Current Obsession: Elephant Art & Room Inspiration

I am totally obsessed with Elephant Art.

I first saw this image in Boston Common magazine and thought it was simply charming and would make an awesome focal point for my 4 year old's "big boy" room. 

As I quickly scanned the article I thought I read that it was actually painted by an elephant and then I thought it best to put down the glass of chardonnay and go to bed.

Turns out I don't need to put down the chardonnay after all :)

This was actually painted by an elephant on paper made from elephant dung. Ick!  After I got over that, I went to the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project website and read that this program was started in Thailand to help keep elephants minds active in captivity.  

I love this one with the smiley face on the bum!

The caretakers noticed that the elephants would often pick-up a stick and doodle in the dirt and decided to take it a step further and retro fit paint brushes to be held with their trunks. 

I am hoping this painting with the "sold" stamp has been bought by my hubby, for here is the room I would design around it!

Fascinating!  The exhibit "Beyond Human: Artist-Animal Collaborations" will be at the Peabody Essex Museum beginning October 19. The profits from the sale of these paintings go to help care for these elephants.

Cheers!
Becky

Pin It

Boston Design Home 2013!

When I heard this year's Boston Design Home was 33,000+ square feet, I almost fell off my chair. Can you imagine 33K+ of awesome design - room upon room upon room of ocean inspired color combinations, new fabrics and textiles, the best furniture, accessories  - oh the list goes on and on!  Of course, upon reading I realized that this is a brand new, ocean front condo building in Swapscott and the show house is in one of the much more manageable 3K square foot units.

Stunning image courtesy of Michael J. Lee who photographed the show house.  You can read more about his process on his blog.

 Can you imagine waking up to this every morning?

The house is open until October 7th with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the Boston Children's Hospital. So go!! You get to see great design and donate to a great cause.

And if you go - report back! We'd love to hear from you!

Cheers!
Becky

Pin It

The Antidote to a Rainy Day: Christian Chaize

It is a gray day here in the Boston area.  The nights are cool and there is a distinct, crisp, fall feeling in the air.  I long for the recently past summer days spent on the beach! Thankfully we have the antidote!  Take a look at these stunning beach photographs of Christian Chaize:

These incredible works of art are the result of eight years of visiting the same beach in Portugal.  Mr. Chaize returned over and over again to the same vantage point to capture the changing tides, light, weather and people. The photographs are incredible and are so versatile - they would be great in numerous settings. Here are some of my favorites!

 Not limited to beach scenes, Mr. Chaize also did a Moon study!  Simply stunning. Hop over to Mr. Chaize website to see the complete collection.

Hope this helps get you through a rainy Monday!
Cheers!
Becky

Pin It

Client Master Bedroom Project - Sneak Peek!

We have been working on a Master Bedroom project for a lovely client in the Boston area. Smart, gracious, and a sense of humor - I knew she'd be fun to work with.

She wanted something not too modern or geometric, but also not too flowery.  Simply a calm escape where she can relax at the end of the day.  This design center wallpaper is just lovely and has totally transformed the room.

The coordinating fabrics are used sparingly to compliment the wallpaper without over powering it. An ivory linen for the drapes with a lovely velvet accent, along with a large floral pattern and a smaller scale, more geometric floral pattern will round out the fabric selections.

We are still waiting on the custom made window treatments and accent pillows, along with lamp shades for the vanity lamps, vanity mirror and bed linens, but here is a peek at her new headboard, sconces, vanity and chandelier and yep -  a high gloss ceiling that is subtle but outrageous!

And yet another project we couldn't have done without our friend Todd Rotundi and his team at Wellbuilt for their construction help.

We can't wait to show you the finished product!!

Cheers!
Becky and Deb

PS - In order to protect our clients' investment in our services, we will not disclose specific sources.

Pin It

Family Room - Update!

I realized I haven't shown you how my own family room has been coming along. It seems to be moving at a snails pace - much to my husbands chagrin - but hey...paying clients come first!  But he is right, so I called my most trusted adviser over - Deb - to come over and kick my butt into high gear.

The foundation is firmly in place.  We have the three area rugs, couch, end tables, lamps, and lighting.  And are now at the point of pulling it all together. I think sometimes people forget that design is a process with multiple layers. It's not about just buying new furniture! 

I cannot get enough of my new West Elm rug. Yep, you don't need to spend a fortune to make a statement!  And you know how I feel about chevron, and more chevron, and yep, even more chevron!

With two little kids, we want this room to be "family friendly", yet still have a bit of a WOW factor.  A great place to do that in furnishings that are out of reach like this pendant from Circa.

Here are the main textiles:

 

There are big plans in the works for these chairs....

I love the way this quatrefoil sconce reflects light at the end of the day!

Stay tuned for more updates as the work progresses!

:) Becky
Pin It

One Table, Three Ways

Ah the never ending task of furnishing my family room!  Never ending, because like the saying goes, "the cobblers kids have no shoes"!

One of the things I have purchased are end tables.  I first spotted this little cutie on Joss and Main. 

It was love at first sight, but it was not inexpensive at $330.  It was more than I wanted to spend on a side table.  But given that I had spent WAAAAAY less than I budgeted for rugs, I figured I had a little wiggle room for the end table.  The table arrived a few days later and I absolutely loved it.

In fact, we loved it so much that we decided we HAD to have a matching set (heaven forbid!).

Panic set in!  The table was originally purchase on a "flash sale" sight for a "deal". Surely there must be another table some where in this world?!?   After a quick web search, I found it on Overstock.  And get this... it was on sale and $100 less.  I couldn't believe it and I am now the proud owner of a pair.

But wait, it gets better. Seriously.

Last week, I was perusing one of my favorite design blogs House of Fifty by Janell Beals (and if you haven't seen her online magazine House of Fifty, it is a MUST!) to see her DIY makeover of an inexpensive $49 table from Target.  Look familiar?

How awesome is that?!?!  You must click over to see the step by step magic she worked!!  It just goes to show you where there's a will, there's a way!

Cheers!
Becky

Pin It

Elton John's New Pad

Have you seen the images of Elton John's new Beverly Hills home in this months Architectural Digest?  They are really awesome!

I love this room with the zebra rugs, fluffy chairs and pink coffee table.  Oh did I mention the view!

Out with the stuffy and in with the cool - a great take on a modern library!

O.M.G - that silver mylar ceiling.  I have a thing for ceilings (they are so neglected!) and this one takes the cake!

 Oh and did I mention the view?!?!?  Stunning.

Of course, would you expect anything less from Martyn Lawrence Bullard of "Millions Dollar Decorator" fame?  Oh Daaaaaaaahling I think not!

Photo: Christopher Sturman

But seriously folks, how adorable are these new parents?

Cheers!
Becky


Unless otherwise noted - all photos from Architectural Digest. 

Pin It

You Get What You Pay For!

I am obsessed with rugs these days. I have been searching for not one, but three rugs for my family room. I am feeling a bit like Mary McDonald in Million Dollar Decorators who can't quite get her own space together despite creating lovely spaces for other people.

One of my forays into rugs (and I will admit I have had about 4 different rugs in my space in less than a month) involved Joss and Main, the daily flash sale of home furnishings. I found a great rug, that looks like an expensive Madelaine Weinrib rug that I have been coveting but at a fraction of the price. I ordered it immediately.

When it arrived, I loved it! And then after about 5 minutes, I started noticing the blue rug fibers floating to the surface of the rug. So I vacuumed. 

And clogged my vacuum. But it's a new rug - they shed..right? 

I started seeing it on my kids clothes, toys and pretty much all over my house.  So I kept vacuuming.

And then I filled a vacuum bag full of blue fibers. ICK!!!

My love was quickly turning sour and I began to resent my cheapo purchase; especially because it was "non refundable".  What's a girl to do? Take photos and lots of them and contact customer service asap. 

A big thank you to Joss and Main for taking my rug back.

And a note to self - you definitely get what you pay for!

Lesson learned!
Becky

Pin It

No Sleep 'til Brooklyn!

Okay this may or may not be totally embarrassing, but at one point in my life I was a bit of a Beastie Boys fan.  Yep. It's the Jersey girl in me. But seriously, you can't tell me you didn't belt out the chorus of "You gotta fight for your right to PAAAARRRTTTTYYYY".  I understand COMPLETELY!!  So what the heck does this have to do with design you might ask? Well, Mike Diamond of the Beastie Boys wanted a Brooklyn themed toile wallpaper for his Brooklyn brownstone.  (And yes, I am completely serious!!) So he had it created:

"Brooklyn Toile captures many angles of life in the King’s borough from Coney Island to Hasidic Jews to Notorious B.I.G., the design covers many of the aspects of daily life dealing with subways and pigeons in a poetic way. Go on and get some!!!"

Seriously,  I might just have to get me some!  HAH!

:) B
Pin It

New From CocoCozy!

I love this time of year!  With the NYIGF and all the marts around the corner, now is the time to see all the new products from our favorite vendors. One of the companies we always look forward to seeing is CocoCozy which we previously blogged about here.

They have a lovely line of fabrics, pillows, throws, trays, candles....

And now a brand new line of RUGS!!! These Tibetan, hand knotted, wool rugs are lovely and I can't wait to see the entire line!

How fun are they?!?  You can check out their new catalog here! 

Looking forward to seeing more!

:) Becky

Pin It

Lovely Personalized Gifts!

I don't know about you, but I am in serious trouble with Christmas gifts. For the most part I have yet to start and with Christmas just over 2 weeks away I am in panic mode.

One of the refreshingly "new" companies that might be able to help me out is Mark and Graham.  I recently received their catalog in the mail - addressed to my 3 year old (!!!!!) and aside from that little hiccup, loved every page of it. And it turns out written in little tiny letters on the bottom of the back page reads "copy right 2012 WIlliams-Sonoma, Inc. All rights reserved".   Interesting to say the least!

Oh and did I mention that they have an adorable DIY section complete with packages, bags, ribbons and labels?

  Aside from the numerous personalization options,

I think my favorite part is the lush free gift box! 

Happy shopping!
:) B

Pin It