Time to Put All Those Hours of HGTV to Good Use

#1 The Inspiration - I found this beautiful Indian inspired elephant wrapping paper at Paper Source last year.  It's elegant with rich colors, perfect muse for my guest bedroom makeover.

#2 Picking the Room Color - I decided to highlight the green-yellow of the elephant.  The green is calming,  complements the dark brown tones of the wood floor and a good base for accents and accessories.  The color I picked was appropriately named 'Soothing Green Tea' by Glidden.  I'm a fan of primer and paint in one and since Glidden doesn't offer that I opted to color match with Behr Premium.

#3 The Furniture - I have been eyeing this fabulous headboard from West Elm called the Morocco Headboard.  The wood tones work well with the wood floor and enhances the feel of the Indian print.

#4 Bedding and Accent Pillows - I already had a rich brown sheet set so I wanted to be a little girly and give the bedding a pop of color to offset all the brown of the sheets and furniture.  I didn't want to go crazy with a print as it would compete with the Elephant wrapping paper that I plan to frame.  Therefore I chose a poppy color quilt with an interesting decorative texture and shams.  I also include some champagne color shams to tone down the brightness.  All these items are also from West Elm.

  

#5 Accents - I'm going for a luxurious feel.  I have a vintage dresser in the guest bedroom with updated handles from Anthropologie.  The perfect artwork to hang above this dresser are a pair of vintage (circa 1970) fashion sketches that I scored from Gilt Groupe.  The frills and sophistication of the gown in these sketches generate the right feel.  The sketches and dresser paired with my existing brown zebra print rug anchor the room nicely as the core accents.

#6 Finished Product - It was a little slow to get all this stuff delivered and then finding time to hang pictures, etc.  But it's finally finished.  I am excited to have people come stay with me and hopefully enjoy the room as much as I had decorating it.

Forest for the Trees

I'm slightly obsessed with "woods-themed" home decor lately.  My house is very modern looking and thus modern furniture; however, ultra-mod is not me so I am looking for natural elements to help ground the place.  I am particulary mad about the Cole & Son Woods wallpaper.  You just can't find good wallpaper in the U.S., they seem to have to import it from across the pond.  Recently Anthropologie has been selling Cole & Son on their website but for a whopping $198 per roll!  I found the same roll on a UK site Tangletree Interiors for 49 Pounds (I don't have a Pound sign on my laptop!).  Factor in international shipping and the conversion rate, you still are better off buying it from the U.K. bloke.  I have also included a few other "wood-type" eye-candy for your enjoyment.

 

1st Row (L to R) - Woods Wallpaper, Arylic Table with Tree Bark Design

2nd Row (L to R): Branch Etched Barware, Driftwood Table Lamp

3rd Row: Branch Votive

Great Wall of Plates!

My trusty Lucky Magazine led me to this awesome website called Velocity.  They have some of my favorite home decor designers including Thomas Paul.  Thomas Paul has great prints and colors.  I was particularly drawn to these plates and fabric.  The blues and Asian feel is appropriately modern and cute at the same time.  I plan to use these in non-traditional ways.  I will use them both as pieces of artwork as they are too cute to be eaten on or used on one of my bad DIY sewing projects.  The plates will be perfect in shadow boxes and placed in the master bedroom.  The fabric will be either stretched over a canvas frame or put in an art frame.  Love it!!!

Thomas Paul Hong Kong Garden Dessert Plates (Set of 4)

Thomas Paul Duralee Folly Fabric in Slate

South Beach Getaway

I just spent a well deserved extended weekend in Miami.  We stayed at The W South Beach, a new Starwood property that opened up in July 2009.  This place was a huge design inspiration and applied what we call "Bromstadian Principles".  If you don't know what that is then check out Color Splash Miami.

Below is a compilation of pictures from the hotel.  I love they way The W used pops of color and combines modern, quirky, and traditional elements (pay attention to the red wingback chairs with the jade green cheetah rug - perfection!).  Oddly enough, I used iMovie, an application on my 2006 Macbook that I just realized that was a) there on the computer and b) really easy to use.  Enjoy!

How Cute Is This?

Would you have the heart to wipe your feet on this little cutie?

Twinkle Living Rugs Milan

Skinny Cargo Pant

I heard these J Brand pants were all the rage but I have a fundamental problem with pants without back pockets or little flaps for pockets.  It's just not flattering.

http://www.shopluna.com/products/details.aspx?id=199

Another alternative to the skinny cargo was a pair by Hudson's.  Now these make your backside look super human.  Well worth the investment!

http://www.shopluna.com/products/details.aspx?id=328

DC Temporium

Fellow DC-ers, check out DC Temporium on H St. NE July 23rd - Aug 15th.  Local artists and designers are showcasing their works (different designers each week).  I bought a really comfy scarf by DeNada and a cool T-shirt from Jon Wye.

Happy Shopping!

Spruced Up

In my continuous effort to furnish my new house, I found this great website and blog called Spruce.  Spruce is based in Austin and they re-upholster furniture using great fabrics.  These ladies have a great eye for design and patterns.  I would love to splurge to have one of their pieces in my home.  And yes Virginia, they do ship outside of Texas.  Here's what I'm drooling over right now, check them out...

http://www.spruceaustin.com/

Steal vs Splurge

It's been a while since the last post, it's mainly due to work and the purchase of a new home!  With a purchase comes more shopping but different shopping, home decor shopping.  Who would have known that accessories and furniture could be so expensive. I find myself looking for more opportunities to get great deals and find those affordable furniture and home decor stores.  From a national chain perspective, the big ones I thought were great to shop at were Room & Board, CB2, and West Elm. 

Room and Board just opened a new fabulous store on the corner of 14th St NW and T St NW in Washington, DC.  I call this place an Ikea for grown-ups.  It's a large four story building with eye candy for the home decorating fiend.  It even has a roof-top to showcase all their wonderful outdoor furniture.  The place is great for inspiration but I have to say is way too expensive.  They had a throw pillow for $119.  Seriously?!  $119 for one 18 x 18 pillow.

I love CB2's catchy tag line - "Affordable Modern" - and that is exactly what it is.  If you are ever looking for something in orange, this store will have it.  They are expanding stores throughout the US so hopefully they will make it to DC soon.

West Elm is the bomb.  I bought a sectional couch that retails for $2500+ for $520.  The store location in downtown DC was closing and I got a fabulous deal on the floor display.  When I see things in other stores and get over the sticker shocked, I am pleasantly surprised to find something similar there for much less.  I love their bedding and throw pillows, they always have such colorful prints and great textured fabrics.

So it goes without saying that when I found some beautiful pieces, however; they were a little pricey.  But I never let a price tag get me down...below are a couple of examples of the inspiration (and much pricier) item and then execution at a lower price so I can save the ka-ching for jewelry!  Can you tell the difference?


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Above: Room and Board Natual Steel Box Frame 5x7 ($89)

Below: CB2 Oxide Frame 5x7 ($29.95)

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Above: Room and Board Louis Ghost Chair - Phillip Starck ($410)

Below: Ezmodfurniture.com Ghost Chair replica ($165)

Boot Envy

We had our second snowfall for this winter this past weekend.  Refusing to be defeated by the weather and the road conditions, I set out for the gym in my new "rain" boots.  I call them rain boots but they are good for the snow and slush as well.  My trusty new Tretorn Plask boots was a purchase made on Gilt Fuse. 

These boots are fashionable and functional.  I have worn them only a few times but I have received so many compliments - at the gym, yoga studio, airport, just walking in the street - that it warranted a plug.  So ladies out there in the urban jungle, Tretorn Plask fits the bill.

Ring in the New Year Part II

I pulled the trigger, happy sparkly birthday to me!

Ring in the New Year

Happy 2010!!!  The new year always brings mixed emotions...excitement for what's to come and some sadness since the holidays are over.  No more vacation or holidays to look forward to until Memorial Day!  Fortunately for me, my "holiday" is always extended due to my birthday.  Yes, yours truly is a Type-A Capricorn and with a January birthday, it means the shopping season extends an extra month.

This year I am contemplating a gift to myself from David Yurman and never mind the fact that I started buying things for myself and called them early birthday presents starting in November.  Bailey Banks and Biddle was having a going-out-of-business sale and I scored a pair of real diamond earrings (my first pair) in late November at 40% off.  That, I said to myself, was going to be my birthday present.  Then, I bought myself a new coat with Thinsulate from J. Crew during one of their online "additional 25% plus free shipping" promotions and called that a "must-have" for the cold weather ahead of us.  Lastly, I scored a pair of earrings on Etsy that are similar to the Me & Ro pair that I had been eyeing for a couple of years at a lower price (skull studs with diamond eyes by Michelle Chang) calling them a nice weekend alternative to the diamond studs.

But a month and a half has past and I forgot about all those other self gifts when I saw some of the really cute David Yurman crossover and confetti rings.  I have the DY petite albion with a prasiolite stone that I wear on my right hand.  I thought a bigger ring on my middle left finger would be a nice complement.   The question is which one?  Surely I am worth it right???

(starting from the left - four row confetti ice ring, large pave crossover ring, pave crossover double x ring)