In The Mood for Turquoise

Just a few pretty things in turquoise...

 

Images via MyHomeIdeas

A Dreamy Bedroom of Soft Colors

We were working on a new bedroom project today for a client and we thought we'd share some of the items we are considering with you.   We wanted to do something soft and pretty, with colors and textures that look warm and inviting...

What do you think? 
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This bed is a custom-upholstered bed.  It shows here in a cream fabric but you can  have it upholstered with your own fabric.  It runs about $2800-3200 for a queen/king.  We like the fact that it doesn't require a boxspring.

We like this armoire for the TV or to store clothing.  It's so chic in person....

We just love this rug from Candice Olson.  We recently put this on sale.

And to add some colors, we love, love this flower arrangement.  It looks so incredibly real in person.

For bedding, this looks like it would be a great fit...

P.S. All of these items can be found at our home decor store.

Our Sponsor:

Find luxury bedding for your dreamy bedroom

Lessons from a Home Stager

The New York Times Magazine has a great article about staging a home today. Eventhough the article is about staging for selling purpose, there are some great tips that you can pick up for your daily life as well...

For example:

1) Start with a white sofa and go from there, as you can change the look quickly by changing the pillows.

2) Have a story, or a theme, and build from there.

3) Do and reedo until it's right.

4) Avoid matchy matchy.

5) Build characters and personality by adding pieces that reflect your lifestyles.

To read this article and watch the video, click here.



Image source: NY Times

Soft & Pretty Decorating Scheme

Our taste has evolved over the year. As we watch decorating trends come and go, we've concluded that certain styles just stand the test of time better than others--especially if they are updated.

Recently we have gradually gravitated toward softer, prettier decorating scheme. We find it more relaxing; and not so trendy that you have to change out your stuff every three to five years.

Here are some of our latest favorite things:


SOURCES:

Flowers by NDI
Rug by Surya
Lamp by Jamie Young
Chair by Nathan Anthony
Artwork by New Century
Chandelier by Arteriors

Organic Decorating from DK Living

There has been news lately regarding organic food--as to whether it actually makes you healthier. A major study by the London School of Hygiene and & Tropical Medicine concluded that consumers were paying more for the "perceived" health benefits. To read more about the study, click here.

But this blog is about decorating, not eating, so let's focus on organic decorating instead. By organic decorating, we are talking about products that use natural materials vs synthetic, and styles that are hand-made vs manufactured.

But we're not the DYI kind of people, we're more like do-it-for-me kinda people, so we rather buy the "perceived" hand-made part.

Here are some that we really like from DK Living:

This is a fantastic rockstone bowl that's great for display fruit and can be used indoor/outdoor. It' retails for $200.

This is a pedestal, but we think it can be used as a side table as well. It's about $150.

This is sold per piece at $25 per piece. It's fantastic as a ground cover for your garden. We love this rock bowl . It's about $300.

This ball looks fantastic in person. It comes in different sizes and we like to display them in group. This one is 12" and it's about $75.
Here's some more rock mats...


We'll be putting these up on our site soon, but in the mean time please contact us if you need any info...

Vintage Decor from Barreveld

Our taste leans toward modern decor, mostly. However, once in a while we really like vintage decor as well. It's kinda like anti-hip, anti-cool, and we like it.

Honestly, we're a little bit tired of hipness--why such a need to be cool and hip all the time? What's wrong with letting our stomach hangs out in an old t-shirt and chugging a beer once in a while?

(Okay, we have to admit we only do this in private--never in public. We live in LA, for God's sake.)

Vintage decorating is like wearing an old t-shirt, actually. It's comforting and nolstagic. We found a bunch of products from Barraveld that we really like.

Here are some of them:

This couch is cored in soft beige linen. It's about $2000.

This antique book is about $30.
We love this door knob, dont' you? It runs about $25/each. We adore this settee. It's about $1900.
This cream/sugar set runs about $125 for the set.

We don't know if this actually works or not, but this antique telescope runs about $400 or so...

This adorable horse retails at $150.
We love this light fixture, either for outside or inside. It retails for $300. This garden conservatory is $4000-it's a real one though! We have no idea how much it costs to ship!

Most of these products can be used in a very modern way. If you want to see an example of this, go to Gjelina restaurant on Abbott Kinney in Venice when you have a chance. They have a fabulous way of using vintage decor in a very chic way. The food is fabulous too...

We'll be loading this up soon in our vintage decor section. In the mean time, if you want to see more or have questions about any of the products seen here, please contact us.

White Decor-So Refreshing

Did you see the latest issue of Elle Decor? It features the home of Monelle Totah, vice president of design for Williams Sonoma. We thought it's worth a feature post because it's such a refreshing style that is so achievable. By that, we mean you can find everything in the home quite easily. Not like those features where the owners alway tell us they brought home these chandeliers from some Paris fleamarket on their backs, you know? For some reasons a Paris fleamarket always sounds more glamorous. What's wrong with a flea market in, say, San Jose?

Anyway, you can find most of the items in the feature (from Williams Sonoma, of course, but other sources as well).

Here is a picture of it:



To see the rest, click here...

10 Things You Must Have in The House

We love lists, don't you? We love reading other's people list too, mainly because we're lazy and sometimes it's nice to have other people to do the work so we don't have to think so hard.

We recently saw a list of 100 things you should do in LA before you die by Caroline on Crack and we thought it was great. For those who live in LA, it's a really fun blog to read. For those who live outside LA, it's a great resource to find things to do in LA if you visit.

So we thought we come up with our own list. Since this blog is about the home, we'll focus on that theme. And since 100 is way too many for our brains, here is a list of 10 things you should have in the house:

1) A fantastic bed. This is where you spend of your time and this is where you should splurge and buy the best possible mattress you can find. Hotel mattress are the best! We like the ones from Westin. They even teach you how to make up the bed at home.

2) Fantastic bed sheets. They don't have to be expensive. We find amazing ones at Nordstrom Racks that have very high thread count and get softer after each wash.

3) Fresh scented candles, and please, none of that Glade cheap stuff. Scented candles are like perfume, the cheap ones just give you a headache. We love Votivo and Dyptique.

4) Amazing wine. Even if you don't drink wine, have some anyway. Your guests would appreciate it.

5) A great sofa. This is another thing you should splurge on. Buy the best one that you can afford. You can always reupholster it later. We like ones from Moroni and Burton James.

6) Great books. Even if you don't have time to read, when you see books that you like buy them anyway; then stock them on the bookshelves to read later. Books give soul to the house, and they make you look smart, even if you are not (well, that kinda depends on what kind of books you buy...)

7) Great music. CDs are gone to the way side, and good things too, because they are messy and unattractive. Invest in an IPOD and a good sound system. If you have great wireless Internet, Pandora is amazing for free music.

8) Gorgeous home accessories. By home accessories we means things that add character and style to your house, like rugs, artwork, flowers, decorative pillows and such. Of course we will plug our own site, InsideAvenue.com, but we like ZGallerie too... Again, our mantra is less is more, and quality is better than quantify.

9) Fantastic cookware. Cooking is amazing relaxing and creative. Having great cookware inspire you. We love Sur La Table for high-end cookware. Williams Sonoma is a great store too.

10)A dog. Yes, a dog. A cat if you are not a dog lover. We're plugging dogs because they are so sweet, so loving, so adorable. There's nothing more comforting that coming home to a dog who is so happy to see you, all the time!

What about you, do you have a list of must-haves? Email us your list and we'll publish it.

So Pretty-New Products from Jardins En Fleur

We got an email from Jardins En Fleur about their new pieces today. OMG they are so pretty! You probably know from our previous post that this is one of our favorite new vendors. The prices are getting more reasonable. The chairs shown are about $350-400/each. The console table is about $1500.

If you like the softer, prettier style of home decor, this line is so for you. It's Asian decor done in a very modern and original way.

Here are pictures of the new pieces. They are shown here in white lacquer, which is a great neutralizing color. We love using it in rooms with lots of colors or patterns...

If you need pricing and availability, please visit our home decor store. Thanks!

Modern Home Office

Working from home is such a popular trend nowadays. Most people we know either work from home part time or full time. For us, we practically live in our home office. This is why we think it should be both nice and functional, with an emphasis on functional, as it is so important for getting our work done.

Here are some modern offices that we thought are really cool:

Source: Point Click Home

Here are some cool stuff from DWR for the office

Red Clock

Business Card Holder

Modern File Tray

Modern Desk

Love This House

Elle Decor did a feature on Monica Lhuillier's house a while back. It's one of those houses that you'd just said, I wish I live in that!

Here are some pictures from the feature.

When you browse through the pictures think about how neutral colors can be used so elegantly. Notice also the lack of clutters and the well-edited accessories.

Furniture manufacturers that makes this style of furniture are plentiful. From the high-end, ultra expensive range you got Baker, Hickory Chair and Christian Liagre. In the more reasonable range, but still very similiar, there's John Charles Designs (now owned by American Leather), Michael Weiss for Vanguard and Bolier.

Source: Point Click Home

Home Tours from the LA Times

The LA Times has some beautiful home tours that you might want to check out. It's a great source of inspiration!

Shown here is the Greystone show house. To see more homes, check out the Home & Garden Section.

Great Source for Home Decorating Pictures

We have to confess, we are a home decorating magazine addict. We subscribe to every single one there is, but the truth is, we never read the text. We just look at the pictures. What's the point of reading if the pictures are enough, no?

If you are looking for inspirational home decorating pictures, we have a great source for you. Check out RedCover.com. This site is actually a seller of images, much like Corbis or Getty Images, but they specialize in interior, garden and food images only. What we love best is that it has the best of European home design ideas, which we don't have easy access to here in the US. It's a lot of fun to browse through the beautiful pictures on the site.

Here are some sample pictures. There are thousands more...

Notes: The pictures on the site will have watermark on them to prevent piracy, but for browsing purpose they are not too bad. We recommend the feature search as it lays out everything very nicely for you.