Favorite Pieces

If you want to be featured in our Favorite Pieces post coming up, please email us pics of your favorite piece in your home- we'd love to see! We have already gotten some fabulous submissions! Thanks to all those who sent in photos!

Road Trip

Last weekend I took a trip down to Georgetown and Austin to see the progress on the dentist office, do a bit of shopping, and take a much needed "vacation". Driving around Austin, I couldn't help but notice all of the gorgeous, historic, and extremely unique homes tucked away in their own little neighborhoods. One of these in particular was a neighborhood called Pemberton Heights, "one of central Austin's best keep secrets" apparently. I didn't know there could be so many lovely houses in just one place. I had a fantastic tour guide, a former resident of Austin (my boyfriend Ben) who took me to some of his favorite houses in the area.

They ranged from the outrageous...


to the magnificent...

The "castle" as we came to name it, was one of the most charming houses I have ever seen (what you could see of it). It looked like it came right out of a fairy tale.

I'm sure the person who lived there thought I was a complete nut trying to get a good picture of "the castle". I should have knocked on the door and invited myself in for a cup o tea!

Just to verify how pricey these are, I took a flyer from one of the smaller houses that was for sale (not pictured) and it was almost 2 mill! Fairytale indeed!

I love this ones awning..

Now for the shopping part...we took a drive down to the San Marcos outlets on Sunday because I was destined to see how the Pottery Barn/West Elm/WS Home, Restoration Hardware, and Crate and Barrell outlets were. I came with all my fabric swatches, prepared to leave with the jetta piled to the roof and strangely enough after all of the anticipation, I didn't leave with a thing! Although the girl I was with said it was "very picked over". I thought they were pretty great outlet stores but I think since I was on a search for really specific items, there was a slim chance I was going to find exactly what I was looking for at an outlet.

All furniture at PB/WS Home/West Elm was actually 50% off! I was amazed at some of the prices.

Remember this x bench from WS Home? Sleek and chic at the outlet- 1/2 off!

I spy the Gibson leather Armchair from WS Home...

They had a few decent drapes from West Elm and Pottery Barn that I recognized from the stores...

I think this little turquoise chair from Pottery Barn Kids is adorable!

This chair was 1/2 off- only $400

The Anabel Armchair from Pottery Barn in black and white...normally $1,000- 1/2 off that!

There it was, my previous dream desk from Pottery Barn (was too expensive at the regular store for me so I got an exact replica at World Market instead last Christmas) This Bedford Project Table set is $1,099 at Pottery Barn now but at the outlet it was only $400

My favorite piece of furniture is the chair...and wow did this place have chairs! West Elm, WS Home, Pottery Barn, there were so many chairs there that I recognized from seeing them at the store- some as little as $60 a chair

Lauren and I have both expressed our love for this WS Home greek key chair before, but I must say that I like it in the darker brown leather better- you can see the darker version here

I am in chair heaven!

Lots and lots of bedding too...I then start to see similar bedding to the one I just got at RH, and start second guessing myself!

I have always loved these lux jewelry boxes from West Elm- very tempting! I love the yellow color

Velvet lounger

All in all a productive trip- can't wait to make another trek out to the outlet in the fall! (or...maybe late summer :)

Geometrics

I have always been drawn to geometric fabrics and wall-coverings, especially in seemingly traditional spaces.  I call this a "graphic punch."  Repetition, symmetry, contrast or a very specific color scheme are the elements that make a graphic room successful.  

Kelly Wearstler is in my opinion the modern day master of said "graphic punch."  

{above pictures via Elements of Style}

However, before Kelly, David Hicks and Alan Campbell were creating textiles that are still readily used (and knocked off) today...

Suzanne Kasler uses the very popular, (and graphic) greek key motif on a bench at the foot of her four poster bed.

Jonathan Adler looooves him some geometric prints (his Bargello pillows are fun and bright).

I love how the black/white greek key fabric makes this otherwise serene room, "pop."

Ruthie Sommers used a green/white geometric print on two chairs in this cheerful Living Room.  If you are willing to commit to such a print on something other than a pillow, small-scale chairs are perfect for experimentation.  

I used Kravet's "Diamante" in this bathroom. 

Geometric wall-coverings are not for the faint of heart, but I love them!  This Beacon Hill apartment meshes traditional furniture with a bold but neutral geometric wallpaper.  

Uptown Girl

Dallas' Uptown Country Home proves to be one of my new favorite finds. Affordable, adorable, and chic, Uptown Country is owned by Jenny Grumbles and has tons of cute accessories, gifts, bedding, furniture, lighting, original paintings, and vintage finds. Jenny's signature color is pink

so you can find plenty of this girly hue there, which you know I just love!

About a year ago, the Dallas Morning News did a really cute story on Jenny and her fabulous pink condo in Dallas that she decorated and furnished on a $5,000 budget! She sent me the most recent photos of her place and it's just as cute as ever!

Jenny's Living Room- she found her sofa and chair at IKEA, bookcase at Pier 1, her mirrored coffee table at an antique store (her mom then painted the base a bold pink) and her cute cherry-blossoms painting that her mom painted as well!

Her Dining Room is really fun- the pedestal dining table is from IKEA (her mom distressed it to make it look a bit more shabby), her faux bamboo Chippendale chairs she found at an antique store and then repainted them, and the geometric mirror frames are from her own store that she spray painted in a white high gloss paint

She even made over her laundry room (also known as her "laundry bar"). She removed the doors and painted the nook. The washer and dryer are behind the white curtains- what a clever idea to dress up this normally hidden area!

Her glam bedroom- love her new pink benches

Barbie prints above a mirrored vanity table and ghost chair add some pizzazz to her pink dressing area

A vintage pink hair dryer adds a bit of whimsy to this sitting area. I am in love with all the gold accents!

Her pink color scheme is even carried into the bathroom. A sunburst mirror, adorable pink wallcovering and girly accessories make this bathroom tres chic!

I love this wall mounted shelf display. A cute pink and white bench gives visitors a quaint place to sit

Oh yeah, did we mention that Jenny paints too? What can't this girl do?! She sells her original paintings at Uptown Country Home and here are a few of them below...

Cute cute!

If you want to visit Uptown Country Home to seek out all their fun treasures, it's located at

3419 Milton in Dallas

The Princess and the Canopea

So I think I finally decided what I am going to do for my new bedroom scheme...I got new bedding in the white and blue/gray color from RH (so thanks to them, I now have to redo my entire bedroom around it!) Of course I am not complaining but my boyfriend thinks I am crazy for redoing my entire bedroom when my other stuff "worked fine"

I eventually want to repaint my room more of a Ben Moore blue/gray and I think I have decided on this scheme- cream, blue/gray, and camel...I want to keep it very light, airy and relaxing (as well as glam) so I can decompress when I come home from a hard day's work...

I found this Robert Allen fabric that I really like for a long bolster on my bed....it was very difficult to find a blue/gray fabric- (you would think it'd be easy) but everything out there is either a brighter blue or more of a turquoise! But I know that eventually the turquoise era will start fading so I don't want to invest too much into that right now...I think gray blue is on the rise!
In addition to this, I want to bring in some neutrals with a leopard accent


I then found a piece of greek key trim that matched perfectly with the leopard- I could line the sides of either cream or blue drapery panels with this trim. I then want to do a sunburst mirror above my bed for an added metallic element and crystal lamps...then comes the bench at the end of my bed- I want to get a cheap bench and recover it in a blue velvet fabric with TUFTING! (As I am envisioning my new bedroom, I can just see the money depleting from my bank account.....) so maybe we can shoot to have this done by Christmas so I can pick up some of these new bedroom pieces for my birthday along the way :)

But what bedroom is complete without a new bed? I've had an iron bed since college and would really love to get a new canopy bed at some point. I think they are very romantic and add some drama to an otherwise lackluster setting.

Here are some of my favorite canopy beds that I long for:

Carolina Herrera's Bedroom- there she goes stealing my leopard and sunburst ideas! Such a cute bedroom- we love

This room was featured in Domino...I love the added fabric to the canopy- softens up all of the straight lines and adds some visual interest through the fabric's pattern


This room was made for a princess! I love this iron bed from Anthropologie...these are the exact colors I want for my bedroom...

This photo was featured in Domino...what a chic space! The bold black and white combination really makes the room more dramatic and the bed benches are so eye catching...I love a mirror above a bed too..if I wasn't doing blue for my bedroom already, my next choice would definitely be pink!

Photo from Met Home or is it Elle Decor? Anyone know? I have featured this photo before in "The Best Of" blog post...I love the color of this canopy- not stark white but not a dark wood stain either..perfection!

Nice traditional canopy bed in where else? Traditional Home mag..this room looks incredibly homey and inviting

Bedroom featured in William Sonoma Home catalog...the soft green is the perfect color combination to go with orange, cream and the stain on the wood canopy...the green fades into the background and lets the bed take center stage

A little bit more of a funky twist on the regular canopy bed...yellow! As we all know, yellow, black and white have been such a prevalent color scheme this year...a very trendy room. I also love how they added the rustic trunk in to mix up the mod setting and not to mention, I love love love when designers put curtains behind a canopy or even attached to the canopy- it gives you something else to put on the wall instead of the normal artwork or mirror

This canopy is a lot darker, more severe, and "heavier" looking than some of the others but the whimsical lighting and antique bench create a less serious setting in here

Can I add this room to the "Best Of" post too? It's flawless- there isn't anything I would change..imagine coming home to this tranquil setting..and the chair in the corner is to die for- featured in Elle Decor a few months back

Ruthi Sommers bedroom- this was my original inspiration for my bedroom- the orange and blue idea but it got REALLY difficult for me to find anything I liked in those colors so I nixed the idea altogether- only Ruthie can really pull something like this off!

A Miles Redd room featured in Elle Decor...lovely! This was a Lauren "Best Of" room

This room is a little more rustic than I would normally go for my own home, but it's still fun and the greens and blues add a nice softness to the room. They used curtains for this canopy also- I can see this bedroom in a pretty vacation home

This room was featured in House Beautiful- love the settee at the end of the bed...I seem to always be drawn to the blue hued calm looking bedrooms...I think that's the inner me telling me to relax, take a break, and get off the computer!

And who could forget little Apple Paltrow's canopy? Love all of the hot pink and her matching step stool is adorable

This photo was Country Living's "House of the Year" bedroom...I am obsessed with the wallcovering- the gray/black/white combination with touches of soft pink is too pretty for words!

Canopy from the new Pottery Barn catalog...lots of fun bright colors here- they make the white canopy really pop!

And of course we had to share with you that striking Miles Redd designed bedroom with the gorgeous canopy every blogger has talked about...the Anthropologie one featured above is a very similar knockoff!