the hunt for perfect bedding....

i have been looking for bedding for a client for a while now and i have several ones i'm in love with..of course, none of which come with an inexpensive price tag and most are not found locally so you deal with the problem of making sure that the colors match the palette you are working with...but none the less, they are all beautiful so i thought i would share some of my favs: i am really drawn to john robshaw... partly b/c his colors go with the project i am working on but i am also really digging his patterns, very current in my book. and how can a girl not love lulu dk....everything about her bedding collection makes me giddy. matouk- wow, their coverlets are simply beautiful and perfect for monogramming!! and last but not least, i love eileen fisher home at garnet hill....the washed linen collection is so serene and the colors are just wonderful. if you have any other suggestions of great bedding, please share!! i am always up for suggestions!! have a great day!!

maine cottage...

one thing is for sure, if you are looking for color and happiness behind your furniture design- maine cottage has definitely got you covered. we are lucky to have a store downtown and you cannot walk in there w/out being greeted w/just that. don't be afraid if you can't get yourself to commit to that much color- they do offer a great brown, a gray, and white paint options....

i love reading how people got started and i thought that their story shows how everyone starts from the bottom and works their way up...they opened 20 yrs ago in yarmouth, maine w/ furniture samples from a carpenter named 'cookie', 5 paint colors from artist carol bass who noticed that a trend in the design mags was painted 'found' cottage pieces, and an offer from a friend to do a free brochure for the company...from there they have flourished into a colorful, coastal furniture company....wonder if 'cookie' still works for them?

i'll take the beach please.....

this weekend i realized how lucky i was to be able to roll out of bed and be at the beach 10 minutes later. my husband has a sat. morning tradition of taking barron to the beach so he can run and play in the water. for some reason, i never go...that is, until this sat. me and tay joined the boys and headed to the beach. it was one of the best 2 hrs. i have ever spent on a sat. AM. taylor loves the beach and with the dogs running around (there is a leash law on our beaches- they can only be on the beach from 8-10 am), she was just thrilled. we actually spent a lot of time on sullivan's- dinner on fri and then we went to the beach both sat. and sun. what i love most about the beach is the feeling you get when you drive up to it; it's like all of your worries go away and you just become carefree....

this week, i think i am going to devote my posts to living at the beach and so here are some things i want in my "pretend beach house":

rachel ashwell's warrenton shelf, kerry cassill's cobalt swirl fabric, laurin copen's french steel baguette trolley's ....

I've been tagged....

so it's friday and was tagged a while ago by design 59 and this seems like a perfect time to do it (b/c my kid is refusing to take a nap and is screaming in her crib)...

1. Where were you 10 yrs ago....

hummmm...i had just ended my first year of rip roaring fun at the college of knowledge (aka college of charleston), i had just signed a lease on my first "official apartment" with my best friend katy on king street (this is where many parties happen, we got eviction warnings, friends of ours set off the fire extinguisher several times, and the first of my many parking tickets/ boots came about), i had just returned from a two week trip to thailand to see my brother who moved there to teach english (we are so different...he is super smart, adventurous, and likes to read books), i had just started answering the phones at my dad's office in the AM's and in the afternoons i went back to my old highschool job of being the receptionist at the local salon (how funny is that...it was located in my city's mall- i grew up in a small town in GA so you can imagine the salon), and last but not least- i was probably going out way too much using my fake id which i obtained from a former "stylist" at the salon...i was suppose to be 23 and looked all of 19...

2. 5 items on my to-do-list today:

1. well considering one of my builders just emailed me and said he had the electrician come today instead of mon, i need to go make sure all of his lighting is labeled, and since its not mon but fri- my babysitter is in FL and i am at home w/ the kid, not showered...better find a baseball cap and get my happy butt in that garage before he pulls up...

2. i need to get a second quote for outdoor draperies that priced out mega high...

3. go to Pottery Barn to look at their outdoor fabric collection for lounge chairs to make sure it will match what we have already purchased for a client's screen porch area

4. return a skirt that my husband says "looks like something a 16 yr old would wear"...b/c i am long past the days of a 16 yr old and the body of one....so i will take my husband's words of wisdom and not be that woman w/ a kid that still thinks she is a single, club hopper!

5. take a shower and brush my teeth b/c if you reread #1 of my to-do-list, i have a client arriving very soon....

3. Snacks i enjoy.....

whole foods guacamole dip w/ the fried pita chips, cherries in the summer, ice cream w/ reese's cup smashed in it....what i usually have in my house- wheat thins w/ cheese, grapes, hummus- boring stuff

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire....

travel lots, send taylor to the best schools possible, give money to the church and lots of charities, keep working but maybe not stress out anymore if i don't know when my next client is coming, give money to my family and all my best friends, move to sullivan's island, get a new car and boat for my husband and let him quit his job that he works so hard at to keep his family afloat.....

5. Places i would live....

sullivan's island, LA in a different life, italy, and i do love cabo

star light, star bright....

how much fun would this add to your sitting arrangement? love this hammered, iron turquoise star table...it would give any boring outdoor collection a life of its own!! and believe me, i have been doing a lot of outdoor furniture exploring and it gets REAL boring! would it kill the companies to liven up a little?

crate and barrel

okay so i said i was going to write a post on why i thought crate and barrel did a good job w/ their furniture and so here it is. again, when i thought mail order catalogs, crate and barrel would not have been my first choice on who to turn to for the "look" but going to the store surprised me and this is why... the upholstery was very current. i really loved the ross sofa. i think it really depicts a coastal feel w/ the current look i tend to go for (slipcovered, squared arms, waterfall drop skirt). the next thing that i liked was the pacifica dining room table and buffet/ hutch combo. it has a natural finish that i think looks great in a beach environment. also the big sur is a great look for dining. i was shocked at how much the calypso chairs are modeled after mcguire. they are really sharp looking and a minuscule of the cost. i also really loved the madsen mirror...it Is a take on the convex mirror that is going around and it's done very well. lastly, with it being summer, everyone is in the market for outdoor furniture. while i ADORED the stuff restoration hardware had (especially the antiqua outdoor collection) i was shocked at how horrible it sat...very low to the ground and not comfortable at all. c & b's outdoor stuff was by far the most comfortable...but i will say they need to update their styles. so there you have why i liked crate and barrel...i guess it really just depends on what you are shopping around for....

its time to cut the cord....

for all of my 10 readers out there, i apologize for not taking the time to put my heart and soul into this blog. unfortunately, i have gotten too swamped (which is not a bad thing). i am having trouble keeping my head above water. my husband says i have lost it...maybe i have! but i have realized that i need more help. which is why i am about to stop typing and fill out an application to put taylor into childcare...omg, i can't believe i am doing this. i went on a tour of the building yesterday and i started crying! the nice lady looked at me (i was trying to act like i was really excited about the experience as crocodile tears were filling up in my eyes) and she says "sometimes this is the best thing for the mothers who need help letting their children go"...yup, i guess i am that mother. i like having my babysitter help me out and being able to be at home w/ taylor. i do struggle w/ having a professional phone call w/ her screaming bloody murder in the background. so, i am reluctantly signing my kid's life away. i am sure she will be fine...and i will survive too.

test driving the mail order catalogs....

you know part of my role as a designer is to find furniture that not only looks good but is comfortable. this is very important, especially when most of the to-the-trade products that designers sell are ordered out of tear sheets from the companies. you have to know the companies that you are representing and you HAVE to have seen them in person, sat in them, pulled the drawers out, etc. well, part of my trip to atl was going to see some of the mail order catalog products in person. in charleston, we have a pottery barn but we don't have restoration hardware or crate and barrel. and you know, i was really shocked with what i concluded....

i was on the hunt of a "good looking" recliner. in the catalogs, restoration's cooper won me over hands down. i spotted it immediately in the store and thought, that's it. it looks great, worn/ aged leather and then i sat in it...oh my god, it was hard as a rock. i got so sad...thank goodness we didn't just order these w/out sitting in them!! the client would have been so disappointed (i really was b/c as far as leather recliners go, this one looked the best). so i ventured to pottery barn (kind of sadly) and checked out the Manhattan...its definitely "rounder", not as sleek and not an aged leather- but it did sit well. then the sales lady (loved her) brought to my attention that if you a tall, when you recline your head doesn't sit on the back of the chair!?? how sad is that...isn't that the purpose of the recliner??

so still disappointed, i headed to crate and barrel. now let me start by saying, don't you feel like crate and barrel really advertises for of its "kitchen products"? this store won hands down for the furniture quality. i really think that i need to speak to the marketing peps at this mail order catalog and let them know that they need to focus more on the "furniture" aspect b/c they do it VERY well. i think i may make another post just about this company....anyways- crate and barrel recliners are golden...high backs/ several leather options- aged or not aged, and several styles to choose from.

wow, this just got extremely long...maybe if there is someone out there looking for a recliner, this helped in some fashion!! but to make a long story short...you need, you MUST sit/ see these products in person if at all possible!

foxglove antiques...

so i am finally back after a long week in my home state of GA (it was hot as you know what there). it was a week jam packed and i am still recovering/ trying to catch my breath from all the events. i have to jump right back into work this am so i can't give the play by play of the atlanta part of the trip just yet...but i will share a wonderful antique store i found in miami circle- foxglove antiques. they have just so many beautiful things here...i could have walked out w/ the whole store and acquired a huge amount of debt! unfortunately, the pics on the internet don't do the store jutice but if you are ever in atlanta, you should stop by and see for yourself just how cool the place really is!

shut up and drive....

i'm not going to lie, my driving skills aren't the greatest...my driving skills in atlanta traffic- wow, now that's a scary combo. i am going to be one lost puppy...my agenda: ADAC, South of Market, Pieces, Bungalow Classic, and how can you not stop by Lenox mall and do a little shopping.

please, please....

please forgive me...i would love to say that i was hanging out here for the past couple of days and that is why i haven't blogged but i am super swamped. i have a crazy week so please don't hate me/ dismiss me if i can't post a lot. i am leaving for ADAC tomorrow, i have a meeting in 45 minutes, i have to shower, i am battling a cold, my sitter is out of town, my kid is sick, i am in a wedding this weekend....oh, and i am turning 29 tomorrow...