Chic Mamma Baby Shower

Don't you just love those cute stylish moms-to-be who still look perfectly coifed even in their 3rd trimester?(...okay, maybe we love to hate them, LOL)  With those fashionistas in mind I put together an inspiration board for a baby shower with the chic mammas in mind.  Begining with the perfect invitation from Polkadot Design, and carried through to the fashion forward favors - "purse" cookies, this shower has flair.

Another inspiration board I recently created was for a guest post on Half Baked - The Cake Blog.  This is for a Fall Fete with Friends.  Head over to see the rest of the party ideas.

Baby Shower Links:

Invitation - Polkadot Design

Table Setting

Cupcakes

Giraffe

Cookies

Glass

Flowers -unknown

Meet Meg

This is my friend Meg.

Isn't she beautiful! I first met Meg when she was just a teenager. I was impressed with her infectious enthusiasm and positive nature. In her early twenties Meg suffered a tragic accident that left her quadriplegic. Her remarkable spirit and positive attitude helped get her through her ordeal and move on with her life. That's when her motto became:

"When life gets too hard to stand,
keep on rollin'."

I recently made her this necklace as a thank you gift.

(tutorials can be found here, here, and here).

I invited her to speak to a group of women. They loved her almost as much as I do. Even though Meg's life is harder than most, she knows that we all suffer with our own personal tragedies. She inspires you to reach for your goals, no matter how hard it may seem to attain them. Her story will make you cry, laugh, and give you the motivation to keep on rollin'. You can read more about Meg here and while you're there be sure to sign up for her monthly messages. You'll be glad you did!

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.

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!

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

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

  

Have a great day!!

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

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!!

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