{Inspired By}: Etsy Lamps

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I LOVE all of these!  Talk about inspiration for clients!

Inspiring Interiors: Thom Filicia Style

I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of Thom Filicia's book, Thom Filicia Style:Inspired Ideas for Creating Rooms You'll Love, yet but I have seen his work in pictures on the internet and I really like what I see. 

I love his style, the layers of interest he creates in his rooms and the masculine touch to the decor.

  Here is a peek into his Designer Visions Showhouse that was featured in the November issue of House Beautiful.

When I first saw this room, I fell in love with the large horses on the wall.  I'm not sure what it is about them because I don't particularly like horses, but the sheer size of them is striking and beautiful.  Definitely a focal point worthy of your attention.  The unexpected pops of yellow on the chairs is fun and make the traditional klismos chairs feel modern.  I love the round rug with the round table, the pattern on the drapes, the lantern style light fixture above the table and the reiteration of the round shapes in the room with the sculpture in front of the window.

 

Bright and colorful place settings are simple, yet glamorous.  I don't think you'll be bored at a dinner party in this dining roon.

 

Grass cloth wall coverings, 2 fabrics on the sofas, the movement of the rug, the light fixture over the seating area and the two leather wing back chairs add so much interest to the living room.  I can't decide what I like the most.

 

 

How great is the rope railing along this staircase?  I love how unique this is.  The one stripe leads you up the stairs in a clean and simple way with lots of impact.

 

This landing at the top of the stairs is so warm with the grass cloth wall covering, large, eclectic art in similar gold frames and wall sconces.

 

I'm not really a fan of this bathroom.  It would be fine on it's own I suppose, but to me, it looks out of place with the rest of the home.  Too cold and modern for this home.

 

This console table is amazing!  Obviously that fact that it is white helps to keep it from looking gaudy-instead it looks clean and sculptural.  The basket and grass cloth walls add texture and the simple lamps and mirror add symmetry that is pleasing to the eye.

 

A shot opposite the bed in the bedroom.  The floor lamps are beautiful and create a nice symmetry around the dresser.  The pop of color is so nice in the dresser and striped ottoman.

 

This bedroom shot is my favorite.  I love the moody, dark gray walls broken up by thin white stripes, the copper starburst mirror, and the quatrefoil 4 poster bed.  Notice how your eyes follow the lines on the walls and on the bed.  Perfection.

All images from House Beautiful

Design Crush: Kishani Perera

I've recently seen some of Kishani Perera's work floating around the internet and I have fallen in love with her designs.  I love the colors that she uses and the way her rooms are a bold statement with pops of color drawing your eye around the entire space, but do not feel overdone in any way.  Here are some of my favorite images of hers:

I love how this gallery grouping of mirrors in black frames adds some drama to the floral wallpaper background.

 

This wood stack next to the fireplace is gorgeous and I love the mix of different wood tones in this room,

 

The pops of color in this space are great against the bluish gray walls and draw the eye around the room.

 

I absolutely love how serene this room feels with the muted pink walls and flowy, white drapes.  The mix of the dark table with the white chairs is gorgeous and the rug adds fun, textural interest.

 

What can I say?  This room is stunning.  The pops of bright pink against the gray makes me happy and the lucite table on top of the zebra rug is amazing!  I love how everything else in the space is a neutral backdrop.

I love purple, but it can sometimes look childish in a room.  This purple is done perfectly and adds a touch of glamour to this bedroom mixed with white.

Pretty.

 

More dark gray and purple.  Love that combination and the oversized chandelier is a beautiful focal point and I love the round back of the chairs.

 

 

The mix of colors in this space are lovely.  The shadow cast off the pair of sconces adds great interest to the walls in this small, cozy room.

To see more of Kishani's beautiful work check out her website and her blog.  All images are from Kishani's website.

Barclay Butera

Today I attended an event at the local design center here in MN, International Market Square.  One of the main speakers was Barclay Butera.  He was a really a lot of fun to listen to after hearing all the buzz about him on the internet through design blogs and articles written about him.

Image found here.

His presentation was called Decorating in a New Economy.  He brought up some good points about how good customer service really needs to be the cornerstone of your business.  He spoke about things that he learned from his mother, also an interior designer, who had a very successful career.  It was interesting to hear that when he presents his design proposal to a client, he line items everything out so that there are no surprises for the client.  He says this works especially well when a client has a specific budget, but lets say they love the fabric used in the master bedroom and want to also use it in the living room.  Barclay can then point to that line item and say okay we can do that, but here's how much you will be going over budget.  He says that it is a great way to get the client to agree to go over budget when they can see every line item in front of them and make informed decisions without having to guess that they must have been overcharged for something.  He also shared many pictures of spaces that he has designed over the years and ones that have made covers of magazines, etc.  I didn't get a chance to take any pictures myself because I didn't want to be that girl, but I found some of them to share with you.

 This was a show house he did one year and said that it was the greatest compliment when the homeowner decided to buy the full suite of furniture that he designed for this house and he didn't have to return any of it after the show.

 This is the living room of one of Barclay's homes.  Barclay said that he incorporates some kind of animal print in almost all of the rooms he designs.

 Barclay loves blue and white and you'll see that combo in many of his rooms.

 

 

 

I love this one.   Barclay likes to add unexpected design elements like the antlers above the fireplace.  "Have fun with your designs, he says, there are no rules in design."

 

I believe this one was on the cover of House Beautiful.

 Many of his projects have gorgeous views.  He mentioned that if there is a great view he will not use window treatments.

 

 Blue and white again.  I love the freshness of this one with the white and pops of blue with the dark wood contrast.

 

Can you imagine this view!!

 

 This is Barclay's home that he bought from Lucille Ball's son, Desi.  He wrote Desi a letter asking him to let him buy the house (there was competition) and that he would keep the integrity of the house and design in the time of his parents.  The lights above the bed are the lights that Lucille bought her husband and are original to the house.  The pictures above the bed are photographs transferred on to lucite and Barclay said they took a day to hang!

 

 This was a 900 square foot space that Barclay designed so that you could appreciate the view throughout the whole space.

There was also a Barclay Butera book signing in Kravet today, but unfortunately I did not make it in there in time to see his new fabric line, but I hear it is gorgeous!  Barclay also has a furniture line so many of the pieces in the homes he designed above are his own.

 

Images from Barclay Butera's website.

Random Thoughts for the End of the Summer

Alright. So, I might have a problem.  Lets see I've been blogging for about 4 months and this is officially my fourth blog header design.

 

It looks like I'm averaging about one per month, although I definitely did not plan it that way.  Apparently I like to play around with graphic design.  I see these headers as a pretty good representation of myself and my design style.  Ever changing, constantly evolving and (hopefully) improving day by day.

I can honestly say that at this point, I have a much greater appreciation of different design styles than I did while I was in school.  When I was in school, I didn't have much time to go out and explore all that is available in the design world for inspiration.  I had to rely on what I knew and liked at the time, and then all my time was spent working on my projects with my limited school resources of outdated design magazines and discontinued fabrics.

After graduating, I've been exposed to many more design styles, other than my own, through blogs, the internet, and design magazines now that I actually have time to read and pay attention to these things.  So, although this summer has been slow as far as work goes, it's also been a great learning experience for me to explore design and figure out more about my aesthetic, how I want to design, and how I want to work and run my business.  So although my husband jokes that I must stay at home all day and eat bon bons, I assure you that I do not.  :)  I've been researching, cataloging ideas, working on DIY projects, learning to sew, designing, writing on this blog and reading about things that I hope will be of use to me in the future as I start my own design business.

Now, to say that all this researching isn't fun, would be a lie.  How lucky am I to be in a industry where your required reading is design magazines, and blogs?  How cool is it to be able to research new product lines that add function and style to a space?  How amazing is it to go to furniture and fabric showrooms and be surrounded by gorgeous things?  I think it's pretty great and sometimes I need to remind myself  of that when things are slow and not much money is coming in, because I know that someday this economy will get better and someday I'll have clients coming out of my ears!  And then, hopefully I'll look back on this time and think, wow, I was really lucky to have that time to learn more about myself and the interior design industry so that I can do this business the right way, the first time!

p.s. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on my headers!  Which one is your favorite?

Unique Floor Design

Just had to mention quickly how much I LOVE these floors in Tori Spelling and Dean McDermot's kitchen!  What a unique design and gorgeous wood!

 

Image found here while browsing Hooked on Houses.

Design Styles

So I was reading jeune marie's blog today and she was talking about the Home Goods StyleScope quiz and what her results were for her design style. I thought it might be fun to see what my results would be so I took the quiz too. Here's what it said about my design style:

I thought it was a pretty good description of what I like and I think the pictures above are a good representation, although my home definitely does not represent this right now. My home is more earthy casual in my opinion. And while I like earthy casual and all that goes with that style, I have been wanting to shake things up in my home for quite some time now. I've been realizing that my style tastes are constantly evolving and I have a much greater appreciation for all different types of design styles than I ever did before. One thing I do really like about my home is all the different textures that I have in different objects around my house. I've always been drawn to texture in fabrics, vases, baskets, ceramics, furniture, etc. Just for fun, I went around my house and took pictures of all the different textures that I currently have out in my space. Take a look! What kinds of cool textures do you have in your house?