Happy Halloween

I keep track of Rue magazine and the very talented Rue girls via facebook, twitter, and blogs. When I saw them post photos of last year's Ace Hotel Halloween party, I knew I had to re-create the show stopping giraffe worn by their friend Angela that appeared in all of the SmileBooth photos.

Here are some pics of my interpretation of Angela's giraffe costume and some of our Halloween antics. It was such an amazing Halloween weekend, I'm sad to see it go. Turns out everything is more fun dressed up as a giraffe. Who knew?

Day 2

Yesterday afternoon we wrapped day 2 of shooting various design projects around Orange County. I had so much fun with my lovely photographer Stacey Sutherland and my beautiful assistant and best friend, Kelli. Thanks for a great 2 days ladies! Check back for the finished photos.

Photo Shoot

Photo shoot days are my favorite. These are a couple behind the scenes shots from todays's shoot.

Designer Flea Market

Join me next Saturday, November 5, for the designer flea market in Newport. While shopping for clients as a designer, one can't help but collect a lot of fabric, furniture, lighting and accessories along the way. Sooner or later reality hits as we realize that it's time to purge. The result is a fabulous designer flea market, full of designers and their handpicked wares. Do stop by and say hello!

More info here.

Fall Baby Shower

Yesterday my oldest sister and I threw a baby shower for our other sister and my first nephew. Being that it's my parents first grandchild, and just a whole new life in general, it's kind of a big deal. My sisters are my favorite people to design and decorate for. I don't know what I would do without them, so being able to impart my love of design to honor them is one of my favorite things. These are some photos from our outdoor soiree.

Melissa requested a fall theme (she's a bit fall obsessed and loves all things pumpkin). Since it was a baby shower I still wanted to keep it bright and pretty, so I took the yellows, browns, and oranges, and added in some cranberry and brought the whole thing together with some fall gourds, pomegranates, flower arrangements, and our homemade canopy over the patio.

How To:

• I purchased the flowers from the wholesale mart and arranged them using floral foam in low slender containers that I found at Ikea - they were the perfect height to not block lunch conversation.

• To create the canopy we first measured the width and length of the space. We went to the garment district in downtown LA to select our fabric. When making temporary craft projects I always use clothing fabric because it is a lot cheaper than home fabrics. We purchased each of our 6 colors for $3/yard. The length of our patio required 6 widths of 54" wide fabric so we selected 6 different colors and then split them down the middle so that each color would appear twice in the canopy. To add a little something extra we also purchased some coordinating trim. To install, I hired my brother (he works for free) to climb on the latter and hop the fence to staple the fabric to the overhang and then to the fence. It took just a couple of hours to complete and had the biggest impact on the party. It's really fun to see something that colorful in the background of all of our photos of the guests.

• I find that the easiest and simplest way to make a pretty food table is to use dishes that are all the same color. White is usually my color of choice and also what is generally on hand, which saves on party costs, so it's a win-win. It also always helps to have a mom and sisters who make really pretty and delicious food. 

• My sister purchased the gourds from Trader Joes and selected the colors that would coordinate best with the rest of the decor.

So Boho

Interiors with a bohemian flair encompass a lot of things that I'm loving about design right now...lots of color, cozy furnishings, a nod to Indian or Aztec patterns and color, and a gereral mix of styles. 

one, two, three, four, five

One Kings Lane Art Sale

OKL is having a fantastic art sale today. There is a great variety of  pieces, so head on over here and check it out. If you are one of my clients, I'll be around today if you want a second opinion before buying.

Happy art shopping!

Knitta Please

Get more information on knit installations by Magda Sayeg here.

Branding

I'm in the process of revamping my design logo, business cards, and website. Thoughts on confetti filled business cards?

Or what about one with curves?

How about the cardboard variety?

confetti, curves, embossing, cardboard

VW

What is it about these cars that makes them so aesthetically pleasing...

logo, green, blue, white, chartreuse

Painted Textiles

I'm incredibly inspired by the handpainted watercolor textiles of Lourdes Sanchez.

 To view more of these amazing designs, visit LuliSanchez.com.

Custom Upholstery

One of my absolute favorite parts of a room are the upholstery pieces. I can see a fabric and a sofa and just know instantly that they belong together in a certain space. It comes quickly and easily to me, which is probably why it is one of my favorite components. There is something about creating a custom piece of furniture or re-upholstering an old piece of furniture in a new fabric that brings me so much joy (weird, I know). Because it is so near and dear to my heart, I thought I should introduce you all to my good friend Eddie. He's my go to guy for all of my upholstery needs.

This second video is one that I took when Eddie didn't know I was taping. My sister started asking him questions and he began explaining how he feels about the upholstery process. It's pretty priceless when he starts talking about the love that goes in to a piece.

If you're in the Orange County area, I would highly recommend Pete's Upholstery (Pete is Eddie's "pops") for anything you need done in the realm of upholstery. Just be sure to tell him that I sent you so that he'll give me some sort of kick back in the form of one of his mom's tomales.

I don't have a proper photo yet of the finished custom love seat, but that's her over there on the left.

Lace Lantern

Whilst meeting with a couple of my really close friends last night to start planning one of their upcoming weddings, fellow bridesmaid Bethany pointed these out to us. I had one of those, that-is-so-cool-why-didn't-I-think-of-that, moments. I'm just glad someone thought of it, because it's genius. Plans to incorporate a few of these guys into the wedding decor are underway.

Find instructions here.

Succulents

I think I was about 11 when my fascination with Martha Stewart began. I watched her first TV show on Lifetime religiously and asked for a subscription to Living for my 12th birthday. Even at that age I attempted a few of Martha's crafts and decorating ideas, one of which was the succulent wreath. I thought it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen and I remember buying the baby  succulents and trying to put the wreath together with my oldest sister. I've honed my crafting skills a lot since then, and thank goodness for that, because our wreath didn't look near as good as Martha's when it was finished.

Sister, what do you say we give it another go? Find the instructions here.

I've been on a succulent kick since a couple of weeks ago when I received a little succulent in a hand potted pot as a favor at my good friend Nancy's wedding. I thought it was one of the more thoughtful and useful favors I have ever received. As I have been giving my little guy lots of sun and a little bit of water, I've been dreaming of planting a full on succulent garden. Here are some photos I am gathering for inspiration.

P.S. If Pinterest and Google image search were in a match up for best place to search photos, Pinterest would win...blindfolded.

wreath, hanging, vertical, garden

Into Aztec

It started with this fabric from Ralph Lauren...

and snowballed from there...

I'm really loving the revival of Aztec, southwestern prints and textiles. One of my favorite things about design is reinventing outdated styles and right now there are so many great designers creating new spins on this old trend. For me, I actually think it may have started with Gretchen Jones' Project Runway show last year. Never before had southwest been so appealing to me and I have been forever changed and now I can't get enough. 

It took some beggging, but I convinced a client of mine to use that Ralph Lauren fabric for part of there bedding in their master bedroom remodel. I assured them that by taking something unexpected and seemingly off-trend and outdated like an Aztec style print and putting it in a modern setting, that is how great and really interesting rooms come about.   

fabric, bag, image, dress

Visual Displays: California Gift Show

These are some photos from the California Gift Show displays that I put together. It was quite possibly the most stressful job I have ever taken on. The task was to create displays on 8 different floors showcasing product from the many different showrooms. The general direction I was given was pretty open ended, but just something that speaks of California. I had big plans, sketches and all, of how each floor was going to display a different well-known local in California. Although the locations would be different I wanted to have a very cohesive design where each of the floors are related.

 You can see that I didn't quite get that far. The showrooms are extremely stressed and busy come gift show time and most people aren't too concerned about little old me and the job that I have to do. So, although I had big hopes and dreams, the end result is what you see above; 5 very different schemes, some more closely related to California than others.

California themed or not, I'm just glad I got it all done and a big thanks to all of my family and friends who came to help, or at least visit, during my long hours at the Mart!