Don't Forget!

One more quick reminder...my One Kings Lane tastemaker tag sale goes live tomorrow morning at 8 am PST! Get it while it's hot, here!

Tastemaker Tag Sale - Featuring My Apartment Inventory

Good news! I finished furnishing the living and dining area in my apartment. Even better news! All of it will be for sale during my tastemaker tag sale on One Kings Lane!

The sale will consist of vintage and antique finds that I've collected over the past year. All of my vintage upholstery has been re-done with upgraded foam and lots of pretty fabric. 

This sale will feature quite a few small accessory items. I think vintage tchotkes have so much character. They give a room that one-of-a-kind, collected feel that I love. 

Art is one of those things that as I collect to sell, I find it harder and harder to let go. Some of my art I will never part with, but other pieces will be up for grabs during my OKL tag sale. 

I have a glass bottle fetish. I love the way they look in a grouping and the way the light hits them at different times of the day. My collection will be sold as individual pieces during the sale so that you can buy just one or a few; whatever suits your decorating needs.

Register for One Kings Lane and get ready for my tastemaker tag sale here. And don't forget to mark your calendar for Friday, June 1 @ 8 am pacific standard time. This is an online only sale and will last for 4 days. Each item is first come first serve!

Special thanks to Stacey for her lovely photography, and to Kyle, Ryan, and Jeff for your late night help pulling things together. I don't know what I would do without you. 

Facebook Pick of the Week

My good friend Carly of CarlyBird.com is a fancy Blitizen over at Blitz in the 3rd Street Promenade. She's all about social media and every day I'm impressed by how much she knows as well as how much there is to know, as she continuously gives me tips for virally growing my business.

The other day I tweeted, "social media is a full time job." At first I thought, I shouldn't tweet that, people are going to think I don't know what I'm doing or that I'm not cool enough to hire a staff to do it for me. But it's the honest truth; it's a struggle for me to design for my clients as well as find time to get the word out about what I'm doing, but I truly believe that both are vital parts to running a successful business these days.

I'm making tiny steps in the right direction and one thing I decided to do this week was to make my Facebook fan page special. I underestimate Facebook. It can be a major time vacuum so I try to steer clear most days, but I have to admit, when I want to know what's going on, I log in to Facebook.

For the past year or so that I've had my fan page, I never really posted anything on it except for links to my blog posts. Super lame, I know, so I wanted to make my FB page special and separate from my blog to try and reach new users who aren't interested in reading my sometimes lengthy ramblings, but are more interested in a quick photo or design tip.

I have started by featuring my favorite wallpaper and favorite fabric of the week. This is going to extend to paint colors, tile and stone, furniture and artwork. I'll also try to throw in some quick design tips and recommended reading, all with one pretty picture and a quick caption of why I love it.

If you don't like my Facebook fan page yet, you can head on over here and check it out. Also, everything is posted to my Twitter feed here.

Did ya hear?

I'm so excited to announce my 2nd One Kings Lane Tastemaker Tag Sale! I've spent the last 7 months, curating this collection; gathering one-of-a kind vintage finds to try and make this sale even better than the last. I'll have a lot more product this time around and a wider variety of things for sale; ranging from upholstery, to case goods, to unique table top items and wall decor. 

A lot goes in to prepping for the sale and last Thursday and Friday were full days of photographing each individual item including many extra detail shots. It takes a team of about 4 people to shoot, record, measure, and weigh 100 items per day. Above are some of my Instagram photos from the shoot. We had a blast and it got me even more excited for the sale. 

Be sure to mark your calendar for June 1, 2012 at 8:00 am PST to have first dibs on discounted items at my One Kings Lane Tastemaker tag sale. Registering is quick and easy, just visit onekingslane.com here.

Freshening Up on Balboa Island

Balboa Island is one of the quaintest parts of Newport Beach. Almost every time my family comes to visit in the summer we find time to bike down to the island and take the ferry across to the peninsula. Many of the houses on the island have been remodeled and transformed into adorable beach cottages, which makes the bike ride that much more enjoyable for me as a passer-by. 

It was such a privileged to work with this particular client on their already pretty fabulous summer home. Updated traditional architectural elements were already in place and provided the perfect canvas for a little face-lift.

Somehow I never get tired of blue and white. I wonder if I didn't design so many homes along the coast if my color palette would differ more... I actually never intentionally set out to be a beach house designer and I still don't like to define myself as such, but looking back at my projects over the past few years since I've been designing on my own, most of them have resided in beach cities, and that's just fine with me. 

Afterall, if I could pick anywhere to live in the world, it would be by the beach. I have a short list of places that I want to live before I die and sure enough, most of them are coastal towns. 

A big thank you to my photographer, Stacey Sutherland, and my assistant Kelli for making these four little photos possible.

Something You May Not Know...

Something you may not know about me is that I do, in fact, love floral printed fabric. I'm not sure what it is about my branding or the vibe that I put off, but I can count on 2 fingers the number of clients that have hired me and liked floral prints. Many of my clients will go for leaves or something with the essence of nature or even stylized or abstract floral patterns, but when it comes to traditional floral prints; the ones that look like Martha Stewart's garden in pillow form, it doesn't interest them.

I know that my designs are much more contemporary than traditional, but what I enjoy most is a contemporary take on traditional elements. That sounds oh so cliche, but it's true nonetheless.

While selecting fabric for my new apartment, I had really one, no two, requirements. 1. I had to get creative with my spending and stay within a small budget, and 2. I  had to be true to myself. I wanted more than anything for my home to be a reflection of me without regard to what's trending on design blogs. I wanted it to be a space that, although small and inexpensive, I could add proudly to my portfolio to give a little more dimension to my design aesthetic.

This meant including a garden-y floral fabric as one of my main points of interest in the room. My selection was Lee Jofa's Bardstock in color Mocha (see above). It's pricey, retailing at $390 per yard. I get a designer discount, but even still...it has a hefty price tag. Unfortunately once I laid eyes on it I couldn't envision using anything else. So, going back to rule #1, "getting creative with spending", the budget didn't allow for me to upholster a large piece of furniture or drapery in my beloved floral, so instead I will be ordering the minimum order requirement of 2 yards and creating a throw for my gray sofa. Nathan Turner beautifully illustrates this concept below.

My new apartment is starting to feel like home as I fill it up with some of my favorite vintage pieces that have had reupholstered. Last week I brought home these fantastic tub chairs (see below) from the upholstery shop and they have really spiced things up. Every room needs a good stripe, afterall.

You can stay up to date with my apartment decorating and my other client projects via Twitter and Instagram!

floral fabrics shown via Carolina Irving, Robert Kime, and Lee Jofa