interior home

Florida Flea Market

This antique Chinese console at the 2007 San Francisco showhouse was dressed up by Suzanne Tucker of Tucker & Marks. If you'll remember, it's from that same "Neautrals" issue of House Beautiful that we all loved so much. Of course this vignette totally jumped out at me because I loved all the white, the mix of the rough antique Chinese altar table & the refined brass dolphin hurricanes, the cement spheres (we know how much I love to decorate with balls), the greenery, the modern element of the charcoal print and finally the adorable white frog planters.

The frogs really made this table for me. They add that little quirky element I love. Anyway, since I saw this image I never really got them out of my head & look what I found this weekend at a flea market in Florida!!!!:

There was only one & he was $4 and the first purchase of the day! Below, I cleaned him up & thought he would make a great little addition to the kitchen to put herb cuttings from the garden in. He could just stay under the sink & come out for fresh herbs.

I also found some other copycat items at this crazy Swap Shop Flea Market in Fort Lauderdale, which is huge:

The furnishings & home accessories seemed to be few & far between to me but I still had some luck. Check out all the goodies:

Do you remember the lion print from Lucketts? (Below):

Well look what I found for $2.50!!

And check out this beautiful drop-leaf table! If had been near home, this baby would be mine!

Below, I found this crazy vintage chandelier for only $8!!

I didn't really have a place for it so I gave it to my cousin & suggested she put it over her bed. She has promised to send me after pictures so I'll post them when I get them :)

And I had to have this great little chrome stool for $8. I sent it home with my dad (who had his SUV) to Illinois to go in our lake house, I think in my bedroom there :) I'll be reupholstering it & will post 'afters' on the whole room when I've finished it. (almost!!!) I think it would be a great with a tray on it for drinks, books, or at the foot of the bed for luggage &/or a pretty throw.

I thought this china was really beautiful. I didn't ask for the price & I totally forgot who makes it (sorry Eddie! :) but isn't it just really special? (haha it's hard to keep coming up with adjectives for pretty & beautiful when you're blogging!! ;) The blue was so gorgeous though.

And finally at the end we got our coconuts!! (Christian, of course, was fast asleep under his blanket in the stroller- Momma trained him well!- so he's not in the picture ;) My husband, Dave, loves these & drank 2 himself.

Blog Love: Thank you Blog Friends!

I wanted to thank Michele from "My Notting Hill" SO MUCH for doing a post on me. I'm super-flattered & really excited! :)

And ~No. 35 Style ~ also did a great post on adorable cottage lighting & put a link to my blog on there. She has some great ideas for ways to use it!!

Lindsay from LEB also set up a link to pure style home & wrote a fun post about moss and all the great ways to use it!!

Joni from the famous Cote de Texas wrote an amazing post on kitchens & included the kitchen from Beach Dwelling that I'd written about & a link back to pure style home. Thanks Joni!!

And I found myself on Room Lover which was pretty cool. I wrote a comment on there but I'm not sure if that's type of blog. But it's a very cool site she's set up. She does bios on a bunch of interior designers. It's a great reference.

And thank you to Camila from High-Heeled Foot in the Door, for a really sweet post she wrote about me. She was one of my first non-family member readers haha & has pretty much taught me how to blog. I remember emailing her after her first comments & asking her how to blog haha. And she told me! :) Thanks so much Camila!!

And how could I have forgotten, one of my FIRST EVER blog mentions (I went nutty when I got her email alerting me that she'd picked some of my posts for her favorite posts of 2008!) Things That Inspire!

And finally, Eddie Ross for his mention in his first flea market trip post. He & Jaithan carefully documented the whole trip & wrote about it on their blog, even putting a link to my website on it. Since then we've become friends & had the best time revisting them again at their (beautiful!!!) apartment in New York.

Ayway, thanks so much to all of you & I'm just having the best time getting into blogging & meeting so many new, sweet & extremely talented people. Everyone just includes everyone & it really has been a great experience. I was afraid to write comments when I first started because I thought no one wanted to hear "oh i love that!" but I realized how happy it makes me to get that from someone else & now I'm so much less self-conscious about leaving comments than I used to be. And I'm definitely looking forward to some type of blogger reunion one day!!! (Let's get thinking!! :)

xoxo,

Lauren

ps- Off to Florida to visit family for the long weekend!!! wahooooo

Why Hire an Architect For Your Home Design?

Architecture plays a unique role in our everyday life. An architect has the expertise to combine your wants, needs, and aspirations with your goals of energy efficiency and sustainability to successfully match your project objectives.

Architecture affects people every moment of every day. We reside in homes where we sleep, cook, eat and spend time with our families; we typically travel to a building to work or a school to learn. Architects address requirements such as function, aesthetics, economics, environment, safety, and regulations and translate these into a home design that matches each owner’s personal taste and family dynamic.

The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards defines the role of an Architect as "the primary building professional qualified to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public through the enhancement of the quality of the built environment and the richness of space and form”. Buildings inhabited during those functions are essential to our lives and our health. Architects are ethically bound to continually better that built environment.

For instance, Architecture entails more than just a physical building. It involves:

· Correctly interpreting the client’s dreams, visions, and objectives
· Exploring all possibilities
· Studying and responding to the site and its environment
· And translating all these into a home design that will exceed expectations

Sustainable architecture or green building is only a small part of a greater whole. It has been said many times that “sustainability” is a good short term goal for home design. Sustainability is simply the equilibrium, a tipping point where we are no longer damaging the planet that we inhabit with the effects of our daily lives through manufacturing, power production, construction, transportation, agriculture which affect our global ecosystem. Sustainability, by definition, is actually the point at which we cease to harm the environment. Beyond sustainability is where we begin to repair the damage done, which, ultimately, is the goal.

There are many great minds working toward both of these goals with ideas and solutions far greater than most people’s typical reach; however, anything that can be done better and is financially feasible should be done.

Green architects enrich the design and the project through integrity, conscientious design, environmental awareness, and the application of skills specific to their trade – keeping the ultimate goals of energy efficiency and sustainability clearly in view. Should your home design be anything less?

Betsy Brown

The vignette above is my idea of perfection. It might possibly be one of my favorite compositions ever, if not the favorite. The house belongs to Birmingham, Alabama interior designer Betsy Brown & was featured by House Beautiful in the Summer of 2007. I remember it clearly: I was on the beach in the Outer Banks, my baby was only 3 weeks old & asleep in his seat under the umbrella & I had an unopened issue of House Beautiful featuring neutrals. Could life get any better for me? (Ha! Yes! I could have been back to my pre-baby size already! ;) But I opened it & saw this & was in Heaven. (Check out the Queen Ann's lace in the beakers!!!)

I love this vignette because I feel like it has everything. The lime washed oak plank floors, the antique demilune table, crazy ornate mirror, modern art & a little piece of nature, the seashell. You're not forced to choose between wood finishes & this shows you can have it all! I think it really pulls you outside of the box. It's so perfectly "off." Sometimes people fear the mixing of all the woods & this shows just how beautiful it can be.

Above, she created a modern boxwood garden. The roof is gorgeous.

Below, Betsy Brown's use of all-white with restrained accent colors is amazing. The tiniest pop of green in the living room, below, gives a playful edge to the room (as does the huge wooden ball!) The best part is, you could change your color scheme at any time!

How simple & practical is her kitchen? Check out the saw horse legs under the table. She used a limewash on all the oak throughout the house.

Oh wow. The table top is a massive piece of weathered wood. You know that's on my COVET list. ;)

The bathroom is just so fresh!!! Again, her limewashed oak is gorgeous. I love it paired with all the white. It's so sculptural.

Her family room is laid-back yet kind of glamorous. I love all the layering: the fur throw and all the art:

Check out these magnolia blooms!! I can imagaine how good they smell & can't wait for spring!! (I def have the bug already!)

Her daughter's bedroom is the perfect teenage girl's room. The purple pops so much against all the white, yet it's still not crazy... Just fun & a little swanky!

How great is her office? She had this Moroccan design stenciled around the room & puts her inspiration photos in the lines. Talk about a blank slate! What a great inspiration room. Even her piles of magazines under her desk look good in there!

Some drama:

The floating vanities in the bathrooms are just incredible. The gray veins in the marble floors & countertop looks beautiful against the limewashed oak. It's just so pristine & simple & raw.

Her bedroom is so luxurious. I love the juxtaposition of the modern nightstands & headboard against the chair & the ornate gold mirror. (I also love that layered effect of the mirror in front of the draperies... I like it with art too.)

But you could just sink right in that bed. And, shes got a little bouquet of peonies. Maybe she's getting it ready for me?? ;)

When asked about her predominantly neutral pallete, Betsy says, "To me it just feels appropriate and comfortable. I love color, but I think it should either declare itself as the major player in a composition or quietly add the crucial notes that balance a room and make it intriguing. I usually opt for the latter."

Go Betsy!

Honning & Flora

Check out this amazing place, Honning & Flora, in Denmark. I was on the Laurel Hedge & I saw her favorite sunroom (above) & followed the link to the Honning & Flora site. Now I don't speak Danish so I'm not exactly sure what type of store it is, but I think it's a home shop & maybe a garden center too? (Haha I might so be barking up the wrong tree! If anyone knows anything about it, please let me know!) The room (above) is one version of Heaven for me. From all the white to the chandelier to the linen roman shades, to the sink-in comfort of the furnishings... a perfect "base" room!

Queen Anne's lace may be my all-time favorite flower (followed closely by hydrangea & peonies- look below!) What a pretty summer arrangement!!!

Look how beautiful their display is... I love how they're selling beauty products out of a medicine cabinet!

I'd love a powder room sink like this one (below). It would be so simple to make out of thrift-store finds. (The pot of roses on the left side of the sink is gorgeous although I'd probably kill them... roses are tough for me!) Check out the hanging wire basket on the right- what a great idea!

These cute little blue cannisters (below) just made me think of how easy it would be to paint thrift shop cannisters. I had such a tough time finding cannisters I loved (and the white Fireking ones I did find were out of my price range!) but painting some old uglies would definitely do the trick!

Pretty shot (below) of crystals & a lovely little portrait... The basket reminds me of the fact that I was going to ditch all my plastic laundry baskets & switch to pretty ones so my room looks better with the pile of clean laundry in it is waiting to be put away.. (ha! I know myself well enough to know that that's one habit I'll have a tough time breaking!)

How bright & pretty is this room?!! Ah I love it! All the natural elements... the linen, the rough baskets... The aged finishes... The chairs that look like mine (hee hee)... The walls are also a really beautiful beigey-white that sets off all the white furniture.

A little cauldron of horns : (I love quirky)

GREAT chandelier... It's so out of place which I think it makes the room.

I also have a thing for hutches & this one doesn't disappoint:

Just so pretty (below) and vintage-looking. I'd love it if all my beauty products were in bottles like these:

The street (sign) below reminds me of a client's home I was just in who had a few in her kitchen & they were just such a fun element. I usually don't think to do stuff like this but it's great.

Garden cloches are so pretty to me. They showcase perfectly whatever is inside of them & if they're empty (like below) you appreciate the elegant form of the glass. I don't have any & have been looking for a couple of years. (I want a steal & I haven't found one yet! :)

Below, the beautiful chandelier again (looking even better in daylight!) The juxtaposition of the chandelier against all of the rustic elements is amazing.

And, finally one last picture. The little tree adds just the right touch of green & is a sculptural silhouette that looks beautiful in these spare elegant interiors. And the pale gray walls- wish I knew that color! I love all the rough wood & white painted pieces... And the white throw on the chair is a must. (I add throws everywhere because I always like to cuddle up)

And the best part is I emailed my friend who lives in Denmark & he says he lives right near this place!!!! We've been meaning to visit him for a while now, so when we go (probably still another year or so off) I know where my first stop will be!!!