i'm impressed

this is a vinyl plank made to resemble wood. antique chestnut to be exact. its from mats,inc. in the floorworks section. their stones and metals i'm not all that impressed with, but the woods look pretty dang good. i'd put it in my house. you might be thinking, but isn't vinyl bad for the environment? well, this stuff is certifiable. their plant is certified as sustainable (no harmful chemical dumps or stuff like that) and it even contains recycled material in the product. not bad. here's a photo of one of the woods installed. can't tell a difference.

bored?

check these out.

some of the best design sites ever. well, according to this guy. i don't disagree much.

the one above, from http://www.miraentuinterior.com/ is right up my alley. mmm, pasta. the best thing about these giant wall stickers is that they're temporary, snazy, and you can customize the color.

great thinking! it would especially be great for rentals, since sometimes its a pain when you move out to spackle over all of those nail holes.

another great one? http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/


not only are there great ideas, projects, befores and afters, but there is this scavenger section such as this one, from los angeles. only big cities are featured, but if its good enough, you might could pay for shipping? there's been some really great stuff, like this sofa.




keeping in the season, there's a lot of christmas ideas that have been on recently, as well. one involved using old blue-prints as wrapping paper. if you're a designer, there'd be no mistaking from who that present came from. plus i'm sure it'd help clear out all that mess that architects love to collect ;)

christmas post #2

its beginning to smell a lot like christmas thanks to my frasier fir wreath and tree! i have holly growing in my front yard, so that was quite convenient. then i got some sparkly snowflakes at target-- pretty good looking wreath if i do say so myself. its even a wee bit cold down here in the gulf coast-- congrats to those of you who got snow. i'm jealous.

i thought this post would be to share with you a very special part of my christmas. my dad's mom (who died when i was 3ish) made these ornaments several decades ago using old jewelry an silk ornaments (by the colors i'm guessing late 60s or 70s). they are absolutely beautiful and i was lucky enough to be their keeper when i moved out of the house. each one is different. there are yellow, avocado green, and 2 red ones (the red, of course, are my favorite). its always been a mystery of where my artistic talent came from, but i like to suspect it came from her. that coupled with my mom's and dad's precision and math skills...that's where you get an art-loving math whiz like myself (tests in school showed i'm equally right and left brained--not sure if that's unique or just mediocre, but i like to think its unique). some say architecture might have been more my niche, but i disagree.

ok back to the ornaments. here are a few of them! maybe they will inspire you to get creative and make some of your own christmas ornaments in a similar fashion. i think i also solved the mystery behind why all the old ladies ask for costume jewelry at yard sales...maybe???

isn't the red one spectacular! i love putting that one on more than i do the star :)

do great things and merry christmas!!

christmas post #1

i love christmas. expect many posts.

numero uno: i already have some really incredible ornaments for my tree (to come in another post), but if i didn't, these guys from crate and barell would be my top pick.

super neato. i like the dogs because they resemble wiener dogs (my favs--that's what my dogs are...well, ok one is full-bred and the other has some unknown heritage, but they are cute)!

bout time!

its december, and in florida that's when we have the beginnings of fall (apparently...last year i think it got cold and the leaves just fell off).

its no tennessee valley, that's for sure, but it puts a smile on my face. ironically, my lantana is also blooming, which is bizarre. i'm sure after this weekend's frost they will exist no more!

ps: last night i went shopping for the family i picked from wish upon a hero (see last post). i shopped for a 3 and 4 yr old girl, and a 10 month old boy. it was SO much fun to pick out things that i knew would make both them and their parents have a great christmas. if i had more money i'd do it all over again. the greatest part about receiving christ's love is giving it to others. i HIGHLY recommend it.

some holiday warmth

too bad i live in a state where fireplaces aren't needed. well, actually, i take that back. i have yet to turn on my heat for money saving purposes and it gets pretty cold at night. space heaters usually work but i've vowed not to sleep with one running because my mama thinks my house will burn down.

the cupola fireplace would be perfect. no chimney? no problem. it is kind of expensive...but i've also never priced out fireplaces so there's a chance a real fireplace (chimney and all) would be much more. and no chance of your draperies being set a blaze! neato!


on another note--and quite appropriately--i am very thankful that i have heat to turn on if i please. being a pretty cold-natured person, i can't imagine what it would be like to have no heat or shelter at this time of year. there are many people who do without, but thankfully, we can help. a co-worker recently shared this website with me: http://www.wishuponahero.com/

if you can make it through without a small heartbreak, then you've got some issues. after reading through about 12 pages, it became so overwhelming seeing how many people are unable to provide thanksgiving and christmas for their family. some only need cards, stocking stuffers, and prayers, which i'm sure anyone can help with.

next time you think you're having a crappy day, read what some of these people have written. i encourage everyone to help out at least one person in some way--the problem is chosing which one!

Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

another one bites the dust

one of my favorite fabrics of all time, maharam: climb, is being discontined. its manufacturing plant is shutting down. our rep came in this week and delivered the bad news, so instantly i went online to look it up and save pictures, but it's even pulled it from the website!!! the most i could find was this google image. sad.

i used the blue/brown colorway on my second senior thesis (that's right, we had two...don't get me started) and i hoped to use it one day in real life. too bad.

maharam: climb, you will be missed!!!

great deals on great design

a co-worker has a few of these great collectibles. i said "soo...how much did you pay for those things?" she said "about 20 bucks"

get out of town!

firebox (what appears to be an asian toy company) offers these cute collectibles for a fraction of the cost of the real production--and you can't tell a difference! you can either buy the set or you can buy one and they send you a random pick. fun!

normally i'm not one for clutter and i haven't collected much since rocks when i was 7, but these i could find a place for :)

i've never needed something so badly

why don't i live in san diego? dear smash shack : please open a branch in pensacola.
k, thanks.

chic-a-cherry cola

isn't this awesome? it was on arch daily a few days ago. its my background at work right now. the building itself is, in my opinion, a little weird. but this photo jumped at me for many reasons, and has a lot in common with me: a good mix of old and new, clean lines, neutrals and reds. when i saw this i heard that coca-cola sound: *click*pop*...*glug-glug*..*ahhhhh* except for i hate coke. love cherry coke. weird, i know.

the greater gulf coast arts festival is this weekend in pcola. i'm excited! i hope to bring you back a few pieces of delightment! (is that a word? it is now).

Hallowiener

these are my mom's dogs. hilarious. i'm surprised she went through the effort to get these on them.

really though, animals dressed up is one of the funniest things to me. i've tried dressing up my dog tilly in the past. but she refuses to use her limbs once i get anything on her. i stand her up and she just falls over like the 1/2 lb. costume is too much for her to possibly bear.

although rocky and lucy up there don't look too thrilled!

Tip-toe through the Tulips

as promised: an entry on international design. what is it? what does it mean? why do i like it so much?

it all started shortly after the turn of the century (last century) with the bauhaus arts school. some of the century's greatest architects and designers emerged from that school, taught at that school, etc. what it taught was raw. edgy. the core of true design. which probably gives the strongest reason why i am so in love with it. the toast lady (see icon to the right), professor paula peek, introduced us to this concept our sophomore year of college at auburn. i think its one of the things that separates auburn graduates from other interior design programs. not that its necessarily better than others...just different (in a good way :) )

we executed some serious projects to really develop an acute understanding of the raw talent behind interior design: eyes for the elements and principles of design (if you don't know them, look them up), a knowlege of the masters that paved the way before us, and the ability to create something new when we design. its so much more than just recreating a picture in architectural digest. and that's what the bauhaus did by putting the focus back in the important parts of design.

a popular phrase that will help you identify international design is what ludwig mies van der rohe became famous for (among other things): "less is more." international design is simple: clean lines, use of the elements (like natural light), long strings of windows, simple colors (white is very popular), and a beautiful lack of fancy mouldings knick-knacks. here is one of mies's famous houses, the villa tugendhat:

also from the bauhaus came le corbusier. this house is right outside of paris. i've been there personally. it was one of the great moments in my growth as a designer.

emerging in the furniture world came eero saarinen. knoll has the rights to many of the designs and you can still buy them today. i remember my babysitter having a tulip table and chairs. she lived in a trailer...little did she know she had a treasure inside those wood panel walls. you've probably seen these chairs all over the place and not even known how important they were.

in these pictures its easy to notice how easily these classics fit in anywhere. its part of why they've remained around for so long. international design in itself is a breath of fresh air from steel rectangles and cookie cutter suburbs that dominate architecture today. witnessing, myself, the process of new buildings spring out of the ground, all it really is composed of is a copy of the last thing someone built, but tweaked and changed enough to not look like a clone.

international design can speak to anyone, anywhere, like a living piece of art. villa savoye is nestled among a circular grove of trees, planted on some of the greenest grass i've ever seen. just sitting there. right in the middle, like "hey. what's up ya'll. check me out." of course to the people of france it probably says something that sounds like "wee wee, sach bluh cccchuhh hohn" (i took spanish. sorry). and it still looks so modern, even though most of these pieces and buildings were created over 60 years ago. how amazing is that?!

so keep an eye out wherever you are. chances are even the most behind parts of the country (even pensacola) have international design thats been snuck in somewhere. kudos to them!

hope that was educational--its pretty difficult to sum up something like this in a blog post thats short enough to keep the interest of the reader. and i hope part of you has developed a small interest in international design. do great things!!

The Fruits of LIfe

never underestimate the ability to be creative in almost any aspect of life. even eating :)

whenever enjoying a fruit with a peel which you will not eat, grab a sharpie. but like i said, make sure there's a peel. i tried it with an apple and then realized i had to wash all the sharpie off before i devoured it. oops.

 

Dear Santa:

I want this.

you can't beat $99. plus its redddd :)

i've developed an afinity for old metal storage pieces. even those late 70s/early 80s metal desks. the ones we see in offices in desperate need of renovation. little do those desks know i secretly want to save them from the dumpster and take them home...

How wood you like your escape?

1 2

3 4

5 6

Wood seems to be a recurring element of comfort in the fall. I enjoy it all times of year. Its warm, its textural, its flexible, and open for almost any form of use. and the way light reflects off of it can really add to the inviting feeling of a space.

1. an old market turned into a library/reading room for underpriveleged children.

2. a modern day tree house

3. a woodland retreat (this one has glass doors on a garage-like track that open in the living room)
4. an exotic wood staircase in an island house

5. another woodland retreat. (this one is on the front page of archdaily today--all wood interiors)

6. this one took me forever to find and its in June's features of archdaily. i don't know what it is about this photo but i'm in love with it. i don't even know why. maybe the red and green with the wood and concrete and open space? who knows. but i marked it on my favorites as to never lose it again.

any form of architecture can benefit from wood. a lot of modern designs are moving away from this, but i think they should be careful. wood is classic. timeless. remember this. and do great things.

Fall Favorites

finally! the 90ish degree weather with 89% humidity has up and left pensacola. i'm a warm-weathered gal, but it was just getting way too much to handle. fall swept in overnight and i am finally able to enjoy the things i love about my favorite month of the year.

here are some things i find enjoyable in fall:

caramel apple spice from starbucks. we went through the drive-through and the feller asked "don't ya'll have like an appple cider?" and the voice behind the menu said "um. no. but we have something that's about 10 times better than an apple cider." so we got ventis and he made us taste it right there so he could see the satisfaction in our face.

old navy cardi-coats. you know, the ones with the weird commercials. well i bought one because they were on sale for FIFTEEN BUCKS. well worth the money. its cute, warm, good for outdoors during fall and those of you who are as unfortunate as me and have an office that constantly runs the a/c like its mid-august in mexico.
these are too neat. i love pumpkins. i love pumpkin muffins. crate and barrel offers a 2-in-one. its a win-win. now if only they weren't $34 + shipping.

in addition to the taste of pumpkin, the smell of it also is equally amazing. wondering who offers the best pumpkin smell? well that would be pier one in my opinion. and they're usually on sale right now. hurry quick!

this is probably more spring appropriate but i wanted to throw it in to show an example of what to do if you're ever spending the weekend in the thriving metropolis of crestview, florida. go to the feed store. hold a baby duck. it was my first time, and it was all that i imagined it would be.

cowboy boots. every southern woman should have a pair. also, consider them as an alternative to ugg boots. please. much more attractive than wearing a dinosaur on your foot.

that's all for now--i hope you have pleasant weather where you are!

do great things!