Need a book to read?

When I drive long distances (like, a couple hours or so), I like to listen to books on my iphone. Try it sometime - it makes the drive go lightening speed! The other day I downloaded this book and now it's near impossible to find me without my headphones. I listen to it while I'm driving anywhere (even a 15 minute drive), while cleaning, before bed. My husband is getting a bit annoyed with me having headphones on all the time.

I'm sure you've heard of this book and probably a lot of you have read it. But if not - please go pick it up! And if you have a long commute, I highly recommend getting it for your ipod. The character readings are perfect.



And I just did a little googling and it seems they are making a movie! Of course it won't be as good as the book, but it looks like it will be a good one.

Happy Friday! My grandma is in town so I'll be having some great family time, and I'll try to keep my headphones off :)

Exciting Times

This week has been super exciting for my clients and me. Things are movin' and shakin' and it's the period of design where the projects and ideas in my head are coming to life.



I never thought I'd use Chiang Mai Dragon in my work, until I saw it in the Mocha colorway. (Featured with a Kevin O'Brien pillow).



Two words - grasscloth wallpaper.



Different colors, different textures, both chevron, same room. Love.

It cost WHAT?

On the two days that I work at the shop, I'm exposed to 'high' design items that I normally wouldn't spend much time around. I've learned so much from working with these items; it's helped train my eye to find the 'high' in the 'low'. [ And there is nothing wrong with 'low'.. it's thrilling to find great deals for both myself and my clients. I love Sarah Richardson because she mixes an IKEA kitchen with Schumacher drapes. ]

Here are some inexpensive items that look so much more expensive than they really are - my favorite kind of stuff :)

CB2 Big Dipper Lamp - $199

CB2 Marble Coffee Table - $299

West Elm Sutton Sofette - $599

Nate Berkus Mirrored Top Bamboo Table - $280

Overstock Peacock 5x8 Rug - $159

I recently used this coffee table for a client. In my opinion, it's much more substantial and interesting than it's CB2 rival.

Overstock Acrylic Coffee Table - $238

I had a pretty well known designer email me about this chair I designed asking where I got the fabric. I told her, you're not going to believe it, but it's only $8 a yard!

Premier Prints Kaitlyn Fabric - $8/yard

World Market Mango Wood Table - $120

I really enjoyed sharing these with you, so I think I'll bring this post back. I tagged it "It cost WHAT?" so we can play again :)

World Market

On Sunday, I traveled 20 minutes to the next town to go to Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby is closed on Sundays. Oops! But across the street was World Market so I decided - hey, since I'm here, I'll check it out. I use World Market online all the time for e-decorating clients, but I hadn't been in the store since I lived in Texas.. about 8 years (!)

I'm glad I stopped in, because they had the best little bowls and glasses. I grabbed a couple for my office to put paperclips and pens in.



If you have one close to you - check it out! Be sure to look all around. The gold container was in the jewelry area, the cup was in glassware, and the little black and white bowl was in the Asian dinnerware area.

Images That Inspire

These images are inspiring me lately.... and here's why.

I love the construction on this ottoman - the deep tufts (hate wimpy tufts!), the pretty welt and no nailhead. It's perfectly simple for a bright color.

[ zoldan interiors ]

Love these slate (faux slate?) floors. Just what I'd want in our master bathroom.

[ via young house love ]

I need some jewelry storage... and I love this idea. Instead of bright teacups, I'd probably go for more muted colors to let the design of the jewelry speak.

[ Martha ]

Man I love a skirted table, especially with some subtle detail - like the ribbon in this picture. My DIY skirted table didn't work for my office, but I think I may need one in my dining room.

[ source unknown ]

SUCH a great idea for a guest bedroom!! It keeps the guesswork out of "hmm which towels should I use" for your guests.

[ source unknown ]

My, oh, my.. a yellow door - on the INSIDE. I absolutely love it.

[ found via Full House, I think ]

The Perfect Linen Closet

In my dream house I would have a perfectly organized linen closet just like this, full of Peacock Alley sheets. The ribbon, the dividers, the blue/black paint - I love everything.

[ from Domino Magazine via brides.com ]

But for now I am grateful for my little linen closet with wire shelves and sheets from Home Goods :) At least learning how to properly fold a fitted sheet is free, thanks to Domino and Brides.com.

Speaking of sheets, I love love LOVE my new Duvet cover from Overstock that I mentioned earlier. I highly recommend it to everyone out there. Also, the color is very true to the picture. (I ordered the Willow aka Sage).

Not for the vegetarians

This post is not for the vegetarians of the group, and it's not about eating meat either. It's about cowhide rugs.

Do you love them? Do you hate them?

I'm personally in the LOVE category. They add so much interest to a room, and are so soft. When you actually think about what you are doing - putting the skin of a dead animal on your floor - it's a bit creepy, I'll admit. But I wear leather on my feet and put meat in my mouth, so it doesn't bother me. I can definitely imagine a cowhide in our home someday.

[ all imagines above found via decorpad.com ]

I personally love the cowhides at World Market:





IKEA is a good place to get them as well:




I would really love a cowhide in my new office, but my decorating budget is currently being concentrated on reupholstering Craigslist stuff so we can get some furniture into this house :) But maybe someday!

Easy Roman Shade Reveal

And here it is, my finished diy roman shade!

I am really happy with the result, and especially happy with the $30 price tag.



I thought it'd be visually interesting to do the flange in the horizontal stripe.



The room is coming together, and I should have a full room reveal somewhat soon. :)



Answers to a couple questions/comments:

Where did you get the fabric? I'm sorry to say the fabric is from the Los Angeles Fashion District.

I hope it's as easy as it looks! Oh it is, I definitely recommend to everyone. The entire project took me no more than an hour and a half from start to finish.

Easy Roman Shade Tutorial

If you can wrap and glue, you can do this super easy roman shade DIY project!

One of the reasons it's super easy is because you start with an actual Roman shade. I recommend this because it takes all the tricky engineering out of it and you'll know it will always work 100%. It doesn't matter what the roman shade looks like, as long as it's neutral enough that it won't show through your fabric.

I chose this $30 roman shade from Overstock:



For the fabric, I used some remnants I had on hand from a client project.



Next, I cut the fabric to fit over the roman shade and to wrap about half an inch around the sides. Then I ironed like crazy to make sure the fabric was wrinkle free.

I took all my supplies outside to get ready to glue. (Unfortunately the lighting was crazy at this time of day, so these pictures aren't very good. I'm sorry!) What you'll need is spray adhesive and Fabrictac.



Starting from the top of the shade, spray adhesive the fabric onto the roman shade. Make sure there are no creases and that it lays perfectly flat.



Once you spray adhesive all of the fabric onto the shade, turn the shade over and wrap the extra fabric (about half an inch) around the back of the shade and glue using Fabritac. I don't have pictures of this step because working with Fabritac can be a bit messy.

My shade had a flange that hung over the top. I wrapped it in fabric similar to the previous steps.

Some notes:

- Do not use fabritac on the front part of the shade. It will show through your fabric. I recommend spray adhesive for any part of the shade that shows. Fabritac, however, is preferred for the back of the shade because it's more secure.

- I do not recommend using a striped fabric like I used because it's near impossible to get the lines completely straight. I used striped fabric because it's what I had on hand but I really had to work at it and it's still not 100%. I will say a large stripe would probably work, but I recommend shying away from stripes. This tutorial would be GREAT with any other type of print.

I hate to do this, but I'm going to keep you all in suspense and post the after in a couple hours. Not because I want to, but because I need the lighting to be better to take a good picture. So stay tuned!

To be continued....

New To Me : MOTH Design

I've stumbled upon a great blog that is new to me - MOTH DESIGN. I'm sure I'm a little behind on this one. It's writted by a Canadian interior designer who's style reminds me a little of Sarah Richardson, but a little funkier.

Anyway, as you know (and are probably sick of it), I'm on an office kick. Here is Erica Cook's home office. I big puffy heart it!









I adore this vignette:







My favorite things about this office is the art and the colorful accessories. It's hard to make a room look cheery when it's snowing outside, but she accomplished that.

If you aren't already a fan, go check her out!!