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.

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.

Rome and Lazio interior design

Ancient Rome's architecture inspired the Neoclassical movement, thus the city was a major epicentre for interior design made according to that style. Giuseppe Valadier was famous for making Roman Neoclassicism unique, including his bold and grandly-sculpted tables.

He was also famous for giving the city a dramatic facelift, restoring many of the ancient monuments and making grandiose classical marble tables, which were often gilded in gold to give a dazzling effect of wealth, just like in the Roman times.

Turin and Piedmont interior design

Turin was the most French of Italian cities, since it was its closest neighbour, and still produced some of the grandest Royal Palaces in the nation, themed on buildings such as those of Versailles.

In the 1770s, Piedmont and Turin-based Neoclassical furniture was essentially French in style, and its greatest son in that field was Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo who made what was believed to be the best Italian Neoclassical furniture, with his elegant designs and luxurious materials.

Interior Design Education

Interior design education has been delivered in South Africa since the 1970s, and this education is on a par with programs offered in most developed countries of the world. In Africa, interior design programs are offered at universities, universities of technology and at registered private colleges.

In Europe, the educational requirements differ between interior architects (considered a profession comparable to architects or structural engineers) and interior designers (considered a trade comparable to carpenters).

Traditionally in Germany, Interior Architecture has been taught at polytechnic universities or universities of applied sciences. Baccalaureate programs are normally three years (6 semesters) in length. In Germany, the adaptation of the university system to the international degrees Bachelor and Master has led to a restructuring of degree programs. Since university education has traditionally lasted at least 5 years, many Diploma programs have been transformed into consecutive graduate Master programs. Some European universities form partnerships with other universities to offer "internationally orientated Masters courses" in Interior Design, where parts of the course takes place between European partner institutions to offer comprehensive instruction in the Interior Design program, including preparation for the Interior Design qualification exam.

In the United Kingdom around fifty universities and art colleges offer 3-year degree courses and, in some cases, year-long MA courses in interior design. Many of these courses are relatively new however there are several institutions with a long proven track record in this subject area. Kingston University in London is seen by many as the "home" of interior design education in the UK and has produced many of the country's leading interior design professionals who have shaped the nature of the profession over the last forty years.

Interior design

Interior design is a multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment.

The interior design process follows a systematic and coordinated methodology, including research, analysis, and integration of knowledge into the creative process, whereby the needs and resources of the client are satisfied to produce an interior space that fulfills the project goals.

In jurisdictions where the profession is regulated by the government, designers must meet broad qualifications and show competency in the entire scope of the profession, not only in a specialty. Designers may elect to obtain specialist accreditation offered by private organizations. In the United States, interior designers who also possess environmental expertise in design solutions for sustainable construction can receive accreditation in this area by taking the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) examination.

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.

You know it's bad when...

... you pull in the driveway and see your kid's tricycle and consider painting it. 

Or even getting another for Christmas...  

We found Christian's tricycle in the trash by the side of the road a couple of years ago (yes, I pick from the trash) and it's missing that cool thing in the back where we could have pushed him so it didn't get much use until he learned to pedal it on his own.  The colors are totally faded but the fact remains that it works and he loves it.   It's now parked in the front of the driveway (which is in front of our house) because he uses it so much and I have to be honest, it's irking me.  Not driving me crazy by any means, but every time I pull into the driveway and wonder if I should just spray paint the thing black or something, anything to get rid of the faded plastic and blue that just stands out like a sore thumb to me.  As much as I would love to say we could put it away in the shed every night, I know we won't.  Life just isn't like that for us right now.  

I know this is one of those things to let go, but it has my OCD-design head twitching.

We also have a toddler plastic slide/ gym thingy in our back yard...  it too makes me a little nutty and I can't wait to replace it.  

I know toys will be part of our lives for a while now...  and I have to say that I'm so much less bothered by the classic toys than the new plastic ones.  It's crazy that I care but seriously, I'm so much more okay with a bunch of cute little wooden cars on the ground than a bunch of plastic ones...

{Christian's trucks}

We try to limit the toys coming into our house...  When new stuff comes in, something else leaves.  There just isn't room and we don't want our kids to have a million toys they never use.  If something's not getting played with enough, we put it away and take it out a few months later. 

I know I sound like a freak.  What are your thoughts?   (Not on my freakishness, on toys ;)  And, any tips for spray painting a plastic bike?   Maybe just the blue parts???

 

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

My mom's birthday

My mom's birthday was this past weekend so we decided to do dinner at our place.  The weather was perfect and we moved the massive harvest table Dave made out of old barn wood to the center of our back yard:

{sorry about the pics but something funny was going on}

It is insanely heavy and won't be moving anywhere for a good long while...  my back still feels it.

I added pumkins & gourds and eucalyptus & hydrangeas to give it a Fall vibe even though it was so warm:

I'd never gotten fresh eucalyptus before... Trader Joe's was selling it for $6 and I love how it looks just gathered simply in an urn:

I didn't notice any bugs so I think it definitely helped keep them away.

Here's the birthday girl with Christian and my little sister Morgan (13):

My mom's a special lady.  She's the kind of mom I could always tell anything to...  even my friends would confide in her in high school.  She was a single mom (until she & my stepdad, Tom, got married when I was in 8th grade) but still managed to be super-involved & spend a lot of quality time with me: Girl Scouts, festivals & musicals & plays & events...  She's amazing with advice and rarely judges. 

We've had our battles (oh my gosh would we yell!!) but I think mostly it's because battle alike:  get it out and get over it.  (No moping or stewing here!)  She's always coming through when I need her: babysitting, food, help at home, advice and also those "mom" hugs.  We're very alike but very different.   She's lower-key than me, yet supported me going into a creative field/ being self-employed even though it's not something she would ever do and scared her when I started because she understood me.  She had my sister late in life but still manages to be as involved in her life as she was in mine  (if not more so!! :)   I love her so much and she is one of the few people I actually lean upon.   

Here's my gorgeous cousin Jen who just got engaged & will be getting married in Puerto Rico next summer!!  (I'm her maid of honor ;) ;)

And my mom informed me it was time to pull up the carrots Christian & I planted back in March.  (Um yeah, I really know nothing about growing veggies -or anything for that matter- and thought that the time was right to pull them up when they were long like you see at the grocery store.)  So as we all enjoyed some cider (I'm a huge fan of woodchuck haha) and some hummus & pita chips, Christian and I pulled up the carrots:

And they really reminded me of those screaming baby-root things from Harry Potter (mandrakes)... especially the double ones:

(Justin enjoyed the food too as you can see from the bits on his face}

I didn't get any pictures of the food (besides that beautiful bag of pita chips) but we did grilled tilapia and shish kabobs with rice & salad.  We ate just as it got dark & there's something so awesome about eating outside with candlelight.

We finished up with s'mores by the fire where I proceeded to fall asleep. 

And that's a good night for me.  Most of our meals are "normal" and don't include special flowers or table settings and I know I couldn't handle this on a nightly basis, but I would like to do a pretty/ special table at least once a week.  It encourages lingering and laughing and talking on & on.  That's interesting to me...  that our environments really do affect our experiences.  Check out my friend Seleta's recent post to see the gorgeous table setting she created last week with her kids' help. 

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

If you have a pretty table setting you'd like to share, feel free to link up!!