DWR & House Beautiful

I fell in love with the home of Design Within Reach CEO John Edelman's Connecticut home in this months House Beautiful. It is the perfect mix of modern with traditional elements. A timeless masterpiece.

The white antler chandelier makes a fun statement when paired with traditional dark hardwood floors and grass cloth covered walls. And those black doors take a traditional french door to fabulous. This room would lose it's edge with traditional white french doors.

The living room is perfection. The windows and mouldings are too die for and then the furniture and color palette is classic perfection. I can't even discuss the fireplace as it's a piece of art. And I love that they threw a traditional sunburst above the fireplace - so unexpected in a modern room.

A great gallery wall in the living room gives the stairway importance and personality. It's one of the reasons this house is so appealing and warm. You can tell that the owners only add what they love and each item tells the story of the owners lives.

The dining room is amazing with the Satellite chandelier, Saarinen oval table that seats ten and the amazing leather Saarinen chairs. The traditional moulding in this room grounds the space and keeps it from being too modern or cold. You can tell that stories will be told, and bottles of wine will be poured around this table for hours. The perfect tell tale sign of a dining room. I'd love to spend hours in this room with friends and family.

Hello pool and amazing yard. Really??

And then you have to throw in the outdoor kitchen, casual dining table and 16 foot marble bar. It was inspired by the Amanyara resort in the Turks and Caicos. This space makes me crazy jealous. I can only imagine the entertaining and family gathering that's done in this space. Perfection.

Kudos to John and Bonnie Edelman for creating a beautiful but casual classic modern home.

Check out the April issue of House Beautiful to see the rest of the house.

A little bathroom glamour

I spent the day working on a clients master bathroom and powder room. Bathrooms should be functional (of course - that goes without saying) but should also reflect their owners sense of style. Whether it's ultra modern, cottage, traditional, etc - every room should tell a story about the people who live there. These bathrooms show the glamorous side of their owners.

Image via House Beautiful

The tile in this bathroom combined with the shell sink is drop dead. I bet the light in this powder room is very forgiving.

Design by Seattle's very own Carrie Hayden.

Image via Traditional Home.

Design by Kendall Wilkinson

Lovely and chic. But, in my house they'd be covered with little finger prints just like my stainless steel appliances.

Pink - The Color of the Year

Pantone declared Hot Pink the color of the year. Since then it's showing up in all the shelter magazines and blogs. A reader asked me if it's really a color for the home or if it's just a fashion accent color, so I thought I'd dedicate a post to the answer.

Hot pink is actually a great happy/mood-boosting color. If you've been reading me, you know that I'm a big believer in neutral foundations and using your favorite color as an accent or pop. That way when you get tired of it, it's easy and inexpensive to switch out. Well, hot pink can actually act as a neutral if you pick a shade that's saturated and sits down or is dirty (meaning not a bright day glow pink - there's nothing neutral about a fluorescent pink). Then, it just becomes the canvas or background for the pieces you want to be the focal point of the room.

Alessandra Branca uses hot pink and chocolate in a living room to create drama and warmth.

A hot pink entry via House Beautiful

One of my favorite bedrooms. The glamour of the hot pink, mirrored bed, pale pink bedding and brown Schumacher fabric.

Windsor Smith's hot pink living room.

Jonathan Alder's medium pink entry. Could live without the giraffe, but it's perfect for his brand.

And if Hot Pink is too much of a statement for you, Pale pink can act as a neutral as well.

Image via Traditional Home

Image via Gary McBournie. Love this pale pink, white and chocolate room. It's so soothing and romantic.

Hello headboard...

Jan Showers uber romantic pink and lucite room.

Sophisticated yet fun pale and hot pink room via Cote de Texas. Now this is the way to do a little girls room that will grow with her.

And if you don't like pink enough to paint your entire room, then you can bring it in via accent pillows or pieces. The color makes the room pop and gives it a sense of whimsy. I'm actually loving it as way to bring a little spring into your house right now.

Windsor Smith using a salmon pink as her accent. Lovely and unexpected.

Sara Richardson's hotel room for Breast Cancer awareness.

Love this white and pink room. So fresh. And again, when you don't like it anymore you just have to replace the pillows and drapes. Okay, and paint the cabinet. But this person obviously loves pink or doesn't mind switching color palettes every couple years.

A hot pink throw is an easy and affordable way to bring the color in.

A touch of hot pink on the back of a chair in an otherwise neutral room. An inexpensive pop that makes the room interesting.

Palmer Weiss's hot pink day bed in a neutral cream and blue room.

Palmer Weiss's using pink and citrine. Fabulous.

Massucco Warner Miller using pink as an accent in a yellow and brown room. Brings the room to life and makes it modern.

Hard to see in this picture, but Mary McDonald paints the ceiling of this blue room pink. This is my kind of master bedroom.

The master of Modern design, Kelly Wearstler paints her doorway Salmon pink and uses it as an accent in the entry.

Hot pink poufs make a dynamic statement in this room.

Traditional french chairs covered in hot pink faux leather. Image via House Beautiful.

A black and white office with a dose of hot pink from Elizabeth Martin.

A rustic yet glamourous room with chocolate and pink from Elizabeth Carney.

Amanda Nisbet's famous hot pink room. A classic.

So does bringing a little pink into your house feel a little less scary now? It's a great way to boost your mood and transform a room. And it's not just for little girls rooms - it's a very classic color when paired with other neutrals as an accent or used as the main color.

Now go forward and bring a little pink into your life. It might just make you smile.

I'm back!

Boy was it a long few weeks of misery. I know cold season is terrible, but I never expected my house to be it's own little petrie dish of pneumonia. My husband was the only one to not get it and on Tuesday night, right as we emerging from the darkness, into the light of happy healthiness, he says he isn't feeling good, feverish even. That was enough to make me pray to whoever will listen "please, do not get sick!!" Thankfully, he seems to be okay, but I'm watching him...

In the dull-drums of sickness, I was scavenging on the shelter mag sites and after much disappointment that Town and Country's website is still so terrible, it lead me to the "Designer Visions: Cinema Style" series that House Beautiful, Veranda and Town & Country did. Of course I've seen the apartment by Jim & Phoebe Howard because they are one of my favorite teams. But I missed the apartment done by Richard Hallberg.

The main reason that it caught my attention: Wall Street. I know it's silly because I should have been attracted to the design aspect of it, but do you all remember the original Wall Street apartment?! I saw it again recently and it is so comical! I wish there were photos online, but for good reason, no one has given it the time of day. 1987 wealth meant something VERY different, that is for sure!

Richard Hallberg saw this project as the roost of a Wall Street titan. I'm not sure a real titan would be this understated, given what's come out over the last few years about the lavish lifestyles of the Wall Street rich and infamous, but it's a nice interpretation of how it could all be in a more restrained world.

Flipping Out

Okay, so I'm dying to see the House Beautiful Kitchen of the Year by Jeff Lewis from Flipping Out. It's in Rockefeller Center from July 19th - July 23rd.

Flipping Out is one of my true evening pleasures. No one makes me laugh like Zoila. Well, Jeff and Jennie make me laugh just as hard but in a different way. I can't wait for the show to start again. I'd kill to hang out with that crazy man on a daily basis. Now, that's my idea of fun!

But since that won't be happening anytime soon, the show will have to support my need for sick humor, fab design, and the perils of managing a construction project. It's always satisfying to watch Jeff yell at the contractor since I can't do that on my jobs. But in the meantime, I'm super excited to see his modern take on a kitchen and outdoor living space. It will be so different from the gorgeous Ina Garten kitchen of last year, which is one of my favorite kitchen spaces.

I can't wait, Jeffy. I know you won't disappoint.

Ina Garten's 2009 Kitchen of the Year

Citrine

On a recent trip to Bend, Oregon I spotted a chair (you know the ones for the men while they sit and wait) in an apparel store that caught my eye. I'm not much for yellow - but it was not the run of the mill soft, safe yellow you usually see. It was the most beautiful citrine color. Not quite yellow, not quite green - just the perfect fresh color that's exciting and strong yet subtle. So gorgeous and it would work with almost anything. Not to mention that it was a silk/linen blend which can never go wrong in my book.

I couldn't stop thinking about this chair and how I would like to use this color in a bedroom. Then I opened the new House Beautiful and there was the perfect room! The done in a day makeover by designer Amanda Nisbet. So Parisian in it's elegance and simplicity, but a touch of bohemian with the accent fabrics.

I love simplicity and personality of the room, but that headboard made me quiver. Gorgeous, and the perfect complement for that sweet citrine linen french chair.

I've got a few of these french chairs hanging around my storage unit. Who's really for a little hit of citrine in their life. Looks like maybe I am...