South Coast Auction

Adorable lampshades, they looked brand new.

Yesterday I took a little field trip to the South Coast Auction in Santa Ana. I've never been to an auction before and quite enjoyed it. I didn't have any intention of buying anything, I'm a bit limited on space at the moment, but I heard good things so I wanted to check it out. There are different rooms each with different types of items at the auction warehouse. Gallery 1 is where the furniture, household decor, and antiques are located. The South Coast Auction is every Wednesday starting at 4:00. Here are a few photos of my findings.

I've been really in to vintage globes lately...

LA Mart Sample Sale!

There's another killer sale going on this weekend, the LA Mart Furniture Sample Sale. I've attanded this in the past and scored some pretty sweet deals, including a $165 Asian style coffee table and an Aga John wool rug for a client at about 75% off retail. Luckily I'll be able to hit this one before I leave for camping because the sale starts for designers on Friday (April 30), and doors open to the public on Saturday and Sunday. $10 to get in and $8 to park, but so worth it. Find more information here.

Just for fun, I decided to post a video of me as one of the "hosts" for the LA Mart sample sale back in 2008. It's kind of embarrassing for me to watch, but I thought some of you might find it amusing. Enjoy!

Spring Awakening

I'm going to be camping in Pismo this weekend so I'm a little sad I'll be missing 40%off at Jonathan Adler, but you should head over to Fashion Island and check it out!

Speaking of Jonathan, my new friend and occassional design cohort, Maile Zoller works at the Fashion Island store and just posted this Jonathan Adler video on her blog. Mr. Adler gives a few pointers on taking your decor from "Drab to Fab".

Bridal Guide Cameo

My sister headed to Utah last weekend to attend her mother-in-law's college graduation. Yay Kathlene! She picked up the Brigham Young University Bridal guide to thumb through and was caught by surprise when she found several photos of her wedding! Then she remembered that her photographer, Mike Cunningham of The Digital Orange (also a BYU alum), submitted the photos a while back. Here was a great photo of the flower arrangment I did for the head table.


Below is one of the many couple photos featuring Mel and Brian. How fun!

Bullseye Update

Do you remember these little guys?


I couldn't decide for a long time if I should try and find a ready-made shadow box frame, or if I should have them professionally framed. I recently came across a shadow box frame at Crate and Barrel that I thought would get the job done. I thought it turned out swell and even used it in last week's photoshoot. Here's the finished product...

Newell Turner

Want to learn more about the man taking over House Beautiful? I just came across this 1st Dibs Introspective Magazine issue featuring Newell Turner. Read it here and determine if you think House Beautiful is in good hands.

Changes at Hearst Magazine

I think good things are happening at the Hearst Magazine corporation. Stephen Drucker, who I love, is moving from House Beautiful's editor-in-chief, to editor-in-chief of Town&Country. Newell Turner is being promoted from style director of House Beautiful to editor-in-chief. And Dara Caponigro, former style director of the late great Domino magazine, will now be the editor-in-chief of Veranda. Read the full story here.

I'll miss Stephen at House Beautiful because I think in his 5 years at the magazine he made some significant improvements and it has since become my favorite design publication, but all this means is that I will now have to subscribe to Town&Country as well. And as for Veranda, I'm going to have to resubscribe as I am anxious to see what Dara will do.

Change is good, and I'm looking forward to it!

Big Daddy's Antiques

I went to Big Daddy's in south LA on Friday to get a few accessories for my photo shoots on Saturday and I can't say enough good things about this place. So many unique objects and a huge variety of things in an enormous warehouse. Plus, the staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. Go check it out! You can also view some of their inventory online here.

Big Daddy's Antiques:
Office / Warehouse
13100 South Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90061
310-769-6600 phone

She & Him

Last Thursday I went to see She & Him at the Glass House in Pomona and it was such a great show. It was one of those occassions where the band sounds remarkably better live than on their cd. I've always had a little thing for Zooey Deschanel, but after the concert I also fell a little bit in love with her male counterpart, Matt Ward. I bought tickets after recently becoming obsessed with the cotton commercial featuring Zooey. She makes the fabric of our lives look so cool (and vintage). I love the colors and the scenery and I find the whole commercial aesthetically inspiring. It's no wonder every hipster girl wants to be her and every hipster boy wants to date her.

Stacey Sutherland and Photo Shoot Day

I just had one of the best weekends ever. One of my best friends, Kelli, came to visit me and instead of taking her to the beach on Saturday like most normal friends would do, I put her to work as my design assistant for a couple of photo shoots, along with my sister Melissa.

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes for the beautiful interior photos seen on blogs and in magazines. Not to ruin the mystery, but there is quite a bit of preparation (3 full days worth), staging and positioning that needs to be done, and constant moving of accessories and furniture to get the perfect shot. The day was long and exhausting but definitely some of the most fun I've had with some of my most favorite people.

I hired Stacey Sutherland to photograph the 2 different locations on Saturday and I can't say enough great things about her. She was so fun and incredibly easy to work with, not to mention she has a great eye and a lot of interior photography experience and helped me to edit the rooms and helped me determine when something was too much or too little.

I haven't seen the photos yet, but I know they're going to be beautiful. She shoots interiors, still lifes, and people. Below (and above) is a sampling of Stacey's work that I stole from her website, go here to see more!






www.StaceySutherland.com
www.StaceySutherlandphotography.com

Onyx

I'm obsessed with onyx. The obsession started about a week ago and now I'm just waiting for the perfect project to come along where I can use this beautiful stone. The only problem is that I haven't heard good things about onyx's durability. Last week while at the Arizona Tile showroom, I saw this large piece of pinkish/purple onyx on display. I fell in love and asked the showroom rep for a sample. He made this concerned face and then asked what I was going to use it for. I said, "A kitchen?" and he was like, "Hmmm, it's really not good for kitchen counters, it's not very durable and scratches easily." So I said, "How about a bathroom?" and he said, "Yeah, it's really not good for bathrooms either." This left me a little confused... if you can't walk on it, or use it for bathrooms or kitchens, what is it good for? And more importantly, if Arizona Tile is talking their customers out of a product, then why even have it on the showroom floor?

It was only a day later that I saw my good friend Sarah on HGTV talk about using an antique onyx sink in her new farmhouse powder room. After a little more research I came to the conclusion that I can basically use onyx for whatever I want, but it is porus and scratches easily, so proceed with caution.


I think these reception desks are beautiful, and apparently you can back light onyx for a more dramatic effect.



Photos from The Rock Masonry, Intrepid, Tile Depot in Victorville, and R Dream Kitchens.

Nathan Turner Tag Sale

There's another designer tag sale going on this Saturday with the fabulous Nathan Turner, online via One King's Lane. The sale starts April 10 and runs through April 13. Nathan has impecible taste and a knack for mixing styles and eras and also includes amazing antique furnishings and textiles in his designs. Above is the exerpt from One Kings Lane. Register at One Kings Lane today to partake of the tag sale goodness.

Stark Paint

As an interior designer, part of my job is to keep up on the trends and new products on the market, but somehow I missed the memo that Stark has a new line of paint. Some paint decks can be a lot to flip through just to find the perfect color, so I appreciate it when certain companies narrow down the selection (Farrow and Ball is another great one). Stark's paint collection contains 240 beautiful colors.

Stark Paint is the collaborative effort with London-based color specialist David Oliver, who has served as a consultant to Stark in the U.S. paint venture. Stark Paint is not only free of VOC’s and made in the America, but it is also available in three finishes including velvet emulsion, porcelain shell and lacquer gloss.


Stop by the Stark showroom in Laguna Niguel, or Kenneth McDonald in Costa Mesa to pick up a sample book.

Easter Eggs

This year for Easter a few of my friends and I decided to go all out and have an Easter "Egg"stravaganza. Complete with Easter feast, Easter egg dying, Easter egg hunt, Easter cake, and a biblical reading of the true meaning of Easter. Here are some photos of our crafty egg dying. Some eggs turned out better than others - Tiffany and Erin kept things classy by sticking with the solid colors, but Trevor was like an egg dying wiz and came up with all sorts of cool designs. We experiemented with rubberbands and duct tape and used brown eggs instead of white to get deeper jewel tones.




Between our successful ham feast, the crafty egg dying, and the dollar bill that I scored during our egg hunt, I'd say this was one of my best Easters to date.

Suzan Fellman Showroom

The Suzan Fellman Showroom is having a sale on vintage textiles next Saturday, April 10. Stop by to score fabric at $1, $5, and $10. Nathan, you wanna go with me?

Sale will be held in the driveway of Suzan's Home:

613 S. CITRUS AVE.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
P. 323-936-7759
12 noon-5 pm.
www.suzanfellman.com

April Fool's

I kind of love April Fool's Day. It's the one day of the year that I can let my inner prankster roam free and my victims can't get (too) mad at me. I really only pulled off 2 April Fool's jokes today, kind of a slow year. Then I got an email from my friend Coleen that I thought for sure was an April Fool's. She sent me a link to La Dolce Vita who featured me on her blog today. Me? I'm not even going to try and play it cool and pretend like I wasn't beyond thrilled and surprised and act like this happens all the time, because I was and it doesn't.


Paloma, thank you so so much for your kind words! Best April Fool's Day ever!