maddie's big girl room

Well I am off this weekend to San Diego. While there we will start work on Maddie's big girl room, finally! This young lady was in the Sweet and Sour Nursery until her little sis was born. Now Olivia is in the nursery and Maddie needs a room that can grow with her. You all know I am the worst at mood boards, but here is one so you can kind of feel what we are doing...the entire room is super pale aqua...

I think every room needs a super "wow" - in the nursery it was the complete wall of bookshelves, which has been the most popular and blogged about thing I have ever done! In this room it will be a wall of alphabet letters, that we are doing in all different color mats. The twin bed will be in Schumacher's Chiang Mai Dragon, which my bestie and I have always wanted to use, and the chair will be the La Fiorentina in lime green. This weekend all the closet drapes (which are solid lime green) will go up and we will do the wall of alphabet letters. The chandelier and side table and sconce should be in place as well.

We will finish up in the next few months and maybe I can photograph it in late summer. I will take pics of the alphabet wall when it is up!

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Exotic White

This gorgeous exotic house in Melbourne was featured a while ago on my new fave blog - 79 Ideas - I love how clean and spare the white walls are, allowing the dark furniture and art to pop off. How cool is that huge rosary hung over the fireplace? See more HERE... Happy weekend!
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miraculous

I never really talk about makeup or skincare on here - this is a design blog first and foremost (sometimes I talk clothes)...but we all have one thing we probably get compliments on more than any other in our lives. For me, it is my skin.

Thankfully, I have never had troublesome skin issues, even when I was a teen. I almost never lie out in the sun, but when I do I wear a 30spf. Clear, clean, soft skin is the biggest turn on for me and I love moisturizing and taking care of mine. For years I have splurged once a year on Creme de Mer moisturizer and I get small sample sizes of the Creme de Mer eye cream on Ebay. But I have found something even better and a fraction of the cost. This will change your life, people:

Josie Maran's Argan Oil. I know, I too did not want to rub an oil into my face. I thought it would be greasy and clog my pores and cause breakouts. It does not. It miraculously sinks in and softens and makes you feel radiant and gorgeous and you only need four or five drops. You can get it online on Amazon or at Sephora. I am not kidding - I do not get paid to say this nor have I received any for free - but Josie, you can send me a whole box! Get some today. You will not regret it.
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Board

When I am bored, I work on inspiration boards. I am terrible at it. Some people can add in backgrounds and fancy wallpapers and moldings and stuff, but I can't. But even if I am terrible at it, it totally helps me see the things I already have with "maybe" items, so I can kind of tell before I buy something if it will go or not.

Here are the boards I have been working on lately for my living room and bedroom. I have 80% of everything that is in these boards already. Just used the boards to decide on a rug for the living room and bedside tables for the bedroom...it was really helpful!

What are you up to when you are bored at work or whenever?
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Romano Mirror

You guys remember this stunning dining room by Todd Alexander Romano in the last Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse...

The faceted mirror he used set off a frenzy for vintage Italian faceted mirrors, which can be found at auction and on 1st Dibs for thousands of dollars. Now, fortunately for us, Bungalow 5 has produced a faceted mirror in three colors - aptly called the "Romano Mirror"...

As you know I am having my dining table lacquered a deep plum, so I think I must own the amethyst one! What do you think about these?
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new orleans auction event

Hey guys - I don't know if you all are still here since I haven't posted in so long. I hope you are!

So I told you about the New Orleans Auction event in the last post and I hope some of you are planning to attend. Auctions are so much fun! Six designers (including moi) were asked to arrange the auction items into vignettes so people could see them set up in a way that would look like a cohesive room. We were not allowed to bring in other furniture items - we just had to use auction items. So the resulting spaces are not truly indicative of our personal styles - but nonetheless I am proud of my Captain's Bedroom! I think if you changed the rug out for a boldly striped dhurrie, and put modern graphic monogrammed bedding on the bed, perhaps a red lacquer chest or lamp, you would have a great bedroom. I especially love the antique ship that I hung as a chandelier, and I really do love old ancestor portraits in modern houses.

So if you are in the area this Thursday evening from 5pm-7pm is the preview evening, and the auction will be all day on Saturday with nibbles and champagne at 10am.

See you there!
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Brunch and Bubbles

Hi, gang! May not be posting much in these weeks as we go into Christmas, as I still have a ton to do to get ready for it. I do have an exciting event happening in January, though. If you happen to be in the New Orleans area January 19th, I would love for you to join me at Brunch and Bubbles!

The event is happening at New Orleans Auction Galleries on Julia Street. It is hosted by Gambit, so you can go to www.bestofneworleans.com for more info... The whole point is to get people more aware of/interested in auctions. Many people still think that auctions only have stuffy old (read: expensive) antiques, and that is just not the case! Six designers, including myself, are going to make different arrangements out of the furniture so everyone can see how they could use the pieces in their own homes. You don't have to participate in the auction, you could just come by for the nibbles, champagne and inspiration!

Hope to see you there!
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