Friday, November 13, 2009

Apartment LOVE: Monelle Totah



There are some homes that I can look at over & over and never tire of. These are the FAVORITES. We usually see them a million times splattered all over blogland and to me, Monelle Totah's home featured in Elle Decor a few months ago is one of those. It gets to the point where I almost feel bad posting because I know everyone's already seen it, but I just have to because I love it so much. Monelle is the head designer at Williams-Sonoma home so it's no wonder her place is GORGEOUS. Her living room is my favorite spot:

All- white with small hits of black and silver. It's sophisticated & just insanely beautiful. With its leggy furniture pieces, exposed wood floor & the color palette, it feels airy & open. That coffee table = yum yum!! Accessories are layered to perfection & it just feels ready for cocktails in there!! I'm also loving the dining room (below). It's a bit softer with a little more age due to the antiques, but has the same nice graphic punch of the overscale striped rug that the zebra hide had in the living room. I love seeing the silhouette of the table under the simple linen tablcloth. Such a relaxed elegance...

Below is a stocked little secretary & stylish mail-collecting spot. (At least that's what I'd use it for! ;)

The kitchen is light & airy & freah. The glass cabinet doors makes it feel larger than it is:


Of course I'm loving the white slipcovered headboard & general feeling in the bedroom (below). Also, check out her tired nightstand on the right side of the bed. How great is it for stacking books?! The two ottomans at the end of the bed are great touches (would be full of clothes at my house ;) and something about the green hydrangeas in the arrangement just seals this space for me. I love that hit of green! I have no idea what her budget was in this space but I think it could be fairly easily created on a tight budget. Headboard, ottomans, prints on the wall, books, seagrass rug... And I love the old sawhorse/bench under the window. I've seen them a lot while out shopping (Lucketts usually has one! - very inexpensive) and always consider buying them! (They're a little too skinny to be comfortable sitting on for any period of time though but look amazing... probably great for putting on shoes & setting books on... haha now I want one!! don't go to Lucketts!! just kidding ;) And for me, if I make a splurge in a room (which I usually do) it tends to be on the lamps...



I love seeing little stands & table & chairs in bathrooms... Do this one stay around after the photo shoot I wonder? Sadly, non of my bathrooms are big enough for any of these pretty extras... yet ;) hee hee... I'm also loving the toile in the shower area:


This bedroom has a perfect little galler wall & I love the splashes of gold and orange in the all-white space. How easy is this room to switch up seasonally?!! love it!

And the modern chair & art playing off the with the frilly chandelier & painted bamboo dresser = WOW
And finally, one last shot of the main area. It's just beautiful and if we didn't need striped rugs before, now we do ;)


Also, if you haven't seen already. Brooke from Velvet & Linen is having the COOLEST GIVEAWAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh I won't spoil the surprise if you don't already know, but just go over there.
Have a great weekend & I took photos of our finished bedrooms (finally) and will be posting Mon!!! We're painting those nursery stripes -ahhhhhhh!!!
xoxoxo,
Lauren
ps- I just have to tell you about the weirdest dream I had last night: I was at K-Mart and Martha Stewart was there because of her products (I think she's stopped selling there in real life?) and she was helping to put carts away in the parking lot. I thought that was very nice of her. ;)