My Brother's Backyard Wedding

This past summer both of my brother's got married a month apart from each other and both married girls who they met through my sister and I, which meant that we pretty much got the best sisters-in-law on the planet. It was such a fun summer as every weekend Kyle and I would drive down to Orange County from our LA apartment and stay with the rest of our family in the house my older sister rented out for the summer in Corona Del Mar. There was a lot of swimming, hot tubbing, eating, card playing, laughing, and of course wedding planning going on - all top on my list of favorite things to do. I love helping with weddings of friends and family, but it's especially fun when they have as much style as my new sisters-in-law.

Here are some beautiful shots by Eliza J. Photography of my older brother's backyard wedding. All of the designing and planning was done by the bride, Ali Brinkerhoff (now Stiles), and I took care of the floral design and overall placement and styling of the wedding on the day of (with the help of a whole bunch of other awesome people). Ali is one of the most giving and caring people I know and it was such an honor to help her out on her big day.

Ali & Garrett hand wrote personal notes to each of their 200 guests. Yep, they're pretty awesome.

My Dad is the handiest person I know. He made boxes similar to the ones used at my wedding. Ali wanted them left raw and branded with an "S." 

My sister Melissa is known for her mini lemon bundts. I believe they also made an appearance at her own wedding as favors. 

I loved these table numbers that Ali found at Bhldn. Cakes by Susie Cakes.

All photos taken by Eliza J. Photography and found here.

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

My Easter at Home

At the last minute on Saturday night I decided to spend Easter up in my home town of Modesto, California. I hopped in my car early Sunday morning and arrived just in time for Easter dinner #1 with best friend Kelli's family, followed by Easter dinner #2 at best friend Erin's. Both were delicious and so much fun, and sometimes, even though you would never ever want to move back to your hometown, it sure is good to visit every now and again.

To call Modesto a charming little town would be more than a stretch, that's more like a bold faced lie. I didn't hate growing up here, I actually kind of liked it, but I always knew there was something more interesting out there for me. It turns out that I was right, but now that I've lived in Idaho, Utah, Orange County, and Los Angeles, I find that I still have that same feeling inside; that there is still something more interesting out there for me. Until I live or visit every place in the world, I might always feel that way, but I'm okay with that because those restless feelings encourage me to experience new people and new places that in turn give me a new perspective and make me a more well rounded person and designer.

I think if I keep my eyes open, literally and figuratively, I can find beauty everywhere. Although Modesto may not look like much from the outside, it is packed with amazing memories as well as a few really beautiful backyards. After spending some time in my friends' backyards (see photo) these past two days - eating, laughing, and picking flowers - I've been really inspired to get going on my own garden. My new apartment has a community vegetable and flower garden and I can't wait to dig in when I get back.

I'll be working remotely from my hometown for the next day or two, but in my spare time I'll be documenting moments of beauty that I stumble upon. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram to see what I find.

Getting There

After finally getting over my sofa fabric debacle, my living room is starting to take shape, although we have a long way to go yet. When redoing vintage pieces, I always end up making my own modifications to make them more modern. I think with classic or designer vintage pieces, it's better just to leave as is, but if it's just a middle of the road sofa from 1970, why not do a few extra nips and tucks while it's already under the knife for re-upholstery?

My modifications to the sofa were: 

*New wood finish. The previous color was very orangy (not shown), typical of 70's furnishings.

*No more tufting. It could have stayed, but I just didn't like it for my vision of the room.

*You can't really see from the photo above, but there were wood pieces lining the top edges of the sides. It was about as weird as it sounds, so I had them shaved down and covered with fabric. 

*The sofa originally had 3 seat cushions and I made the decision to make a brand new bench cushion that was feather wrapped for extra comfort. It was a little extra money to scrap the foam in the old cushions and have a new cushion made, but it was worth it. Now the seat cushion is more uniform with the solid back, and it has that rumpled cozy look that you only get from a down-fill bench seat. I love that. 

We're getting there! At least we have seating and a couple pieces of art on the wall, and it's amazing what a bundle of blossoms will do for an unfinished room.

So far...

1. Jute rugs are more comfortable than sisal and work in just about any room. I randomly found this one for $89. Finding super deals like that frees up some of my budget to spend on more expensive upholstery fabric.

2. Santa Monica has the best farmer's market. Room changing blossoms for $6.

3. Covering my existing pillow fills with some fun patterns will really help bring the room to life. That is on my "to do" list right after drapery.

4. That mirror might be my best and most favorite thrift store find to date - it's big, made out of the perfect cream color rattan, and only cost me $8.

5. My coffee table is the first real piece furniture (that wasn't from Ikea) that I ever bought as an adult. I've had it for years, waiting for the appropriate time to put it to good use.

Me? Indecisive?

I seem to have run into a little problem while attempting to make design decisions for my new apartment. When I design for clients they give me a jumping off point, whether it's a specific style they like, or certain colors that they can and can't live with. When designing for myself, my jumping off point is...anything I've ever seen and loved, and that is not a short list. I've purposely exposed myself and opened my heart and mind to all types of styles and all color palettes so that I can be the best designer possible for my clients. But when it comes to designing for myself that just means one thing, I can't make up my mind. 

So when it came time to select a sofa fabric, I scowered the fabric district in downtown LA and all of the fabric outlets I know of in Orange County and finally settled on a lovely brown linen. It was a pretty, mocha/gray/brown, but it was still brown. When I came to my senses I called up my best design friend Nathan and asked him why, why out of all the amazing colors out there, when I could finally pick anything I want, I chose brown? We came up with one main reason: I love too many colors, so brown was an escape from having to choose among them and commit to just one. (This sounds like a metaphor for my love life, and let me tell ya...that aint a pretty situation). 

Every time I see a pink sofa in a room my heart skips a beat. (Yes, I realize it's just a piece of furniture.) And pink is probably my favorite color if I absolutely had to choose. So when I abandoned the brown linen, I kept trying to visualize my home with a pink sofa. I love the photo above from Lonny Magazine. It uses pink but in a setting that's not too frilly or girly and feels very "me". The problem I ran in to when I thought about having a pink sofa, was that my coffee table (that I purchased long ago) is white and I have a lot of vintage blue/green bottles and jars that I'll be using to accessorize, and the thought of pink, white, and bluish green felt too feminine for what I wanted my home to be. 

images left, right

Windsor Smith (interiors shown above), a designer who I admire so much, uses this color palate often. I love her interiors, but yes, the ones with this color combo do have a very feminine feel. I love to look at these interiors and it would be so fun to design something like this for a client, but in the end it didn't entirely feel like it fit my personality.

So what did I finally decide on?

...brown's hipper, more sophisticated cousin, gray. I know, super exciting right? In the end, it just made the most sense with the other pieces of furniture that I already own. If I was starting completely from scratch, things might be a little different, but my poor friend Carly has been looking at this for two weeks...

So it was time to make a decision so that we have a place to sit. I'll probably still infuse pink in to the room with pillows and flowers, but it won't be so obvious. And I'm going to continue with the blue/green and use that for drapery. Here's a little break down of what I have so far...

As I was doing this on my own, I started to realize that this is one of the reasons why people with a good design sense still sometimes hire a designer. Sometimes it's helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of and give a second opinion, and in the end help you pull the trigger on a sofa fabric. 

Public Speaking Debut

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to talk to some high school aged girls that a friend of mine teaches at church. I'll admit when she asked me, I was actually really excited; an opportunity to speak about my all time favorite subject to a captive audience of young impressionable minds! Yes, it's true, I can talk about furniture, fabric, and architecture 24 hours a day, but I knew I had to keep things short and interesting to keep a 16 year old's attention on a Saturday. I thought back to when I was their age and I knew there were two things that were a must: lots of visual aids, and a gift for them to take home (because, let's be honest, everyone loves free stuff, even if they have no intention of putting it to use).

I wanted to put together an inspiration board to give them an idea of how they can use something like this as their guide when decorating their own rooms. One of my favorite interiors when I was first developing my aesthetic, and that I still love to this day is Ruthie Sommers' Santa Monica home that was featured in the premiere issue of Domino Magazine. It is an interior that most designers, bloggers, and pinterest users are all too familiar with. However, I knew it would be new to the girls so I thought it would be a fun room to use as a guide for my inspiration board. Also on the board I pinned up fabric and paint swatches that help define the color palate and overall feel, along with a scaled space plan of a living room. 

I gave them this little decorating kit to use for their own space. It included a cork board and pins so that they can create their own inspiration board, a folder to hold images and drawings, a notebook to jot down ideas and sketches, graph paper to create a basic scaled drawing of their room and furniture, and of course, a tape measure to help them create their space plan and to also take with them when bargain hunting around town. All of these things are necessary for me to organize my thoughts when working on a project of the largest or smallest scale, and I think they apply just as much to a teenage girl decorating her room.

One thing that I really wanted to focus on with the girls was the importance of accessories. If they didn't have the time, patience, or money to purchase or DIY themselves some new furniture, I wanted to stress the huge impact that even one vase of flowers or one killer piece of thrift store artwork can have on a plain space. I brought a lot of random accessories with me that I have collected over the years. I wanted everything that I brought with me to be around or under $10 so that the girls could see how accessible this was for them to do if they wanted to put forth a little bit of effort. I shared with them the price and where I purchased each item to get their wheels turning.

I emphasized simple but interesting and personal things that they could do with accessories. Some of these ideas were: use an old bottle as a vase and fill it with a couple of fresh picked daisies, fill a bowl or jar with a collection of something small such as seashells or spools of thread, create a piece of artwork by gluing rocks/buttons/paperclips onto a plain white sheet of paper and framing it with a ready-made shadow box frame. 

I tried to keep things simple and wanted to give the girls tips and resources that I thought would be applicable to them and their budget. I followed this outline during our little talk and gave each of the girls a copy. It has websites, shops, and ideas that I hope they, and you, find helpful!

A Rock Collection

Sometimes I collect things, and sometimes I just buy a collection of things. Yesterday, I bought a collection of rocks (see photo above). It wasn't planned and I'm not sure what came over me to make me purchase 50 rocks, but I did. I think part of it might have to do with the fact that I need more than just photos of pretty interiors as inspiration. The Internet has a way of making something so accessible and everywhere that it's not special anymore, such as photos of beautiful and interesting interiors. Back in the day (5 or so years ago?) I would get so excited to find a new, cool site featuring interiors of all different styles. Now I go days without looking at photos online because if I do it too often they all start to look the same, and the novelty of the experience wore off long ago.

I still get incredibly giddy when my design magazines come in the mail. It was the first thing I remembered to change my address for when I moved. The features in Veranda, House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, etc., and their every 6 weeks delivery date are still special to me, and I still pick apart those rooms and analyze every detail and read every word, while photos on the Internet have become something that I scroll through at warped speeds just to try and get through it all.

Back to the rocks. I think when I got bored of looking at interior photos I started to seek inspiration elsewhere. I feel that is such an important thing for a designer, so I really have the fire-hose that is the Internet to thank. I started visiting more museums and my interest in all kinds of art increased. I started traveling more and taking inspiration from the architecture, fashion, and lifestyle of each place I visit. And I've started to find inspiration in the smallest forms and look at everything with a new and more scrutinizing eye.

So when I saw a giant table at the Goldenwest Swap meet yesterday, full of rocks, I had to stop. Color, shape, texture, form...these little guys had it all and I was instantly inspired. I spent a a good chunk of time curating my collection from the massive pile, and just like that...I became a rock collector.

I like the idea of putting the rocks on display. They need to be seen from all sides to be fully appreciated. I might actually frame a few groupings, but I also want to use a brass leaded glass box to display them on my bookcase or coffee table. These vintage models are so much less expensive than modern day versions. These were in the $20 range found here and here on Etsy.

Dining Room Chairs

I had seen these chairs around and always loved the eiffel base. While I like to keep my interiors, especially my own personal space, interesting and unique, I decided I didn't care if the "Danish modern table with the white plastic modern chairs" was completely overdone - it's a great look that I love, so I did it anyway. Not to mention that those chairs are a steal. I purchased them from this eBay seller.

We now have a place to eat, which, let's be honest, is the most important thing. My little dining room still needs artwork and window treatments, and possibly a rug, so there will be more posts to follow. On that wall behind my table that is shown in the photo at top, I've decided that I want to do an oversized custom bulletin board like my good friend Thomas O'Brien. He did a complete post about it here, (photos shown directly above). I love collecting and displaying ideas, which is why I keep this blog, and I've mentioned before that I have always kept bulletin boards around. But I think putting a giant one in the dining area for all to see will really make it a piece of interesting art that I can and will add to over time.

Refinishing a Dining Table

A few months ago I purchased a set of mid-century dining chairs from the flea market that had really great style, but needed some major TLC. The chairs came with a table and when I first saw it the legs were detached and it was in super shabby condition, not to mention that there were a bunch of what looked like old dental tools scattered on top of it, which sort of grossed me out. I didn't really want the table, I was really only in it for the chairs, but I begrudgingly hauled it to my car anyway.

I need a lot of furniture for my new apartment and naturally I'm on a budget. The dining chairs that I thought would work in my new space ended up being too big and I didn't want to over crowd the dining area because it is the only pathway to the kitchen. Then I got to thinking about that crusty old legless table and I thought....this is so crazy, it just might work.

Crazy for a couple of reasons. 1. The table needed a major overhaul (I apologize for not taking a before picture, apparently I was just super anxious to give it a make over that I forgot.) and 2. I am sort of anti DIY. I think in theory DIY projects are great, and if you have the time, talent, and patience to pull it off...more power to you. But I am not one of those people. I want things done right, especially when it comes to furniture, and I know my limitations. Nothing I do would ever come close to the beauty and precision I get when I take something to my upholstery shop to my wood finisher.

But with this ratty old table, I decided to give it a go just to see if I could do it. Of course I would need the help of my father, who is basically good at everything and also a licensed general contractor (although he had only refinished one other table before), and a step by step tutorial that I found online here. I skipped the first few steps and went straight to the sanding because our original surface was already pretty weathered and stripped. Then we stained and added 3 coats of clear finish. I let it dry for a day or 2 and then moved her in to my new place!

I was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out. It's not perfect and the stain is a little splotchy in areas, but I think it's the kind of thing that only I would notice. My new, smaller scaled chairs should be arriving this week. And with that, my dining area is one step closer to accommodating dinner guests.

Unpacking

I've decided that unpacking is significantly more fun than packing. Something about a clean slate and a fresh start and the chance to purge excess stuff that has been weighing you down for, in my case, 8 years. I only took things with me to my new apartment that I really love and need. Everything else was given away to friends and neighbors or hauled away to Goodwill in one of my 5 different drop offs. 

I spent a good 2 hours putting my dishes into their proper place in my cupboards, mostly because I kept stopping to stare in amazement at how neat and organized everything was. (I'd show you a photo of the cupboards at my last home, but you would most definitely think less of me.)

My sister asked me to text her photos of my unpacking progress so these are 2 of the photos I took with my phone, all featuring things that I love and most definitely can't live without: vintage goblets and glasses, everyday glasses, cute serving bowls, industrial mixing bowls, my moccasins, and about 1/4 of my design magazine collection. 

Road Trip

Last night around 8 pm I wrapped the visual displays for the California Gift Show, (which starts tomorrow) and got home just in time to catch the last 20 minutes or The Bachelor. I'm excited to share the displays with you later this week, but for now here are some snippets of my two best friends and I road tripping up to Utah to spend time with my brothers and my aunt, and also, so that I can attend Alt Summit (a design blogger conference).

Our original plan was to fly, but we quickly remembered that there are fewer things in life better than a good old fashion road trip, so we decided to trek 10 hours in the car and stop whenever our little hearts desired or our eyes saw something cool on the side of the road.

A Christmas Note

I'm so sad to see Christmas go. I love having life focus around the birth of Jesus Christ in all of the different forms that we choose to celebrate this time of year. From Christmas carols, to crafts and decorations, to service projects and everyone having goodwill toward men.

Christmas day for me has consisted of spending all day with my family going to church, changing back into our PJs, then opening presents, eating our traditional Christmas breakfast, taking our Christmas naps, and waking up to devour an amazing homemade apple pie. Now we're all watching Home Alone (my personal favorite) while I do a little net surfing, which is when I came across this very cool artwork by Christopher Broyles. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and merry Christmas to you all!

Christmas in a Duffy Boat

This year for Christmas, my brothers, my parents, and my aunt joined my sisters and I in Orange County, instead of us all making the trek up to Northern California. I appointed myself chair of Christmas activities so that would wouldn't just end up sitting around night after night watching Hallmark movies together. Although that is good family bonding, we laugh a lot harder at ourselves and at each other when we are doing some type of adventurous activity.

I'm not sure if a Duffy boat in the canals of Long Beach count as adventurous, but it sure beat Hallmark movies when it came to making Christmas memories. My brother captained our vessel as 10 of us cruised around Naples island and looked at all of the Christmas pretty while sipping our hot cocoa. This satisfied my mother's need to see a ton of Christmas lights and we seriously had the best time. A "must do" holiday activity for anyone within a 50 mile radius.

image of long beach harbor during Christmas found here