Blogger Getaway?

Ok who is coming with me?

 

How amazing would it be to plan a little getaway to California!

 

Yes, it would be fun to be on the West Coast, catch some rays and rub elbows with the beautiful people, but my main desire for a California vacation is to go here.

It’s a vineyard in Los Olivos and not only do they have a stylish tasting room, but they sell cupcakes by Enjoy Cupcakes out of wine. Now I’m not a huge wine lover, but they had me at cupcakes!

 

Here is a peek into their tasting room:

 

Once we have our drinks we can sit here and have our version of the round table.

 

Then we can take our glasses over the cupcake area and pick up some treats!

 

Since we are going to have our plates piled high with sweet treats we’ll need to take a seat here as well.

 

Then we can head out back. Don’t you love their doors to the backyard?

Where we can sit and enjoy some more food by the fire.

 

Of course since we are fabulous they’ll probably want to through us a concert so they will have it all set up with yummy white couches!

Ah heaven! Ladies my bags can be packed in a matter of minutes and Jon’s at work so he won’t know I’m gone till late this evening! Who’s coming with me!

 

All of these images were via their site. You can check out more here.

Birds & Butterflies revisited…

A while ago when I was first considering my design plan for the dining room this wallpaper caught my eye immediately:

Ok so I wasn’t in love with massive butterfly on the wall, but the paper was calling my name along with that fab aqua floor.

 

I even convinced Jon that it would be perfect in our home! Then like a typical girl I moved on to another obsession and changed directions a bit.

 

This paper though has always stayed in the back of my mind and is now saved away for a hopefully, fingers crossed, if  I can ever get a bun in the oven nursery.

 

I was so happy to see a couple of days ago that Caroline was using it in her new studio:

Ah she even did a similar floor. Can you believe that is a concrete floor that she stained! In love.

 

I can’t wait to see the room evolve.  If you are interested in the wallpaper it is available via F.Schumacher. It is to the trade, but if you would like to order it from me email away!

 

Her studio is for her jewelry business:

 

Large Amour Necklace

I love you all the time

Danielle earrings

Love all of her pieces!

 

* So sorry that I didn’t get to post a 2nd post yesterday. The day got away from me.

 

I’ve been trying to blog twice a day. I’m kinda loving it. I do a longer post in the morning and then a short & sweet one in the afternoon.

 

What are your thoughts on it?

 

Image 1 via Domina, Image 2 via Full House via Armelle, Images 3-5 via Armelle

I wish they all could be California Girls

Call it a case of the grass is always greener, but this east coast girl has always wanted to live on the west coast.

 

Perhaps it was way to many episodes of 90210 (the Brenda & Brandon days), but my heart was always set on a West Coast Casa. As I’ve grown up my dream location in Cali has changed from Beverly Hills, to LA, to San Diego, to Venice Beach and most recently I’m day dreaming of packing up and residing in Manhattan Beach.

 

This month’s issue of Coastal Living (thanks for the subscription Aunt Maureen!) made my desire to move to Manhattan Beach even stronger.

 

Under Coastal Living's Haven section we are met with the home of designer Jill Johnson. She took what was originally a house that they were simply going to paint white and rent to her labor of love that she now resides in.

 

In love with her front stoop. Those shingles make me instantly think of summer and the beach and with the  addition of the surfboard  I’m already thinking of what beach reads I’m bringing me with me to come visit. 

 

Upon entering Jill’s home I already feel like I could call this place my own. With Jill’s background in fashion textiles she has a great eye for mixing  patterns. Notice how she uses stripes on the flooring, lattice print on pillows, more stripes on pillows and a busy pattern on the chairs. By varying the scales of your patterns your able to have all of them reside in the same room without looking too busy.

 

Love the causal vibe in the kitchen. The coat of white on everything just brightens up the space and the pops of blue and green just make me happy.

Love her use of vintage bamboo lighting fixtures. The small mirrors above the banquette remind me of portholes on a boat. The stripes also help to remind me of coastal living without being cheesy with an all out nautical theme.

 

Jill continues the same color combo of grey/blues, greens and yellows in her master bedroom. Love the bamboo lighting fixture here as well!

 

One of my favorite parts of her home is her kid’s room. Love the neutral stone colored grasscloth walls, the pop of aqua in the amoire and of course my favorite a little animal print! 

 

You can find more picture’s of Jill’s home here, but if I were you I would go pick up a paper copy. It is so worth it. One of my favorite spaces in quite some time.

 

Jill’s design business is actually not a solo act. She partnered up with friend Suzanne Ascher and they started Waterleaf Interiorsin 2006.

Make sure you check out their portfolio it is jaw-dropping!

 

Plus if you are in their neighborhood you must check it out their studio/shop and take some pictures for me!

 

Images 1-6 via Coastal Living, 7 via Waterleaf Interiors, 8 via SFGIRLBYBAY by BeachBungalow8

ABC easy as 1, 2, 3

When visiting New York many design lovers hear the calls of their mother ship begging  them to come home, which means a visit to ABC Carpet & Home . 

 

Visting ABC is an all day affair. There are six different floors with the last one housing our all time favorite rugs.

 

The one and only Madeline Weinrib (great- grand daughter to the founder of ABC Carpet & Home) has her atelier on floor six. The highest floor in the building aka the one closest to heaven!

 

It is pure bliss to be surrounded by her beautiful wares:

,

‘

 

`Ah one day when I decide that I can deal with only having one kidney I’ll be the proud owner of a Madeline Weinrib rug!

 

Yes the main problem with ABC Carpet & Home has to be the prices. You may rub shoulders with Julia Roberts while you are there, but you’ll also need a wallet like hers to purchase some of their items.

 

Don’t worry there is hope for us yet!  A quick jaunt to the Bronx and you can get your ABC Carpet & Home fix for a fraction of the price at their outlet store!

 

Now don’t get too excited. When things are normally priced in the thousands a discount on them can still be in the thousands, but there are some good deals to be found.

 

Here is what we where met with upon entering the store:

 

Loved seeing all the carpet samples displayed on the wall. It looked like a massive collage.

 

The outlet was full of furniture. Many styles to choose from, but we saw a lot of Asian inspired pieces.

Continuation of furniture:

 

They did have a small section with bath and bedding pieces as well.

 

The 2nd level houses all of their carpets and it was on that floor that we spotted Madeline Weinrib rugs and pillows! Some of the pillows were a great deal. That massive green chevron pillow was only $99 and some of the smaller toss pillows were $65!

 

While we walked away empty handed it was a fun trip. Plus a perk for drivers is that they have a parking lot, which is a perk for stores in the NY metro area!

 

*Just realized I never mentioned who the “we” was during my post. This trip was part of my adventure with Caitlin.

 

Hope you enjoyed my little tour.

Tassels and Ribbons and Trim oh my….

Normally when one thinks of trim stores in NYC thoughts of MJ Trimming dance in your head.

 

From just a glimpse of the outside you can already tell it’s going to be a good day when you enter.

 

A look inside and you are certain you are going to find the ribbon that completes you:

Pure heaven seeing row after row of colorful trims:

When my dear friend Caitlin mentioned going to another shop that use to be her favorite in the city I jumped at the chance.

 

Off we went yesterday on a trip that started out on the UES then we stopped in the Bronx and finally arrived in Brooklyn to K Trimming.

 

K Trimming has been in business since 1965. They provide trim for many high-end designer names and have two warehouses full of product in Brooklyn!

 

Now we should have realized when we entered the shop that we would be in for an adventure. Upon entering we were met with darkness, empty shelves and a cat that magically appeared and turned me into a scardy cat. We yelled for help/assistance and got no response. So, what did we do? Oh enter a door that said DO NOT ENTER.

 

Good thing we did, because we were finally able to meet with someone and were told that they did still have some vintage trim upstairs and we could go take a peek.

 

Off we went past more empty shelves that had buttons and tassles thrown about as if someone had left in quite a rush. Up the scary stairwell we went in the hopes that we would actually find something. We even said some final words to each other just in case!

 

Here is what we saw when we got to the 2nd floor:

 

It just went on and on. Box on top of box!

 

I finally found a worker who was very helpful and nice. We got to chatting and when we told him we were looking for ribbon he pointed us in the direction of a ribbon room.

 

Ah a look of relief went over our faces. We must have been looking in the wrong place. This is where we will see all the pretty ribbon on display.

Okay it was a bit better, but not really.

 

Now even though it was a bit messy and freezing I would actually go back again. I wanted nothing more than to hang around there for hours and go through every single box.

 

I found something in the beginning of our hunt that I knew needed to come home with me.

Isn’t is pretty? We stumbled upon huge rolls of vintage cane/lattice ribbon in pink, yellow and brown. I picked up that roll of pink for…….drumroll please $15!

 

I knew the exact place for them! My DIY drop cloth curtains in my new office that needed a little glam!

 

With just some basic fabric glue I was in business:

I’m in love. It works perfectly in the space. Now I just have to finish 6 more panels! I was so excited to share the look with you all though that after I finished one this morning I made Jon hold it up like a human curtain rod (that’s his shadow behind the curtain) so that I could take some pictures!

 

Close up of the trim:

If you are ever in the NY area and want to venture out to find your own treasures let me know! I will come with you! There is safety in numbers..jk…kinda, but no seriously the place is harmless just really messy.

 

Images 1-3 via Martha Stewart, Images 4-10 via moi!

Weekend Recap: Pearl River

Hello Loves,

 

This weekend I decided to take my lemons (canceled flight to DC) and make lemonade (shopping trip to Manhattan)!

 

So I ventured out to the city in the slush and snow and met up with my sisters and a couple friends to visit Pearl River.

 

One of my favorite parts of the city is Soho. With all the shops, restaurants and galleries it’s a little slice of heaven. Nestled among all the shops on Broadway and across the street from Top Shop is Pearl River.

 

Pearl River is a Chinese American department store. The store features, cookies & teas, dishes, shoes, clothing, stationary, curtains, etc. The list really goes on and on. It’s a little bit of everything.

 

Here is a glimpse of their clothing section. They had so many beautiful scarves on display it was hard to pick a favorite!

 

I grew up in the Financial district so trips into Chinatown were very frequent. I always remember having a pair of Chinese slippers around the house. I  had my pick of any color under the sun here.

I love stationary so of course I made a bee line for this massive display in the middle of the store filled with office supplies. I loves those stacks of notebooks. They would be so usefully for client meetings.

 

The house ware section really caught my eye. I loved all of the beautiful patterns on the dishes.

 

They had rows and rows of choices with massive assortments within each pattern.

 

I loved all these bowls and small rectangular dishes. I know they are meant for food, but I kept envisioning them on console tables so that you would have a pretty place to drop your keys by your door.

 

I loved these even smaller dishes to place on a vanity or a night stand. I would use them to hold my jewelry that I wore that day. Plus they range from $2-$3 so it’s an inexpensive impulse purchase that would be useful.

 

I loved the flowers in these:

Making our way downstairs we were met with many vase/ginger jar choices. I loved seeing all the blue/white combos.

My lovely sister decided to model this stylish white ginger jar that was only $13!

She also decided to display this mask they had along with them. I told her it really helped show her natural beauty! :)

 

Looking above we were met with a parade of paper lanterns. I’m actually using a bunch in orange/pink/white in a clients bedroom.  Paper lanterns are great for people on a budget. They help add a touch of whimsy and a pop of color for a couple of dollars!

One of the last things to catch my eyes were all the bright colors and beautiful patterns in their window treatment section!

 

I know that not everyone has access to visit this store in person, but don’t you worry they have an online shop so you can get your thrills virtually!

 

Our shopping day continued in Soho with a pop into Aero Studios ( I got camera shy here…sorry about that) and lunch at Bread and a trip back home.

 

Since the job of a decorator is never 9-5 or Mon-Fri this Sunday was spent at my favorite paint shops looking up paint swatches for an e-decorating client.

 

I always find paint to be the hardest thing to come up with for a client far away. You are not there to see the natural sunlight hit the room so it’s hard to gauge how a color on a piece of paper will look in the room. I’ll keep you all posted on my recommendations!

 

What did everyone else do this weekend? Any home projects get done?

 

xoxo,

Camila