Nate Berkus Loot

I've had my eye on Nate Berkus' loot on HSN.com for quite some time. I'm not an expert on Nate's design work, but the rooms that I have seen by him I have really enjoyed. And many of his items on HSN have caught my eye since the line launched. I was completely in love with a Greek key tray that was available in the fall that I now realize would be perfect for my bedroom vanity...but I let it slip away!

Recently, I was reading this post over at Department of the Interior and I spotted some of Nate's HSN items in the featured apartment (that belongs to his sister) which prompted me to check in on Nate's collection...

I fell in love with these faux bois (and antler-ish) candlesticks a month or two ago, and they are now mine. I love their shape and their brassy/golden finish - they will either adorn our yet to be constructed fireplace mantel or a side table in our bedroom. They were only $20 - click here to pick them up.

Some other favorites...

 

A very chic armless sofa available in several fabrics, including a fab ikat...I LOVE this.

I like anything hexagonal, and the stripe on this ottoman is perfection.

The perfect complement to my candlesticks - an organic twig table.

You KNOW I love a striped rug, and this one is on major clearance for only $14.34!

Many, many more items are available in his collection if you like these items...looking forward to my candlesticks!

Friday Crush

Today I'm crushing on this Johns Island living room designed by Phoebe Howard. The latest issue of House Beautiful has us all buzzing about the color blue...and this room is such a beautiful example of how to use saturated color! Phoebs never lets me down.

I'm also crushing on this room because we are about to get yet another historic snowfall this weekend in DC...and although I love the white stuff, the cold winter makes me long for tropical temperatures. This room looks like it is somewhere nice and toasty.

Carter and I sadly canceled a trip to see family this weekend due to the inclement weather, so we'll be buckling down for a bit. The good thing about being snowed in is that it forces us to get work done on the house!

See you Monday!

A Budget Chinoiserie Bar

I received my March issue of House Beautiful in the mail yesterday...HB day is always an exciting day of the month. I only made it a couple of pages in last night, but I caught a FAB find that I'm crazy about.

Check out this amazing tray table featured in the "The Best" section (written by Jennifer Boles of The Peak of Chic):

This pictures isn't quite as good as the one in HB, but hopefully you see the cool factor of this piece...it would make the PERFECT Chinoiserie bar. Forget the fruit and coffee cup...layer it up with pretty bottles and glasses and some cocktail napkins and you're all set. And the size is great to go in small spaces or to move from room to room as needed when you entertain. 

I could also see this piece painted a delicious lacquer red...or lacquer navy...or lacquer green....the possibilities are endless! And did you catch the mirrored bottom? Again...perfect to reflect all of your pretty barware. I WANT this...but have nowhere to put it :( Booooo.

And you know I'm holding out the best part for you...guess where it's from?? KMART. And guess how much it costs? On sale for $70! And I think it is currently free shipping. Click here to buy it.

A fun piece at a great price...love that combo every time.

UPDATE: Head over to the Pemberley Style blog - Amy does a comparison of this table to pricier (almost EXACT) versions...I love it!

The Power of Upholstery

The magic of great fabric! The "before" picture of this settee actually isn't the bad, but WOW...the after is amazing. The geometric print totally revived this already beautiful piece of furniture!

I actually found these pictures via a Craigslist search - I don't even remember what I was looking for now, but these pictures totally impressed me. I think they were actually advertising reupholstery services (the post listed contact information as simplyreupholstery@hotmail.com if anyone in the DC-area is looking for some upholstery work).

I am a firm believer in giving old pieces new life...that doesn't mean everything in my home is recycled, but many, many pieces are. And pictures like this reaffirm how far a little elbow grease can go...so take a look around your house and see what pieces you might revive with a kiss of pretty fabric. Or (like me) scour Craigslist for treasures you can reinvent the next time you are in need of a new piece for your home...

Frogs and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails

My friend Katy and her husband Brian are expecting a little boy this June. They just found out the happy news last week. Katy is starting to put her ideas together for the nursery, so I thought I'd help get her juices flowing with some nursery design.

A neutral nursery from Cookie via Matters of Style. I love how soothing this color palette is...and that chair is beautiful (although how MoS points out, probably not the most comfortable for nursery use).

I think this nursery from domino (via Matters of Style) is probably one of my favorites. I don't love that crib (a little too stern for me) but I LOVE the giraffe, color palette, chandelier and vintage prints - all pretty simple elements (read: not hard to attain) that work really well together.

 

Oh, I adore this one from House of Turquoise. I've seen those paper lanterns a couple of places - and they would be an easy embellishment in an otherwise simple room. 

Another great one from House of Turquoise - I really love this "grown-up" color palette executed perfectly for a little boy's room. This is the kind of room that wouldn't be screaming for a paint job once baby boy is past the toddler years.

This fun, graphic room belongs to Jenna Lyons as seen in domino (via Matters of Style for me). Very cool for a hip little baby. I adore the chest of drawers - I would snag that for my own room!

 

A sweet room from myhomeideas.com with warm colors and a fun monogram on the wall...there are SO many of those cool vinyl wall stickies these days (not that this one here is one of them) and I think a nursery is one place where they work - and you don't have to commit to paint.

Katy is a beach lover, so I could see her digging cool nautical blues - love the wainscoting in this room. This one is from ratemyspace.com by user LittleCrownInteriors.

I like the more modern feel of this ratemyspace.com nursery by user meg_meg - I enjoy the mixing of wood finishes and the wall color...and the boston terrier is perfection.

This is another favorite I saw on Matters of Style - I love the sailboat, window treatments, wall color and crib. 

And last but not least, the Matters of Style nursery...designed by MoS Charlotte herself (I think it was Charlotte...correct me if I'm wrong MoS). You should read her blog post about the room to see all the pictures - it is a delightful room with lots of fun pieces. Her Jenny Lind crib is a favorite for me. 

So many cute ideas! What say you Katy? :)

A Home by Meg Braff

Meg Braff's designs first caught my eye when I saw this room on the cover of House Beautiful this past fall. Since then, Braff was named as one of Traditional Home's 20 Young Designers in their March issue which prompted me to take a look at her portfolio once again.

 

Designer Meg Braff

Braff is a Southern designer raised in Mississippi now working in NYC and her style is undoubtedly influenced by Chinoiserie. I loved just about every room in her portfolio (ranging from neutral elegance to punchy Palm Beach) but I chose this house that she decorated in Newport, Rhode Island to showcase since it's a non-stop Chinoiserie dream.

I think I could be very happy living here...

All design by Meg Braff

All images via megbraff.com

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Friday Crush

Thank God for Mary McDonald. Seriously. Coral orange, pale aqua, chocolate brown zebra and an obelisk. My, my, my. I absolutely adore rooms that commit to a color palette where fabrics, accessories and furniture don't stray from a set array of hues...it's so sophisticated. And this is truly one of the most sophisticated spaces I've ever seen.

It's shaping up to be a great weekend - I will be toasting two dear friends for their birthdays AND Carter and I are rolling up our sleeves and finally tackling the paint job of the master bedroom (which I have seriously been avoiding and procrastinating on). I'll be thrilled if we make a dent in that task this weekend.

Do share if you have a design adventure...

See you Monday!

Links Love

I am most certainly a fabric junkie. I am constantly on the lookout for new prints that catch my eye. And I like A LOT of fabric...it doesn't take much to get me excited. But occasionally, I'll come across a print that is just perfection (and those are typically the ones that I will purchase).

Such a print crossed my path this week - I was checking out this post over at High-Heeled Foot in the Door and immediately fell in the love with the swatch of indigo fabric HHFD recommended for the curtains.

Her link sent me to House Fabric, a source I have used in the past, where I discovered that my new fabric crush is a print called Links by the wonderful Annie Selke.

Behold her many colorways:

Indigo

 Chocolate

 

 Taupe

 

 Citrus

 

Pink

I love all of the colors and the wavy lines that produce the geometric pattern. Geometrics are usually so tight and crisp...and this one is a bit more relaxed, giving it a bohemian feel. Love, love, love.

I am the new proud owner of one yard in the taupe colorway. I'm considering it for a framing project for the living room...as in I might frame it for display, perhaps as the backdrop to a print. Wouldn't any of these be great on a chair or an ottoman? Or the perfect pillows for a white couch? My mind is racing thinking of all the ways I could use each color...

To purchase your own, go to housefabric.com and type in "Links" in the search box at the top. The fabric is $20/yard, which is not bad. I also saw the fabric over at lsfabrics.com (again, search for "Links") and they had it in an additional Slate colorway.

eBay Fabric Searches

Last week, I posted about some fabric I found via eBay and I received a question from Alison asking how I go about conducting my searches. So I thought I would share...

I mainly search fabric manufacturers' names, unless there is a specific pattern name that I am trying to find. I also usually have more luck searching eBay Stores, so don't forget to search for your term in eBay Stores in addition to regular listings.

I search each term below one at a time. Type in the word "fabric" after each of these:

Schumacher
Greef
Lee Jofa
Kravet
Clarence House
Cowtan (for Cowtan & Tout, but you usually only need the Cowtan bit)
Thibaut
Duralee
Brunschwig (for Brunschwig & Fils)
Scalamandre
Osborne (for Osborne & Little)
Quadrille
Manuel Canovas
Robert Allen
P Kaufmann
Ikat

A sampling of what you might find:

Schumacher (I am TOTALLY in love with this print)

Click here for listing

Lee Jofa

Click here for listing

Thibaut

Click here for listing

Kravet

Click here for listing

Fabric junkies out there, what are your favorite search terms? Please share in the comments...

HomeGoodies

HomeGoods is SO good right now. I spent copious amounts of time at both of my HG locations this weekend. I was long overdue for a visit as I had not been since about mid-December. Not going to HomeGoods for over a month is quite normal for most people - for me, it's like holding my breath.

So as I roamed the hallowed aisles, I spotted so much good loot. Only a couple of items came home with me, but I documented the loot to show you all the goodies in case you are near a HG and something strikes your fancy:

They had two of these ENORMOUS blue ginger jar lamps - hard to see the size here, but they were quite big...and gorgeous. If only I had a big spot for them.

I was the most impressed with their pillow selection - I'm usually not a huge fan of HG pillows, but they had a ton this time. And in fabrics that I recognized (and that I actually own). These orange ones definitely caught my eye (the graphic ones...not the iridescent rose-covered ones).

And so did all of these pillows...

 

 

Another lamp that was right up my alley:

I've been pining over this lamp below for a while...I'm surprised that it's still available and on clearance! But I don't have anywhere to put it...so sad.

 

I adore these boxes - they had them in so many different colorways...I'm still pondering how to use them because at least one needs to make its way to the AO House!

And I like this painting...not sure why as there is nothing particularly special about it...but I just liked it. It was prettier in person...

 

I left all of these goodies at the store, but I did pick up a couple of fun pieces...and Tyler and I picked up some great items for her dressing room...all in all, a very productive HG weekend.