Beautiful...

On my way to "back-to-school" night this evening, I saw the most spectacular rainbow overhead.

The iphone photo does not do it justice.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Update: Trying out a black door - and a visit from Charlotte

On Saturday, in an effort to feel out the black interior door idea - I dug out an old gallon of black paint and slopped it on to the inside of our front door in two messy coats (after letting my girls have a little fun with "Do-A-Dots" all over the door).  Pardon the messy paint job, and messy foyer...

Here you can see the Craftsman-style light fixture that I'm thinking of replacing since it doesn't really fit the style of our home or decor.

I can't say this little "trial" is making the decision easier for me.  Clearly, with my messy paint job and this old door - it doesn't look like the beautiful black interior doors I see all over magazines and blogland - but, I think there's potential.  It's also hard to tell with this door, since our new door will have few or no windows.  Any thoughts?  What about navy blue - which would tie in to the many blues in our living and dining room?

As to our visit from Charlotte...



I opened our front door on Saturday morning, and found that she had woven a fantastic web right in front of our storm door.  We (ahem, Mr. 12 devonshire) swept aside the web and we lost track of her... until Sunday morning, when we found this (above) outside our dining room window.  Well, it might have been a relative (I think Charlotte was even bigger)... but, those are some busy (and GINORMOUS) spiders.  Yikes!

My little spanish fiesta

Last night, I hosted book club, and made a Spanish-themed spread... sangria, gazpacho, olives, spinach and chick pea salad, patatas bravas, seasoned almonds, Spanish cheeses, and some other treats. 

I had fun using my mortar and pestle for the first time!

We enjoyed the book (written by a friend's fiance)...

and we had a great time catching up!

Chair: what I meant to say yesterday!

I tried to write my chair post from my iphone yesterday since our wireless was down, but the text didn't come through, so all I managed was a too-small, off-center photo - sorry!

So, what I had planned to say was that I learned a few lessons through this upholstery project:
1) Upholstery is hard, but not rocket science. 
2) Proper materials do make a difference.  I was too impatient to wait to buy the double-welt cording, so I improvised with regular cording, which ended up coming out bulkier than I would have ideally liked.
3) Must stock-pile hot glue sticks... it's no fun to run out in the middle of a project!
4) The gratification of finishing a project does not outweigh the misery of waking up for work on only 5 hrs of sleep.  Must stop staying up so late!

And, on that note - it is now after midnight and officially my birthday!  I'm looking forward to going to bed now, and waking up to a fun day off with my girls followed by a celebratory dinner tomorrow evening!

And, since that was way too many words - with no eye candy, here's a pretty foyer:

Robyn Karp

Wishing you a bright and cheery weekend!

Our royal evening...

We had the honor of being invited to an incredible event on Friday - the 56th Annual Corcoran Ball.  It's unusual for us to get all dressed up and have a "grown-up" evening out.  We had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and meeting new people.  The setting itself - the Corcoran Gallery - was unbelievable.  The museum's collection spans the centuries and the event filled nearly the entire space, spilling from exhibit to exhibit.  Each room had it's own color scheme and decor to fit within its surroundings - it was inspiring to see all the creativity that went into planning this event.  I couldn't help taking pictures of the various tablescapes!  Sorry for the grainy iphone pics. 

Remember my post about P. Kaufman's Luca Fabric?  This room had a pink/chartreuse color scheme with Luca tablecloths.  I love it even more now that I've seen it in person. 

I adore hydrangeas... beautiful.

I'm hooked on paisley lately, and adored this setting with the lovely paisley tablecloth, Haviland's Illusion china in Endive, and the interesting flatware.

 Among the kookie modern art - like the "installation" above...

... was this dramatic setting with black pantone chairs, metallic table and bold floral centerpiece.

Finally, a peek at our table - situated among 17th century Dutch paintings...

The wood-handled flatware was my favorite element.

But, the trim on the tableskirt was pretty fabulous, too.

And, the dessert tasted as good as it looked!

  

Here I am in my gown by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.  I did my own makeup...

oh wait, no... that's Kate.  (I loved her dress, by the way... classic, stunning and fit for a princess!)

Too cute

I'll try not to make a habit of posting about toddler clothing, but these embroidered tee-shirts at the Gap are just too cute. 

I even considered buying this elephant one to turn it into a pillow or framing the elephant.  Sounds odd, I know - but it reminded me of our turquoise/orange nursery. 

Here I go!

It started at 12 Devonshire Place... my passion for design.  In London, we lived just a few moments' walk from the incredible shops on Marylebone High Street - Conran Shop, Grange, Skandium, the Little White Company, Daunt Books, Emma Bridgewater, Cath Kidston, Divertimenti, just to name a few.  A few more steps down to Oxford Street, and I would find myself spending hours browsing the homewares and fabric sections in John Lewis.  (Posts to come in the future about these amazing shops.  But, in the meantime, check out this site for street views and info:  http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/marybone/mh1_east.htm) 

Of course, hints of this passion were evident earlier on - whether turning a cardboard box into an elaborately decorated castle, rearranging my bedroom furniture monthly, or reupholstering my college dorm room's standard issue furniture (with a chili pepper fabric and a hot glue gun, of course - I hope it will become evident that my tastes have matured since then - though my love affair with the hot glue gun is going strong) - not to mention obsessing over every detail of my wedding. 

Yet, it hadn't crossed my mind to pursue a creative career.  Instead, I followed the left side of my brain to law school and have been practicing for several years.  Being a full-time working wife and mother of two wonderful girls has left little time for design - but, I manage to squeeze in a quick daily tour through the design blogosphere and somehow find hours to obsess over (and make some progress on) the ever-growing list of house projects.  Since I have found endless inspiration through design blogs, I hope this blog will offer the same to others.  I plan to share information, photos and tutorials about projects I'm working on; links to things, places, people and sites that I love; and lots more!