DESIGNING WITH DAYBEDS

I'm a huge fan of daybeds.  I've written before how I love using them in living rooms as an alternative to just another sofa ... there's something that works so well about combining furniture of varying heights in a space!  It allows the eye to traverse the room without getting bored because everything is too much the same or all on one plane.

(all images via) 

Daybeds are a brilliant solution for in front of large windows or in front of a fireplace in lieu of a sofa with back that would block such a great feature.  Tucked at the top of the stairs or in a wide hallway a small daybed creates an inviting resting spot.  And it's a no-brainer in a home office that doubles as a guest room because it doesn't have to look like a bed, but it is one!  They are absolutely chic, practical, and comfortable at once.

Here's a custom tufted leather daybed I made for a client's living room (see the full tour here), based on one of my all-time favorite Nate Berkus rooms pictured below.  

So it should come as no surprise to you that I'm working on designing some really good daybed options for my upcoming furniture line.  With these, as with the entire line, I'm aiming for shapes that are classic, but with an interesting design twist, just a little something different.  Sometimes just one little detail, like double-stitched seams or an indented frame shaped that molds around a seat cushion, is all it takes. 

You may have heard me share the motto I adopted from the brilliant interiors and furniture designer Charles Eames: "The details aren't just the details.  They make the design."  

I can't wait to reveal all that I've been working on for the new line!  And thanks for bearing with me during this busy time when my posts are coming a little less frequently.  And a million thanks for all your votes and support in the Lamps Plus Design Duel.  My room was the winning room ... by more than double the votes (a proud moment for me in light of the fact that my competitor has 12K instagram followers to my 650 :)  So thanks for that!

HOW TO ROCK A ROOM FULL OF COLOR!

It's been awhile since I blasted you with a ton of inspirational/aspirational room photos, and today I'm in the mood for color!  Maybe it's the feeling of Spring in the air?  Don't know where you are, but in LA the trees are in full bloom already! Granted it's a bit early for that, even here ... we've had an unusually warm winter.  
(Sorry if it sounds like I'm gloating ... I'm not.  It's just that this month I visited NYC during the dreaded "polar vortex" and SLC during a heavy cold snap and I am just SO motherlovin' glad that I don't live in those climates anymore :)   
So COLOR ... here's the thing: all these rooms have an abundance of bright, saturated colors, often many different hues at once, but they ALL have one thing in common ... a neutral white backdrop.  
And that's the key, my friends, to rocking colorful decor without feeling like you're living at the carnival.  Keeping the backdrop quiet lets you unleash the color!  
For this look I'm partial to bright white walls like Benjamin Moore's "Decorator's White," "White Dove," or "Super White." 

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See above and below how a touch of BLACK grounds each space and balances perfectly with the bright colors and the bright white?  I'm a huge believer in the philosophy that every room needs a touch of black ... it's like the little black dress ... you can never go wrong.

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Ay yi yi, the room below I've posted about before ... it's in the London flat of Christine D'Ornano and it's one of my favorite rooms ever! 

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House Beautiful via

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Amanda Nisbet via

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Veranda Magazine via

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Whew that was an eyeful!  Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

FRIDAY FIND: AFFORDABLE BRASS BAR CART

I've got a great little find to share today, just in case you haven't seen it already!  
I recently installed this Crate & Barrel "Libations" bar cart in the Los Feliz English Colonial house I designed in LA.  BUT ... this cart is NOT my secret tip for you ... so read on!  

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It's a great bar cart option due to its clean, straight lines, wood-accented handles, and matte brass finish.  It's one of those chameleon pieces that can go either modern or traditional, quirky or classic.  

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Here it is again used in a room styled by Emily Henderson (I know, I know, I've referenced her twice this week ... I like her and she's the only other designer I could find with photos of this cart used another way!)

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It's a lovely piece and I'm definitely a fan, but just know that even priced at $600, it's not actually solid brass ... the brass tone is clearly a surface-applied finish.  
SO.....Target recently rolled out their verrrrry similar "Threshold Wood and Brass" bar cart for only $130!  It's a bit smaller than the C&B version, but I've seen it in person and the brass finish is nearly as good ... a bit more gold in tone, but still really nice.  The wood detail on this cart comes in the form of the wooden tray surfaces, which I think provides a really nice material contrast to the brass finish.  

Here it is styled up by Suite Life Designs ...

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Bearing in mind that most new metal bar carts run $600-$1500+ (search "Worlds Away" bar carts and you'll find plenty of drool-worthy, super pricey options) I think this little cart is a steal and I wouldn't hesitate to use it!  
Be quick about it though ... Target tends to cycle through their design collections rather quickly and it won't be available forever.

Hope you have a great weekend!

IMPROMPTU DESIGNING ON THE FLY: ECLECTIC MID-CENTURY POP MODERN

I'll be traveling for the next week and a half, and the first stop was the Bay Area this weekend to visit Syri, one of my dearest pals from junior high/high school days, and her Argentine boyfriend Gonzalo.  
Both city dwellers for years, they recently bought a house in Oakland, where they landed a great 3 bed/2 bath bungalow for what they would have paid for a tiny cramped apartment in the city.  Now they have a yard, graceful coved ceilings, wood floors, and a tranquil, tree-lined street.  
What I love about the East Bay is that while it's got a low-key communal vibe, it's still totally hip and urban as well.  Amazing coffee shops, restaurants, bars and live music are all within walking distance (and we've been availing ourselves of these amenities all weekend long :)  And of course you have easy access to all the action in San Francisco as well.
So here's their sweet new home...

It wasn't exactly planned, but it turns out that visiting so soon after the new move meant jumping right in to help with the interior design direction of things...my favorite thing to do!  They really had a blank canvas and were ready to start fresh.  They'd invested in a lovely mid-century teak dining set and a slate gray leather sofa when they moved in, and that was pretty much it.  Here's the house as it was staged before they bought it, to give you a sense of the space...

The only changes they made to the shell were to paint the walls and add crown moulding to enable the coved ceiling to be white and the walls to have color on them. I highly recommend this if you have coved ceilings!  It accentuates the beautiful curves and makes the ceilings look so much taller.  See the difference?

So this is what we had to work with at the outset: 

Syri's mom paints these exuberant, colorful modern abstracts, they owned the dark grey leather sofa and the danish modern dining set already, and they liked the idea of bringing in some reclaimed wood or vintage-industrial pieces as well.
With all of that in mind,  I suggested an eclectic / mid-century / pop art style.  Something along the lines of this...

Or like these inspiration spaces below...

I basically took a page from the Emily Henderson playbook...all of the above spaces are designed by her.  It's a happy, colorful, pop art, Jonathan Adler kind of look.  Not my usual, but lots of fun none-the-less.
In just one day of trolling Craigslist, the internet, and my brain, we managed to get pretty far with this space!  
We bought these chairs and table on Craigslist for $375...

The backs are pretty too...


Found this raw edge koa wood coffee table, also on Craigslist for $200:

Also on Craigslist, this $300 mid-century media cabinet to hold the TV components...


Played around with some pillow combos mostly from this seller on Etsy...

Planned for a rug in one of these graphic yet neutral styles that work SO WELL in almost any setting...

(look no further than this very comprehensive post for wonderful
inspiration images of those Moroccan Beni Ourain rugs)


I'd love to see one of these side tables pop in there...

West Elm

Planned to bring in a chrome arc floor lamp for some quirky mid-century lighting in the living room...

Lamps Plus

And replace the dining pendant with this metal vintage industrial style light...

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As well as add this metal and reclaimed wood bookshelf styled
with lots of bright accessories and pop objets d'art...

Cost Plus

(Tip: both Cost Plus and Overstock have some pretty great 

options for reclaimed/vintage industrial style furniture of all sorts.)

I like the direction they are headed in!  I'm leaving for the next leg of my trip, but I think I left my friends with plenty of ideas and sources to pull this design off.  And now you have it too :)