small arrangements- flowers for today's photoshoot

Today was a l-o-n-g work day on a photo shoot!  From loading up furniture at 7:15 in the AM to leaving the lake at 7:00PM and arriving back home around 9:00 PM. As glamour as photo shoots sound- fluffing pillows and making things pretty. It is also hauling furniture into the house, climbing on bunk beds to arrange pillows, stretching beyond you comfort level on a ladder to hang something quite high in a stairwell and climbing stairs over and over again. Not to mention, endlessly nit-picking a space through the lens of the images to check for everything from stray threads to how open an open door should so as to read as a door and welcoming, but not look unintentionally left open, or so open you do not realize it is a door.

It is mentally and physically challenging. Thankfully, I was with great folks!

Here are some of the small flowers arrangements I did for the shoot.

Easy arrangement of hypericum, spider mums, and hydrangea in a stemless wine glass. The key to the arrangement in to use a little floral tape to give the flowers some structure.

Detail of the hypericum and mums.               

 

Simple arrangement of white lilies in a small necked vase with some greens for the yard. The key to these arrangements are something my sister taught me long ago about flowers... 

you cannot be afraid to cut the stem!

Silver fabrics to shine at home

Inspiration can come from many sources- the silver screen, great jewelry, your new mirrored Ray-Bans. Today I am offered up a collection of fantastic fabrics with a dash of shiny silver for your inspiration.  They are great options for a neutral space. By playing well with greys, yet contrasting, they will add a glint and a wink to a space.

I particularly like the linens with a screen printed silver damask patterns! The collection includes linens to silks, vinyl to velvets, printed to embroidered from maker Vervain to Duralee. If you are interested in more information or yardage any of these fabrics, let me know!

Holiday gift wrap - The 12 Wraps of Christmas

As my other business is selling gift wrap and crafting supplies on Etsy, I thought I would blur the lines between interior design and craft for the 12 Wraps of Christmas. 12 days, 12 different package ideas in a handy pinterest friendly version!

Gold foil doily pillow box is as ease as peel, cut, form, trim! I used double stick tape to glue the doily in place, however you could use glue stick, hot glue or just a roll of tape!

Great flower arrangements

Tomorrow brings a number of photo shoots, where I will be creating the flower arrangements for. I thought I would share my great finds!

Pretty flowers from Everyday Occasions blog by Jenny Stephens Hobick

I like the clustering of the flowers from Birmingham Blossoms.

I love purple, pink and lime green in flower arrangements

Great find by my friend Jan Gautro, from her pinterest page.

Very tempted by these Juliet roses from David Austin!

Country Living offered great ideas for simple arrangements!

Back to School- the guy's dorm room

The past dorm rooms I have covered have been girl's rooms. However, I have helped many guys move into their dorm rooms and I know that if they have a blanket and a gaming device with a TV they are good. However, it is nice to purchase pieces of furniture that will last past dorm-hood and into adulthood. It is also important that it doesn't look like Mom helped, but maybe a really cool older brother who understands gaming and girls.
To that end, I have created some design mood boards for just those guys- the ones who game and the smooth operator with the ladies! Hope you are inspired to help your guy make his home away from home be as comforting as his real home. If you need any help, just let me know!

The sophisticated guy's dorm room for the guy who is Chuck Bass... if only in his head!!

The gamer's dorm room- perfect for study break for clearing your head and marathon weekend with the guys!

Back to School: The Dorm - Senioritus and the bridge to adult digs

I always love the back to school issue of Seventeen magazine... long after I was 17! It was the issue that instructed how to take your high school look and elevate it to a college look. Taking that inspiration, I would like to share ideas from Senior year dorm life that transitions nicely to the first apartment and the real life.
Like learning how to wear your fave jeans to the office by adding the jacket from your interview suit, dorm decor can transition to the apartment with the addition of a "grown up" items. Hot pink, neon's and bold florals can be tempered with neutrals. Maybe neutrals seem boring, but everyone cannot be the star of the show. Make your favorite items from college be the leading lady and build a supporting cast of neutrals with fabulous textures.

Here's some mood boards to help create the blend!

A collection of decor from the Senior year dorm

Taking the parts of the hot pink college dorm room and creating a first gathering space!

 

Inspiration: Great on the outside and in

This pattern could go traditional or Southwestern
depending on the accents- great warm color selections.

I have been inspired by a neighbor. I don't live in a neighborhood where we leave the drapes open for all the world to see the living room. However, I passed by a house the other day who does leave the drapes open and I was inspired by what I saw. The house is a medium tone brick with cream shutters and trim, and a soft orange front door. Doors are a great way to express your personality and utilize a little color theory to tell your guests about your home. They are also the easiest to change- and the cheapest costing about a pint of paint and a Saturday afternoon.

The inspiration came from the bigger picture than the orange front door, because the large plate glass window framed a pair of wing-back chairs in a bold cut-pile fabric in colors of oranges, browns, greens and cream. This pattern and colors expressed the energy of front door and created a repetition of color and pattern that is most comfortable for the mind.

To celebrate great facades, I have created great pairings of fabrics and exterior trim paints for you to spice up your home! The upholstery fabrics are paired with Sherwin Williams paint colors using their new Chipit! online program. It's fun to see what colors the programs pulls, of course choosing colors in person is best to take lighting conditions into account, but this program is a great start!

Fun cut velvet giraffe fabric with great beach-y paint colors



A twist on animal print makes this fabric contemporary and a great home accent piece. I would love to see the Eminent Bronze on a front door of a contemporary style or international style house!



Modern classic damask pattern would be striking on a large chair in a picture window on a cream house with a Tricorn black or a Raisin front door!



Robert Allen floral for your formal spaces and very pretty when viewed with a creamy white exterior and a Polished Mahogany or Saguaro painted door.

Robert Allen Velvet Stripes perfect on contemporary lines of a chair or chaise in the front window! I'd choose the Rookwood Dark Red on a light house or the Garden Sage on a medium toned house.

Need help coordinating a paint color or with fabric selections. I'd love to help! Color is one of my favorite things to work with and fabrics are a long passion of mine! Drop me a line and we can chat!
laurlself@gmail.com

The first yard bouquet

Every year I get excited about the first yard bouquet for my desk. Being in Alabama, it will usually include hydrangeas and gardenias. Though my hydrangeas bloom first, it seems it is never worthy enough to create a bouquet until you have something that is scented. Once the gardenias bloom, the bouquets are ON!

One of the thing I love about hydrangeas is the  bigger they grow and the deeper the roots spread in the soil, the more contact they have with minerals that can change their color. Each year you can have a variety of color and they can change from year to year. Adding soil amendments can change the color, but I like the surprise of finding out what I will be getting each year.
Growing flowers for cutting gardens are beneficial on many ways. They provide you with an opportunity of enhance or alter your indoor environment with the addition of color. Additionally, the flower provide food for bees, hummingbirds and if they make berries, food for birds in the winter. Cutting gardens are a win/win for the indoor and outdoor environment!


"Yard" bouquests in your work space, like this one on my desk, provides for a place
for you eyes to rest when thinking. Allowing your eyes to rest on something from
nature "resets" you brain faster than resting on something man-made!

In the words of the Beastie Boys, "Kick It!"

Some people need furniture that can... um... really take a beating. You know who you are, those with constant stubbed toes and mystery stains on the sofa. So, to celebrate those who speak the language of tough love, here's the perfect furniture for you!

The Do Hit Chair from Droog. It starts with a metal cube and a sledge hammer and ends with a comfortable chair. You can beat it into submission yourself or have the designer do it for you.

The nice this about distressed furniture is that is already looks worn. What ever abuse you provide can be called "character" This is a nice little piece from Ballard Designs that can be used as a small side board, media console, or as storage in the entry hall. It comes in many colors to suit any decor! The Lucca console from Ballard Designs.

This recycled tire basket bring kicking the tires a whole new meaning! Great for storage, great for the environment! Best of all it is current on sale at uncommon goods for under $15!

The future is here! Self cleaning fabrics that breakdown organic compounds like pesticides and kill bacteria when exposed to light. Other new fabrics are based on biomimicry and can self clean in the same way the bird feathers do. The future is cleaner homes faster than you can say "Scourgify!"

The ubiquitous kick stool, common to every library is the country! It rolls, but never tips! It is a stool and a seat. Best of all it come is stainless steel! Perfect for reaching items in the top of the cabinets and for sitting down to read a cookbook!
This beauty comes from Demco.com, a real library supply website.