Vintage Letters

I have had a cache of these wonderful old letters stashed away for some time now, and recently decided to find a way to use/display them. They are a series of letters written by a mother, who lives in France, to her grown daughter, who lives in West Roxbury. They span most of the 1880's and are so lovely - daily chat about her Parisian life, Christmas greetings, sketches of her garden, etc.

I thought I'd try using them as wallpaper on the wall under my Dining Room mantle piece.

I was not sure if I had enough when I first spread them out.

But it turned out I had exactly the right amount to overlap them as I wanted to, to give it a more three dimensional quality.

I think I like it! I may have to change the mantle display now, though. Maybe a bit busy...

Some Days in the Life....

I've been a bit remiss with my blogging lately.  I know we are all very busy and understand how that goes. The good news is that when I am busy I can give you some eye candy to illustrate what I'm busy with!

Choosing fabrics for design clients.......

Early mornings at the Flower Market to get flowers for......

Styling photo shoots. 

(I know, there are no flowers in this shot. No letters please ;) )

Trips to NYC for a FAB new project I will tell you all about in a bit........

(have you seen the new WTC tower? Isn't it beautiful??)

And to Lake Placid to style another photo shoot...

And trying to grab some time to stop and smell the......peonies. Mine are blooming and are my absolute favorite.

No complaints here, I fully realize these responsibilities inform a pretty fantastic life, as those things go. 

I hope you feel the same about yours!

Reality Check

My home office before and after. Read on!

About 1 year ago, an extra bedroom in my home looked like this.

Yes, even designers have these rooms. And this is cleaned up! I am sparing you the view of it FILLED with, well, years worth of life's stuff.

In desperate need of a home office, I got to work. Well, to be fair, I got to designing, and other people got to actual physical work.

And I am proud to say, it now looks like THIS!!!

Photo: Peter Urbanski Photography

This is now a dream space in which to work; light and bright and airy and inspirational! 

Make It A Room, Number 3

OK. Here is what I see in this outfit: A classic base of jeans, pinstripes, sweater. The details make the difference; strappy sandals, stacked gold jewelery on the wrists, great bag and sunglasses. Bringing the edge: the roll of the jeans, the play on short and long in the sweater and shirt, the urban street scene, complete with graffiti.

A tight palette of creamy whites, gray, blue, gold, and earthy brown/rusts.

IMAGE VIA ATLANTA HOMES MAG

THE BASICS: TRADITIONAL CARPET, LEATHER CHAIRS, BOOKCASES, DESK.

DIFFERENCE MAKING DETAILS: UNEXPECTED DARK WALLS

EDGE: LUCITE DESK, MODERN GOLD METAL BOOKCASES AND POW ~ THE LIGHT FIXTURE!

IMAGE VIA DOMINO MAG

BASICS: WHITE WALLS, STRIPED CARPET

DETAILS: MIX OF TRAD WITH MODERN

EDGE: WHITE EAMES CHAIR, SAARINEN TABLE

IMAGE VIA ROUGH LUXE HOTEL LONDON

BASICS: TUB, SHOWER, CEILING LIGHT
DETAILS: SILVER TUB, GLASS SHOWER
EDGE: MODERN ART, DECREPIT WALL

IMAGE VIA TUMBLR

BASICS: WHITE ENVELOPE, SIMPLE BED
DETAILS: PILLOWS AS HEADBOARD
EDGE: MODERN WALL MOUNTED LAMPS AND THONET CHAIRS AS BED SIDE TABLES

IMAGE VIA DOMINO

BASICS: WHITE WALLS, SIMPLE BED
DETAILS: CHAIR AND LIGHTING
EDGE: MID CEN. LEATHER CAMP CHAIR, MODERN NELSON SCONCE, VENETIAN CHANDELIER IN A POPPY BLUE!

IMAGE VIA MARY MCDONALD DESIGN

BASICS: FAIRLY TRAD DINING ROOM
DETAILS: DEEP ACCENT COLORS
EDGE: GOLD CEILING, PAINTED FRENCH CHAIRS

IMAGE VIA DOMINO MAG

BASICS: WHITE HALLWAY
DETAILS: LARGE MIRRIR AND GREAT CEILING LIGHT
EDGE: PAINTED RUNNER

IMAGE VIA DETAILS MAG

BASICS: PANELLED LIBRARY
DETAILS: LEATHER
EDGE: INDUSTRIAL BEAKERS AND ROUND TABLE, MODERN FRENCH CHAIR, GOLD CURVY COFFEE TABLE, BRANCHY LAMP

IMAGE VIA ELLE DECOR 

I'VE LOST THE ABILITY TO SPEAK.  GENIUS.

Photo Shoot

This week I travelled to Barnard, Vermont for a several day photo shoot at the lovely Twin Farms Resort. As you can see from above, not a bad place to spend a few days! I am lucky enough to be an assistant stylist for Kelly Mcguill, and together we style photos like the ones below for clients to use on their websites, literature, marketing materials, etc. Here's a peek.....
All photos by Jim Westphalen

The locals having dinner.

I LOVE THAT DIRTY WATER.....

OH, BOSTON, YOU'RE MY HOME. 

Pretty Invitation

As a graphics-phile (if there is no such word, there should be!) and

obsessed lover of all things paper, letter, and font related, I wanted to share this wedding invitation I recently received. 

I just love it: a beautiful mix of fonts and fun graphic touches.

And the palette! I once posted  a blog about finding paint color inspiration in unusual places; this fits the bill perfectly!

It began with a pretty label. 

(The invitation, not the relationship.)