the hand-crafted home

My mom and I have been working on a coffee table book that will feature interiors using handmade craft. This can be quite modern, since craft can be anything handmade, from a painting to a chandelier. My mother was the director of the Mississippi Craftsmen's Guild for years, so she has tons of talented artists and craftsmen at her disposal. I would like to photograph my dining room for the book, and I want to have a dining table custom made for the hand-crafted element.

Right now, I love everything except my table. I have a vintage mirrored credenza, hexagon brass table lamp, gorgeous (huge) photograph triptych of a dogwood branch, the polyhedral light fixture from Worlds Away and the vintage Milo Baughman chairs I recovered in a black zig zag chenille.

The room is super tiny and actually does not support a large table. The front door hits it when I open it all the way and you cannot see the credenza at all. I really need a round but I want to do something more interesting than that. This table has always been in my inspiration files, and I am hoping that something similar can be done in only a 48" size. It will probably have to be bigger to get a hexagon shape. I also want it to be black cerused oak so you can see the strong grain like this:

What do you guys think? I think it could be amazing!
E

my favorite room

I will admit that I have had a rough couple of weeks. Adjusting to a new city or situation can be tough, as many of you know. My mother is the best at words of wisdom. She says, "Go sit in the sunshine and breathe." So that is exactly what I am going to do today.

Another thing that always brings me peace is making my home look cozy and welcoming. Nothing makes me happier than fresh flowers or adding the perfect touch to a room. My favorite room in the cottage is the downstairs den. It was meant to be a second bedroom, but it is tiny, so I made it a tv lounge and I spend most of my time there working on the computer (doing this post!) or watching tv. It just barely fit my sectional and it has a ledge for my tv and art, and my favorite portrait of my grandfather watches over everything. I just changed out the builder grade glass bathroom fixture they had installed to this cool little star flushmount fixture, so I finally feel like the room is "finished"....  I am laughing as I type, because is any room ever finished to a designer?

I hope you all have a favorite spot in your home where you can curl up and think about your life, your goals, and to reflect on everything you have. I am so lucky to have my family, my friends, this beautiful cottage and gorgeous weather. Now to the beach! Have a great week, friends...
E

bedroom dreams

I know I have been talking about this cottage bedroom for months, but I just can't decide what to do. I want to stay true to the architecture and feel of a cozy cottage, but I also want my modern design sensibility to come through. Right now the room is so white...white walls and drapes. I have a jute rug and the gorgeous oak/parchment fishscale chest.

Now I am thinking I will do an antler chandelier:

And this simple bed:

With the modern brass sconces over each side:

The tough part is deciding on a fabric for the bed. I have always loved graphic cubes like this tile:

Of course there is the Pierre Frey Kubus fabric that is so popular right now, but I don't like the metallic gold or the price...

But something along those lines - a smaller print in beige, gray and charcoal. What do you think? Any fabric suggestions?
E

foxy lady

I have been obsessed with fox door knockers for years. So when I got the cottage and saw that it had the most gorgeous blue trim and blue door, I knew I had to add something to it to really make it special. Enter this guy:

I can't wait to get him up!

As I get closer to my departure time - 2 1/2 weeks!!!  - I am getting the last items together that I really need - most of the things I already had were mid century and masculine but sleek, and the few new pieces I have gotten have trended towards rustic wood to pull that cottage flavor in. If I had ANY SPACE available, I would snap up this console from West Elm in a flash. I already have a chest that has parchment drawers, so the parchment factor is lovely to me, but the geometric drawers and brass base?? It is so upscale and high end looking. I truly think this is the best piece West Elm has ever done. Snatch one up before every single blogger and designer out there does...

I have two auctions going on through the weekend that I have items bidding on, so I will be on pins and needles for the next few days. Have a great weekend!
E

you know what my problem is???

Don't answer that. I know I have many problems. My main one at this time is that every time I see something I like, I want to build a whole room around it. Smack in the midst of my bedroom design conundrum I saw this screen for sale:

I know.. it doesn't really "go" with the cottage. But since I have to have a rolling rack of clothes in my bedroom it might be nice to have a screen to hide it. It makes me think of doing something of a mix between these two rooms:

With the screen, a steel poster bed, white bedside tables and my stacked lucite lamps:

I am trying to sell the lamps, so if I do I would just use funky sconces over the bed...here is a board with the pieces in the room:

Am I out of control or what?? hahahaha
E

yikes

Sorry I didn't post yesterday - I am totally frozen. I thought the bedroom would be the easiest room to do and it turns out that I am completely stumped. I love so many different things! I really want to honor the architecture and the pieces that I already have and love - my dogwood branch triptych and my linen sectional and mirrored credenza - but honestly I got into design because I love STUFF. I love switching it up often and doing different looks and I have done that almost every six months to a year for six years now. But in my new place in San Diego I don't know where I will be working and I don't think I will be able to switch it up so often. That is really freezing me because I know whatever I buy I will have for a while.

I still love the black bed from Ethan Allen and the acorn mid century modern bed from West Elm that I posted below, but I also like this upholstered bed:

And I have always loved the architecture bed and the portico bed from Room and Board:

 

I have never been so indecisive....ugh! Gonna take the whole weekend to think about it. Have a good one, friends!
E

cottage bedroom

okee dokee - the easiest room first - the cottage bedroom. I bought a four poster bed from a friend of mine that I love desperately, but unfortunately the ceiling in the bedroom comes down to 78" in half the room, so I cannot have a four poster.

Then, I thought about doing mostly black and white in the cottage, so I was going to go with this Ethan Allen bed I have always liked and an antique mirror pendant:

I do still love this bed, but I think it needs to be in a room by itself. Unfortunately I am going to have to cram a rolling rack of clothes and maybe the curved portion of my sectional in this room, so I need to go more simple, sticking with natural wood and ivory.

Here is what I am left with:

The acorn mid century bed and nightstand from West Elm, with a natural ivory cowhide and antler chandelier. I think this combo is true to all of my other furniture, and is clean and simple but funky. I wish I didn't have to have the clothes rack in there and I might have to have my curving sectional piece at the end of the bed! We will see when we get there what the possibilities are for that.

But in general this mid century look is more me and goes with the cottage and my other things...any thoughts?
E

san diego cottage interiors

Here are pics of the cottage in San Diego. We will start going over the plans for each room tomorrow... this is gonna be fun!

Adorable shingles and blue trim exterior

Front Room - will be dining/design studio or tv room

Kitchen is right there so will do my best to minimize it

Bedroom

Small closet in bedroom - ceiling lower - heater being installed

Small room with sloping ceiling - will be tv room or design studio or closet

Bathroom

Patio, covered carport, and laundry out back - needs a hammock :)

Gorgeous garden path and surroundings

So gang, what do you think? We can definitely work with this, right? I am getting really specific measurements from my bestie soon, so we can make decisions about that smaller room. I cannot decide if it should be cozy tv room, design studio/office, or big closet. I would really like it to be the tv room but I don't know if my sectional will fit in there. So we will plan/dream for all three until we decide!
E

cottage joy

I GOT IT!!
So many people were calling about that cottage but I harassed the real estate lady like nobody's business and had my best friend go over there immediately to meet her and I got it! I am so excited. Of course my style is clean and modern, and I wasn't expecting to be in a little shingled cottage with blue trim, so adjustments need to be made. I have already done my sis' house in what I consider to be "young family traditional cottage" so this look needs to be completely different from that. I don't like any of my projects to resemble each other at all - I don't want to get stuck in a "look" - so I think this cottage will be spare and maybe limited to black and white, with greige linen and rough textures thrown in. I have this huge triptych which will be in the front room and sort of set the tone for the whole place:

I cannot make sweeping changes, like painting cabinets or wallpapering, so I am a little limited as a renter. It is also important to me to stay true to the architecture and my aesthetic, so I won't be able to use the poster bed from Room and Board that I had been wanting (the ceiling in bedroom is too short). It is going to be fun to work around these parameters to make something interesting and fresh.

Here are some spaces inspiring me for this cottage...

Commune Design

Commune - love antler chandeliers

There will be a Mouille style fixture in this cottage!

Love black framed windows but cottage does not have them... :(

Love the carved bed and Deco lantern in Novogratz bedroom

Ryan Korban - too stark but I may do a black hammock out in garden!

There will probably be a rolling rack for clothes in bedroom since only small closet

exposed rack of clothes and shoes in bedroom

Love the large art and open shelving - will prob remove cabinet doors for this look

 So I will post pics of the inside of the cottage tomorrow and we can get started planning room by room - moving August 1st so this will all be done by end of summer!
E