A trip to DC

Last week Paul and I decided our little family could use a get-away. We decided to drive up to DC over the weekend and take Riley around the city.

We knew the weather was supposed to be bad on Saturday so we played it by ear to see what we could fit in. We took the "choo choo train" (AKA the Metro) from our hotel in Woodley Park down to the Mall. 

The weather was overcast but for most of the afternoon the rain actually held off and the temperature was perfect. I think Riley's favorite thing was riding the carousel.

She would have stayed on that thing all day. I apologize for the blurry pictures - that thing goes around pretty fast!

Next we stopped by the Air and Space museum for Paul and the Museum of National History so Riley could see the dinosaurs. Since we were already dressed for rain, we let Riley play in one of the fountains along the way.

We made it back to our hotel by late afternoon. I can not say enough good things about the Omni Shoreham - great location, beautiful hotel, huge room, great service, etc., etc. Riley was thrilled to have her own bed and loved jumping up and down on it whenever she got the chance. 

For dinner, we met Paul's friend Josh at a nearby French restaurant called Petits Plats. It was such a quaint little place and the food was wonderful. After completely stuffing ourselves we walked back to our hotel in the POURING rain and called it a night.

Sunday we woke up to unbelievable weather - sunny and mid 70s!

We ate a delicious breakfast at the Open City Diner across from our hotel. I was super excited because they had chocolate croissants! Then we walked a couple of blocks over to the National Zoo. 

We had a blast! The animals were out and about enjoying the nice weather.

I think Riley's favorite part was the elephant. He looked so sweet and could do all sorts of tricks.

All of the animals were fun but my favorite part was watching the orangutans climb over our heads on the rope walks.

It was such a fun weekend and it was exactly what we needed after feeling cooped up over the last few weeks. We are already planning our next trip back. Hopefully next time I can fit in some shopping!

Would you rather

mix drinks at this bar 

Thom Filicia | Domino

or this bar?

Windsor Smith

Lamps for Less

I recently purchased this lamp after I saw Kirsten mention this great deal over on her blog. The color wasn't quite as bold as I had hoped, but the scale is nice and for $35 I really can't complain.

Mustard Table Lamp | Kirklands | $34.95

Table lamps are actually one area where I try to save when shopping for my home or for a client. Lighting in general can be expensive so I tend to splurge on chandeliers, sconces, pendants, etc., and try to save on table lamps. Here are a few inexpensive options I have seen lately.

Orbit Table Lamp | Nate Berkus for HSN | $129

Coral Lamp | Pier1 | $125

My friend (and client), Suzanne, recently used these glass lamps in her living room and they look great!

Glass Column Lamp | JC Penny | $119

Marble Table Lamp | Overstock | $129

Hammered Sphere Lamp | JC Penny | $49

Pacific Coast Table Lamp | CSN Lighting | $119

Crystal Rectangle Column Lamp | Overstock | $104

I've also had success at Homegoods and TJ Maxx. Where do you go for an inexpensive lamp fix? 

Hotlanta Shower

I spent last weekend in Atlanta. I was so desperate for warm weather I didn't even mind the 76% humidity! The reason behind my trip was to help throw a bridal shower for my good friend, Ashley.

Our weekend got off to an interesting start when my friend Julie and I decided to take the MARTA (the Atlanta subway) instead of making our friends battle rush-hour traffic to pick us up at the airport. Ummmm...bad idea. A couple of wrong stops later and after witnessing a robbery take place right in front of us on one of the trains, we immediately jumped off at the next stop and made our friends come rescue us. Thankfully, things went much smoother from that point on. 

We decided to host a tea themed shower at the Watershed in Decatur, GA. I designed the invitations while the other hostesses handled food, cake, favors and decor.

 

Favors were personalized tea bags and fortune cookies.

How cute are these tea cup cupcakes that one of the hostesses personally made? They are way beyond my baking abilities. 

The food was wonderful, the company was great and the bride was showered with amazing gifts. 

This shower was a little bittersweet for me because Ashley's wedding is the last one for our group of friends and since her wedding date is a week before my due date I won't be able to attend her big day. I have such great memories from all of our weddings and it makes me sad that I won't be there for the last one. We discussed having a full-size cardboard cutout of myself made to walk down the aisle and to act as a stand in on all of the photos. Hahaha - I think it is a great idea... not sure why she didn't seem that interested :) Congratulations again, Ashley! I can't wait to see pics and hear all of the fun stories from your big day!

While I was gone, there were big events taking place back home too. Riley rode her first pony at a friend's birthday party! I am so proud of her because I actually did not think she would do it but here she is riding Sparkle the pony!

I couldn't wait to get back home so she could tell me all about it!

Location vs. Light

Via Belle Vivir

I caught up with a friend yesterday (Hi Andi!) who is getting ready to move into a city apartment that is in a great location but the space has virtually no windows (1 in the bathroom and 1 that is underneath a porch). The closest I have ever come to "city" living was when Paul and I lived on the Downtown Mall when we first moved to Charlottesville. We gave up plenty of things for the amazing location - living space, parking, $$$ - but I don't know that I could have given up windows. Natural light adds so much to the feel of a space and it is one of the few things that you can't really fake. 

Unknown

Atlanta Homes Magazine

Image via la belle vie

DecorPad

Unknown

DecorPad

Madderlake

What about you? Could you go windowless in favor of location?

Erinn Valencich

While looking for images for the previous post I came across designer Erinn Valencich's work. I like the way she uses color and pattern in her spaces. Even though she often uses several bold patterns in the same room, her work still feels clean and bright rather than cluttered and overwhelming. 

I think my favorite room is this office - bold patterns in soothing colors with pops of bright color.

She definitely knows how to mix patterns. To see more of her work, check out her website here.

Mixing Patterns

A friend recently asked me if I could do a post on how to mix fabric patterns. As I work with clients I have found that this is one area that seems to really intimidate most homeowners. Like most things design-related, there are not any hard rules when it comes to mixing patterns, but there are a couple of things that I always keep in mind when I am making selections: Color, scale, texture and pattern.

In the photo below the dominant color is purple but the yellow and orange pillows (and yellow side table) create contrast. While the other fabrics have a similar shade of purple mixed in their patterns the stripes on the bolsters doesn't exactly match the print on the drapes. As long as colors are in the same family, you don't need to worry about exactly matching.  The fabrics in this room also show a great mix of scaled patterns. The graphic floral image on the central pillow is a large print, the drapes are a medium print and the lumbar pillow has a small print. The change in scale keeps things interesting without competing with each other. 

Amanda Nisbet

Below is an example of how to mix color without matching. Even though the blue and purple pillows are two different colors, the same fretwork pattern helps them feel like they go together. The mix of the pink spotted fabric creates a contrast in color and pattern and all of the colors and patterns stand out against the black and white striped headboard. The fabrics are pulling together the bright colors used throughout the room although the only common color they share is white.

Caitlin Wilson

Below is a banquette I created for a client. The large open scale of the patterned seat cushion works well with the busier floral/Asian theme of the Chiang Mai pillows. I added the solid slubby linen pillows to bring in additional texture. Once again the blue and brown solid pillows don't match the other fabrics exactly but they pick up hints of the brown and aquas in the patterned fabrics. 

Other fabrics that are great for adding texture are velvet, tweed, chenille and burlap. 

Even in a neutral space, the same principles can be applied. Below you can see the solid neutral colored furniture and window treatments provide a backdrop to pick up the subtle patterns of the floral pillow, tone on tone striped pillows, patterned rug, checked footstool and small scale printed bed pillows. Even though there isn't a bold print in the room, the textures and mixture of patterns create an interesting space.

Phoebe Howard

These are just a few basic pointers. How do you go about mixing patterns in a space?

Would you rather

live in the house from Something's Gotta Give 

or the house from It's Complicated?

 

All images from Hooked on Houses

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Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments and emails regarding my baby announcement! We are very excited and it is so fun to share the news with all of you! Have a great weekend!

Coming Clean

I have been holding out on you, Blogworld, and today I am coming clean. 

According to several of my friends it is way past time for me to share the news that Baby #2 is on the way and will be joining our family in late July!!!

I am already past the half way point at 5 1/2 months along and today we found out that we will be adding another baby girl to our family!

 DecorPad

JCrochetShop

Tumblr | PrettyLittleFlower 

We are beyond excited for Riley to have a sister and we can't wait to meet her!

Random Happenings

Paul has been out of town for most of this month and I am so excited that he will finally be home for good this weekend! I have had a brief glimpse into what life as a single mother would be like and it is hard!!! Since he has been gone, Riley and I have entertained ourselves with trips to the museum with friends in NC,

pulling for the Tarheels at my sister's annual ACC Tournament party,

attending tea parties,

and eating lots of pancakes!  

Whenever Paul goes out of town, Riley and I always have breakfast for dinner. It has become our tradition. This time around we made strawberry banana pancakes and scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese and broccoli. So good!

 

Next time Paul leaves, we are so going to make these:

Image via I am Baker 

How fun are they? Riley will love it!

Yesterday I decided to spruce up the plants inside our house. Several of my older plants did not fare very well during our trip to NC so I filled up the back of my car and got to work.

I bought an entire flat of seedums and filled a large white bowl with them and a couple of succulents.

Then I basically filled every pot and planter I could find to use up the leftover seedum.

I am hoping to find time to replace the planters by our front door over the weekend. Something tells me the neighbors are tired of looking at dead fir cuttings and magnolia branches. 

Have a great weekend!