Totally Inspiring Room

A totally inspiring living room designed by Betsy Burnham as seen in the June 2012 issue of House Beautiful.

I finally got to a couple of design mags I’ve had floating around the house and the feature on Betsy Burnhah’s design for a house in Beverly Hills really caught my eye. I love the mix of color, texture, and pattern that permeates every room of this home. It’s got both traditional and modern appeal… and I like it! Check out pics of the entire house at Burnham Design.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Until next time…

Picnic Anyone?

I’m off work today so I decided to go through some magazines and catalogs that I’ve only skimmed over because I’ve been so busy with work and life stuff lately.

ACME Party Company's Picnic Basket for Four. (Image from House Beautiful via Design Scouting.)

This gorgeous picnic basket is in the market section of the April issue of House Beautiful. it is available through ACME Party Box Company starting at $150 depending on the options you choose (with or without a knife or two styles of glasses). I would totally love to own this… though I’m not sure how much use I’d get out of it. As much as I want to be a Martha Stewart type, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I probably am really not that domestic. So actually planning a picnic menu, packing it up, and then taking it and a few friends out for a spin is probably super far off the list of realistic things I would be doing in life. Especially enough to justify a over a hundred dollar price tag. Still, this picnic basket is just beautiful enough to make me dream of moving it up the list a bit. 🙂

Hope you’re enjoying your Wednesday. Until next time!

Totally Inspiring Rooms

The entry to Royce Pinkwater’s living room in New York. From House Beautiful September 2011 Splendid Sass.

The latest issue of House Beautiful had the most gorgeous apartment I’ve ever seen. I, quite literally, could see myself moving in and not changing one single thing in the place. From the moody entry to the airy minimalist bath, every room is perfect.

The living room. Lavender and feminine, yet unfussy details rule.

The view through the to the eat in kitchen.

The eat in kitchen’s dining area with mid century chairs and amazing herringbone floors.

The thing that strikes me most about the apartment, which is owned by Sotheby’s Royce Pinkwater, is how utterly liveable it all looks. Nothing is too precious or overdone, everywhere you look there is an inviting place to sit or look. I absolutely love it! This is definitely going into my idea file for use on my own digs!

You can see more of this gorgeous NYC apartment on Splendid Sass (HB doesn’t have it up yet).

On a personal note: the change in season has my allergies doing the tango on my sinuses but I’m doing better than yesterday. I’m getting back in the saddle and riding forward! Have a great Tuesday everyone. 🙂

Small Pretty

I’m a serious small space design fan. I bought House & Home’s annual small space issue for years, keeping the best of the spaces in an orange folder that I still have. So imagine my surprise and delight when I found that the current issue of House Beautiful is a small space issue! I practically did a spastic happy dance in the store, I was so ecstatic. There are some really amazing spaces in the mag but my favorite is the tiny apartment that designer Nick Olsen did for Rebecca Phillips. The whole place was done on a budget… AND is a rental! Budget and rental!? Whoa.

Anyway, check out the goodness for yourself. There is a really nice video with Nick Olsen explaining how he achieved the apartments fantastic look. Do yourself a favor and check it out, okay?

Hope your Thursday is less hot, muggy, and rainy than mine. Is it sad that I’m yearning for fall and its less drastic temperatures? Until tomorrow, peeps!

Thrift Store Score!

On Saturday me and my mom went by Value Village to pick up some wing back chairs we’d seen on Memorial Day. They were only $25 each!

The chairs side by side in the living room.

Close-up of the chair legs.

Detail of the flamestitch fabric.

They are really sturdy, solidly built, and really comfortable. The fabric is actually not that bad looking; it has a muted range of warm pastel tones in a flamestitch pattern. However, there is some shredded fabric on the back of both chairs so they’re  definitely going to end up becoming projects.

Lindsay Reid’s outdoor dining area with the Clarence House linen print ‘Dahlia’ gracing the table. -House Beautiful

I’d like to find a more affordable version of Clarence House’s Dahlia linen (as featured in Lindsay Reid’s cottage in the June 2011 House Beautiful). If anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Totally Inspiring Room

So, I’m doing another inspiration room this week! I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share this gem of kitchen with you:

Lindsay Reid’s Pasadena cottage kitchen from the June 2011 issue of House Beautiful.

This room is so elegant and simple. I love the dark gray cabinets, the coolly linear backsplash, the warmth of the textiles on the window and window seat… and the complete lack of upper cabinets. I’ve seen some really beautiful kitchens but I think this one is definitely vying for first place on my list of favorites.

What do you think of this kitchen? Love it or hate it?

Guest Work

In all honesty, I’ve never had a place that’s big enough for me to have a guest room. I’m still a one bedroom city dweller that offers up a cushy couch and extra blankets to out of town visitors. One day I hope to have an extra room dedicated to making my friends and family a haven during their travels… so today I’m posting a selection of guest bedrooms. I’m a fan of the double twin layout… I think it gives you more options.

Traditonal gray, blue, and white fabrics mix with a sleek modern table.

Bold pattern and classic colors create a serene guest space.

More classic style – crisp black and white!

Bold blue, stripes, and crisp white cheer up this graphic guest space.

Tonal greens with patterns and textures create interest here.

Have a happy Tuesday everyone. Enjoy!

Go the way of the Dodo

Flipping through the latest issue of House Beautiful, I saw this cool little case featured in The Best section: an iPad case made to look like a book. The case comes in twelve colors and starts at $60. It reminds me of a Moleskine journal… What’s not to love about that?