Inspiration for my Sweet Clover Space

My first go-round selling furniture in the Sweet Clover barn was decent, but I'll be honest, I had no clue what I was doing.

Considering I'm in design school, this concerns me a little. I should be able to put together a cohesive space easily, right? I didn't mind how I arranged the space, but it had a bit of an identity crisis. Part of my challenge is that I don't assemble a master plan. I don't pick a color palette, I don't select a style. I pick what I love, and I let the piece decide what it wants to be. That's an OK strategy to a certain extent, but I need to rein things in a little. I love to mix styles, but there still needs to be something cohesive.

One thing that I'm finding incredibly challenging about selling my own vision is that I have to create something that is marketable while staying true to my design. Given that I am learning about different design styles and constantly picking furniture, I love to experiment with different styles, and I'm willing to take risks that a lot of people don't want to take in their own homes. I need to remember that my customers might not always want to take those risks. I also need to keep in mind the general aesthetic of Sweet Clover, while setting myself apart and maintaining my colorful, playful vibe. I've decided that I should use my own bedroom for inspiration since it's a total reflection of my personal style, and I think that it fits a little better with the Sweet Clover look than what I put together last month.

Here are some of the other images I'm using as inspiration.

Via Caitlin Wilson 

Ana Spiro Via Apartment Therapy

Emily Hart via Because It's Awesome

Emily Henderson via Design Love Fest

Charmean Neithart via Houzz

Todd Kelin via House Beautiful

What do you think? Would you buy something out of a booth inspired by these spaces?

My Favorite Home and Design Magazines

In total, I am the proud owner of 8 magazine subscriptions. I know it's a lot. But I love pouring over shelter magazines, seeing the beautiful glossy photos of interiors, and keeping my finger on the pulse of design. When I was a teenager, I would request bundles of shelter magazines for Christmas. I also have a tendency to pick up magazines in line at the grocery store or drug store, so if there are any magazines that I anticipate buying 3 or more times a year in that situation, most of the time it's worth just subscribing to them. Here's a rundown of what gets delivered to my mailbox monthly and bimonthly.

House Beautiful
House Beautiful is one of the magazine subscriptions I've had longest, and it's still one of my favorites. The interiors are definitely my style. The use of color is fresh and modern, but the aesthetic is still very classic. They just look like rooms that I want to live in. It's fun and I'm always happy after I look at it. You can get 10 issues over 12 months for $15.99. 

Elle Decor

In previous years when I picked up Elle Decor in line at the grocery store, I was never all that impressed. I think at the time I was more into DIY projects and accessible decor tips, and Elle Decor seemed a little intimidating. For some reason, I've really started to enjoy it. It's definitely not the type of magazine that has DIY projects, and it also doesn't have a ton of design tips or affordable furnishings, but I really like the eclectic and glam interiors they feature in this magazine. The rooms are great, and provide a slightly more contemporary, urban perspective than House Beautiful. Another great thing about Elle Decor is the price -- $10 gets you 10 issues over 12 months.

Veranda

I had always thought of Veranda as kind of an obscure magazine, but when my color theory professor kept showing us interiors from this publication, I realized it was totally worth a subscription. It's a great resource for finding calm, sophisticated, monotone interiors. It's a little bit pricier than Elle Decor and House Beautiful in terms of what you get for your money, but still a good buy. $15.99 buys you 6 issues over 12 months.

Dwell

I bought Dwell with a deal from Daily Candy for $12 in January. I am the first to admit that Dwell is not my style. I appreciate modern decor, but it's just not in my wheelhouse, and it's definitely not what I prefer in my own home. It's also tough for me to flip through one without thinking about the hilarious blog, Unhappy Hipsters, which pokes fun at Dwell ("It's lonely in the modern world"). Still, I think it's important that as a designer, I vary my influences across styles. And it's always good to have some modern decor images for projects. $19.95 gets you 10 issues over 12 months (unless you have a discount code like me!).

Martha Stewart Living
My Grandma buys me Martha every year for Christmas. It's not always home-focused, but I enjoy it. She was so influential in DIY culture and I her influenced has endured for so long. Also, the photography is always beautiful. Just the flower arrangements provide nice inspiration for rooms. Martha's magazine is one of the most expensive, but it's also one of the few that delivers a magazine to your door all 12 months. For $28.00, you get 12 issues over 12 months.

Real Simple

I wish I could remember what the deal was that got me a year's subscription to Real Simple for $2. Quite honestly, this is the magazine that I am probably least in love with. It's great, but it's just a little lower on my list of reading priorities. Still, I'm happy with the purchase. Real Simple was the magazine that I most often bought at cover price over the last year, so getting it at my door will be a cost savings for me in 2013. Real Simple is comparable in price to Martha Stewart Living, and also delivers an issue every month. $23.88 buys your 12 issues over 12 months.

Interior Design
Interior Design is a trade magazine. One of my professors recommended we subscribe, and I was able to get a discount through my student membership with the American Society of Interior Designers. It has much more commercial design features than most other magazines, and it's definitely a "to the trade" magazine. It doesn't get me as excited as House Beautiful, but like Dwell, it's a good influence for my work. This magazine is pricey if you don't have a membership discount. 12 issues over 12 months will run you nearly $60.

Home & Design
Home & Design is my latest subscription purchase. It's a publication that is dedicated exclusively to residential design in the DC-Maryland-Virginia region. I'm looking forward to this subscription because  think it will help me get to know the landscape of interior designers and trends in the DC area. As a designer, blogger, and sometimes retailer, I know it's really important to network, and I think this magazine will help me get to know the names and faces of people who are influencing design in my area. $19.95 gets you 6 issues over 12 months. 

Wish List

Traditional Home

I've contemplated buying Traditional Home for the same reasons I get House Beautiful, Elle Decor, and Veranda. Don't let the title fool you. Even though they feature traditional styles, their rooms are far from stodgy or outdated. Don't think traditional, think classic. My mom actually gets this magazine so I check it out when I'm over at their house, and I know that I just don't need another magazine that is similar to three other magazine I receive. Traditional Home is on the more expensive side. $24.99 gets your 8 issues over 12 months. 

Architectural Digest

Architectural Digest is one of the publications that, like Martha Stewart Living, has long been an influential publication in the shelter arena. It's a little more text heavy than other publications, but has great content. I just can't commit to another magazine right now. $24.00 buys 12 issues over 12 months. 

I'm well aware that receiving 3-8 print magazines monthly is less than earth-friendly. Maybe someday I will splurge on an iPad or Kindle Fire, but for now, I like being able to use the images on design physical design boards and when we're pinning up inspiration in classes. I keep a lot of my shelter magazines for reference, but others like Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple I just can't keep around forever. Rather than throwing them out (in the recycling bin, of course), I take my old magazines that I don't want anymore and list them on Craigslist for free. I'm generally able to get rid of them within a day or two, and the people who get them always seem really excited. For privacy's sake I try to remove the label. The people who pick up the magazines may know my name and address, but I just don't need my name and address floating around to wherever they end up next. So that's my way of trying to re-use them and give them some extra life. 

I'm also aware that keeping track of 8 magazine subscriptions can be challenging. Which is why I was pretty pumped when I recently discovered that I can manage all my magazine subscriptions through Amazon.com's Magazine Subscription Manager. The subscription manager even allows you to add your existing subscriptions that you've ordered through other sources. You can access the magazine manager in the orders section of your Amazon.com account page. 

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon.com affiliate marketing links, which means I get paid commission on sales of those products I write about. My editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. I simply wanted to share some of my favorite sources for home inspiration with you guys. And my discovery of the Magazine Subscription Manager was something I was really excited to share with you!

Room Inspiration: Things We Love

Kate Spade's new book, Things We Love, is at the top of my wish list. And I have to be honest, I'm totally judging a book by its cover in this case. I LOVE this cover. The colors are amazing. So amazing that I decided to create a mood board inspired by the cover art.

Midtown Taxi Throw Pillow | Empire State Building Pillow Cover | Green Ruffle Pillow | Pink Lawrence Throw | Roy Lichtenstein Kiss II Print | Ektorp Sofa |  Perch Yellow Table Lamp | Gold Pig Bookends | Ceramic Telephone Smartphone Dock | Beagle Ceramic Decorative Plate | Small Ceramic Lattice Canister | Fuchsia Nina Chair | Between a Rock Gold Lamp Base | Vintage Globe | Brass Urchin | Smart Round Marble Top Coffee Table | Stockholm Rand Rug | Background Color: Benjamin Moore Jamaican Aqua

As you can see, the primary inspiration for this space is the book cover's color palette. I used a vibrant Jamaican Aqua by Benjamin Moore for the walls, and incorporated black and white, yellow, pink, red, green, and gold throughout the space. The black and white striped Ikea Stockholm Rand rug pulls the black and white stripes off the couch in the cover and places them on the floor, while the Smart Round Marble Top coffee table from CB2 breaks up the stripes and subtly varies the texture in the space.

The Midtown Taxi throw pillow from Land of Nod and the Empire State Building pillow (which I own) from NestaHome via Etsy celebrate kate spade's frequent homage to New York City. The Green Ruffle pillow adds some femininity to the otherwise graphic collection of pillows, and the pink Lawrence throw from Zara Home helps incorporate some pink into the sofa area. The Ikea Ektorp sofa is the item least inspired by the kate spade image, but I decided to pick a comfortable, practical piece that would blend easily in this room rather than something too sculptural and uncomfortable (after all, I want you to be able to recreate this in your own home if you want!). To compensate for the less structured sofa, I incorporated a fuchsia tufted Nina Chair from Cost Plus World Market. It adds the feminine sculptural qualities of the couch in the cover photo, while staying fresh and modern in a bright color.

Both lamps are quite sculptural--the yellow Perch Table Lamp is from West Elm and the gold Between a Rock Lamp is Land of Nod. Technically Land of Nod is Crate and Barrel's store geared towards children's furnishings, but as you can tell from this room, it has awesome accessories that are totally adult-worthy.

The Kiss II print by Roy Lichtenstein from Art.com celebrates kate spade's pop-art inspired items (like this iPhone cover and this tote bag). The Vintage Globe is from Haven Vintage via Etsy, and there are many others like it on Etsy. The Brass Urchin piece is part of the Nate Berkus collection for Target, which appears to be on the out, so pick one up while you still can!

In addition to the globe, the Jonathan Adler Ceramic Smartphone Dock takes a more literal inspiration from the cover, albeit updated for modern technology. Honestly, I would be totally happy just letting that sit on a bookshelf sans smartphone. The black and white Ceramic Lattice Canister is another affordable accessory from Target's Modern Cottage Collection, and links the black and white in the rug to another spot in the space. The Ceramic Beagle decorative plate is my favorite of the C.Wonder decorative animal plates (you should seriously check out the rest of them) and helps bring in a little more red to the space. The Gold Pig Bookends from CB2 add a sense of playfulness and whimsy that kate spade's collections are known for.

Have you had a chance to pick up Things We Love? Is it worth the price? I am trying quite hard to get through some of my other design books that I got for Christmas before I pick this one up, but the temptation is wearing on me!



Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate marketing links, which means I get paid commission on sales or click-throughs of those products I write about. My editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. I use a 3rd party to develop these partnerships.

Mood Board: Gray + White Kitchen

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am currently designing an entire fictional two-bedroom condo for one of my interior design classes. Last week we presented our kitchen plans.

I am totally in love with kitchens with contrast, especially those with dark lower cabinets and light upper cabinets/walls. For inspiration, I used some kitchens that I found through various sources, including some of my favorite pinners on Pinterest.

Tommy Smythe via House and Home

Via House and Home

Via the Marion House Book

Using inspiration from these and a bunch more pictures (which you can check out on my Pinterest Kitchens board), I came up with this design:

Background color. My plan for this kitchen was to use a gray like Benjamin Moore's Coachman's Cape (CSP-90) for the lower cabinets.

1. I love the look of carrera marble on kitchen counters, but marble can be tough to maintain. So instead of using marble, I selected Silestone in Lyra - a quartz countertop that looks like marble.

2. While some of my inspiration photos had light wood, I didn't like the idea of having such light wood through a kitchen that transitions into a great room. I went with a medium tone wood that looks aged and classic, like this handscraped oak from Home Depot.

3. This one was a no-brainer. Stainless steal appliances like this pretty Frigidaire gas stove from Lowes.

4. Bringing in pops of red in kitchen accessories is a fun way to add color to a neutral room, and it doesn't get more classic than some Le Creuset cookware on the stove.

5. Speaking of classic, this little cow creamer from Williams-Sonoma or Target makes a cute edition to any kitchen (even if you never put creamer in it!).

6. My kitchen wasn't going to have shelves, but I loved the way the natural wood shelves in the second picture above warmed up the room. To add a bit of warm wood to the space I brought in a natural wood cutting board.

7. Adding to the warm tones in the room, I selected brass hardware for the cabinets. This chunky hardware is actually the same design that Aubrey and Lindsay used in their kitchen reno (am I just totally having a Canadian kitchen moment today?).

8. I love shaker style cabinet doors like this Adel door from Ikea. My plan was to use gray shaker style lower cabinets and white shaker style upper cabinets.

9. Subway tile continues the classic theme throughout the space and emphasizes the lightness of the upper area. The slightly dark grout brings a bit of darkness to the upper wall, linking the dark lower cabinets and light upper cabinets. Image is from here, but I was thinking a product more like this.

10. A brass industrial pendant like this one from Circa Lighting is a great mix of industrial and glam. Don't fear the price--this classic style can be found through other sources.

11. Because a stainless undermount sink was the most practical for my project kitchen, I choose a simple stainless pull-down faucet from Home Depot in a traditional style.

12. Who doesn't love a classic Kitchen Aid standing mixer? Since this will probably be stored on a countertop, use the opportunity to bring another pop of red into the space. And did you know you could buy one with a clear glass bowl too?

Favorite Pinners

Now that I'm in design school, I frequent Pinterest these days more than ever. Gathering inspiration, be it from interiors, outfits, art, or photographs, is critical to my success in my current classes and the program itself. Pinterest helps me organize that inspiration very easily (I've been on Houzz a lot too). If you follow me, you may have noticed that I am pinning things for "ID Project [whatever]", which means that I'm gathering images to use as inspiration or materials to use in my intro to interior design and color theory classes. I realized through all this pinning that there are a few pinners who tend to pin items that are very much in line with my style.

While I really like many different styles, there are some images that I'm just drawn to. Many, many of those images are pinned by Bryn Dunn of Bryn Alexandra Interiors and Jenny Komenda of Jenny Komenda Interiors. Not surprisingly, I tend to visit their blogs daily. Here are just a few of their pins that have caught my eye.

Source: thelennoxx.com via Bryn on Pinterest

Source: architecturaldigest.com via Bryn on Pinterest

Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via Bryn on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: onceuponateatime.blogspot.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: markdsikes.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: cozamia.com via Jenny on Pinterest

IDo you have any favorite pinners?

My First Sale

You may have noticed the blue glass insulators that pop up in a lot of my styled pictures:

I brought a bunch of insulators with me to Lucketts, and realized that a lot of people don't know what they are. Never fear, I'm here to throw some knowledge on you. Insulators are placed at the top of electrical or telephone poles, where wires are wrapped around them to prevent the wire from touching the wood. Today you can look at the tops of electrical poles and see stacks of ceramic insulators, but before the 1960s, most of them were made of glass.

I love insulators for many reasons. I'm a sucker for blue translucent glass, they catch light beautifully, and they are great for styling just about any surface, especially if you're going for an eclectic (electric?) look. But insulators are near and dear to my heart for another reason: my grandpa collected them.

My grandpa spent his career as a telephone man. This influenced my family quite a bit. My dad and uncle know how to run wire pretty much anywhere in a house, and the entire family has a propensity for backing into parking spaces. I even grew up playing with old rotary telephones that my grandpa gave us when we were kids.

When the telephone company started converting their insulators to ceramic, my grandpa collected the old glass insulators. When my grandparents downsized, he put most of the insulators on a shelf near his workshop. He and my grandma also scattered them throughout their house, a small symbol of the pride my grandpa had in his work long after he retired. When he died, all of his children and grandchildren acquired portions of the collection.

Insulators make me quite nostalgic, and I always think of my grandpa when I see them. But that's not the only reason I decided to acquire some extras and sell them at Lucketts. My grandpa was an extremely handy guy, and as I've mentioned in past posts, he did amazing work to furniture that looked beyond repair. I still remember how every Tuesday, he would go visit his friend Freddie and repair furniture in Freddie's workshop with some other friends. It wasn't unusual to come across a few broken chairs in the cellar waiting to fixed up or re-caned. My grandpa's appreciation for old, well made furniture, his ability to see beauty in broken, beat up pieces, and his sheer love of tinkering and working with his hands undoubtedly influenced my passion for refurbishing old furniture.

My grandpa died six years ago last week. He lived a long and extremely fulfilling life, the kind that you can't help but use as a benchmark for your own. My only real regret is that I didn't fully embrace my furniture refurbishing hobby until after he died. There's so much that I still wish I could learn from him and work into my craft.

So where am I going with this? Well, as I stood anxiously at my Lucketts booth Saturday morning, not having sold anything right away, I wondered if this whole experience was going to be a big bust. But as the boy likes to remind me, I should have had more faith in myself. As the title of this post would suggest, soon enough, I made my first sale. And it was, quite appropriately, an insulator.

My Grandpa played baseball for the Cooperstown Indians on Doubleday field!

Handy Girl Shout Out: Dress Dyeing Diva

Over the summer one of my roommates was in the wedding of two of her good friends from college. She had a great time and absolutely loved all the personal DIY touches that the couple had added to their ceremony and reception. The bride and groom are quite colorful people (in the good sense) and they opted to have the groomsmen wear colorful ties and tan suits while the bridesmaids wore orange dresses. Oh, I should also mention that the bride and groom and a lot of the wedding party/attendees graduated from Virginia Tech, so they have a special place in their heart for orange.

Well, one great party/college reunion and a late night trip to Taco Bell later, Marla had a pretty but very orange dress. Not that she didn’t love it for the wedding. It’s just that if she had been shopping for a cocktail dress this probably wasn’t the color she was picking, and it also probably wasn’t one she was likely to wear again.

My roomie had paid over $100 for the dress—not too much by bridesmaids’ dress standards, but it’s still a lot for a recent MSW grad still looking for a job (are you hiring?). Not wanting to let the dress hang in her closet unused, she explored the idea of having it professionally dyed. When that turned out to be more than she budgeted, she turned to the idea of dyeing it herself. We reasoned that whether she screwed it up by dyeing it or left it in her closet, either way she wouldn’t be wearing it, so she didn’t have much to lose.

She searched the internet trying to find instructions and materials to dye her dress navy blue. I pointed her to Sherry at Young House Love’s wedding dress dyeing tutorial where she could get some pointers. The one thing she kept worrying about was the fact that she would be attempting to dye polyester, a synthetic that doesn't take stain as well as a natural fiber like silk or cotton. 

She ended up buying a kit online from Pro Chemical & Dye and used the instructions for it that they have online, and which also come with the kit in the mail.

via
Don't worry, you don't use all of these to dye a dress. The kit came with different colors.

At first she was a little worried that the dress would turn more of a brown, but as the blue began to take, the orange became less and less visible. After she finished the dyeing process she hung the dress up to dry in our laundry room with a tarp to catch the water dripping from it.

The result? A perfectly dyed navy blue dress that she can wear to weddings, cocktail parties, and other formal occasions for as long as she can fit into that dress. Which will probably be for a while because she is pretty little.

It looks black in this picture, but it's actually a deep navy blue.

Speaking of size, Roomie does have one warning: because this process requires you to boil your dress for an hour or two, the dress will likely shrink a little. Not too much—it still fits her, but she can tell it’s tighter. So if your dress already fits like a glove, this may not be for you.

A beautiful dress for my beautiful roomie!

Christmas Decoration Inspiration from the Big Apple

Last weekend I went up to NYC to visit my little sis and some friends. I think I’m still recovering.

In the midst of late nights, holiday parties, and guilty pleasure food, I managed to snag a few pics of Christmas decoration inspiration from around Manhattan. I’m definitely regretting not taking more (Including one of a house on 18th between 1st and 2nd in the East Village/Lower East side that mixed pine cones and ornaments scattered throughout beds and flowerpots on their tiny porch. If you're out there, I want a picture of it!)

Red lights and white branches on the ceiling of Pete's Tavern, which has a stellar brunch deal by the way. $12.95 for a number of brunch options, coffee, and alcoholic brunch beverage. Cheers!

 

Love this wall of different sized ornaments on the storefront of JC Penny. It would be oh so easy to create with a mixture of ornaments, a hot glue gun, and cardboard/wood/styrofoam/any other flat surface you can think of.



I was [obviously] obsessed with the paper stars in the window of Macy's and would love to use these throughout my house for Christmas. Maybe next year!



And more stars from Macy's. Don't they look cool stacked on top of each other?



More Macy's stars in red.

THE tree. Not so much inspiration as it is festive. And check out my friend in all his tweed glory (he was dressed for his date to the Nutcracker later that evening).

OK, you caught me, the only Christmas decoration here is a far-reaching reference to the weiney whistle in the Santa Clause. But I just couldn't help myself.  (That's what she said).