Friday Flowers

{Photo via Simply Elegant Flowers with Michael George}

Christmas color inspiration: RED

 

Every year there is THE new color palate of the Christmas season, or at least the one that I personally fall for! For me, one  year it was blue,  last year it was lots of green and silver, and this year it’s deep rich cranberry red. Of course, with all the decorations on the market you can really get any color any year- it’s almost hard to NOT find what you’re looking for.   

Rich, saturated red…  It’s as though you’re looking through red tinted glasses… so dramatic!

  Fun, flirty, and young. Especially with the pop of lime green.

 

Isn’t this a fabulous hanging centerpiece?!? Great DIY project for someone more ambitious than me this time of year.  The red becomes ultra modern in front of so much white.

 

 

While I love all the more conventional red color combinations, I wasn’t really excited to decorate this year until I decided upon this- ruby red and fuschia.  So rich in color and intensity, but pretty and fun at the same time…. It screams FESTIVE to me.

I was enamored by the way that so many other colors can be incorporated to this theme- gold, emerald, lime, silver, white…. there’s something static and impersonal about a tree or color scheme that is too contrived and strict… while I love the look of them in pictures and catalogs, I think the idea of being able to use favorite ornaments and decorations that might not fit your theme is so much more authentic and charming.  The picture above from Vicki Archer’s French Essence this week PERFECTLY exemplifies this type of charm! 

 

   

Of course, a festive table setting is like icing on the cake.  Robert Haviland’s “Elizabeth” setting nods to the traditional and is super chic.  I love how graphic the pattern is.

 

 

Spode Bordeaux dinnerware has such gorgeous intensity and depth in it’s cranberry red banding.

For the modern table, Bodo Sperlein’s Red Berry is spectacular.  A client of mine uses this pattern and it is constantly complimented!  Crate and Barrel came out with a knock-off a few years ago, and while it was a wonderful alternative for one who didn’t want to make that as expensive of an investment, it was not nearly as delicate or pretty.  This would be gorgeous with colorful glass ball ornaments scattered across the tabletop or with red branches like in the first picture above.

What colors are you gravitating towards this season???

{Pictures via 1. Carolyn Roehm , 2. House Beautiful, 3. I Suwannee, 4. everything LEB, 5. French Essence, 6-8. ???}

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Friday Flowers

Pardon the looooooooooong absence!  Still alive and kicking over here!    The past few months have certainly been busy!  A very happy and even busier baby and almost full time design work haven't left much time for blogging… but the holiday season is always a fun time for both design and blogs- there’s just so much to see and talk about!  So hopefully posting will be a little more regular around here, meaning more than 1 post every 3 months!

ON THE BEACH

Perfect for this time of year, I recently came across the book On the Beach.  It is an amazing collection of photographs by Richard Misrach. 

While at first glance I was immediately enthralled by the beauty of each image, of the crystal clear water, and of the tranquility of each picture, his intent with this collection was not quite so superficial.    The events of 9/11 moved him to explore the vulnerability of people, juxtaposed here with a vast open ocean.   Feelings of solitude accompany the visual beauty of each of these.

After reading this interview with the artist, I was so intrigued that each of these very different photographs was taken from the exact same spot on his balcony in Hawaii.

      

Despite his purpose in suggesting fragility, it would be divine to be one of these ladies floating your afternoon away. Cute hat by the way (clearly I’m not a serious art critic with that comment!).

I adore the color of water.

The colors and the textures of the sand are so eye catching.

Makes me think of Slim Aarons. 

Most of these works are very large- about 6’ x 10’.  Makes a beautiful image even more spectacular.  I love how simple and pristine these are and wish I could find an image of one of these in an interior setting (other than a gallery).  

For those of you who love photography, this book is a stunner.  At  16” x 20” it’s much larger than your typical art/coffee table book.  The large size makes it all the more enticing and lets you see the detail of each work so well.   If you can’t make it to the beach this summer, this book is surely a visual vacation.

NOLA Fabulousness: A Walk through the Garden District

The only downside to living in a neighborhood as beautiful as this one would be to see a wacko like me zooming my camera in on your house…but creepiness aside, it’s flattering, no?

   

Give me a house with full length shutters and I’m a happy girl!

 

 

Can’t see the actual house but the lush greenery and pretty lantern sure are pretty!

 

Now that’ s Front Porch.

 

A romantic sidewalk that gives you just a peak of an iconic and somewhat mysterious New Orleans cemetery.

 

 

Love the mossy brick steps…

Pretty in pink

 

 

In a class of it’s own… I picture whoever lives here always to wear perfectly pressed linen clothing and drink mint juleps out of monogrammed sterling mint julep cups!

 

Gorgeous hanging baskets.  The house isn’t too bad either!

 

 

Shotgun love.  As in the house.

 

 

Old trees and a classic beauty….

 

Charming white on white…

 

One of my favorite color schemes of a NOLA house: off white with taupe shutters.

 

Fabulous striped shades and a petite but perfectly landscaped courtyard.

 

White on white with some color pops seen through the windows.

 

Lanterns are everywhere. 

 

Another house where small doesn’t restrict elegance! 

 

Another row of shotgun cuties

 

The array of architecture is truly amazing…

 

Just the array of shutter styles and colors is amazing too!

 

Normally it’s frustrating to not see past the front gates when trying to house stalk, but these walls are pretty enough to satisfy my prying eyes!

 

See, show us a pretty gate and we don’t need to see your pretty house (though I still want to see it)!

Hope you enjoyed the walking tour! 

For next time I must allow more time, and perhaps a better zoom!!!

Greenhouse inspired Kitchens

 

Light, bright, airy, and FRESH…

 

The white fabric shade is so innovative!  It diffuses the light in this kitchen so beautifully and adds such textural interest.

  

Love the open shelves and crisp finishes.

Another bright ceiling, an abundance of natural materials and plants, and more open shelves.  It’s the perfect industrial meets residential mix!

Both of these kitchens are by the very talented Bobby McAlpine and Greg Tankersley.

Bobby’s new book The Home Within Us is on my wishlist and he’ll be interviewing with the ladies of The Skirted Roundtable this week--- definitely will be tuning in to hear it!!!

{Photos via McAlpine Tankersley}