Checking In

Happy Holidays everyone, hope your season is merry and bright! 
I can hardly believe Christmas and the New Year are upon us. Are you ready or possibly to the point where I am in throwing my hands in the air to surrender? 

 Sorry for the radio silence on the blog...I have taken a bit of an unintentional hiatus as you may have noticed but I have been lingering around in blog land, not totally absent, just too caught up with life to post something of my own.

While I was away my business has grown, (hence no posting) and I couldn't be more excited! I have amazing clients and have added some fun ones to the mix, 2012 is looking good. With that in mind, I am putting out feelers for a young intern starting in January. If you or anyone you know night be interested message me, let's chat.

 It would be next to impossible to catch you up on all the goings on of the last month and believe me there are some stories to tell...  promise to post in a more timely manner, no excuses                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Call of the Wild

Happy Friday Friends, what a beautiful, crisp, fall day it is! So sad that I haven't even posted a single time for the month of November, I have been very absent from this blog although it is never far away from my mind. Work has definitely been keeping me busy so that is the positive and my family life has had no shortage of excitement. 

We celebrated my son's 5th b-day with Dan the Animal Man and he was absolutely amazing!  

If you haven't heard of him, he is worth a look see and I believe he travels. When I booked him I had no idea the guy was an animal celebrity, he has been on Regis & Kelly something like 8 times and flown first class with his animals to entertain George W. Bush. I mean how lucky are we to have him in Raleigh? My little guy was in heaven holding alligators, snakes, lemurs, owls, and a bonus... one giant tortoise.

Next on the agenda was my daughter's 7 year old birthday party where she and 16 of her closest friends took over The Painted Butterfly. They painted peace signs on canvases in little children's art smocks, with child size chairs and tables in a whimsical setting. Nancie Norvell the owner was wonderful and assured me that they were completely fine even though I was about to jump out of my skin because they were so crazy! All in all 2 unique parties and happy children one year older.

So I expressed my animal love in decor, namely the cheetah and it so happens everyone else is loving it this season although in my belief it is truly timeless. My other animal obsession which easily perks up any room whether it be on the floor, wall, or on a chair is a zebra

 print. You see a ton of zebra hides gracing the floors of the chicest abodes in magazines and I love using them layered over natural rugs. So it seems that I am not the only one with the love for the zebra and after going through my collection of images there are some pretty amazing spaces with a hint of this animal. 

Perch

Wallpaper

Hides

Fabric

Client Updates

I just finished up a conservatory for a client and we found the most amazing Jute rug custom by Stark dyed to look like a zebra print. This rug is probably one of the most beautiful I have ever seen and it makes the space!

Below is the space when I first laid eyes on it...

Here it is today, refreshed, renewed, and ready to entertain! 

2 of the chairs were reupholstered and plumped up in this indoor/outdoor.

Another chair covered in a giraffe indoor/outdoor inspired by a recent trip to Africa.

A set of glazed lamps with lucite bases were added in this rich burgundy/wine color.

We added an array of Aubusson pillows to the sofa to keep it up to speed with all the other items that had just been recovered.

This glass coffee table was quite a find and I would love to have one for myself. The 2 ends are glass but the sides are open, very unique.

We are so pleased with the end product and the process of finding all these goodies was such a delight! 

Another project that involves a zebra is in phase 2 and we are ready to roll, completion set for the end of November. I have said before I love before and after pictures so here ya go...only if I was only a better photographer.

Before, a 1950's kitchen with wood cabinets that are a little dated...

the breakfast area with wallpaper that has seen its day.

Our focus for the breakfast area, these bamboo chairs found at an antique store, stripped, painted orange, and covered in a zebra print fabric that has been laminated to protect their beauty from sticky, tiny little hands.

Cabinets that have been painted white are a breath of fresh air in this space and this colorful Turkish rug adds a punch of color that ties in the orange from the breakfast area. 

The colors in this rug are a theme throughout the home and orange is my client's favorite color! I will keep you updated with pictures when we hang the window treatments, and light over the breakfast table.

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

Happy Day friends, I hope this week is treating you well. A busy one as always here...full speed for a client who we have been working months to prepare her home for a party she is having next weekend. Things are starting to come together, chairs being reupholstered, chandeliers hung, and accessory shopping until I drop! 

It is b-day season around here as well with my 2 oldest children having birthdays 2 weeks apart in October and November. I swear every other commercial is can I have that, I want that, really? Me too, including those pajama jeans that seem to pop up pretty frequently...maybe they will help with the bulge that is developing from taking down all the Halloween candy.

The Furniture Market in High Point begins this weekend and while I sometimes dread the thought of going, once I am there it is always a nice inspirational get away. I have quite a few items on the books I am looking for this market so hopefully I will have some luck this fall. 

In my world of design antique mirrors are one of those items that I love finding when shopping. The right one can add a certain old world or vintage look to any room. What I love most is not limiting this antique mirror to a small frame but rather a whole wall. I have had this on my wist list for quite some time with a wall in my dining room in mind and I look forward to one day having my own mirror on the wall. There are so many wonderful elements that these mirrors add but the main one being the illusion of space. How fantastic are these images ranging from living spaces to kitchens with walled mirrors? Oh which one is the fairest of them all?

Pinterest, Elle Decor, Lonny, and Elizabeth Bauer

An Evening Away

Yippity skippity, yes I said that, the weekend is here!

 I am so excited to go to bed tonight without packing a lunch and wake up tomorrow at my leisure. 

I am not going to lie, it is obvious, getting a post out is hard these days. After sitting down with a life coach this week there is no wonder? Going over my schedule as I am sure with any busy mother, who works, husband travels, and runs the show at home, keeping everything in check is a full time job itself.

She asked me the question, how important is this blog to you? Is this something we can give up to make your life easier? Well no, not exactly...

I am so appreciative everyday of what the blog has done for me that I cannot possibly imagine turning my back from it at this point, it has come so far. I have met amazing people, had opportunities that would not have been presented otherwise, and it has given me a little voice of my own. So to keep it attainable and in perspective without disappointing myself or my lovely readers, for now I am going to post once a week which happens to be what has been going on for sometime, I am just getting real with it myself).

 My dedicated day will be Wednesday as of now, and I will hope to bring you something wonderful and inspirational, even if it is just a snake skinned wallpaper that I am dying for! 

My family is headed to a friends farm for the afternoon/night to take family pictures. It is such a beautiful place with an old home place surrounded by rustic barns, fields as far as the eye stretches, and lots of special memories.

If I had a farm house which is my other dream besides the "Island Life" I may look to some of these images I have been saving for inspiration.

A room for all the muddy boots

Perhaps a fantastic china cabinet

to house all my blue and white china.

A phenomenal kitchen to have all our friends

over, while admiring my beautiful floors and farm house sink.

A few gorgeous knotty wood doors

leading into my hallway of wild things.

A stairwell to shelve all the memories of fun times.

A claw foot tub to soak 

and a country chic room to relax in with amazing bed linens would be divine.

Happy Weekend

Spot on

Tory Burch

What an amazingly beautiful day here in NC. A little storm came through last night and voila  perfection revealed itself in the form of a sunny, crisp, fall day. Although I am a little under the weather of which I am blaming the flu shot not the tasty strawberry infused basil vodka cocktails I had last night celebrating a friend's 40th. My children are at the farmer's market enjoying the day with my sweet husband who is letting me relax, enjoy some alone time, and tend to my blog for which a post is long overdue. 

All the animal prints I am seeing around are too much for me, I love in particular a tasteful leopard print. It is timeless, classic, yet fun, it adds that extra oomph to any room. I love to incorporate an animal print in every home I work on. It is also something I work into my wardrobe here and there, really I could go on and on about my somewhat animal addiction!

I have been rocking these Sally Hansen stick on leopard nails for weeks now and I seriously talk about them no less than 5 times a day to friends, strangers, you name it. They are my new fall favorite and I had my girl put shellac over them so they will stay a little longer. I feel like I shouldn't keep this a secret and want to share it with all my dear friends. If you want a touch of animal these go a long way! 

Here kitty kitty

Please only rock these on short nails, no claws...

Touches of leopard, I for one want my very own sofa just like Aerin Lauder's, it is really divine against those beautiful walls. 

Now on to my fall wist list...I adore these but those wedges would send me to the pavement. Mr. Louboutin can we scale this height down a little for the moms and my poor calves?

Oh Rachel Zoe, your new collection, and new season make me so happy, especially on a day like today. 

These are beautiful pillows we used to perk up a client's study, just the perfect touch.

My newest obsession is the antelope rug, it makes such a statement and is gorgeous. Here it is on a roll at Eatman's Carpet and Interiors ready to be custom cut.

This is what the antelope looks like all rolled out in my clients home and it is just magnificent! 

Happy Weekend