my 2014 trend prediction for house beautiful!

interior designer pro tip: creating a focal point with mirrors

my entry hall.

read all about it on 55 downing street.

please VOTE for me to be the california home+design magazine tastemaker of 2014!

it's awards season here on the internets, so i need to ask your help (again) by voting for me in the california home+design magazine awards to be "design tastemaker of 2014". you can vote once a day thru 12/2, so please vote for me and all your other favorites (don't you love it when you don't have to chose just one friend to vote for?)

i'm number 4 of 30 (you will know me by my stripes), and i think i should be tastemaker of 2014 because:

1. i'm an interior designer.
2. i blog.
3. i paint.
4. i design wallpaper (4 new patterns coming spring 2014).
5. i design rugs (debut collection, spring 2014).
6. i collect vintage furniture
7. i tweet
8. i pin.
9. i instagram.
10. i have big hair. again.
11. puppies and babies like me.

if these things don't make me a tastemaker, what does?

thanks for your support! mwah!

the new SCOWTERS store is open for business! this xmas buy VINTAGE!

my friends over at scowters, your favorite bi-weekly facebook flash sale, have exciting news: they now have a storefront open 24/7 for your internets shopping pleasure! no more waiting for the flash sales only to miss out on the merchandise because someone beat you to it or you forgot that it was thursday night!  the store is still on facebook too, and you know you spend your time on there anyway!

the new scowters store is searchable both by category and by price, and you'll find one of kind items ranging from art to furniture to jewelry to barware to tchotchkes- basically you name it, and if it's cool and vintage, they've got it. when my scowters friends asked me to help publicize their new store with a sponsored post, i was pretty excited cuz i knew i'd find lots of of fun deals as i searched for merchandise to feature.  while doing this post, i found many cool things for under a $100 bucks that the new scowters shop is gonna be my go-to stop for holiday shopping!

in fact, this holiday season, i'm encouraging everyone to buy VINTAGE and here's why:

1. it is the greenest thing you'll ever do. everything is recycled, so no toxins were dumped into the environment or no chinese slaves were used to make it.
2. everything is pretty much one of a kind. no post xmas returns cuz aunt sally got 9 pairs of pajama jeans. your gift will be unique and treasured by the giftee, guaranteed.
3. for every dollar spent on vintage, 14 smabillion dollars are pumped back into the local economy. (ok, i exaggerate, but these are mom and pop dealers, so every $ that comes in gets spent on more merchandise, plus gas so they can get to the next estate sale, plus the venti coffee they drink while waiting in line at said estate sale. you get the picture.
4. last, VINTAGE IS COOL, and it makes you cool to buy it.

if those reasons didn't convince you to visit the scowters store, here's a couple more more that will:

stop by today!

interior designers create rooms for LIVING (not just photo shoots!)

sometimes being an interior designer is a weird thing. you work so intimately on a home for months, and then when the project is over, and the final photo shoot is wrapped, you may never see that space again outside of your portfolio.  so i'm loving this new age of social media, where i can actually see my clients living their lives in the spaces i worked with them on. matt armendariz and adam pearson are my first clients to fully embrace the social media lifestyle, and i can't tell you how happy i get when i see them and their adorable furry family on instagram enjoying their home! such a great reminder that the best spaces don't merely look good in photos as we are all used to seeing them presented in a magazine, but are spaces for living and enhancing the lives of those who interact within them...

an example: i think this instagram is sort of what we think of when we think of interior design- a room styled, but empty...

but *this* is the reality, and my inspiration for this post. i can't tell you how happy this made me! real people really living, but in a beautiful space! yay!
here's some more random shots from adam's and matt's instagram feeds, featuring the cutest lil trio of sisters around:

see why seeing this home being LIVED in makes me so happy?