Sweet Master Suite

I put the finishing touches on this master bedroom yesterday...hope you like the finished product!

So I've been kinda busy....

and I went missing from the blog world for several weeks, didn't I?  Well I'm back, and like most people who have put the kids back into school and are feeling the weather cool off a bit, I'm ready to put my nose back to the grindstone and pick up where I left off before summer.

I just returned from an absolutely fabulous trip to Italy. My husband and I renewed our vows once more (we do this every year on our anniversary, and this was our 10th) in Positano, Italy.  What a wonderful gem this tiny vertical town is!  I have wanted to go ever since seeing Diane Lane hook up with a hottie in "Under the Tuscan Sun".  This town was so much more fun and charming than the movie could ever portray!  It is an ancient town, full of good food, millions of hills and steps up and down the mountains, and delicious local limoncello at every stop.

Positano was big on charm, but not so big on design inspiration. We were fortunate enough to cross the sea to the isle of Capri for a day though, and at the suggestion of our guide-for-the-day Marcello, we wandered through the Capri Palace Hotel, which was breathtaking.  It was a perfect blend of ancient and modern visual treats for a designer like me.... feeling very posh and Italian on one hand, and very hip and too-cool on the other hand.

After the Amalfi Coast we took the train back to Rome and spent our last couple of days exploring the city; some parts we've seen before and some were new little gems for us.  We spent our last day with a private tour guide, Annie Ojile, who took us around Roma on scooters.  Annie is a Minnesota transplant who loves all things Italian and knew she had to establish her life there to feed her soul, and she did.  For those of you needing help with travel arrangements or private tours in the Rome or Tuscany areas, I can't recommend Annie enough (www.romeandtuscanytours.com and www.scooteroma.com).

Once Annie and I got to know each other and she discovered I am in the decor and design industry, she recommended a walk along a fabulous little street for me, Via dei Coronari.  It was full of design shops that represented every era of Italian design from Renaissance to Modern, and as a bonus there were amazing architectural goodies to see too.

It's always a great way to end a trip for me - to get a jolt of excitement from a visual "design WOW" and get me pumped up for getting home and getting back to working on a project with renewed energy and ideas.  Grazie to my amazing husband for one of my favorite vacations ever (he did all of the planning) and to "scooter maven Annie" for the fun day and the suggestion to walk this wonderful place to finish the day and the vacation.

High Tea

I have always loved a good cup of tea.  Maybe it's because one of my grandmothers drank tea exclusively and introduced us to it at a very early age; maybe it's because I simply ADORE tiny toy china tea sets and couldn't get enough of hosting tea parties for my little sister and I growing up.

I am too many years past being able to host tea parties now, but I love these playful fixtures and what whimsical fun they would add to a tea room or tea-lover's kitchen.

Sexy Apartment in the City

Well hello! I bet you thought I forgot about you.... not so! I've been enjoying my summer schedule, with the lack of routines allowing me to abandon a couple of responsibilities for a few weeks just for fun and a change of pace.  But I'm still here, and I'm back to blogging today.

I'm a big fan of Sex & the City, and I'm sure I'm not alone (or why else would they have made two movies after the series ended?).  One thing we all remember, whether you are a design nut or not, is how Carrie's original apartment was redone in the first movie, into a fashionable, brilliant space more befitting the character's personality than the dingy, dull and monochrome surroundings she'd  put up with until that point.

In the second movie, we see how Carrie decorates her space now that she is working with an unlimited budget and a lot more space, plus how she decorates for a couple rather than a single girl.  Now obviously, a fictional character did not design and decorate these spaces; rather it is set designer Lydia Marks who can take all of the much-deserved credit.

In the apartment Mr. Big and Carrie (now Mrs. Big?) occupy, there is a wonderful mix of color, pattern and texture.  None of the choices are "safe"... they are eclectic, colorful, and most of all, very interesting.  It is that unexpected foo dog, ruffled electric blue ottoman in the living room, and area rug with giant pink floral motif that make us sit up and pay attention.  I admire Lydia Marks so much and love that she found pieces that so distinctly speak to Carrie's personality as we know it: avant garde, willing to take any fashion risk, and upscale.

Take a look around your own interiors and imagine where you can add in some pieces that are completely unique and that will help express your style through your interior decor.  And for heaven's sake, don't forget to pour yourself a cosmo when you sit back and admire your work.

Oh Boy, Summer is Here...

And I am distracted!  It's been busy getting my high-school freshman teenage son through his last weeks of school and final exams, then a quick trip to Vancouver, Canada (pretty close to my home town of Edmonton but much more metropolitan!) and here I am, back at home... trying to pick up where I left off with design clients, feel motivated and energized, and get on track with my diet and exercise regimens again.... oh boy!

One of my absolute favorite things about visiting Canadian cities like Edmonton and Vancouver is being able to browse one of my favorite shops, Chintz & Company.  Chintz used to be a small fabric store in Edmonton about 20+ years ago, when that glossy floral chintz fabric really was "da bomb".  They had a tiny little shop in an old, rich, established neighborhood next door to a great little pie and sandwich shop.  They had a catastrophic fire, which left us all wondering if they would re-build and re-open or if that would be the end of "Chintzy's" as we knew it.

Well they sure did re-open... with a BANG!  They came back bigger and better than ever, and have expanded their product offerings, their inventory, and their locations by a crazy amount. Now, you may think I'm crazy to get so excited about visiting these Canadian design stores when I live just outside of LA and can get to the world-famous Pacific Design Center or the ever-buzzing LA Mart anytime.  But Chintz has something none of these mecca's offer me - a fabulous collection of designer-brand furniture, accessories, fabrics, trims, lighting and kitschy little items all in one place. Sure, I can take a day to drive through notoriously hellish LA traffic and scour the design centers myself for pieces by the same vendors and manufacturers, but once I find them I am required to buy in minimum quantities or dollar amounts that don't suffice when wanting to pick up one tray, three lamps and a couple of stunning silver photo frames.  Chintz has already amassed all of those same exquisite items under one roof for easy browsing, and their pricing can't be beat (even by us professional designers, at our own net cost).

So thanks Chintz & Co., for another fun day of poking through your glassware and kitchen decor, your fabulous collection of lighting and bedding, and your unique and impressive way of displaying it all.  The Rocky Mountains and your stores are what I miss most about Canadian landmarks (laugh all you want - until you've been there).
http://chintz.com/default.aspx