Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Darryl Carter

Meeting THIS guy tomorrow:

{Darryl Carter & his German Short-haired pointer...  well, sadly not he pointer, but hopefully Darryl}

I'm going to a book signing!!  (And embarrassed to show him my slightly destroyed copy of the book which has a torn & messed up dust jacket...  It looks like I don't care about it but it's really the opposite--- I've read it too much and messed it up!!  Dust jackets just aren't made for people like me.  ;)

{in Elle Decor}


{Elle Decor}

I could go on & on posting pictures but I'm not going to because I know you've probably already seen & drooled over most of them before.  (In case you haven't, check out his website here.)

I have the tendency to creep people out when I'm a fan of theirs & I first meet them so I'm really going to try to reign it in at the book signing.  (It's @ the tabletop Trade Show in Vienna!)  I get a little excited (no, seriously,  crazily, giddy, blabbery... ) because I feel like I know them.  I've had conversations about them, I've read their books, I've devoured their portfolios and philosophies...  I wonder "what would Darryl do?" haha yes, see?  first name basis.  
  SO,  I'm not sure if my plan  to chill out will work or not because I am
SO.  FREAKING. EXCITED!!!!!!!!
Will let you know how it goes & hopefully I can get a picture.


xoxo, Lauren

ps- Grandmother, if you're wondering who he is, he's the guy you showed me in the Washington Post waaaaay back when I was just getting interested in decorating & designing.  You thought I should try giving him a call to see if he needed any help so I could learn from him.  :)  I love you.

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

Colorful Halloween Party For The Whole Family

Another fun Halloween party from the folks at BHG.  This one if full of bright colors and would be a fantastic backdrop to a Saturday afternoon pumpkin carving party.  Love the green and orange color scheme and the simple hanging banner!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

An Elegant Garden Dinner Party

I'm in love with this elegant dinner party designed by Desiree Spinner Events (found via Inspired by This).  One of the stand-out features is the menu-wrapped peach at each place setting.  Such a unique detail that could be used with apples, pears, mini pumpkins, etc.  I also adore the book shelf vignettes - a great way to add interest and carry out the party decor even further.








More fun details:  chalk board frame for the dessert table, cute tags for the straws, and mini buntings draping the fronts of serving tables.  Beautiful inspiration for any event!
Photos by Dan Cutrona Photography
Paper goods-Dulce Press

Monday, October 4, 2010

Fall's here!!

 Fall just might be my favorite season.  I love it.  I love the feeling in the air, the clothes, the boots, the smell of the wet leaves right now (been raining a lot) and I love that cool tinge of excitement it gives me every year...  Here are a few pics that call it to mind..

{Our mantle}


{image from Country Home}


{Honey bear last year}


{Our entry viewed from lower level family room}

{our living room}


{Mm mm mm!! Stone Soup "how to" here}


{Christian last Fall...  me behind the camera: " Hold the pumpkin!  Smile!!  Good boy.  Yeah now put it on your head! Say cheese!".. poor kid}



{Country Living}

I can't get enough of it.  Today's perfectly gloomy weather has me in a thoughtful mood. 

So, I'm off to eat soup and think ;) ;)  hahahah

  
xoxo, Lauren

Have a great day!!

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

Friday, October 1, 2010

Client Project Plans: Aimee & Dave's Open Plan Living Area

I thought I'd share another project I've been working on with you.  I started working with Aimee & Dave om their new house pre-construction this past Winter.   Here's a photo of the living room mid-construction:


Aimee & Dave are probably one of the cutest couples I've ever met as you can see from the pic below.  See the smiles on their faces as they check out their new place?



They have two cutie pies (not pictured) Eli & Lucy (right around my kids' ages) and are a young couple with a really fun sense of style.  They were looking for fresh, "coastal," fun, family-focused design.  Now since there's really no coast in sight around here, we had to make sure that we didn't get too themey-coastal and instead went with pieces that could work in Virginia but had that easy-breezy vibe.  Aimee knew she wanted aqua and from her inspiration photos we settled on aqua, oraange, and black & white for the general color scheme.

The kitchen is open to the dining nook and the living/ family room and Aimee & Dave wanted a place where they can cook, play with the kids, watch TV, eat, entertain, etc.  (Basically do it all)  Their house is new and open with classic details.  The rooms are a nice liveable big-but-not-too-big- sized-rooms and there aren't any wasted rooms in the house.   They will be literally be using every room of the house.  I love it.


After getting to know Aimee & her style, here's the plan I came up with.   (I typically do client plans in a 3-pronged folder, 1 for me and 1 for them to take home...  Samples are usually loose so we hold, drape on other things, tweak, etc.  I used to do large boards but have gotten away from it recently for the sake of portability...  they were fun though so who knows, I might eventually go back.)
  Anyway, here's the plan for the living area:


Here are the fabrics pictured above:

I'm a little bit in love with the sofa fabric which is the large-scale orange floral linen.  Aimee loved the fabric but took a long time deciding whether to do it on the sofa or not.  Doing a print on a sofa is a big deal.  For the past few years we've all heard the general touting: "Go neutral on your sofa and then switch up your pillows and acessories whenever you want," which I definitely think is perfect for a lot of us, but sometimes a pattern is so right, so timeless and so personal, that you know you'll love it for years and you don't want to switch things up all the time.  And that's how this orange fabric was.  We toyed with the idea of going neutral on the sofa and having pillows made out of it, but Aimee's style is realy fun & bold so she decided to go for it.  I am so excited for this baby to arrive!!!   We're doing it on this sofa: (which has just been finished this week and is ready for delivery!!)"



We're doing the modern wing chairs in a brown velvet with the black & white fabric for pillows, and then aqua pillows on the sofa.

Here are some of the other pieces we're using:



We're doing a large seagrass rug on the floors with the black & white Dash & Albert rug over it.  Remember the German antique barley twist table with inset needlepoint panels?


Yup!  It went to Aimee & Dave.

Here's the living area mid-construction:


...And please don't laugh, I'm not an artist, but the point comes across in this quick drawing:

 

The brown velvet chairs will go in front of the windows which will have aqua blue curtains and woven shades.

I made some optional pieces we could add in later:



Love that lantern pendant...  we're doing one over the island too.  And this guy's going above the fireplace:


Here's the dining nook:



Here's a super-quick brainstorming sketch:


 And here are the actual pieces:


Aimee & Dave have decided to go with all chairs (no banquette) for now and are having a custom table made.  They've also added chalkboard paint to the wall for Eli (who loves it!!) and eventually Lucy.  I'll keep you posted & can't wait to show you some "afters."  Thanks so much to Aimee & Dave for letting me help you with your project!!



xoxo, Lauren

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

Thursday, September 30, 2010

An Idea Worth Stealing

A few weeks ago I found the perfect bouquet at the thrift store for $1. What makes it so perfect?
It's simple yet stunning.
Simple because it's made using a half round piece of styrofoam with the heads of faux flowers glued abundantly on top. It's stunning because it can be plopped atop almost anything and
it looks gorgeous.
A silver ice bucket.A white pedestal vase.An old copper pot.On top of moss rocks inside a huge hurricane.
And it's easy to store away when the season, or your mood, changes. It's definitely an idea worth stealing (or buying at the thrift store for $1).

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

You know it's bad when...

... you pull in the driveway and see your kid's tricycle and consider painting it. 




Or even getting another for Christmas...  



We found Christian's tricycle in the trash by the side of the road a couple of years ago (yes, I pick from the trash) and it's missing that cool thing in the back where we could have pushed him so it didn't get much use until he learned to pedal it on his own.  The colors are totally faded but the fact remains that it works and he loves it.   It's now parked in the front of the driveway (which is in front of our house) because he uses it so much and I have to be honest, it's irking me.  Not driving me crazy by any means, but every time I pull into the driveway and wonder if I should just spray paint the thing black or something, anything to get rid of the faded plastic and blue that just stands out like a sore thumb to me.  As much as I would love to say we could put it away in the shed every night, I know we won't.  Life just isn't like that for us right now.  

I know this is one of those things to let go, but it has my OCD-design head twitching.

We also have a toddler plastic slide/ gym thingy in our back yard...  it too makes me a little nutty and I can't wait to replace it.  

I know toys will be part of our lives for a while now...  and I have to say that I'm so much less bothered by the classic toys than the new plastic ones.  It's crazy that I care but seriously, I'm so much more okay with a bunch of cute little wooden cars on the ground than a bunch of plastic ones...

{Christian's trucks}

We try to limit the toys coming into our house...  When new stuff comes in, something else leaves.  There just isn't room and we don't want our kids to have a million toys they never use.  If something's not getting played with enough, we put it away and take it out a few months later. 

I know I sound like a freak.  What are your thoughts?   (Not on my freakishness, on toys ;)  And, any tips for spray painting a plastic bike?   Maybe just the blue parts???
 

xoxo, Lauren

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