I Like Your stILe: Caitlin Murray
Caitlin, though not a blogger (yet), just started her own Interior Design business and I had a chance to meet her at a blogger meet-up recently.
Coincidentally, the day I was supposed to meet Caitlin was the day she sent out an email to other designers letting them know about her endeavors. My friend E was one of the designers on the email chain and he sent it to me asking if I knew who she was. I responded with, this is really weird. I'm actually supposed to meet her today. Crazy, right?
Hey everyone, say Hi to Caitlin!
Don't you just want her to step back in her apt so you can take off with her bike?
I checked out her site after aforementioned email was sent to me and I quickly emailed her to let her know how much I liked it.
I ended up sitting next to her at this little blogger meet-up and discussed her work with Tamara of House of Honey.
I can tell Tamara is a direct influence, and Caitlin's stile is very much after my own heart.
Check it out:
Yeah, I'll Go to Ashton Kutcher's House
If you are a subscriber of Gilt you are probably aware that Ashton Kutcher teamed up with Gilt City to showcase his first Hollywood Hills home to raise awareness for his DNA foundation. Five top LA designers were selected to design a space in the home and items from each room were then sold on Gilt to raise money for the foundation. Two-hour tour tickets were also for sale, with 100% of the proceeds also going to the cause.
My designer friend was involved with one of the rooms and needed my help on a day that coincidentally happened to be a day Ashton Kutcher was actually home. I try not to make a big deal about seeing famous people, but I must admit it is pretty cool seeing celebs not being celeby. If you must know, he was wearing a plaid shirt and a beanie. And he looks just like he does on television. Not any taller or shorter. And yes, he did talk to me because I had no clue where I was going.
This past Saturday was the tour and my friend was unable to attend so he passed his rsvp on to me (thanks E).
Here are the pics I snapped.
Designed By Woodson and Rummerfield
So much goodness to point out.
The peacock wallpaper.
gorgeous gold hardware.
black piping on a white chair.
My favorite piece in this room was the secretary desk. The color was even prettier in person.
Designed by Nickey Kehoe
Here's me enjoying free champagne.
Designed by William Hefner Architects, I think.
This room reminded me of The Parker.
I love how much the peacock blue pillow and zebra print stand out.
nice stems.
pool area
The Husband was enjoying his champagne too.
But mostly he liked the buttery crackers.
Designed by Giannetti Home
Designed by Erinn Valencich
This room was intense, and I mean that in the best possible way.
It was mostly monochromatic, but the different patterns and textures helped differentiate the Scarlett Green hue.
On our way back to "The Valley" we stopped on Mulholland Drive to take in the view and take a quick photo.
This is what our Winter looks like.
House of Honey
I found out about House of Honey through Arianna. When informed that this showroom was in South Pasadena, I made mental note that I needed to make the 19-mile drive. And when Jami sent me an invite for their private party (two weeks ago, yikes.), I knew it was the perfect opportunity to visit. Fifteen percent discount wasn't a bad incentive either.
House of Honey is a showroom full of glamorous pieces both new and vintage, including recreated furnishings in unique patterns and an array of accessories, fabrics, jewelry and lighting. I also had a chance to chat with Tamara, the owner, who, by the way, was utterly warm and welcoming. AND she poured me a glass of wine. So humble. But yes, House of Honey is awesome and you should make your way to South Pasadena. For those of you who can't, you can shop online here.
View some pictures of the store not taken by me. I swear I was there, though!
Here's one of the items I came home with. A little vintage bowl to place some jewelry in.
this picture was taken by me.
Not only is House of Honey a showroom, but they are also a full-service Interior Design business.
Take a look at some HoH projects.
Oh man, this is like my ideal office.
Rumor has it Tamara's house will be featured in the next issue of Rue. If this is true and these projects are even remotely indicative of Tamara's stile, then we are in for a super sweet surprise. Can't wait.
Kitchen Remodel
We've been in our house for over a year now and there's still so much work to be done until I feel it really captures our style (okay, mostly mine but The Husband's totally okay with all my cutesy decor as long as I make sure to include some baseball stuff. And I have, voluntarily.) and feels more updated.
The biggest eyesore is our 1950s kitchen enveloped in knotty pine. It couldn't be more outdated than if I were taking a horse and carriage to work.
Check out Interior Designer, Erinn Valencich's Kitchen. (I also discussed Erinn here).
We both live in the same area and her kitchen layout was identical to mine until she made some changes.
Sometimes people have a difficult time envisioning what our kitchen would look like sanding away the knotty pine, but these images should help a ton.
So much brighter and cheerier. If you look closer you can see the before picture up on the top right.
And to find out how Erinn approached this remodel, visit her blog here.
xx,
Irene
Esquire House 2010. And Then Some
I've been meaning to discuss Interior Designer Annette English for some time now. She was the first Interior Designer I interned for and though this was several years ago, I still like to check back and see what new projects she's completed. Unlike the excess of snobs I've encountered in this industry, Annette was always super sweet and delightful to work for. I was always a nervous wreck coming into the office and her friendly smile made me feel a tad more at ease.
Just last night, The Husband handed me his most recent issue of Esquire. Without a specific page open, my first thought was, "What am I looking at?" Ahhh, it's the Esquire House issue. I said, "Oh, I think Annette was a part of this one year." And bam, I turned the page and there was her friendly smile looking back at me once again.
Annette English and Associates designed the master bedroom of the ultimate bachelor pad for the Esquire House 2010, inspired by the fashion house, Salvatore Ferragamo.
Annette traveled all the way to Florence to visit the Ferragamo Museum to grasp the true essence of the brand's history.
The result is a space full of rich textures, unexpected materials and handmade pieces, each representing the craftsmanship of Ferragamo products. A sense of luxury and quality is also evident in this room, a traditional/modern hybrid.
Not too shabby, huh?
Here's a look at some of her other projects.
Let's Take a Trip to the Upper East Side
So the other day (Friday October 1st at 11:53 AM, if you're detail oriented) a reader contacted me. Yes, a reader! And not any friends or family who read this because I'd give them a guilt trip if they didn't. But an actual reader. I'm like legit now. Anyway, so a reader contacted to tell me quote Love Love Love your blog. Don't mean to brag but the L, O, V and E were ALL capitalized. She also let me in on her New York-based design company's latest project - an Upper East Side Apartment. Take a gander at the work of Decor by Guillaume Gentet Inc.
I would've posted them immediately after she sent them but I had to play it cool and not look too obvious, obviously.
Foyer
The previous granite flooring was replaced with this scissor stone pattern with mother-of-pearl inlay. The early 20th century impressionist painting is from an auction.
Faux cerused oak treatment went into this den, along with custom drapes and an amazing chandelier from Oly.
Powder Room
Take a close look at the hand-painted de Gourney wallpaper and hand-drawn mosaic flooring. Impressed yet?
Custom daybed and sofa share the extra sitting area with commercially available furniture.
Here's a view from a different angle. Notice how the orange brings a contemporary feel to the otherwise more traditional space. Don't forget to take a look at the piano as well.
Marble tiles were used for this Master Bath.
Master Bedroom
A part of the apartment I know I would spend lots of time in, the tasting room.
Hope you enjoyed the tour. And thank you reader (she has a real name) for sharing. Feel free to check out the company's blog as well.
xx,
Irene
I Like Your stILe: Brittany (literal) Stiles
After a year of contemplating whether or not to start a blog, I bit the bullet and started designstILes. Short, sweet, personal and representative of what I'd feature. Best of all, the I and the L signify my initials. Feeling clever, the next big step was to start a Twitter account. All the other cool blogs were doing it and felt it was the right move to monopolize on my clever name. Turns out it was already taken. Whaaaaaa? {Talking to the Twitter sign-up page} You mean someone was clever before me? But my I and L are capitalized? That's got to count for something, right? Let me try again. Username has already been taken. BY WHO? Why would anyone want it? It's long, ugly, sounds dumb and makes zero sense. Defeated my own name, I chose second best: IdesignstILes. But not without scoping out this so-called clever person who stole my name first. Brittany Stiles. A true, legitimate Interior Designer. Her last name is really Stiles and didn't try to get all cute with it by making up her own spelling. Damn.
Sure enough, her work is awesome. I've been following her blog since and recently realized she added me to her blogroll, which is like major props in the blog world. Thanks Brit, Brit (we're cool like that, no?) Without further ado, I share with you the real Stiles.
A bird's-eye view of the previous photo. The warm tones are inviting and comfortable and make it look a bit vintage-y. And that pendant really hits the spot.
Pretty distinct from the previous room, I love that she's able to show a less feminine side while still mixing design styles.
And she does events too! Call me, I can help you.
You should follow me on Twitter. You'll love it.
Irene Lovett
I Like Your stILe: Krista Ewart
I love how bright and playful this beach house, designed by Krista Ewart, is in the latest issue of House Beautiful. A true representation of her Southern California roots and evident that she's not afraid of bold patterns and a girlie approach.
I noticed Krista left walls white, which works really well with the amount of color she brings into each room.
Love the way the black pops against the bright white and soft pink (right photo). The stripes on the pendants are repeated again on the towels. Intentional? Also, Notice the snail vase? Ka-yoot.
Wonder if The Husband would mind if I swapped out our refrigerator for a pink one.
Now if only July would finally be as bright as this Cheerful Beach House.
-Irene Lovett
images via House Beautiful
EVO-Oh
A project I assisted on is in the latest issue of Modern Home + Living (available nationwide tomorrow). The 3.5 million dollar (whhhaaa???) Downtown Los Angeles penthouse (located in the EVO building) is the current event space for the founders of the magazine, designed by Kahi Lee.
Take a look:
Ciao,
Irene Lovett
I Like Your stILe: Vanessa De Vargas
On one of my many (many) visits to Home Goods, I picked up this - a book dedicated to shopping with thrift store pleasures. How perfect. Inside the book, I found several inspirational images, but some stood out more than the rest. Vanessa De Vargas is the L.A- based interior decorator behind these images embedded deep in my memory. I've seen her in passing at several events, including the W Residences event, and still have not been able to gather up the courage to confess my admiration. By stalking following her blog, Turquoise, I plan to one day attend some of the many events she discusses, in hopes I'll bump into her again. Let's hope I don't choke.
Check out her work.
I'll admit, I'm slightly drooling over these chairs.
This office has made several rounds in the blogosphere and still remains one of my favorites.
Hot pink lamps, gray walls, gold mirror. Ahhhhhhh, I'm singing with delight.
Vanessa is an expert when it comes to designing around vintage pieces. Her use of color, pattern and whimsy makes her design aesthetic ever so refreshing and hip.
Hope You Enjoyed,
Irene Lovett