laura kirar- don't mess w/ her! she is killing it in the design industry (better watch your back barbara). not only is she a super successful interior designer, she is most widely known for her killer furniture designs for baker. when her barrel lounge chair from mcguire was introduced, i carried around the picture and said that you could sum up my design style by this one piece of furniture. i still think it is amazing (i hate that it has knock off's of it). she is also one of the 3 designers for kallista- a high style plumbing division from kohler. you can add an ann sacks tile designer to her resume...and if that is not enough how about a lighting designer for boyd.
ok, so this is part two to my viceroy piece and i must say, the bed side of this room is a little challenging. to really capture the look of the bed wall you need a carpenter and a glass cutter/ mirror guy. i know, kind of a cop out but i looked for some cool mirror that you could play w/ to create this patterned wall and it just didn't excited me like the original. the bedding is all white so i went w/ an Italian sateen collection and for the grey blanket at the bottom of the bed, i went w/ cashmere. the sconce was way hard to find so i had to opt for a drake table lamp (you have to scroll down on the website to see it). i adore this company and think it still stays w/ the feeling of the room. for the accent on the shade, we will need to add a yellow banding ourselves...sorry. now the chairs, i searched and searched for something close to the porfirio armchair...i found this 60's style asian armchair which looks pretty close if we have to swap out something for the original. you will need to remove the nail head trim and add a kelly green linen fabric. but most importantly, you need to have the fabric embroidered before upholstering it....kelly loves the embroidery palace if you live in LA. ok, the last element i think we need for this room is the coffee table. i adore this 1970's vintage one and think it fits right in w/ ms. kelly's look. well, i hope you like your room...until i have the chance to actually visit it in person, this will have to do! have a wonderful weekend!
ok who doesn't adore the wearstler? so i thought it would be fun to take her widely popular "viceroy" hotel room and recreate some of its key components...(please bare w/ me- i am not very computer savvy and i don't know how to display a grouping of pictures.)
i would write it on a card like this.... stationery has totally become hip and classic and my fav- geometric. i adore these preppy note cards and if i was better at writing them, i'd send all of you one! jack and lulu (love the name, although i think if you put lulu in any name combo you've got a winner) make divine note cards. they actually inspired my business cards after receiving these from my sister-in-law (bet you couldn't guess what color it is). all of the note card designs are fab but i picked the lime tiles and windowpane orange and pink to share. another great place to get hip note cards is fabulous stationery. i am a huge fan of the metropolitan collection...again b/c they are bold and geometric. i adore the huge print of the trouble 2 note cards and large text block on stax makes a great statement....its like "hey, you totally just got a letter from SHANNON". ok, w/ that corny comment, i'm signing off...peace out and get yourself some hip note cards!
this weekend i did one of my favorite things....hunting (not for animals) but for the "perfect find". i adore going to antique malls, flea markets, and salvage yards in search for some undiscovered jewel! if you are going w/ something in mind, you usually come home disappointed but if you go just to look, you come home with lots of goodies. you have to be in a mood to dig and not be scared to do this. i found a cool old military trunk and for $10 in was definitely my "perfect find".
my brother is definitely a drifter. as of now, his home is in the usa but we never know when that zip code might change. for the last 10 years, he has lived back and forth from thailand. you ask what he does over there...he drifts...he teaches english sometimes...he acts in commercials and movies (americans stand out there, especially a 6' light- brown haired guy)....and he owns a laundry mat/ bar (yea, weird combo but apparently it makes sense there). my fam has adjusted to the fact that my bro is a drifter.
sometimes i feel like i live in this tiny bubble...like when i found steven gambrel- why have i not seen this guy's portfolio before yesterday? when i searched his site, i couldn't click the pictures fast enough. beautiful, colorful, interiors filled my computer screen. i got so excited and almost started writing my post at that very moment...but remembered that i was getting sick and that it was better to save it for today when i would feel less inspired to search for something "new" and "innovative". soooooooo, i love steven gambrel's interiors; he gracefully mixes traditional and modern (my cup of tea) and he is lucky enough to have a "town portfolio" and a "country portfolio". i also think that he is ahead of his time...using pops of orange and peacock blues in 2005. i am adding him to my "design heroes" b/c he makes me giddy and allows me to love what i do even more. i just get so excited when i discover a new designer (well new to me, i'm sure all of you design bloggers have known him for years). i feel like a little girl who just received her first cabbage patch kid. i just love what i do and am constantly inspired by the great designers in this industry!
so on my quest to keep sharing my mag tear outs, i found this store also in my random pile...belvedere! then i just read my comments and this was a place that things that inspire said to visit in atl....i will definitely be checking this place out. i am in love with the lamps...ok, check out the birch bark lamp. i love how they describe the beautifully, handmade Peter Lane lamp: park avenue meets the farm- how fantastic! their vintage collection has so many cool things like the six- point art pottery gourd lamp and the pagoda lamp (that bronze shade is killing me). i am also a sucker for acrylic so if you put it on anything, i am bound to like it. the store does more then just feature lamps...the have a heavy emphasis on mid-20th century furnishings and accessories. they have an amazing inventory that i can't wait to see in person!
beware, i think this week's post may consist of "finds" from my magazine tear outs... 
FEARLESS...the man is not afraid! and for this, i confession my love (i don't think my husband will have a problem w/ me having a designer crush...i'm sure jay isn't into people like me!) i mean, that man can turn a room into a freakin' showcase in a sec. and his powerful design is just so daring yet sophisticated and never once would i describe his rooms as "understated". why don't these clients exist in c'town. not here, they are soooooooooooo traditional...people its okay to not have every room in your house how your great grandmother intended!
i have a problem...i am obsessed by the color pink. i don't know exactly when this happened. i feel like when i was a little girl my favorite color was purple...isn't this when your love for pink is suppose to develop? well, mine hit probably right after i got married. i noticed all of my clothing was pink...a turtleneck (wow, that sounded so conservative), a patagonia jacket, a pair of pink cords, pink high heels, pink bum around pants, pink dresses...my husband started banning me from buying anything that was pink...he would say "one day you are going to hate this color and you will be looking in your closet and be so sad b/c that's all you own." i think that made me want the color even more (you know when someone tells you not to do something, it makes you crave it even more)...so i started my own company and what do i do? i have my logo designed...pink and chocolate brown...business cards, letterhead, and envelopes. next, i get pregnant and what do i find out- its a girl...so naturally, i fill the room w/ pink! i can't help it. finally, i start a blog...what's the name PINK wallpaper. so i confess...my name is shannon and i have a problem. i want to live in a sea of pink. just when i thought i could move on from this color, i found myself telling my husband last night "i think i want to paint my desk pink"...he rolled his eyes and said you have got to be kidding me......
i promise for all of you anti-baby peps, i am not turning this into a baby blog but i couldn't resist sharing these beautiful pieces. i was excited about the comments that people left about the love/hate relationship with PB and thought it would be fun to share some things that in my book would not be found in a mass produced catalog...so here are some amazing "anti- PB" pieces. and as many people stated, its not the pieces that you put in the room that make the space but rather the creative process that you go through to make it your own!
i have to say to was a little POed when i opened the new pottery barn kids catalog. there on the glossy pages in front of me was an oval crib just like my daughter's....one that i searched long and hard for, going to another state to b.braithwaite in order to order a "unique" crib. i love my stokke crib and the unusual shape and the fact that only two companies offered oval sheets. i wanted to be slightly different, on the cutting edge b/c after all i am a designer and people expect things. pottery barn is a massive design source for the general public and a leader in design trends. it's even a style that my clients describe themselves as wanting..."the pottery barn look". i continued to flip through the magazine when i arrived to a giraffe propped against the wall...another sigh of disappointment. my husband and i spent hours painting this giraffe (we rented an overhead projector, i had the giraffe bodice printed onto clear projection paper, and we sat there at night and traced and painted it onto the wall). now there is a wooden cut out available... finally, i arrived to the fabric page, there sat all of my designer Hable fabrics now available on upholstery offered through pottery barn. i cannot compete with pottery barn prices and Hable fabric is in the upper $100 a yard w/ a minimum order of 3 yds. huge sigh....
we spent new years in atlanta (football game...not my number one choice of ways to bring in the year but it was fun none the less). in our hotel there was a magazine of atlanta homes which somehow happened to make its way home w/ me (i justified it by thinking of it as if it were the toiletries they offer in the bathroom...just another friendly jester to welcome you). it's a very good magazine. i especially loved this one house which was featured in an article titled "the un-white house". the architecture was amazing. it was a contemporary house built in a traditional bungalow neighborhood. the architect used angular walls and windows that really make the house stand out. it has loads of light pouring into the house and the kitchen is beautiful. i love the limestone ann stacks tile they used in the backsplash, very modern- sleek and sophisticated. i was also pleased to find that the magazine had a great website. (i can now access the mag even if i am not staying in an atl hotel!)
