. now I only wear her jewelry! haha. (if you are interested in the earrings above, email Meredith at majdesigns@gmail.com)

Here are some emerald green pieces you can bring into your life if you, too, have been obsessed with this color lately:

[ via ]

And... Another Giveaway!

2011-10-10T09:28:00.000-04:00

Two Giveaways in two weeks, yay! Recently the folks over at Waverly emailed me with another fabric giveaway. They added some new patterns to their Modern Essentials collection and they are really cute:

Waverly has generously donated 10 YARDS OF FABRIC to the winner! And here's the best part - it can be 10 yards of one print or 1 yard of 10 prints, or whatever you want to do! You could decorate an entire room with this giveaway (or reupholster an entire piece of furniture).

To enter:

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post!

This giveaway will be open until this Sunday, 10/16/11 at 11:59 pm.

Waverly is also hosting a similar giveaway on their Facebook page, you can also enter over there for 2x the chances of winning.

Waverly isn't compensating me in any way for this giveaway, I just thought you guys would enjoy it!

Happy iPhone Day

2011-10-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

At 6 AM this morning I was awoken by my husband nudging me and asking "did you really want the new iPhone?" I've been talking about it for months now.. my camera on my old iPhone is so bad and I really do use it A LOT for my job. And I unexpectedly sold some things at Slate during my last month there (yay!) so I said "Yes please!" and rolled back over. He's so good to me :)

And 10 minutes later I rolled back over and said "White please!" Just in time.. he was about to get black. I've been buying Apple products for 10 years and whenever given a choice I get white, it's sort of tradition by now.

So thanks to my wonderful husband who woke up early to order me the new iPhone, I will finally be able to take pictures of fabrics and the colors will show up accurately rather than having a big pink hue in the middle of them:

And thanks to the voice-command thing-y I won't have to text and drive anymore (yes I am guilty, no I'm not proud of it).

It only took me about 20 minutes to order a new iPhone case:

Happy iPhone Day everyone! Thanks for everything, Steve.. you were the best.

Bedroom Design Boards

2011-10-06T09:12:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since I shared some design boards with you.. recently I have done a few bedrooms. I think bedrooms are actually my favorite rooms to do!

Thank you guys for the great feedback on the Oreck giveaway!

A Thank You Giveaway!

2011-10-05T09:39:00.001-04:00

I have a really AWESOME giveaway for you guys today!!

But first I want to thank you so much for your support. It's so touching to hear from readers who have been reading my blog since "way back when" and I love when I hear from new readers, too. I couldn't do anything I do without my blog readers and I appreciate each and every one of you! I read each comment and email and you guys keep me going every time I wonder "can I do this?!"

Recently I was contacted by Oreck about doing a review and giveaway for one of their vacuum cleaners! I don't often do product reviews on my blog; the only time I do them is if there is a product I would actually buy or a brand I really love. This is the case with Oreck.. My mom has always been a die-hard Oreck user and I grew up listening to the sound of their vacuums :)

Oreck graciously gifted me the Oreck Forever Series Gold vacuum and I can honestly say I love it!

I had plans on making a video, but it ended up being so lame that I decided to forgo it. So instead I'll give it to you straight about what I love about this vacuum:

+ It's SO so light. I could hold it up with one hand (and that says a lot.. I have no muscles haha). My other vacuum is an ancient Dyson which weighs a ton.

+ When the vacuum is running, it self-propels. Kind of like a lawn mower!

+ It works flawlessly!! It makes our very light carpet look clean and picks up even the smallest leaves and sticks.*

+ The head is super thin, so it fits under my kitchen cabinets!! This is huge for me because our home is like a breeding ground for spiders and webs and I have an on-going war with them.

+ It works seamlessly from carpet to vinyl to hardwood... there are no settings to be changed.

There is only one con.. there isn't a hose/pull out thing-y. But since the head is so thin and it fits into nooks, it's okay for me.

*Charlotte brings in collections of sticks and leaves on her tail on a daily basis. I love the girl, but she makes our family room so dirty!

Obviously I took these pictures before I vacuumed haha. The Oreck picks them all up, no problem!

Now for the exciting part.... Oreck is giving away a vacuum for you!

GIVEAWAY INFO:

All you have to do is visit Oreck.com and then leave a comment on this post with one thing you learned about the Forever Series Gold vacuum!

You can also enter up to four more times by doing the following:

o Follow Follow @oreck on Twitter.
o Like Oreck on Facebook.
o Tweet about this. Get the word out.
o Facebook about this giveaway.

Make sure to include a link/info for each entry. EACH ENTRY MUST BE SEPARATE.

This giveaway will be open for two weeks from today 10/5/11 to 10/19/11 11:59 pm.

GOOD LUCK & THANKS, ORECK!

DISCLOSURE:
Important Details and Rules: This giveaway is open to US RESIDENTS ONLY. You must be 18 years and older to enter.No duplicate comments. There will be one winner of the Oreck Forever Series Gold Vacuum. Winner will have 72 hours to get back to me other wise a new winner will be selected. Please leave a way for me to notify you. Email will only be used for point of contact for winner. * Facebook does not sponsor or endorse this giveaway. They are not affiliated with this blog in anyway. Winner will be determined via drawing on random.org. Odds of winning will be dependent upon total number of entries.

I was given the Forever Series Gold Vacuum to review from Oreck. All opinions stated in this post are entirely my own opinion. Oreck is providing the vacuum for the winning entrant.

A dream of mine

2011-10-04T07:45:00.000-04:00

Ever since starting my own little interior decorating business, it's been a dream of mine to get published. Well I'm excited to share that the day has come!!

This project has been featured in a before + after article of Charlotte Home & Garden, Charlotte's local design magazine. Here is the article!

The editor told me they don't like to have TVs in the shot, so luckily Slate Interiors let me borrow a LARGE piece of art. It was absolutely PERFECT and both the homeowner and I wish we could have kept it! (The article mentions I purchased it for the space but I didn't.. it was on loan).

Here is a picture I snapped with my iPhone while having the room shot:

It was really awesome! A big thanks to Charlotte Home & Gardens for featuring little ole me and my amazing clients for letting me take over their living room for a morning! :)

Chi-Town

2011-10-03T09:18:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday my husband and I left town to visit Chicago!!

We traveled to Chicago for the wedding of a great friend of the family (and the couple has also recently moved to Charlotte... yay!). My in-laws also attended the wedding so it was great seeing them as always! I haven't been to Chicago since I was a girl, and really all I remembered was it being cold and riding the train that goes above the city.

This time around it was still cold (and very windy!!) but we had a great time... it's a BEAUTIFUL city. Everywhere you turn there is marble and granite... yum.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend!

The wedding was GORGEOUS!! The reception was held at the Palmer House. It was the most elegant wedding I had ever been to.

CONGRATS to Mike and Jacquelyn!!

And now back to the daily grind :)

Four Years

2011-09-29T08:00:00.001-04:00

Today marks four years of wedded bliss for my husband and me. I seriously cannot believe how fast time has flown by and how amazing these years have been. Sure, like any couple it's not all puppies and rainbows all the time (like when I sometimes yell at him to stop being lazy and to do whatever random chore I want him to do). But for the majority of the time it's amazing.. we're a team, and we're always on each others side no matter what.

We got married pretty young.. I was 23 and he was 24. It wasn't for religious reasons (we were living together after all), and a lot of people told us "you are too young!" (Isn't it amazing what comes out of people's mouths?). But we never thought twice about it. There was never a thought in my mind that I shouldn't marry this guy.. he is my best friend and he means the world to me. He makes me a better person and he understands me completely.. the good, the bad and the ugly. Not to mention he is the most supportive husband I could ever have. When I said "I'm going to quit my decently-lucrative day job to be a decorator" he didn't bat an eye.

It's funny because we are soooo different. A true example of "ying" and "yang". You could say I'm aloof, artsy and stubborn. He's "square" and simple and always with it. But I think that's the key to our relationship.

I started this blog to write about our lives (Did you know it used to be called Newlywedisms? haha). It's turned into so much more and it's made all my dreams come true, but sometimes I still want to document things and feelings, which is the reason for this post. No one ever knows what the future will bring, but this is how I feel here and now.

And in honor of our anniversary, some pictures of our wedding. They make me so happy because I can really see how happy we were that day. It was perfect!

Look For Less

2011-09-28T09:13:00.000-04:00

I usually leave the "look for less" category to the professionals, like my blog friend Copy Cat Chic, but I had to share this one today.

Look: Lattice pillow by Dransfield & Ross, $240

For Less: Lattice pillow by Lands End, $44.50 + insert

Obviously there are differences in materials, but the look is very similar. I'm considering the Lands End pillow for a project!

Organization Inspiration

2011-09-27T08:30:00.001-04:00

If you only could see my office right now... it's a HOT MESS. Fabric is everywhere. The rest of the house is neat and tidy, but my office is my dirty little secret.

My husband actually thinks I should show you. I agree that bloggers should keep things real more often.. so here it goes:

So anyway, I'm finding some comfort in these highly organized spaces and ideas today!

This is about exactly the same size as the linen closet in our guest bathroom. I would LOVE for it to look something like this... someday!

Great idea for managing pot lids. This would be perfect for under our kitchen island!!

Can you get any better than this organized "junk drawer"?

I've put together a "For My Office" board on Pinterest to help get my butt in gear for finishing my office. Here are some things I've added to my list to help me get organized:

Bonjour!

2011-09-26T08:21:00.000-04:00

One of my clients went to France this summer and when she came back she told me she wanted to add a "French" vibe to her home. I wasn't quite sure what she meant by it, but my initial thought went to Kirklands.

But off to the internet I went to do some research and I started to look up Paris hotels.

This hotel, Hotel Keppler, was featured in Lonny.. soo pretty!

[ images via here ]

And another hotel, Belle Juliette Paris:

And my favorite, Le Sainte Beuve. They have the best virtual tour.. click here to view it. All the images below are screen shots from the virtual tour so they aren't the best images, but I definitely recommend checking the tour out for yourself. I love every single thing about this place, and I have added it to my "bucket list" to stay here one day :)

In each bedroom they have the most beautiful draperies.. they have two different fabrics/textures with a thin accent band in the middle. I loved them so much I recommended we do the same with the Show House, and we are! I cannot wait to show you.

Once I got on the French kick, I picked up this nude for my client, and the "French looking" chair (which I've posted about before):

I cannot write about France without mentioning my mom.. she is the biggest Francophile I know. She lived in France when she was younger, is fluent in French and there is actually a French student living with my parents right now! We've been to Paris together when I was young but I think we must go back again now that I really appreciate the art and architecture.

Sneak Peek

2011-09-23T13:10:00.005-04:00

When our seamstress got all our fabric for the Show House pillows, she pinned up this beauty and sent us an iPhone picture asking us if we'd be interested.

Um, amazing!

Everything from the Show House will be for sale, so if you are interested in this pillow email me. Or if you want this pillow in different colors, our seamstress can do it.. email me! brynalexandra at gmail.

Fall

2011-09-23T08:48:00.001-04:00

Fall.... It's my very favorite season of all (he he).

I cannot wait until all the leaves start changing here in NC! I've vowed to myself to get up to Asheville to take in the beauty (and maybe a little antique shopping, too) this fall.. I hope I can keep that promise to myself!

I love this living room, it definitely reads "fall" to me (the orange!):

[ via ]

And speaking of orange & fall, I recently came across this awesome orange & gold paper:

Put it in a frame and voila - beautiful, inexpensive art. (a little side note - this paper is so inexpensive, $5.95, I would actually have it professionally framed. It will make it look so expensive and the price of the art would really only be the framing cost!)

Happy Fall!

2011 Designer Show House in Charlotte!

2011-09-21T15:12:00.000-04:00

I have some fun and exciting news for you guys. There is a 2011 Designer Show House in the works right now in Charlotte, and Isabella is a part of it! Even though my own decorating business takes up most of my time, I also am so blessed to be one of three designers at Isabella, and we've been working hard on an AWESOME bedroom for the show house!

Here is a sneak peak at our design plan:

We're doing a sophisticated neutral room with rich jewel tones and lots of texture. We're blogging all about it over at the Isabella blog, but I'll also be posting updates on this blog since working at Isabella is a big part of my life too!

I'll be sharing more info about the show house later but here is some info for now:

New Installment of Etsy Love

2011-09-21T10:25:00.000-04:00

As you know, I love Etsy and I really love sharing my Etsy finds with you guys. What's not to love... Etsy has great talent all in one place for really reasonable prices.

Here are my recent favorites!

A work of art made into a pillow. I LOVE it! (It also is from a local North Carolina artist.. represent!). This Etsy shop is currently having a sale, too.

Watercolor Pillow

I LOVE this necklace.. the pink is so feminine but the shape of the stones is edgy.

Tourmaline Necklace

I am so into emerald green right now.. I love these earrings! AND the Etsy shop is called BRYN Collection. How cool!

Ivy Lace Earrings

Big leather totes are one of my favorite things. I carry this one as my purse everyday which is very similar. But I love that this (below) one has a zipper!

Big Leather Tote Bag

Along with emerald green, I'm also obsessed with purple right now. I love these!!

Amethyst Earrings

Does this painting not look like the most perfect day?

Mulberry Fields

This pillow is the most perfect pillow for my office. I've decided I need to buckle down and get that baby finished.. right now it's a hot mess!

Lee Jofa Pillow

Do you guys like when I share my latest Etsy favorites with you?

Yup, I'm still working on them.

2011-09-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

Remember I told you guys I was painting our french doors in the living room black? It's been the project that is taking forever. I have been working on it in my free time and I don't have much free time.

But both doors have been painting, and now I'm in the process of scraping the glass panes.

In case you are curious, I like to scrap the glass clean rather than use painters tape. Taping takes FOREVER and even when I do it, there still ends up being leaks that I need to scrape anyway. Plus when you don't tape, the paint gets into all the little crevices and covers completely.

I can't wait until I'm finished and I can get these babies up!

I've learned in decorating that sometimes the game plan changes a little bit. Now that I've painted the doors, I feel like the dining room wall color is a bit too "flat" (not finish-wise, but color-wise) for the doors. It's a dark purple, but it usually looks dark brown or black-ish most of the time. It doesn't give much contrast to the doors (you can see what I mean in the picture above).

Here is another angle at a different time:

This is the actual color:

Kalamata Olive, BEHR

It's a great color, but with the addition of the black doors I think I need something a bit warmer to create a distinction between the black and the purple (you see the dining room when looking through the doors from the living room).

I'm now considering this:

Chianti, BEHR

The entire dining room needs another coat anyway, so no big deal if I switch things up a bit. We'll see!

And that's what's going on at the home front.

Beat It

2011-09-19T09:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was in Home Goods and they had some great new things. Here are some iPhone pictures I took..

I wanted to take this chair home but had no use for it.

They had tons of great beat-up storage pieces. They were a lot better in person than in my crappy phone pictures.

"Beat up" furniture (no, I won't call it Shabby Chic or Rustic) is a new thing for me.. I never liked it much but I've started to be really drawn to it. I think a bit of Charlotte (the city) is rubbing off on me; it's pretty common in design here.

For example, check out the "beat up" demilune tables in this Charlotte home I featured last week:

I really like when it's mixed with all contemporary pieces.

Here is a chair I'm using for a project, it will be reupholstered and put next to a contemporary Karlstad sofa (and yes the zebra cowhide will also be in the space).

And a goodie from Pinterest...

Old + New... I love it.

Tales From The iPhone

2011-09-15T10:32:00.000-04:00

Even though I'm really sad to be (almost) done with my booth at Slate, I'll still definitely be a regular there. Lately they have had some really great things that I have picked up/snapped a picture of for clients. Here are some of them...

This painted screen is so beautiful.. I picked it up for a brand new client. We don't even have a design plan yet but I sent to her and luckily she was down with me using it to create her entire plan around!

I also picked up these chairs for another client's sunroom. I love the casual bamboo frame and the citron fabric. They look so awesome in her space!

A couple other things I liked but didn't purchase..

I saw these new drapes at IKEA. The color is really great.. a pale blue/gray. The fabric is woven so it's more formal than plain cotton, but the panels are grommeted making them more casual.

They are called Ransby, looks like they aren't even on the website yet.

And because I adore her, here is a picture of sweet Charlotte. When she sticks her tongue out a little it melts my heart.

This week we took Char to the vet for a minor paw infection, and while the vet was doing the routine check of all her parts she said "wow her teeth look great". My husband and I were like, seriously? Did you miss her rotten crooked teeth in the front? haha. (the vet was commenting on the fact they were healthy... Charlotte we love you and your yellow crooked teeth).

Scores

2011-09-14T08:49:00.001-04:00

Are you so sick of hearing about Missoni for Target? Yesterday morning I had to stop by Target to fill a prescription, so I thought what the heck.. I'll check it out. I was at Target at 10:30 AM and everything in the Home Decor department was sold out!! Bummer.

I did however find some great fall heels (I love them even without the infamous "Missoni" name) and some notecards (which were also something I've been needing to pick up lately). Score! I also purchased a fold up toiletry case. There was a crowd of women and I thought I HAD to have it.

Well, after I got in my car I had buyers remorse since I have a perfectly good toiletry case at home. I don't need two. So later that day while I was still running errands I went to the other Target near my house (I'm lucky, we have two super close to us!) to return the case. Well, this Target had just a couple Missoni home items left so I picked up a candle and a cute frame.

And here they are, my Missoni for Target scores:

The candle smells really good but they cheap-ed out on the wick; the candle blows out when the fan is on! But the holder is really pretty and when the wax is gone I can still use it.

I love my new suede heels! And the notecard set.

I had to get this frame because it has all the colors that is in my Nympheus pillow.

And here is a crappy iPhone picture of the frame in use:

This picture from our wedding is one of my favorites from the day. The DJ had put on the song "Sweet Caroline" and someone had grabbed the mic. Matt got a hold of the mic and serenaded everyone (and believe it or not, we were too busy to even drink that night! We were on an incredible high). It was such a great moment, everyone was singing along and I always laugh at the groomsmen with their suspenders down. It started a tradition in our group of friends of Matt getting the mic and singing this song at all our weddings.

On a side note, I love how the white on the frame is directly under the white on my dress. haha!

Did any of you guys get any Missoni scores?

North Carolina - Represtent!

2011-09-13T09:40:00.000-04:00

I know, I know by now you've probably seen these images a million times.. but I just had to do a post about it!

I've now lived in Charlotte, North Carolina a year and a half but it really feels like home for my husband and I. I was so proud and excited to see North Carolinian designer Lisa Sherry in the latest Lonny.

I've blogged about Lisa before (here and here and here). I've had the pleasure to meet her several times, do a little bit of freelance work for her and even walk market with her and her team. She has been so kind to me and she is truly one of my roll models. Her national (global?) recognition in Lonny is well-deserved!

all images via Lonny.

Here and There

2011-09-12T09:57:00.000-04:00

This post is random but there are a couple things I have to share with you.

First I am sad to report that this month is my last month with our booth in Slate Interiors. Ending my time with the booth was not something I wanted to do but the simple fact is I don't have the time for it anymore :( It took a lot of time and energy finding the perfect pieces for the booth and then rehab-ing them. I've been blessed with a handful of new clients and something had to give.. I had too much on my plate. It's a good problem to have, but I'm so bummed to no longer have a booth. Amanda (my booth partner) is also retiring from the booth, but if you ever need pillows sewn she is amazing! Email me and I'll forward it on to her.

I still have a passion to find and share amazing pieces, so I'll be putting my "shop" blog back up now that I no longer have a booth. More on that later.

This week I'll be "slashing prices" to sell all my inventory at Slate so if you live in Charlotte be sure to check it out!

In other news, Today I was featured on Chassity's amazing blog Look Linger Love with a baby boy nursery I designed for her nursery series.

Go check it out HERE!

And I would like to address the 9/11 10 year anniversary. Yesterday was quite a deep day for me (as it was for the rest of the country). I'm still in a bit of a funk. I spent almost all of yesterday (and a little bit of this morning) watching the coverage of the 9/11 memorial and also the coverage from that day. I probably shouldn't have, but I also went onto You Tube and watched things I had never watched before... the people falling from the buildings, the phone calls from people trapped, the phone calls from people on the planes.

Ten years ago I was 17 years old in high school and deciding which college I should go to was more real to me than what had happened. Of course I, like the entire country, was stunned and devastated as we watched the news and the events unfold, but it was different yesterday when I watched everything (a lot of it for the first time). But ten years later as I watched everything it was like I really saw it all for the first time.. I think because now I am an adult with a husband and starting to think about a family of our own. It really didn't hit me until yesterday the depth of the event.

And I know it's not just me... everyone of you reading this (especially us Americans) probably feel the same way. We'll never understand, but as they say we'll never forget.

Note To Self

2011-09-09T08:19:00.002-04:00

Go to thrift store to find a knee-length floral polyester dress to wear with black tights/leggings and boots.

[ via ]

So cute!

One man's trash...

2011-09-08T09:27:00.000-04:00

You know the saying... one man's trash is another (wo)man's treasure.

Last week my MIL was here to visit (no projects this time, just lots of hanging out and work on my part). During Labor Day Weekend my husband's grandparents (MIL's parents) stopped by for a quick visit on their way to the beach. They know how much I love old, thrifted things so they always bring little gifts for me that they have either found or bought at a garage sale usually for $1 or so. This time they brought some really great things!! I was so excited :)

My favorite is this awesome old chair:

It has so much character (even though it needs some work, like a seat and a back). It's perfect for this little nook in our living room:

I think a contemporary fabric would look great on it.

They also brought this little table that was a perfect fit in between the two Joss & Main chairs I won at Blogfest:

It just needs a fresh coat of paint and some love. What color should I paint it? Hmmm...

I joked with Matt's grandparents that they can come and stay anytime especially since they are furnishing our living room haha.

Thanks again, Nani and Pa!

(oh, so much still left to do in this room......)

A "Collected" Living Room

2011-09-07T09:58:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, I work two days a week at a local high-end shop that also does interior design. I've worked there for a year plus now and it has really helped me train my eye. Recently we went to a customer's home to check out her finished master bedroom that we helped decorate. As soon as we walked in, I asked if I could take pictures of the other rooms of her house. It's AMAZING!!!

Our customer is a very talented artist and decorated her home without the help of a designer and in less than a year (aside for our help in the master bedroom). AMAZING. Also, almost all the art she painted herself.

Here is my favorite room of hers... THIS is what I mean when I describe a space as "collected". She did such an amazing job!!

I love it! Nothing matches, but everything goes. That painting leaning up next to the fireplace is one of her pieces! I love that she has her art scattered around her home.

Her family room is so cool, too:

There are a lot more images of the home here on the Isabella blog including pictures of what we did in the master.

It's Live!!!

2011-09-06T11:27:00.003-04:00

I'm SO excited to announce my curator collection with Joss & Main is LIVE!

CLICK HERE to check it out!!

Here are some of the products I've selected:

Check it out!

Scenes Of Summer

2011-09-06T08:56:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! Like most self-employed people, I worked but I love it, so no complaining here!

Even though the weather is still in the 80's, I'm officially calling summer over. Mainly because I cannot wait to move on to fall... my FAVORITE season ever :)

I was reminiscing about summer and what better way to do so than to go through iPhone pictures. Here are some bits and pieces of my summer:

I kicked off the summer with a great trip to Blogfest in May (and won these chairs and lamp!!)

People watching at a NASCAR race.. beer bellies + hairy backs + a bright blue band-aid = entertainment.

My husband smokes the best ribs. Period.

Lots of work at the shop!

Lots of pool time before the heat got unbearable.

An AMAZING trip to Colorado in July. This was by far my favorite part of the summer.

More grilling done by my husband, he's the best. Charlotte is manning the station.

And more work.. this is how I remember what I need to pick up in the self-serve area of IKEA.

This may or may not interest you, but I put together this video for our friends who got married in Colorado. As I mentioned it was my FAVORITE part of the summer and we have so many great memories from the trip. And the wedding was absolutely beautiful.. I cried and I am so not a crier!

Bye bye summer, bring on Fall!!!!!

"A Marriage Of Style" Look Book!

2011-09-05T11:14:00.000-04:00

My Joss & Main "Marriage Of Style" look book is up! OMG I'm so excited for this event. Don't forget, it launches TOMORROW at 11 AM EST.

I think Joss & Main described the collection perfectly! It will be a mix of hard and soft, industrial and glam, leather and velvet. I cannot wait to share it with you, it was soooo fun picking the pieces!

Be sure to log into Joss & Main tomorrow, Tuesday at 11 AM. You must be a member to shop, click here to join!

Save The Date: Joss & Main Curator's Event

2011-09-02T08:42:00.000-04:00

I was recently asked to be a part of Joss & Main's Curator's Collection and I am SO honored and excited! My event is coming up this Tuesday, September 6th at 11 AM.

Each designer/blogger has come up with their own theme for their curator events. My theme is 'A Marriage Of Style: Masculine & Feminine". Mixing masculine and feminine pieces is my favorite thing to do in decorating for my clients and myself. If you've ever worked with me, I'm pretty sure you have heard me say something like "the sleek masculine lines of this sofa will work well with the feminine curvy lines of the coffee table."

Here is a board I put together with just a few of the pieces that will be available in the sale:

In order to shop the pieces I picked, you must be a Joss & Main member. Click here to sign up!

A Dallas Home

2011-09-01T08:39:00.000-04:00

I was going through some of my website bookmarks and stumbled upon this home tour I had saved dated October 2009. I think I had saved it because of the bookcase image, but was happy I found it again.

The home is located in Dallas and the owners are stylists at Neiman Marcus. I had to do my hometown of Dallas a favor and share this home because the city's design reputation will soon be ruined by HGTV's new show "Donna Decorates Dallas". Have you guys seen the previews? Yikes.

All images were originally published on D Magazine. Click on the link and you can see more.

Mad For Plaid

2011-08-31T09:02:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite designers ever, Amy Meier, just posted her new nursery this week. I LOVE it! Here are some images via her blog.

What really stood out to me is that awesome large buffalo check rocker. I'm a big fan of buffalo check furniture. I was going to reupholster the current settee I have in my office in it, but have decided on a small sectional instead.

There are some great large scale buffalo check fabrics on Premier Prints. They aren't quite as large as the one Amy used though.. the repeat is 5 3/8" Horizontal by 6 1/8" Vertical.

All the above fabrics (and more) are here.

I have also had this image saved:

Just ignore the Christmas trees ;)

And I'm sure you've seen the J.Crew buffalo check shirts around the fashion blogs, too.

[ via What I Wore ]

Pretty

2011-08-30T08:44:00.001-04:00

My life and head are full right now, but there is always room for pretty and inspirational.

All images are from here except for the last picture which is here (I recently ordered it. haha)

Fresh Striped Bathroom

2011-08-29T10:20:00.000-04:00

The striped bathroom has been done many times before.. but I was excited to see a couple pictures of the striped bathroom Tobi Fairley did in the new Hampton Design Showhouse by Traditional Home. It feels very "fresh" to me. I love the colors!

[ via ]

I love the use of huge, fat stripes in the small space. I think I'll be using this treatment in my own striped bathroom.

And speaking of... MIL is here for a visit and I had planned on painting the bathroom with her. But unfortunately (and fortunately) I'm so busy the project is being postponed. Instead I'll be taking some breaks from work and we'll be finishing up some small little not-so-fun things that have been on my "to do" list for a while.

More "Consignment"

2011-08-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

It seems as though my "cleaning out the closet" post went really well so I have some more pieces for you guys today! These are coming from my friend Meredith who has AMAZING style. She is a jewelry designer here in Charlotte and I'll be featuring her, her jewelry and her home on the blog here very soon. I can't wait!

William Rast Low Rise Jean Shorts - $35

Dark wash short worn once and looks super cute with a wedge and tee. Better on a women with a shorter rise.

BCBG Yellow Silk Halter Top Size M - $55 (Retails $119)

Beautiful bright yellow flowy top which ties in the back. Looks great together with the jean shorts. Still sold full retail price online.

Lesley Evers All Day Dress "Audrey" Size M - $60

Shipley Halmos Pink Linen Dress Size 8 - $40

Love this subtle pinky/peachy color with the gold button detail. The elastic waist is very flattering.

Banana Republic Stripped Navy & White Tank Size M - $15

Soft cotton scoop tank worn once. Cute layered or worn alone

Express Sexy Basics Navy & Gold Stripe V-Neck Size M - $10

This tee shirt can be dressed up under a blazer with jeans or worn solo with shorts for a more casual Summer look.

Oh Deer! Women's Jitney Sandal Size 8 - Silver - $12

Oh Deer! Women's Jitney Sandal Size 8 - Gold - $12

Charlie Leather 3" Fringe White Leather Bracelet -$20

Awesome bright white leather bracelet. Never been worn. Will be a finishing edgy statement to any outfit.