2 home tours I love

This week I found two places I absolutely love and would move into in a second. I'm showing the pics I loved best, but check out Apartment Therapy and Design Sponge for more goodies :)

First up, Kristin's Hollywood Home....I love the architecture of the whole place, but especially the girly, beautiful choices she made through textiles and unique furniture.

She made the pelmets from the Little Green Notebook tutorial I posted on a while ago. Love the matching headboard and pelmets!


Lucky girl, has a dressing room! I like the wood trim on the cabinet below the fabulous mirror...makes it more interesting.


Her living room is beautiful in orange and purple...sounds like a crazy color combo but because of the tones she used it's actually pretty restful. See the rest here!

Next we have a sneak peak from Paul and Jordan Ferney. Love the furniture choices and beautiful but laid-back style...you could make yourself fully at home here (I wish I could!)

I wanna figure out a way to make a dresser like this. Any ideas on where to find the brass corner thingies?


Isn't this great small-space design? All the furniture holds its own...and I spot a Michelle Armas painting...jealous!! (more on that coming soon)

See the rest of this great home here!

Hump Day Dump Day....super late

Well friends, the weekend is hheeeeeeere!! :D And I realized I haven't done my supposedly-weekly "Hump Day Dump Day" in a while so here you go....rooms that have inspired me lately.


I like the deep moody formal curtains against the cheerier, playful patterned chairs.


Rue delivers big. Although this room kinda is a collection of every trendy thing ever...Moroccan wedding blanket, sequins, suzani, brass lamps....I still dig it.


I suwannee's office is beautiful and inspiring. I like the darker rug against the bright pink.


Rowling sisters. Mixed prints = good.


Pretty mirror, classy kitchen, chairs that remind me of my own.


I just really like this room. Very understated and calming, but with punchy prints to liven it up.


Anna Spiro's bedroom in Adore mag....great mix of prints and colors. I love the lavender headboard!!


Rue again...I love that color blue!! Wish I knew what paint it was....against the purple and gold, mmmm.


More Anna Spiro. Fun chair, interesting room, great art.


Adore home with an amazing living room I wish were mine.


Full view of the living room. I like that it looks comfortable and lived-in, nothing too precious, but still well-designed.


Orange and navy color combo....goooood.


Ribbons on the curtains. Again with the Roman shade in a different pattern look.


This image is from Lonny, but I first saw it in Holly Becker's book Decorate (which I hiiiiighly recommend btw. I've never bought a design book before cuz they're kinda expensive for something so unnecessary, but I'm so glad I did--great inspiration and tips! I got mine from Barnes and Noble and Anthropologie also sells it). Great thing about this room: it's a studio, but because of the use of a screen and wallpaper, the bedroom is set apart from the living area. The rest of the room (check the book to see it!) is just as great. Perfect small-space inspiration!


Neutral, beautiful room.


Rue? Lonny? Idk, but I love that blue. Good choice making the big pieces in this room white and accenting with smaller bursts of color.


Loooove this room. Beautiful artwork makes any room look a million times better and more expensive (not that this room needed help on either account).


Chairs remind me of mine, and I like the geometric tailored vibe of the space.


Neutral room with a lot of textural, visual interest.


So that's what's on my mind these days! Have a great weekend yo!

Anna's place

My bff is moving out of her current apartment into a place of her own....time to get my decorator on!! Here are a few images that make me think of her....not necessarily things she would pick on her own I don't think, but ones that remind me of her style. She's really into neutrals (we joke about how her bridesmaids dresses will all be champagne and gold) and simple, classy silhouettes. Basically all the same words I would use to describe this photo:


I like this one for its simple color palate but lots of visual interest:



Ann you know how you have those orange accents now? Add a little blue and voila!

I think that interesting fabrics on classic silhouettes are the way to go for her. This room is simple but has a lot of visual interest, just like the one I summarized above (even though they look nothing alike!)


I could see this being her bedroom.

And I think a nice airy living room would be a great way to unwind after a long day at grad school. This room is great because all you have to do is swap out the pillow for a whole new color scheme!

Anna recently bought a plain wood cabinet on Craigslist (I got her hooked :) and wants to dress it up a little. I think an option like this is beautiful:


Similar color scheme and idea, Danika from Gorgeous Shiny Things is selling these soon and I think they're awesome. Anna, this is what I was talking about when I said glue balsa wood (or whatever) onto the front and paint it cool. You could also paint it all one color for a less dramatic look (and since I'm lazy, if I were doing it myself I'd do something much simpler haha)


You could also ask for a wallpaper sample at your local store, glue it on, and put pretty knobs over that!


If you don't like the idea of gluing wood/wallpaper on in case you ever want to change it, I really want to try a project like this! Paint a base coat, then use a white/silver/gold/whatever light colored Sharpie in the pattern you choose!


The pattern on the headboard would work well on the corners of your doors....just some ideas! :)

If I were to commission a Michelle Armas painting....

Sad news, folks. I was emailing Michelle Armas (my all-time favorite artist) about commissioning a painting...had it all worked out to pay in small installments, etc....then summer tuition took a huge dent out of my savings and I had to face facts that I'm way too broke to buy one of her beautiful pieces. However, if someday I do commission a painting....these are the pics I would send her as inspiration.

First up, my favorites of her paintings:

"Rosalia." My all-time favorite. I love the movement and the array of colors and the drips and the use of white.

Jenny from MFAMB commissioned this lovely. I love the mellow colors, the way it looks almost floral with a watercolor-esque spot of green, and the drips.

"Zena." Unexpected shot of navy blue.

"Hizzle." Interesting color combo

"Capri." I like the there's lots of movement and energy even though the color palate isn't very in-your-face

"Antonia." This reminds me of Rosalia, so of course I love it :)

And now on to the interiors....

Lots of color and movement but the overall look is calming.

Natural, easy-going

Lots of bright white space but also darker tones and lavender for interest.

Interesting color combo--I like that there are patterns and colors that I wouldn't think to put together, but it doesn't look over-the-top

Saturated colors

Bright, sunny, a little ethnic, comfortable

Loooove the color palate....all colors I would never think to put together but I love it.

For more of Michelle Armas' ammaaaaazing work, see here. And for her equally beautiful blog, go here.

And for the love of God, someone commission a painting for her and let me know how it turns out. Her work is way to gorgeous not to be unleashed on the masses.

Ummmmm....

So way back heeeeere I blogged about this pic:

And how I loved the green velvet chairs. Still true, still love them....just realized they look much like:

THESE guys. With different legs (mine swivel and rock, so there). Same smooth round back though. I'm still obsessed with my newest acquisition, clearly. It's always great when you walk into a room and your furniture makes you smile, no?

New Studio Ideas

So I know this is a really rough look....but I was playing around with my different furniture options and I realized I have more options than I initially thought. Lesson learned today: Don't be static in how you use your furniture. A bedside table can become an end table, a vanity can be used next to the bed, etc.

In this version, I'd only have to buy a new rug....as you know, I've been going back and forth on what I'd like. One of the hard things is that sometime in the distant future my significant other and I will live together, so while I really like, for example, a girly glam gold zebra rug I know he'd be less than pleased. When I'm a student with an ridiculously limited budget, is it smart to get what I want now and love it while I have it, or since I'm on limited funds and will be for a while, does it make more sense to get something that has a longer shelf life--say, something a little more dude friendly?

What's your take on this dilemma?