September 21, 2010

High Rise Apartment

This weekend I was flown to Washington DC to decorate a high rise apartment in Arlington. It came out beautiful, we had a great time in the city, we worked our butts off to get it done in 3 days, and I was actually kinda sad to leave.

Sorry about the grainy quality of the pictures, we finished the room at 10pm that night and I had an early morning flight and had to leave before the natural light could shine through. The before was your typical apartment with white walls, vertical blinds, and generic quality of everything.


Slip cover chair and ottoman at West Elm

The accent wall color is Deep Space by Benjamin Moore, curtains from Pier One.

Good rule of thumb in picking out throw pillows is to pick a solid, print, and a texture. The tan sofa came with a solid brown pillow and we found the printed pillows at Home Goods and a cream colored fuzzy pillow for that texture we needed.

Most of the decor and accent pieces that fill the room are from Home Goods, I am all about design on a budget. It makes things special and exciting to me when you get a good deal on the purchase. It's no fun to pay full price.




September 15, 2010

Cupcake Time

For the past few months I have become slightly obsessed with cupcakes. Lets just say that you will be seeing alot more of these pictures in the months to come as I experiment and play around with all the different flavors and techniques.

A friend called and asked me to make cupcakes for her little girls birthday party. I said sure, what kinda cupcakes do you want? She said PINK, so I went heavy on the pink making strawberry cupcakes with a buttercream frosting and cut out some pink fondant flowers - and who can forget the hot pink sprinkles.

I also made a dozen vanilla cupcakes and put a drop of red food coloring in the icing. I found out that my little birthday customer loves cherries, so I put a cherry on top.

Enjoy!!!







September 12, 2010

TiVo is Set!!!!

The Nate Berkus show premiers Monday September 13th!!! And is that Bethany in his chair - I love her witty personality!!! And dear ole Nate where o where can I get that rug? I can not wait for all your advise, designs, and talent.

(image from Nate's facebook Page)




September 10, 2010

When Can I Move In?

I love everything about this living room designed by James Michael Howard. The white and brown calm neutral tones with pops of blue. Our living room has this same color scheme with bone white walls, brown sofa and tan chairs. I would love to find a rug with this muted gray Greek key shape and the coffee tables are just to die for. Every time I have doubts about which way to go in decorating our living room I always resort back to Mr. Howard's living room.






(images via Decorpad)



September 09, 2010

Here's the Dirt...

My neighbor has a butt load of bamboo growing wild in her back yard, so much so that it has created this thick overgrown fence. Anyone who has ever planted bamboo knows exactly what I am talking about, it would take an act of God to get rid of half of these bamboo trees. So, I have started to cut a few pieces of bamboo each week (from our side of the "fence") to make my house pretty. Am I stealing or doing her a favor using up these massive bamboo trees? Any who I love the way they look in our living room and being completely free is the best part!!!



I just filled up my favorite vase with water and the bamboo has been going strong for 4 days now. I know its nothing fancy just having a little fun with the greens in the yard !!!




September 07, 2010

Under the Rug

I have admired the moroccan Beni Ouarain tribal rugs for a while now. I keep my distance because of its hefty price tag but they are just so pretty. I love the creamy background and tend to steer towards the diamond shaped rugs. Check out these from Elle Decor.....




I recently spotted this rug from Williams Sonoma, and fell in love. Then after I found the same hefty price tag I quickly got over it. Well I guess I am still not over it but it is no longer an option for our living room floor.


Maybe one day it will be on sale for like 75% off and I can maybe justify owning this classy look a like!!!! Has anyone found a cheaper version of these beauties? In the mean time I will just keep dreaming.


September 01, 2010

Bring Me More

This is my new favorite salad: its easy, refreshing, healthy, and umm umm good.

Eat your greens!!!!


Spinach Salad Recipe

Baby Spinach
Fresh Sliced Strawberries
Toasted Pine Nuts
Feta Cheese
drizzled with a Poppy Seed dressing.



Make it a meal and add grilled flatiron steak to the salad.