The Estate of Things

Every once in a while its good to get an eye full of some good design. Personally, I like to get my design candy fill several times a day but not everyone likes to “OD” on design.

I was admiring the San Francisco home that Melissa Warner of the design firm Massucco Warner Miller, designed in the April issue of Traditional Home. I realized that Warner was already on my radar because I had a few of the rooms that MWM designed saved in TEOT’s Flickr inspiration files.  The following are some of my favorites from the group’s portfolio.

I like the fact that the children that live in this home are allowed to run all over the velvet covered round social bench. 

And…

Heather Clawson at Habitually Chic is intriqued by that zebra wallpaper installed in the powder room below. In case you were wondering, its Scalamandre.  Heather points out in her post that the zebra was spotted in Margot Tenenbaum’s bathroom, the Royal Tenenbaums set was so great wasn’t it! Here’s the application of the paper in Safari Brown.

Liking the contrast of the orange against that floral wallpaper. Just when this room was about to get too serious BAM orange chairs.  I’m not as good with wallpaper so you’ll have to forgive me I don’t know the source, but I’m about 99% sure it was on the cover of Domino, therefore I should know it. If you know the source holla.

Isn’t that chandy at Karen’s Attic, posted about yesterday…..yeah I thought so

Done with Imperial Trellis yet?…..nope

A girl’s bedroom, looks like a closet might have become a work/study area.

While eating Cheerios this Sunday morning I was perusing through Elle Decor and realized…

In the past two months design bloggers have been turning up in shelter magazines quite frequently. Who’s been popping up?

The designs of one of my favorite bloggers, Erika McPherson Powell from Urban Grace, was featured in the February issue of Southern Living.  Urban Grace Interiors will also hit the glossy pages of Coastal Living next month with a feature of some of Erika’s kitchen designs. Erika tells me that the feature was intended for Cottage Living but the magazine folded (tear) before the story ran.

After picking up Elle Decor’s February issue just yesterday I discovered Jamie Meares’ store Furbish Studio is listed as What’s Hot in shopping. In that same issue Meg from Pigtown Design was quoted in the Baltimore feature.  Coincidentally, I just visited Meg’s blog for the first time last week after she left us a little comment here.  Thanks for the heads up on Milkshake Meg, I’m curious.

I recently read that Better Homes and Gardens has contacted Lauren of Pure Style Home and wants to drop in for a photo shoot. Her home is slated to appear in the December 2010 issue.

The mother/daughter team from good bones, great pieces designed Lauren’s first apartment together. That apartment was featured in this month’s Traditional Home.

***Update***thanks to the readers, I need to add the following bloggers in the press

John and Sherry from Young House Love write a column for DIY magazine (an extension of BHG) called He Said She Said, their most recent entry came out in the January issue.

Thats all I have heard in the pipeline for now, am I missing someone? Please let me know, I’d like to post about it.

I love all rooms in the house but one of my favorites to look at is the kitchen, notice I said look at because I don’t really cook.  It takes skill and creativity to weed through all of the innovations in kitchen design to arrive at just the right plan that suits you and your family.  People are looking at kitchen organization and layouts in all new ways and the progressive thinking is what makes kitchens so fun to design.

One kitchen that I keep coming back to recently is a kitchen that was featured in Traditional Home, designed by the talented Molly Frey and photographed by the equally talented Michael Partenio.

This kitchen has a fresh, beachy look (its in Naples, FL) and the layout is unusual and totally amazing. There are too many things to love in this kitchen from the chunky antique legs on the island to the walk-in pantry.  The placement of the TV and the microwave, snuggled in to the built-ins is perfection.  Did you notice there are no upper cabinets?

Incredible.

And PS- Molly Frey’s portfolio is loaded with beautiful spaces and tons of inspiration.

Its at Aubrey+Lindsay’s blog, (the champs of the Ikea Rast Overhaul), where I read about Tonic Living. All this talk of fabric swatches for $1 is what drew me in. I went and I ordered.

I ordered this outdoor pillow for the little sofa on my porch, this little ditty was $9.95 on clearance and I couldn’t pass it up.  There were several other cute pillows on sale that were $10-$12 each.

And because I’d like to recover some vintage club chairs (in the next 10 years) in my living room, I ordered these samples for a buck a piece.

I am really taken by a classic ticking stripe.  The example given below is the very sophisticated and timeless loveseat at Lauren’s apartment from Good Bones, Great Pieces.  This apartment was featured in this month’s issue of Traditional Home.

Truthfully, I’m terrified of upholstering those chairs in something trendy, incurring all that expense and hating them a couple of years from now.  It’s so tempting to trick them out in some graphic print but I must resist.