Carnival Style

{allposters.com} 

There's something beautiful about a carnival.  Yes, they're full of over-the-top pictures, rides, toys, signs and loud noises, but there's a beauty in the mayhem.  We went to a carnival recently and to me, when I looked at things individually, they were just rides or tacky signs or whatever, but when I looked around at the carnival as a whole, it was something better.  It was a little world of whacky and crazy and vintage-feeling fun.  And it was beautiful. 

{blogs.sfweekly.com }

Once nighttime falls over a carnival, it becomes special.  Whatever field or parking lot that used to be in its place is totally transformed, and you forget all about what used to be there and what will be there again when the carnival leaves town. 

{flickriver.com}

I haven't been to one like this is a while, but my favorite carnivals or fairs are the kind that have sideshows.  I was fascinated by these when I was a little girl and won't ever  forget the sword swallower I once saw in a tent...  or the contortionist.

I love that sense of mystery...

{pinterest}

I would always try to pick the prettiest horse on the carousel...  usually pink with lots of roses.  ;)

{allposters.com}

...  And the food is so bad but so good...  I love the crazy vintage signs.

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It was sitting here, at the counter of the carnival snack wagon the other night, that I started appreciating the details.  I mean, how perfect is it that the snack truck had this little fold-out set of shiny blue barstools to pull up to the counter?  They were just the right size for our boys.  And I love that they serve sodas in the vintage style glass bottles.  They taste so much better that way. 

{my guys- Christian and Justin- sharing a funnel cake}

septembersbliss.blogspot.com

I love that all of these little over-the-top details and the busyness makes something that's just right.  There's an energy & an excitement about carnivals that's fueled by all the bright colors and the in-your-face everything.  All of the colors and things shouldn't work together, but they do. 

{flickr}

And it reminds me of certain rooms & styles of decorating.  (In a very good way.)

{miles redd, house beautiful}

There are so many different bright colors in the room by Miles Redd above, that you wouldn't ordinarily think could all work together, but they do.  It has this great energy to it.

The room below has a bit of that quirky vintage feel to it of the classic old-fashioned carnivals.

{poppytalk.blogspot.de }

The whacky mix of patterns on the floor in the room below creates that happy feeling.  It's so perfectly "off." The little stack of books on the table reminds me a bit of circus tents.

{isuwannee.com }

The tufted turqoise sofa, below, is one of those super-saturated colors seen all over carnivals.  The vintage touches and quirky shapes throughout the space add to the excitement.

{apartment therapy}

The mix of art and patterns below totally comes off as crazy in a good way.  There's so  much going on, but as a whole, it just works.

{elle decor}

The space in my friend Jenny's house (of Little Green Notebook) is perfect in its mix of bright happy colors combined with the vintage gilded mirror.  It's so unexpected but just comes together to create a truly charming space. 

{little green notebook }

I'm sure none of the designers of the rooms above were inspired by carnivals, but they all managed to create spaces that, to me, are energetic and fun-feeling and are really unexpected.  Some are more dramatic while others are more laid-back but they all have that fearlessness that I think epitomizes a carnival.   I reminds me to look harder at everything I'm exposed to, because there's inspiration in all of it, even in a place that at first glance is loud and garish and a bit sticky.

Our boys are already asking about when they can go back.  And next time they might actually reach 42" which means a whole new set of rides!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

The House in My Head

I always have a dream house or "future" house in my head.  I keep a file with floorplans that I've drawn of it and exterior & interior inspiration pics.  I always find myself thinking about what would make a house perfect for me & my family.  I think about it more frequently sometimes than others.  When I lived in my parents' basement with my husband & our first baby a couple of years ago (to recover financially from buying a townhome at the height of the market & selling almost at the low) I used to think about it so much my heart would literally ache.  (Honestly I thought about ANY house at that time, but my dream house got me excited.)  This was a bit what it looked like:  (from Cottage Living)

But after we moved into our 70s bilevel fixer-upper, my idea of our dream house started to change.  (Don't get me wrong, I'm in looooove with the house above, but it's not where the house in my head is at anymore.)  I started to appreciate & crave a more modern feeling for my dream house yet I still wanted the charm of an older house.  I love the walls of windows in our house now, and wish they were even bigger.  I know that I now want glass walls leading straight outdoors all over my future house.  Even though my 70s house is architecturally uninteresting, I started to appreciate its "plain box" qualities & have reimagined how I might have something similar in a new home one day:  

{Our "box" before we moved in.... It feels like we're almost outside or in a tree house.}

I also love the easy living of its floorplan.  All of our main rooms are on one level and our addittional spaces like family room, office & guest room are all on the lower level.  I love this one-floor living and definitely want to keep this easy way of living in our new place.  (In our townhouse I used to leave piles of things at the top and bottom of all the stairs to go up & down...  I used to feel like keeping the house neat was a series of moving things up and down the stairs.)  My husband, who used to be super-traditional is now craving something simple & modern.  (more than me!)  He loves the Cullens' house from Twilight.  (I made him watch it ;)

Every once in a while my husband & I will read a book that makes us think about architecture & we talk about what we want in a house & how we can make our own house better.  When we read Bobby McAlpine's The Home Within Us I really started to think of architecture a bit differently.  I started realizing that it didn't have to be something we'd seen before & that we could one day make something that was really "us."  The thatched roof idea is one I can't shake.

I recently read Ayn Rand's Fountainhead and it really got me excited about our "dream house" again so I decided to hit the drawing board with all of the ideas that had been floating around in my head, unformed, for the past year or so.  I haven't quite finished working out the floorplan but the main living areas are all on the first floor and the back of the house U-shaped and almost all steel floor-to-celing glass windows & doors opening to the yard.   I want the front of the house to have a crazily-pitched roof that swings low onto the front door & windows & I want more privacy in the front than in the back.   And I want the look of a thatched roof:

{We did a little research on thatched roofs & probably will never be able to have one.  They're hard to insure (due to perceived risk of fire) and expensive if you live in an area where they're not done.}  But I'm open to other materials that I can get a similar look from.  I want that old, natural & quaint feeling but mixed with a modern & seamless edge. 

{Bobby McAlpine's first home built by his firm...  I can't get over it or its roof.  I think maybe it's slate & even though it's not thatched, it has the feeling I'm after.  I wonder if you can encourage moss to grow on your slate roof without it hurting anything??  ****  UPDATE:  Greg Tankersley of McAlpine Tankersley Architecture let me know that the roof is actually handsplit cedar shingle, and yes, moss does grow on it!!  Thanks so much Greg!! }

Like I mentioned before, I want the back of my house to be almost completely open so it will definitely be a challenge to mix these two styles without making a total mess.

{love this feeling - oh my goodness!!!!}

I want it to feel as if you're almost outside when you're inside.

I know these two styles are totally different but I think "where there's a will there's a way" and I have a LOT of time to figure it out before we can actually have a dream home anyway. ;)

... The windows in most of these modern homes are mostly glass without the interruption of the steel...

But I'm thinking I like the charm of the paned windows and I'd like a sort of modern conservatory-feeling...

{crazy over the steel windows & doors in Jill Brinson Sharp's home}

It's one detail (of many) I'm still thinking on...  I don't know if we'd feel caged with an entire back wall in them or if it could work for what I want.  I came across this house when searching for inspiration images:

I'd never seen anything like it & am definitely intrigued.  It's not what I'm looking to do but I think it's really interesting in how it combined what reminds me of a barn with a glass contemporary house. 

I was floored when I came across this thatched-roof house:

{image via klikk.com}

...It is so close to what I want in style.  The back is all open just like I'd envisioned and it even has a thatched roof!!  The feeling I'm after is a different though.  (This is so pretty & fresh & white & modern-feeling whereas I want a more textured, natural, aged feeling.  If you look to the right where you see a more private space with smaller windows... I like that a lot.  I definitely want some "cozy" & private spaces towards the front of the house.)

And finally, I came across this old house which combines my windows with the thatched crazy-sloped roof & this embodies a bit more of the feeling I'm after:

{I would probably want it a little more seamless -without the diagonal bars  btwen the roof & windows- but I think it shows how the glass walls can actually work beautifully with a low roofline.}

Anyway, by the time we're actually able to build this house, I'm sure it will have changed considerably, but for now, I'm really excited about getting this house in my head all figured out.  (Or as figured out as it would need to be before getting an architect involved ;)   I'm always happiest when I have a dream.

What about you:  Do you have a house in your head or a dream house that you think of?  (And if you've written a post on yours, be sure to link to it in the comments section!! :)

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

ps- I found all of these images on pinterest & listed original sources where I had them.

AND... I wrote this entire post yesterday (which took hours) & when I hit "Publish" on blogger, the WHOLE THING DELETED....  ahhhhh!!!!! :)

Magnolia

'Tis the season for magnolias and I'm loving it. 

{Every once in a while my husband surprises me with one}

There's something about magnolia trees that is just completely Southern & romantic.  They transport you somewhere wlse.   (Unless that is, if you're already at a gorgeous Southern antebellum estate.}

(image from arborday.org}

According to wikipedia and the University of Florida's website, Magnolia trees are one of the most ancient trees we have today, with fossils dating back to 36-58 million years ago.  They were originally native to the Asias & the Americas (particularly the East Coast) and Europe, but the Ice Age destroyed the ancient European forests.  The American Southern Magnolia was  reintroduced in Europe in 1731 when it was discovered.  They became extremely popular and are now the most commonly planted shrub/ tree around the world.  

I wish I had a magnolia tree.  One day. 

{photo via landscapeplantsbycliff.com}

{Steel Magnolias: Shelby "got" magnolias...  she planned to float them in her pool at her "blush and bashful" themed wedding, although I don't quite remember ever seeing the pool at the wedding in the movie.}

When I have my hands on a magnolia bloom, I'm weird with it.  I literally just put my face in it & breathe it in.  For a long time.  It's "Heaven" as my 3 (almost 4!) year-old says because he's heard me say it so much. 

{I even have my husband take pictures of me holding them}

 I sleep with it mext to my bed and I can smell it all night long when I'm drifting in & out of sleep. 

They make me so happy and their smell just sort of makes stress melt away.  This past week was INSANITY.  Work has been really busy for both me & my husband, and we had to take Justin (our 18-month old) to the ER because his fever got so high & he was having mini seizures & vomitting.  (I didn't know that's what was going on, I thought he was having odd twitches as he was trying to sleep in my arms, and although that was scary, I'm so glad I didn't know they were seizures at the time.)  His fever has been up & down all weekend and my parents watched our 3 year-old for us.  During one of the down points Saturday evening when Justin was aleep & we thought he was all better, my husband surprised me with a magnolia bloom.  It hung out with us pretty much all night.  I literally fell asleep smelling it, and I woke up to a completely brown & crunched magnolia underneath of me in bed.   ah vell!  You only get them for a little while.

It was for all of these reasons that I wanted to create a magnolia - patterned textile.  The vibe of magnolias is such a free, casual & relaxed elegance and I wanted to make a fabric with that feeling.  It really fits with the setting around here.  (Virginia & DC are filled with magnolia trees.)  I worked with my super-talented my friend,  Kat Wright, who painted this beautiful painting in oil from my very junky sketches:

{Isn't she amazing!!?)}

It then became this on linen:

I played with the colors and created 4 other colorways, including china blue:   

I'm working out the final kinks in pricing, fabrics, etc. and am hoping to have the fabrics available to sell in my online store July 15th.  Like I've mentioned before, creating high-quality textiles on linen in small runs is much more expensive than I'd originally guessed it would be.  Prices will be around $90- $115/ yard for linen and I'm looking into cotton options. 

Here's a peek at the banner for the new online store:

I hope you had a great weekend & if you have a chance, find a magnolia:

My husband's taking Justin to the doctor today so fingers crossed for my little Tootaline.

Also, my friend Jill Sorensen of Marmalade Interiors and creator of Live Like You is offering Pure Style Home Readers 10% off of her newest design personality, Earthy Modern:

Enter discount code: EARTHY10 for 10% off until June 20th!

 Jill has launched an online store where she has created room designs for different personalities & styles.  You can view the designs for free and purchase everything in the plans right at Live Like You.   Congratulations to Jill & her new venture & thanks so much for the discount!!

 

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Decorative Memories in our Core

I often think about patterns from my childhood... Fabrics, tile, wallpapers, even linoleum patterns.  Many of them have really stayed with me over the years and I remember them fairly clearly.  For the ones that are no longer around... I wish I could just have a piece...  A yard or a square foot to look at and remember perfectly. 

The sofa in the photo below was upholstered in a beautiful chinoiserie floral in orangey-pinks, cream and green and was in my grandparents' living room in Honolulu many years ago.  I've seen the photo below of my grandfather & me over the years (and I'm not sure at what point I started consciously thinking of the fabric) but it's just sort of always been one of those fabrics filed away in my mind that I think of every so often and love. 

{My "Geedaddy" & me}

Below is another photo of me in my muumuu on the beloved sofa fabric.

My mom and I moved in with my grandparents to McLean, Virginia (just outside of Washington, DC) when I was 4 years old.  My grandmother has an amazing sense of style and we lived with them for 6 years before moving only a few minutes away. 

{My grandmother whom I called "Beautiful Grandmother" (she told me that was her name ;) and me...  Again, the blue & white Hawaiian print that I'm wearing...  that's one of those fabrics that's so ingrained in my memory that it just feels good to look at.  If I ever had a little girl and found an outfit just like that one, I'd be in Heaven.}

When I find things that remind me of pieces  my grandmother's had over the years, I often buy them on the spot.  They just give me this good feeling. It's almost that feeling you get when you first wake up and you can't quite remember a dream but then you do and it just feels so good.  Does that make sense?

{I bought this Chinoiserie ginger jar flea market lamp the second I saw it because it reminded me of my grandmother's lamps}

It's what it would be like if you could actually grasp a cloud.  (I remember being little and scraping the inside out of an oreo and just holding the white part...  It was strangely satisfying in that same weird way.)  It's the intangibles in life.  And when you finally have them clear in your memory or physically in your hands, its's so oddly satisfying.  I feel this way about prints...

Another one is this vintage blue peacock flower fabric on my Grandma Maestranzi's (my Grandmother on my dad's side) dining room chairs in Antioch, Illinois:

Lucky for me she was a little old Italian grandma who protected everything under oh-so-chic PLASTIC.  It's still perfectly preserved to this day.  (Thanks Grandma!!) 

I'll never forget the cloud wallpaper in my nursery or the pale green vine fabric on my first big girl bed - a canopy bed- at my dad's house.    I remember picking it out at the store. (My parents divorced when I was really young and so I had a bedroom at my mom's and a bedroom at my dad's.)

My mom had this vintage butterfly quilt in cream and earthtones...  I wonder if it's still around?  My Aunt Josephine had these beautiful japanese gardens with stone pagodas that I'll never forget...  My grandmother has a beautiful blue and gold floral throw blanket made by my great grandmother (I think?)...  Terrible linoleum in the kitchen (not picked out by her I don't think) that I used to love & stare at...  It was fun finding shapes in the linoleum and I'd always show people the "two dinosaurs" I'd found throughout the pattern. It's since been replaced and looks so good, but I can't help but miss that pattern.  

...Anyway, I could go on & on (and seriously it's so satisfying recounting the patterns) but I guess what I'm getting at is that these patterns are so ingrained in my mind.  These choices made by my grandmothers & my mom and the people who decorated & accessorized the homes I spent time in really did affect me.  Even at that age, I recogized beautiful & interesting things.  (Some of them were even plastic flowers so I'm not saying they're necessarily beautiful today...  but to me they are.)   I loved looking at them.  The same goes for a lot of the artwork and accessories around the house- things my grandparents had picked up on their extensive travels, knickknacks and china my Grandma Maestranzi collected...  I remember going from tabletop to tabletop in both houses playing with the accessories... 

 

I was an only child for 15 years (my little sister, Morgan, was born 15 years after me when my mom married my stepdad, Tom) so I guess before that, I spent a lot of time alone, exploring the houses, observing everything in them.  To this day I like looking through my grandmother's linen closet at her sheet sets and still get a twinge of excitement when I see the vintage leafy green printed futon being pulled down from the garage.  (This happened when my closest cousins came to visit us and - just like a memory-inducing smell- the sight of that futon still gives me a childish excitement.)

Even as I write, I'm struck by the flood of memories & feeling that seeing or remembering patterns and objects from my past elicits in me.  I am so happy when Christian asks to be lifted up to see something on a shelf- like the little froggy limoge box that sits on our bookshelves.  He gets to hold it and play with it for a little bit before we put it back, just like I used to be allowed to do. 

What we put in our homes today affects our  not only our present, but is also the backdrop for our future memories. If you have kids around noticing the things, you just might be helping to develop their taste, style.  The fabrics and patterns from my past are so ingrained in my memory that I know they've influence my design aesthetic.  As I work on fabrics for the my upcoming fabric line, I'm amazed by how many of my ideas spring directly from the patterns of my past.

To some people, picking the fabric for a throw pillow may be as easy as running to Target and choosing a color that works with their rug...  to me, it's way more than that...  (although the pillow could be from Target! ;)  It has to elicit an emotional response from me or my client.  A fabric I choose is typically somehow tied to the past, memories or a feeling -although I (or they) might not even know it at first...   Designing a home's a big deal to me and those little choices are all a part of the equation.  Your thoughts??