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happy wednesday.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Are you following me?
Just as everyone else in the world is, I'm obsessed with Pinterest. I love the idea of organizing pin boards, and can even make ones for my clients to look at. Although it's kind of disheartening that everyone and their mother uses it now, it makes for more creative ideas floating around out there. Here are a few of my recent pins:
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Next Cool Event 2012
Today has been kinda cray, but I promised myself to make time to post a few pictures from the event. Enjoy!
Even if you have to chase sidewalks for a little while, don't forget to chase your dreams.
xoxox
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Leftovers
Hi! Well, the madness is over with! The Next Cool Event went off without a hitch, and I met some wonderful people along the way. Thanks to everyone who helped us out and everyone that came by!
Today's post is going to be short, but I promise to follow up with a picture tomorrow when I have it. On Sunday, I had to find a place for several things for the event that I took home with me. Among those items were flowers and vases, chandelier parts (disaster!), and FLOR tiles. Those tiles are heavy, and I had to carry them up all my stairs to get them up here. So of course I was determined to do something useful with them.
I started doing my typical Sunday googling activities of totally rando things that interest me- which usually somehow lands me in Pinterest, Design Sponge, or Apartment Therapy. I was able to find a website about a competition by Bustler called Ample Sample. Have any of you heard of this? I'm starting to realize with any job or event we do, we always have leftovers of things that need a home. Why not find a creative way to make these items do something useful in your own home? I mean, the beautiful orange roses, football mums, and green buttons had an obvious purpose. They came home with me and are ALL over the house. But these FLOR tiles were getting me. Ample sample is a contest they have with the purpose of recreating new designs with old carpet tiles. Over 700,000 carpet samples are shipped each year, and what do most people do with the leftovers instead of shipping them back? You know. This contest is a great way to do two things: recycle and stretch your mind. What a thought! Here are some photos from past entries and winners...aren't they amazing?? Think what you could do in your home!
So, back to my tiles. I first went for the obvious use. For the event, we ordered orange, pink, grey, and black to pop against the sleek black and white furniture. Orange is my color, if you didn't know that already. When we got a humongous sectional off Craigslist a few months ago, (which was a steal- I'll post pictures soon!) I moved my vintage orange sofa into the office. This was the obvious place to put some carpet tiles down, so after about 30 minutes of playing with the color combos and placement- my rug was made! This actually worked out well because it was feeling colder than I would have liked in here with the wood laminate, so this was just enough to warm it up. Our floor plan is pretty open, so I knew this one FLOR rug was enough. I'm not a huge fan of a patchy quilt-like look in a home, which is why I would normally just order one or maybe two different types of FLOR tiles (if they form a pattern), but this was working for me.
Now...what to do with the others? I played around with them in my bedroom- but the grey was looking powdery blue underneath my bed which is not happening. I went back into the office to think, and there sat my ugly plain walls. Lightbulb moment.... cork boards! I'm always looking for a place to hang fabric samples, put sticky notes/pictures, and inspiration photos/words. Done! I used the pink, dark grey, and light grey tiles to make a pattern on my wall and I'll show you tomorrow. For now..it's off to work I go.
Today's post is going to be short, but I promise to follow up with a picture tomorrow when I have it. On Sunday, I had to find a place for several things for the event that I took home with me. Among those items were flowers and vases, chandelier parts (disaster!), and FLOR tiles. Those tiles are heavy, and I had to carry them up all my stairs to get them up here. So of course I was determined to do something useful with them.
I started doing my typical Sunday googling activities of totally rando things that interest me- which usually somehow lands me in Pinterest, Design Sponge, or Apartment Therapy. I was able to find a website about a competition by Bustler called Ample Sample. Have any of you heard of this? I'm starting to realize with any job or event we do, we always have leftovers of things that need a home. Why not find a creative way to make these items do something useful in your own home? I mean, the beautiful orange roses, football mums, and green buttons had an obvious purpose. They came home with me and are ALL over the house. But these FLOR tiles were getting me. Ample sample is a contest they have with the purpose of recreating new designs with old carpet tiles. Over 700,000 carpet samples are shipped each year, and what do most people do with the leftovers instead of shipping them back? You know. This contest is a great way to do two things: recycle and stretch your mind. What a thought! Here are some photos from past entries and winners...aren't they amazing?? Think what you could do in your home!
So, back to my tiles. I first went for the obvious use. For the event, we ordered orange, pink, grey, and black to pop against the sleek black and white furniture. Orange is my color, if you didn't know that already. When we got a humongous sectional off Craigslist a few months ago, (which was a steal- I'll post pictures soon!) I moved my vintage orange sofa into the office. This was the obvious place to put some carpet tiles down, so after about 30 minutes of playing with the color combos and placement- my rug was made! This actually worked out well because it was feeling colder than I would have liked in here with the wood laminate, so this was just enough to warm it up. Our floor plan is pretty open, so I knew this one FLOR rug was enough. I'm not a huge fan of a patchy quilt-like look in a home, which is why I would normally just order one or maybe two different types of FLOR tiles (if they form a pattern), but this was working for me.
Now...what to do with the others? I played around with them in my bedroom- but the grey was looking powdery blue underneath my bed which is not happening. I went back into the office to think, and there sat my ugly plain walls. Lightbulb moment.... cork boards! I'm always looking for a place to hang fabric samples, put sticky notes/pictures, and inspiration photos/words. Done! I used the pink, dark grey, and light grey tiles to make a pattern on my wall and I'll show you tomorrow. For now..it's off to work I go.
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
Gandhi
Emphasis on the you.
xoxoxox
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Next Cool Event goodies
Hello again! I've been slaving away all weekend to try, huge emphasis on try, to make our part of the event go off without a hitch. On Friday, we went by and picked up our carpet tiles from the fabulous FLOR and also made a last run through Direct Furniture to make sure all the pieces we picked for the event were still there. We had to make some other selections since a few pieces were sold, but we were able to still come up with a great plan! I am wrapping up the floor plans, inventory, and itemized pictures as we speak so that the moving guys will know exactly what to bring and where it will go once it's there.
Other than that big chunk of time, I've been playing with the idea of having fresh cut flowers in our space. We need some more color to compliment all the neutral furniture, and this is a fragrant and beautiful way to make that happen. We are bringing some glass hurricanes as a backup.. but this is what I made over the weekend for our arrangements. The geometric pattern fits perfectly in our bold room.
I'm thinking a very low profile, dense bundle of flowers with orange, pink, and a little white to make them pop. We'll be going by our wholesale flower place on the way down on Friday to pick them out, so cross your fingers that Valentine's Day doesn't wipe them out on everything beautiful! No gerber daisies for me, please.
One of the other things that I have been bouncing off the walls about is our pillows. We were so lucky to find a great workroom that wanted to help us out, and I ran over to pick them up today. I want to keep all of them to myself. I don't want to share with the Next Cool Event! But...I must. They are so pretty that I was even worried about going into a few stores today to make some returns. I figured surely someone with a sharp design eye would see those pillows and just have to break my windows out to get them! This is all I will show you for now..
And I guess it's time for me to show you our postcards for the event, since it is only a couple days away!
It feels like the days are getting significantly shorter as the event approaches, but we're trying to make as much as we can out of the last few days. Tomorrow morning is the install, so everyone cross your fingers for us! And if you still haven't bought your ticket, go do so RIGHT NOW at www.nextcoolevent.com. There are a limited number left, so hurry up!
And, oh yeah, Happy Valentine's Day ;)
xoxox
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Telltale Signs
Here are the telltale signs that I have been busy at work at something I love:
1. I have a House Beautiful magazine that's been sitting on my coffee table unread for a week
2. I have an Elle Decor magazine that's been sitting on my coffee table unread for a week and a half
3. My phone buzzes roughly every 5 minutes, and each time I have a little fear to look at it.
4. This one is the last, and worst, one...me and Marley have been sitting here at my desk cuddled in this leopard blanket for an hour before we had to get up.
One thing has remained true over the last month and a half... sleep comes SO easy at night, but I find myself waking up extra early with ideas. And if you know anything about early morning ideas, you better not go back to sleep. They'll surely be gone in dream world if you don't get up and write them down immediately! I will say though, this crazy early schedule has been making it easier to get everything done each day. So, you're probably wondering why I'm so busy all the sudden? I've been meaning to blog about this for quite some time, but we are participating in The Next Cool Event 2012. This is an amazing event that brings some of the most creative minds in the Atlanta area together (scary, huh?) and gets bigger and better every year. I am so blessed to be a part of this, and am so excited! But along with that excitement is a teeeeeeeny bit of stress. We have to balance our regular clients, as well as work on everything we need to happen for the event. I'll explain a little about what we've been up to.
First and foremost, we needed a space. It just so happened that Modern Luxury magazine had a lounge space that didn't have any furniture and didn't have any designers. Hmm.. we know about a million furniture stores we love, and...oh yeah, we're designers! So...first things first. We need to know what we have to work with. The only thing Modern Luxury wanted of theirs in the space were four beautiful posters of upcoming issues of 4 of their magazines, Men's Book, Jezebel, The Atlantan, and Atlanta Bride. These are all wonderful local magazines, and some of our favorite locals and places are pictured in there every month. Secondly, we need to fill up this space with some furniture! Felipe from Direct Furniture off Howell Mill was kind and crazy enough to let us borrow enough furniture to full our space, which is approximately 40'x50'. Umm..heart attackkkkkkkk. It's so large, it still kind of scares me to say it aloud. Anyway, the process of picking the right furniture was long but fun. We picked this furniture a month ago, though, so we are running back in this morning to make sure that anything we picked hasn't been sold off the floor. If it has, we will have to pick replacements. So...prayers please! Then came the ceiling issue: no chandeliers. We are working in an older building, and it would just be too complicated. So... hanging mobiles, that's all I'm saying. Good, old-fashioned working your fingers to the bone, literally. No hints about that though, you'll just have to wait and see. The flooring at the Expo Center is black and white checkerboard VCT. Not the best palette, but certainly not the worst. So, we've teamed with the amazing and ever helpful FLOR off Howell Mill to help us out. They've let us design our own rugs on their website and then placed an order for those exact tiles so we'd get them in plenty of time for the event. Going to pick those up today too...prayers please! So, the furniture is a neutral palette, so we needed a POP. Custom pillows are being made as we speak for our space. I was introduced to an amazing seamstress who let me sneak into her workroom and pull some fabrics/trim for our pillows. Those will be done Monday, and I can't WAIT to see the finished product. The last part comes in the accessories. This is the part that I'm obsessing over. The budget is seriously small, so they will definitely be DIY, no question. In my world, accessories are what makes it or breaks it. So....wish me luck on my hunt today! I have a couple hours after me errands this morning and meetings this afternoon, so I'll be on the prowl.
I've been toying back and forth with the idea of showing the rendering I did of the space, but I think I'll save that for a few days beforehand. Can't give away too much too fast! I am literally just bubbling with excitement-- I'm sure everyone around me has had just about enough! I can't thank the people enough who are helping us fill our space with beautiful pieces and trusting us to make this design go down without a hitch. Here's the best part: I was able to get tickets for some of my favorite people to come on Friday night for Red Carpet Cocktails. Because we're all so busy, it's hard to even steal away a minute and a half to go grab dinner or drinks. So here's our chance, and I am pretty sure there are a couple that I'm going to knock down with hugs..so be prepared. Stay tuned for more about the event...and I'll show you a few little details each day...
1. I have a House Beautiful magazine that's been sitting on my coffee table unread for a week
2. I have an Elle Decor magazine that's been sitting on my coffee table unread for a week and a half
3. My phone buzzes roughly every 5 minutes, and each time I have a little fear to look at it.
4. This one is the last, and worst, one...me and Marley have been sitting here at my desk cuddled in this leopard blanket for an hour before we had to get up.
One thing has remained true over the last month and a half... sleep comes SO easy at night, but I find myself waking up extra early with ideas. And if you know anything about early morning ideas, you better not go back to sleep. They'll surely be gone in dream world if you don't get up and write them down immediately! I will say though, this crazy early schedule has been making it easier to get everything done each day. So, you're probably wondering why I'm so busy all the sudden? I've been meaning to blog about this for quite some time, but we are participating in The Next Cool Event 2012. This is an amazing event that brings some of the most creative minds in the Atlanta area together (scary, huh?) and gets bigger and better every year. I am so blessed to be a part of this, and am so excited! But along with that excitement is a teeeeeeeny bit of stress. We have to balance our regular clients, as well as work on everything we need to happen for the event. I'll explain a little about what we've been up to.
First and foremost, we needed a space. It just so happened that Modern Luxury magazine had a lounge space that didn't have any furniture and didn't have any designers. Hmm.. we know about a million furniture stores we love, and...oh yeah, we're designers! So...first things first. We need to know what we have to work with. The only thing Modern Luxury wanted of theirs in the space were four beautiful posters of upcoming issues of 4 of their magazines, Men's Book, Jezebel, The Atlantan, and Atlanta Bride. These are all wonderful local magazines, and some of our favorite locals and places are pictured in there every month. Secondly, we need to fill up this space with some furniture! Felipe from Direct Furniture off Howell Mill was kind and crazy enough to let us borrow enough furniture to full our space, which is approximately 40'x50'. Umm..heart attackkkkkkkk. It's so large, it still kind of scares me to say it aloud. Anyway, the process of picking the right furniture was long but fun. We picked this furniture a month ago, though, so we are running back in this morning to make sure that anything we picked hasn't been sold off the floor. If it has, we will have to pick replacements. So...prayers please! Then came the ceiling issue: no chandeliers. We are working in an older building, and it would just be too complicated. So... hanging mobiles, that's all I'm saying. Good, old-fashioned working your fingers to the bone, literally. No hints about that though, you'll just have to wait and see. The flooring at the Expo Center is black and white checkerboard VCT. Not the best palette, but certainly not the worst. So, we've teamed with the amazing and ever helpful FLOR off Howell Mill to help us out. They've let us design our own rugs on their website and then placed an order for those exact tiles so we'd get them in plenty of time for the event. Going to pick those up today too...prayers please! So, the furniture is a neutral palette, so we needed a POP. Custom pillows are being made as we speak for our space. I was introduced to an amazing seamstress who let me sneak into her workroom and pull some fabrics/trim for our pillows. Those will be done Monday, and I can't WAIT to see the finished product. The last part comes in the accessories. This is the part that I'm obsessing over. The budget is seriously small, so they will definitely be DIY, no question. In my world, accessories are what makes it or breaks it. So....wish me luck on my hunt today! I have a couple hours after me errands this morning and meetings this afternoon, so I'll be on the prowl.
I've been toying back and forth with the idea of showing the rendering I did of the space, but I think I'll save that for a few days beforehand. Can't give away too much too fast! I am literally just bubbling with excitement-- I'm sure everyone around me has had just about enough! I can't thank the people enough who are helping us fill our space with beautiful pieces and trusting us to make this design go down without a hitch. Here's the best part: I was able to get tickets for some of my favorite people to come on Friday night for Red Carpet Cocktails. Because we're all so busy, it's hard to even steal away a minute and a half to go grab dinner or drinks. So here's our chance, and I am pretty sure there are a couple that I'm going to knock down with hugs..so be prepared. Stay tuned for more about the event...and I'll show you a few little details each day...
Seven Days and Counting!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Have you voted yet?
So...I thought this post posted about 2 weeks ago, but apparently not! Shows you how long I've been out of the loop, eh? Anywho, this contest has now ended and a winner has been chosen (not one of my favorites!) but...I'm still posting this.
I was looking on my facebook today, and noticed Grange Furniture's post about their charity design contest. I friended them back in September when Erin Gates of Elements of Style blog entered in a virtual vignette contest with them. Her vignette rocked it, but I also loved the Stylebeat board. Check them all out here. Anyway, they are having a contest in which designers (and design enthusiasts) can design a new finish for an existing piece of Grange furniture. Check them all out here.
Here are my top two:
I was looking on my facebook today, and noticed Grange Furniture's post about their charity design contest. I friended them back in September when Erin Gates of Elements of Style blog entered in a virtual vignette contest with them. Her vignette rocked it, but I also loved the Stylebeat board. Check them all out here. Anyway, they are having a contest in which designers (and design enthusiasts) can design a new finish for an existing piece of Grange furniture. Check them all out here.
Here are my top two:
 |
| holy graphic. |
 |
| fauz bois is my homeboy. |
I love both...but I'm going for the:
‘Faux Bois Beaute’
Dayna Flory, Rariden Schumacher Mio & Company
Troy, Michigan
Go vote today..75% of proceeds go to their charity of choice!
Anyway, my original topic for today was supposed to be about lighting. We have recently had a client come to us with a restaurant renovation. The current place is drab and bare, but it has so much potential! With a little rebranding and design love, this place is going to be a beaut! Of course, once we originally found out about this project, I ran to Pinterest and Etsy to find ideas. Vintage Americana was an original thought, although we've now switched gears a little. But look at this awesome industrial lights I found on Etsy, they're so easy and most of them are well priced. If you are super DIY like I am, then you can get a general idea and duplicate. I'm thinking like Design*Spongeish, ya know? (PS, my amazing friend spotted this book on major sale at B&N...and it now belongs to me. Love her for that!) Here are a few DIY ones from D*S:
Now here are the ones I dig at Etsy:
Do any of these inspire you to roll up your sleeves and get all down, dirty, and DIY? They do for me! Now I just have to figure out how to not be terrified when messing around with electricity. I don't see that happening anytime soon, though. So, I'll make the light and someone can hang it and make it turn on. Sounds good!
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| HELLO! Right above my dining table is where you belong. |
 |
| We've all seen these everywhere. And guess what? I don't care. Still love em! |
 |
| Although I'm not a fan of the chosen art behind the sconces, I love the idea of framing some bangin' wallpaper or prints and hanging sconces as a centerpiece. |
Now here are the ones I dig at Etsy:
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| via clarksallpurpose on etsy |
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| i.love.this.i.want.this. via dirtysbils on etsy |
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| keepin' it simple. via vintagebarnlights on etsy |
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| looking good in a group of three. via junkyardlighting on etsy |
Do any of these inspire you to roll up your sleeves and get all down, dirty, and DIY? They do for me! Now I just have to figure out how to not be terrified when messing around with electricity. I don't see that happening anytime soon, though. So, I'll make the light and someone can hang it and make it turn on. Sounds good!
xoxox
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