Succulent Wedding Bouquets

I love weddings! My good friend Bethany got married today and I was so happy to make her bridal bouquets for her. Bethany and her groom, Taylor, have a funky/vintage/hipster style so I wasn't too surprised when she requested succulent bouquets instead of traditional flowers. I wasn't super familiar with succulents or how exactly I was going to make them into bouquets, but I was up to the challenge. Here are my potted succulents, pre-bouquet construction...



It took me a minute to play around with the thick stems and see how the different types of succulents worked together, but my favorite part was that the succulents weren't perfect or symetrical, which created kind of wild-looking bouquets. Soon enough, I had the bride's bouquet finished along with 6 bridesmaids' bouquets. Here are some quick photos I took today, but I can't wait to see and share the professional photos from their big day.





I loved making these bouquets for darling Bethany. She's such an amazing girl and I am so happy for her and Taylor, not to mention they throw a killer wedding, I had so much fun! Thanks for letting me share this day with you two! xoxo

Pink and Blue

After all the buzz about Eddie Ross' window design for Bloomingdale's "Big Window Challenge" I've been really into pink and blue rooms. Not really pastels, but more bold shades. Here is a little sampling of Eddie Ross' window design (read more about the process on Eddie's blog, here), along with some other pink and blue rooms that I really love.

{Eddie's window design.}


{Not sure who the designer is, but I love the eclectic vibe and the large pattern on the pink and white pillows.}


{Krista Ewart's dining room, as featured in Domino magazine. I dig that painting and the pom pom trim on the stool.}


{Vignette from House Beautiful. Bringing in pops of pink with flowers is never a bad idea.}


{Ashley Whitaker's killer dining room, also from House Beautiful. Love it!}

Carlton Varney in Newport Beach

I have the coolest clients! Today I got an email from one of them informing me that Carleton Varney, owner of Dorthy Draper & Co., and interior designer extraordinaire is coming to give a presentation in Newport Beach. Not only has Carleton Varney designed homes and businesses for some very prestigious people in the entertainment and fashion industry, along with certain presidents, prime ministers, and royals, but he also has his own furniture, fabric, and lighting lines. Oh yeah, and he's also an author. Is there anything this guy doesn't do?

Carleton Varney will be at the Edwards Newport Stadium theater next Tuesday, February 2, beginning with a breakfast buffet at 9:30 a.m. and a presentation at 10 a.m. Address: 300 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.

For reservations call 949.717.7741. Cost is $40.



Photos taken from Habitually Chic, Balustrade & Bitters, Cote de Texas, Surroundings, and Southern Lady.

Leanne Marshall

Today I came across Leanne Marshall's blog, Pedals and Waves. Leanne is a fellow FIDM alumna and was Project Runway's season 5 winner. I was, and still am, a big fan.

These are a few photos from her current collection and look book. Below is a custom wedding dress she designed for a client. Amazing!




Below is a photo of Leanne for an interview with Time Out New York.

Beauty Bar

My favorite part of the bachelorette party was our stop at the Beauty Bar on LA's La Cahuenga corridor. It's a small little bar/club that offers drinks, dancing, manicures, and henna tattoos. After the bartender whipped me up a pretty delicious virgin concoction, I headed over to the manicure station to get my nails done. I then hit the dance floor, where I conveniently incorporating the waving of my hands to dry my nails into my regular dance routine.

The interior of this place was something right out of the 60's. Which makes sense, since the owners retrofitted the space with a mid-sixties salon interior salvaged from Bakersfield. Because the bar has a retro vibe, it draws more of a hipster crowd (and surprisingly more guys than girls) and a wider range of dance tunes than your normal clubbin' atmosphere. I enjoyed every minute!

The Edison - Downtown LA

After checking in at the Farmer's Daughter, the first stop of the night for Friday's Bachelorette party was The Edison - a swanky bar and lounge in downtown LA. The Edison has a very cool, old fashioned vibe and was designed inside the Higgins Building, site of the first privately owned power plant in LA. Much of the original architecture and mechanical fixtures survive and are incorporated into the industrial 20's decor. I also encourage you to check out The Edison's website here, it's a perfect reflection of the overall feel and attention to detail that you'll find in the actual club.

Furniture Install

Friday was a fun day because we were doing a furniture delivery at a client's home in Huntington Beach. I had gone to the upholstery shop earlier in the week to check on the different pieces, so I knew everything turned out beautifully, but I was excited to see it all in my client's home and see if she loved everything as much as I did.

I posted about the preliminary design for her dining room here, but as almost all projects go, for a variety of reasons, the design has changed a bit from the initial presentation. Due to budget, time restraints, and overall function, we forewent the built-in banquet when my client fell in love with this Restoration Hardware table...


She purchased the table, and to keep things interesting and eclectic, we decided we would do a settee on one side of the table and keep her dining chairs on the other side. When finding the perfect style, size, and color of the settee proved impossible, and having full confidence in my upholstery guy, we decided to go custom and build one from scratch.

We took the arm style, height, and nailheads from this Restoration Hardware chair...


And the tufting, wood turned legs, and scalloped base from this Ballard Designs settee...

And came up with the perfect red settee to fit my client's new table and new dining room...

It's always a little nerve racking to build such a large piece of furniture from scratch, but we couldn't be more happy with how it turned out!

Next up we have a really fun before and after. My client had 2 of these antique chairs and was about to put a 'for sale' sign on them in the front yard when I told her that they would be beautiful if we refurbished them.


The wood finisher refinished the wood in a silver leaf, and then the chair was reupholstered in a cream and chocolate silk damask. I loved how this chair turned out so much that I was tempted to pay my client and keep it for myself. This chair is going to sit in a corner of the dining room that is a little separated from the rest of the space. The chocolate and silver tones of the antique chair will help tie that corner in to the rest of the room.


Last but not least, we had an ottoman custom made for the sofa in the adjacent living room. Her living room is pretty much complete, but after going back and forth with a few coffee table options, my client finally decided she wanted a dainty oval ottoman. All of the other pieces of furniture in the room are solid, so I thought it would be fun to add in some pattern. I'm hoping to have the whole room photographed soon, but for now, here's our cute custom ottoman complete with tufts and pleated skirt...

Farmer's Daughter & Tart

I had such a fun weekend. My really good friend Bethany is getting married next Saturday (yay!) so this weekend all of her really good girlfriends celebrated her last days of single-dom LA style. Bethany's friend Kelly planned quite the weekend for us; complete with good food, dancing, D list celebrities, and boutique hotel accommodations. My trips to LA usually consist of home furnishings stores, thrift shops, the Staples Center, and FIDM back in the day, so I always love it when I get a chance to see new sides of the city. The style and interior of every place we went had it's own vibe and personality, so I wanted to highlight the various stops of our weekend-o-fun. But as I started gathering photos, I realized I had way too much info for one post, so I'm going to make a couple of different bachelorette party installments.

The first is the Farmer's Daughter Hotel and the attached Tart restaurant. Located right by the Farmer's Market, this boutique hotel had a really fun and unique style. It's modern chic meets The Little Red Hen. Take a look...


For brunch Saturday morning we ate at Tart. Such good food (I got the veggie hash and pancakes), and an equally good design aesthetic.