Cheap and Chic Pick

A must for the bedside table and such a great price! Loving these carafes from Z Gallerie.

Color Story Monday: Kelly Green and Navy Blue

I know that I featured navy blue last week but one of my other favorite color combinations for Spring is Kelly Green with Navy Blue.

1. The perfect blend in a purse by Kate Spade
2. A green and navy take on the Union Jack by Jonathan Adler
3. A personalized pattern plate from I O Moi
4. Crisp and preppy stripes in kelly green from Walnut Wallpaper
5. A Marimekko beach towel

Best Picture Design: The Descendants

Now that the Oscar nominations are out, I will be featuring best picture inspired design over the next month. First up is the casual chic Hawaiian style found in one of my favorite movies of the year, The Descendants.

1. Glass Fishing Floats from Wisteria
2. Shell and Linen Prints from Ballard
3. Carved Wood Coffee Table from West Elm
4. Gorgeous exterior wicker ottoman from Gloster
5. A leafy tropical pattern from Kravet
6. A mellow yellow from Benjamin Moore
7. Super tacky, but screams Hawaiian, a pineapple beverage dispenser from Target
8. Outdoor Fabric from Sunbrella in Miramar Moss

9. Coral from Z Gallerie
10. Tortoise Shells Lamp from Z Gallerie

Color Organization

I had to snap this shot at the Kate Spade store yesterday. I adore their colorful boxes and packaging and it is stacked up in such an architectural manner.

HGTV in Print

I picked up the HGTV magazine last week for something new to read while traveling, and I actually found myself reading the entire mag cover to cover. For someone who doesn't watch HGTV, I found this to be quite a feat! There is a survey in the latest issue that tests how handy you are around the house and apparently I must keep candy in my toolbox. This made me feel really inept as a designer, but upon further study of the quiz I found that many of the questions involve home problems unique to cold weather climates and things that don't affect apartment dwellers. Being a 3rd generation Southern California girl I am not surprised to find out that I don't know how to avoid freezing pipes. Also, where should you store your propane tank in the winter? In California we use it year round of course! One thing I did know being from California is that a homeowner's policy will not cover earthquake damage, but it will cover tornadoes. All of these things are just part of being an adult and learning how to deal with shelter problems throughout your entire life.

Color Story Monday: Navy with a punch of Pink

I recently worked on a master bedroom and we selected a gorgeous deep navy blue color for the walls. To add some brightness we framed one of the owner's Hermes scarves that was predominantly hot pink. The contrast of the two colors is really fun to work with.

1. A new fabric from Schumacher with a great chevron print.
2. Pink peonies
3. Serena and Lily Navy
4. A very fun Amy Butler designed wallpaper at Graham and Brown
5. A stylish Spring vase from Anthropologie

Ted Baker Design

Every time I go into a Ted Baker store I am always in love with elements of his shop design. Colorful, whimsical, and often easy to re-create for the home his stores are inspirational and he could easily transition his fashion style into home design. He could pull a reverse Kelly Wearstler and open a home store.

When you look really closely at the lighting in the shop you realize that this could be re-created with multiple plain pendant lights that can be found at IKEA.

Another great trick is to pair up glassware by color. I love the look of this collection of emerald green glass against the soft pale turquoise tufted velvet backdrop.

Chocolate Malt Ball Cake

It was my sister's birthday last week and my mom and I made her a chocolate cake from Ina Garten's chocolate cake and frosting mix. Then inspired by Baked NYC, we decorated it very simply with malt balls. The cake turned out delicious and fun with a simple design theme.

Color Story Monday: Winter Whites

As snow starts to trickle into some parts of the country, I find so much beauty in the bleak white quality that January brings. I love paper whites, soft white quilts, and with all of the white sales going on during this time it is the perfect time to freshen up your bath towels.

1. Benjamin Moore Decorator's White
2. Paper Whites
3. Freshen up your cleaning supplies with a white enamel bucket from Summerhill & Bishop
4. A sheered sheep fur pillow adds an accent of coziness to any sofa from Anthropologie
5. Heat up a warm cup of tea in a Vietri Lastra mug
A Color Story addendum...
After my post last week, I discovered the perfect vase at Anthropologie that combines mint and coral and had to share. The Curvy Chrysanthemum Vase

A Must Have for the Design Library

  I love black and white and it is a timeless color combination that won't ever go out of style, but only continue to evolve. I just picked up Celerie Kemble's new book, Black and White (and a Bit in Between) and I have to say that it is the best design book that I have picked up in a long time. 

Feeling Inspired

From my blog post today on Apartment Therapy, I am feeling inspired to organize and clean up my kitchen and pantry area. This is my favorite kitchen from my roundup and I think it is due to the fab striped rug and color coordinated cookbooks!

Dressing up where the sun don't shine

As I was trolling the design blogs last night, the same ad for Cottonelle kept popping up. Alongside a roll of the toilet paper appeared the familiar face of Jonathan Adler promoting his designed toilet paper roll holders for Cottonelle. Seriously? I don't blame JA, since every designer needs to make money and licensing is a dream job. However, I just can't imagine the allure in one of these paper tp covers? Who really leaves their toilet paper out in plain sight and then thinks that dressing it up will enhance the look? Sorry but I will not be "respecting the roll" as Cottonelle wants buyers to do.

Color Story Monday: Mint Green and Poppy Red

This is a very bold color prediction to start off with in 2012, but I think that mint green and poppy red will become a combo with a soft grey as the great neutralizer. The bold nature of poppy red and mint green mixed makes the colors great for accessorizing.

1. One of Farrow and Ball's color prediction for 2012
2. The Lomo Diana Dreamer camera from Urban Outfitters
3. A hanging red clock from CB2
4. A fun under counter fridge from Big Chill in mint green
5. The classic Chinese garden stool in mint green from Wisteria.
6. Brighten up your morning coffee with a Marimekko mug in one of my favorite patterns.
7. Add some pop to your laptop with a Kate Spade laptop sleeve.
8. Mint Macarons
9. DesignSponge at Home adds some poppy to your bookshelf

Best Design Gifts from Xmas

I received some awesome design worthy gifts for the holidays that I have to share.
I am an obsessive collector of design books and those I love gifted me two great new books to add to my shelf.

1. American Fashion Designers at Home
2. Brilliant: White in Design

My Christmas gift to myself was the Kartell Cindy lamp for my nightstand in purple!