As much as I love a very tailored looking room, I also love the look of space that looks totally lived in and comfortable. This room from the May ’06 issue of InStyle is the perfect example of a “lived in” space. The cozy looking furniture, plush pillows, layered rugs and soft curtains all add to the rooms comfort factor. I also love the blue accents, the Asian influences and the striking black and white art on the wall. Recently, I spotted this same photo on the website of House Eclectic. Here is the same photo featured the House Eclectic home page from a reverse and slightly closer perspective. This room looks like the perfect place to just curl up and relax. Love it!
Me in my pre-school days…when I was young & innocent:)
If you read many design blogs then you’ve probably noticed the little game of blogger tag that many of the bloggers have been partaking in recently. I knew sooner or later someone would get me and lo and behold Katiedid tagged me earlier this week! In case you’re not familiar with blogger tag you have to answer a series of 5 questions and then “tag” 5 other blogger friends who you’d like to answer the same questions. Here are my answers…1. What did you do 10 years ago? 10 years ago marked the summer before my senior year in high school. I spent the summer playing lots of golf and researching colleges. I was also working at a mall in suburban Detroit and just having fun being a teenager. I’m sure chasing boys also fit into my schedule that summer too!
2. Five Items on my to-do list today:
-Pack for Houston (heading there for a wedding!)
-Order fabric for a pair of benches I’m having re-upholstered
-Find the perfect pair of lamps for my bedroom
-Sign up for personal training at my gym (this will probably get put off until it never happens!) -Swiffer my floors
3. Snacks I enjoy:
I know it sounds strange but I rarely eat snacks! I do love to bake though and every now and then when I get a craving for sweets I’ll bake things like oatmeal raisin cookies with chocolate chips, apple pie, peach crisp, vanilla
cupcakes…you name it. But the funny thing is that I usually only
eat a few bites to get my fix and then give the rest away. I always have fresh iced tea and lemonade in the fridge and I like both extremely sweet…so I guess that’s the “snack” I enjoy most regularly. Oh–and I love Nesquick chocolate milk! Almost forgot about that! Yum!
Me at around age 3. Already learning to bake! (and having fun licking the bowl!)
4. What would you do if you were a billionaire? -Take care of my family!
-Buy both of my parents their ultimate dream house.
-Establish trusts for all of my nieces, nephews and little cousins to cover their education costs.
-Establish a charitable foundation and give money to causes that are dear to my heart.
-Do some volunteer work.
-Go back to school and maybe study art history.
-Travel the world.
-Buy myself a beach house or two…maybe in St Barths, Mexico’s Mayan Riviera or some fab European destination like Marbella or Monte Carlo.
-Buy a cottage on Lake Michigan, a brownstone on NYC’s Upper West Side, a country farmhouse in the Catskills, a greystone in Chicago and a cute little beach house in Malibu.
-Lavishly decorate all of my homes
-Build an empire that will give Martha Stewart a run for her money!
-And hopefully getting married, having babies and living happily ever after will be the icing on the cake:)
5. What places would you live? -Anywhere in the Caribbean… The sun, the sand, the palm trees, the fresh seafood…nuff said.
-CHICAGO! Love that city. I went to undergrad there. It’s like my second home & I miss it!
-Atlanta: One of my BFF’s is there, love the laid back lifestyle and you can’t beat the cost of living.
-SanFrancisco: Love it there!
-Los Angeles: You can’t beat the sunshine and the weather!
The beach at Eden Rock in St. Barths.
Ok, that’s it! Now you know a little bit more about me! I’m now tagging:
I’m loving these faux-snakeskin serving trays from Nieman Marcus. They’re $125 for the set of three. Apparently they’re very popular because these babies are on backorder. Hopefully I can get on the waiting list! Click here for more info.
I often become fixated on the most random things. This week its elephants. I think it’s because I went to HomeGoods last weekend with the BF (big mistake) and saw these great chinoiserie style lamps that had lying elephants as the base. They were so beautiful and so inexpensive. I wanted to buy them. He said they were ugly. I tried to argue. He won. (Note to self: Never take BF to HomeGoods.) Anyway- I’ve been looking around for other elephant pieces to cure my fix so here’s a little roundup of some of the cool things I’ve found…
As many of you know I’ve been re-decorating my bedroom and the next major purchase on my list is a great headboard. I want an upholstered headboard with some curvature and I love tufting. One realization that I’ve come to in all of my searching is that upholstered headboards are expensive! To cover all bases, I’ve been looking at options that cover many different price points. Here are a few upholstered headboards that I’ve been eying recently:
The Woodhouse bed from Jonathan Adler. Very mid-century modern. Love the shape, the contrasting piping and love the tufts!
This is the Sutton headboard from Williams-Sonoma Home…
And here it is in an actual room setting.
Another option I like from Williams-Sonoma Home is this Newport headboard…
Looks amazing here doesn’t it?
What I would really love is to have a custom-made headboard so I can get exactly what I want in the fabric of my choice. The Furniture Joint in New York’s NoLita neighborhood is the go-to upholstery shop for many of New York’s top decorators as well as many home decor magazines including Domino. They also offer great upholstery classes for anyone who wants to learn craft for DIY projects. Above is a headboard they made for a client, upholstered in a great David Hicks fabric. This is exactly the style I’m looking for, although I think I want to upholster mine in a solid silk linen. The downside…it’s so expensive and I’m not yet sure if I can splurge right now. The tufting is also more labor intensive which definitely ups the cost quite a bit. I’ve requested quotes from The Furniture Joint and their prices are insane. However- they’re highly regarded, often recommended and their work is top notch so I’m sure you get what you pay for! I’ve also gotten quotes on this style headboard from other upholsterers but right now they’re still out of my range…which has led me to explore some less expensive options from places such as Tar-jay (or Target as most people call it!)
This photo was featured in the recent June/July issue of Domino (Photo by Justin Bernhaut). I think everyone who saw this photo fell in love with this room and these headboards. Can you believe they’re from Target!? And only $299 for a queen size. This “Tudor” headboard is upholstered in a microsuede fabric and features brass nailhead trim. It also comes in a number of colors…
Here it is in Khaki…looks amazing!
This is the Barcelona headboard, also $299 for a Queen size at Target!
Here it is in a photo from Domino that was featured in their Feb ’07 issue. The room was designed by David Netto. (Photo by Justin Bernhaut)
So…Now is where I ask for all of your great advice and input. Has any one ever seen either of these Tar-jay headboards in person? AND–do any of my New York readers know of any amazing upholstery shops in or near the city that don’t charge an arm and a leg for custom work? Would love your help!
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