Recent Work (And The Totally Disconcerting Warp-Speed Passing of Time)

I know it's not especially compelling or interesting to talk about how quickly time goes by. In fact, on the scintillating conversation scale, I would put it up there with chatting about the weather, traffic, and how busy you are... (All three of which I regularly discuss, clearly it's time to up my conversation game.)

But banality of subject matter notwithstanding, I'm going there. Friends, time is flying by. Zooming, racing, in full turbo mode.

Part of this, I suppose, is due to being heads down on a slew of branding and interiors projects at the studio (i.e. the action happening in those images above). There's nothing like an abundance of interesting, compelling, creative work to make you look up from your computer and wonder how the hell it's already the end of the day.

But I think the bigger "time warper" is how quickly my girlies are turning into young women. I feel like yesterday we were reading board books and watching Yo Gabba Gabba and now we're dealing with leg shaving and what have you (the what have you being the particularly alarming part).

Oy vey.

The good news is that while I miss those little kid years, the big kid years are pretty darn amazing. I am so smitten with these girlies of mine... They are becoming such interesting, witty, thoughtful people. They amaze me every day with what they notice, their small gestures and grand moves. I am in awe. Sure, they can also be total pills (what kids aren't occasionally?) but mostly we're in a pretty good groove. I'm marinating in it, for sure.

Axel is On To Something...

bottom two images via garance dore...

Ok,ok Axel Vervoordt is on to a lot of things (the man is a genius), but this one thing that he's on to particularly resonated with me this week...

Etre heureux en rendant heureux 

(or  finding happiness through creating happiness)

The  adage is apparently Axel's favorite, as it expresses his design firm's commitment to "inspire artists and audiences through discovering and transmitting the beautiful, with a deep respect for everything that is authentic."


"Discovering and transmitting the beautiful" might be the best. description. ever. for the practice of design. And doing it to create happiness in other people? Well, that's pretty much the ultimate goal... I mean what else is there?

Thanks for the reminder Axel.

Pinterest As Self Discovery (Or Holy Sh*& I'm Digging Green)

image via jonas ingerstedt

image via mix and chic

image via habitually chic

image via turbulences

image via sight unseen

image via c home

image via my domaine

image via mark d sikes

When a client comes to us without a clear sense of what they love, we get them on the Pinterest, stat. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Don't focus solely on interiors, we instruct them, just pin images that make you happy. We also encourage them not to curate or to go back and look at their boards right away. Just pin, pin, pin, and we'll be able to figure it out.

It's interesting to see what bubbles up -- The self-proclaimed minimalist who's pinned the hell out of tables teaming with accessories; the glam obsessed who's earmarked sparse, earthy images. It's the ultimate exercise in self-discovery, sussing out latent aesthetic leanings. It's my favorite game; and it almost always works.

So, it should be no surprise that a spin through my own Pinterest yesterday revealed a previously unknown predilection toward green. Those images above are but a smattering... Emerald, moss, loden, forest, sage -- they were all there. Over and over.

Now, I have never had anything but kind words for green. I'm a fan. Heck, at one point my breakfast and guest rooms were swathed in the fair hue. But of late, green has not been my jam. I'm not working it into my house, I'm not working it into client's houses (save a pair of killer kelly green vintage Parsons console tables that belonged to the wife of a Dallas Cowboy from the 1960s...clearly I had to use those bad boys). It's just not in my head space.

Or so I thought.

Pinterest has proved otherwise. I'm apparently feeling the green friends. And, truth be told, I'm a little bit scared. Who knows what will happen next...(Bottle green master bedroom anyone?) Stay tuned.

From Inspiration to Reality (Or 1530 Main -- The Joule Hotel's New Publication)

One of the best parts of working at a multi-disciplinary design studio is getting to toggle between such varied creative projects and do a little left brain/right brain switch-a-roo. While my days are largely filled with interiors endeavors, I also jump in on event design (a whole other animal) and some of our branding projects.

Friends, I looove the branding stuff. Love. It. I also happen to love magazines -- reading them, looking at them, re-reading them, making them. (I especially enjoy the making them situation.) So the fact that one of our most kick-ass branding clients, The Joule Hotel (a new website it also in the works), asked us to help them create a publication for their guests, well, was pretty much nirvana.

The result, 1530 Main, is pictured above, from brainstorming session to birthed piece. It was collaboration at its best. Can't wait for issue two.

Some Recent Work... (And Some Client Love)

One of the most rewarding things about my job is getting to work with such varied styles. Some of our clients are happiest in bright, airy spaces punctuated with the occasional hit of color, some like a moody, more glamorous vibe, some fall in the middle of the spectrum... At the end of the day, it's not about imposing our style on our clients but about facilitating and collaborating and refining (and sometimes pushing) until we get to a result that feels like a total reflection of them.

But every once in a while you get to work with people (like, say, the three above) that happen to love the exact. same. things. you love, and you have the opportunity to create spaces that, well, you want to move right into.

That's when you mix up a cocktail, high five your partners in crime and marvel that you actually get to do this action for a living.

Recent Work: Gettin' Our Mantle On

Thankfully all that sand and surf and what have you was indeed restorative, as we all hit the ground running this week with a swirl of school/work/household crazy... I still need to share some snaps of our magical trip (alas, now sadly a distant memory). In the meantime, I thought I'd share some fun work that Sam and I did for the May/June issue of D Home in the form of a little mantle design challenge action.

I have to say, it was pretty fun (if not slightly surreal) to be on the other side of the page this time around, as a couple of years ago I was helping create these kind of stories for the magazine, and now I get to make pretty spaces with one of my dearest friends that are featured in one.

Good stuff.

Flower Power

We're coming off a particularly crazy weekend at the studio with back-to-back installs and two big events that had us gold leafing and taping and and constructing all manner of eye-popping awesomeness until the wee hours...

I'm just now catching my catching my breath, which pretty much involves eating the rest of Millie's Easter basket candy (shhh) while cleaning up the approximately one zillion photos on my phone (I am nothing if not a multitasker friends).

In weeding through said photos, I noticed a distinct floral theme surfacing. It seems amid the craziness, the past couple of weeks have also been rife with all manner of blooms (apparently even on my lunch). It's some seriously gorgeous, lush botanical action. Spring is here people -- in its full glory.

Good stuff for sure.

Some Scenes From Round Top (Or That One Time I Embraced *Extremely* Practical Footwear)

I think it's safe to say, when it comes to shoes, I am decidedly a form over function girl...

I do installs in heels (albeit sturdy platforms), I cut down Christmas trees (well technically Bryan does the cutting) in sandals, I hike in wedge flip flops. Despite the seeming lack of practicality, for me, it's really a comfort thing (hang with me here). I'm not a fan of a closed toe -- too confining; and flats just feel, well, wrong. So I ignore the cajoling and occasional looks of abject horror and don the 3-inch platforms to hang the gallery wall. It's just my thing.

Except when there's acres of mud involved. Mud is an entirely different enterprise. And friends, this year's pilgrimage to the Round Top antiques fair with Sam and Sarah was mud-tastic (mud fest 2015, mod-o-rama). It was all Woodstock meets gilt-encrusted french mirrors and weathered mid-century leather sofas. Flip flops (as Sarah so emphatically pointed out in our frantic, pre-trip shoe-planning text marathon) were not going to cut it.

Ok, now here's the embarrassing confession. I own no close-toe practical shoes. None, zip, nada. I have those damn flip flops and a pair of Teva sandals (with a little wedge, natch), but nothing appropriate for tromping through deep, muddy puddles. Enter the 23rd hour, totally desperate, looking for something out of season, totally rushed shopping trip. (Never a good scene.)

I ended up purchasing that pair of Hunter boots in the first photo above literally minutes before we left town. I was hesitant at best -- they were pricey and flat (sadly the flat part bothered me more than the pricey part), but friends once I slipped on those bad boys and started navigating the flood waters of rural Texas my world was rocked.

Who knew that practical footwear could be so transformative. I was like an antiquing superhero, it was empowering, exhilarating even. I could literally walk through oozing mud holes to get to pretty light fixtures and feel like a massive badass in the process (and let's just say light fixture shopping rarely brings out the badass in a person).

It's official; I am a convert. At least for the Hunters... Tennis shoes, well, that's a whole other story.