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Life's Messy…embrace it with good design and love what is

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Get the Look: A Room To Bragg About!

Maddi Bragg’s Scandinavian styled space is finally revealed and the tour is live on her YouTube channel! How do I know?  No, not because she told me, because my phone is going CRAZY!  Needless to say it’s been a race against the clock today to get this posted and I clearly lost as today just slipped into tomorrow!  So, that being said, I’m not going to get fancy or wordy here.  Plus you know how this works, you saw her apartment tour video and now I’ll show you how to get it if you want it or if you prefer to simply covet, I won’t judge! So here you have it, starting in the bedroom…    Quick note, I listed…

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From Pictures to Perfect: Making Meghan Hughes Concrete Loft Lush and (Dream) Livable!

A little over a year ago I had the absolute pleasure of working with YouTube star Lindsey Hughes aka Beauty Baby44, decorating and styling her (then new) downtown digs (below), so when little sister Meghan decided to make a move and try on her own LA loft for size, I think I jumped with glee.  No, wait, I know I did.      Every bit as bight eyed and bushy tailed as big sis Lindsey, Miss Meghan Makeup (to her YouTube fans) could not have been more different style wise and upon our first meeting a quick glance around her still unpacked loft (below) gave me a few clues into her design aesthetic.  She loves sunflowers, has a thing for dream…

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What the Location of Your Mess Says about You (and How to Fix It)

Over the weekend I stumbled across this interesting little ditty originally posted on Shelterpop.com (I found it via Popsugar.com) and instantly needed to know if the Doc had me pegged (or if I had me pegged for that matter!) when it come to my “mess.”  But just to be fair, I’m gonna go ahead and say this doesn’t apply to your kids’ or roommate’s or family’s mess.  Think YOUR stuff and your stuff alone. Ok.  Now your turn, here’s the article as posted to Popsugar: What the Location of Your Mess Says About You (and How to Fix It) ___________________________________________________________________ And just in case anyone is wondering, here’s my mess at the time of reading the article, not entirely sure…

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Currently Coveting: Madeline Weinrib Ikat

For the past 4 months I’ve been on the hunt for blue and white ikat pillows.  More specifically these couldn’t-get-any-better-if-they-tried Madeline Weinrib Collins Ikat Pillows. After first seeing these beauties steal the spotlight in an Elle Decor pic of a living room (below), I have been on a moderate to highly obsessed hunt to track them down and wrap my arms around their crisp sophistication and squeeze the loving right out of them.   And I had all but given up on this relentlessly reoccurring dream until earlier this week when I gave up.  Literally.  Then, as if the universe felt my moody blues kicking in, the source was revealed — along with my embarrassing failure to substitute the word…

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An Office Makeover You Have to See to Believe!

From the looks of my timeline and dates on my blog posts it would be reasonable to assume I spent the winter hibernating given the gap in content and contact, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  The reality is, I’ve been blissfully busy working with a #dreamcometrueclient, moving eagerly from one project to the next and enjoying every second of each transformation, half of which are still in progress.  And time simply flew by! I swear I blinked and it was April. That said, great decor doesn’t happen overnight, these things take time and sometimes that means a little more time than anticipated.  And as fate would have it, this tends to happen when good ‘ole “time” isn’t…

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Get The Look: Sophisticated Office Makeover

The inspiration for #dreamcometrueclient’s glam new office came from this sophisticated room posted on Elle Decor that made us go weak in the knees.  It’s chic and confident and effortlessly curated.  We loved the bright and crisp Madeline Weinrib pillows, the animal print X -bench ottomans, the lucite table…let’s just say we loved it all — and wanted it all.  But lusting aside, creating an equally swoon worthy office wasn’t as effortless as the style oozing from every stitch in this photo. My biggest challenges with the office were the floor and the cork wall.  Both of which were totally fine on their own, but paired together and creating the focal point of the room, competed with one another instead…

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Juju Hats Ruffling Feathers — Again!

As 2015 comes to a close and all the talk turns to “out with the old and in with the new,” the beautiful and mysterious African Juju Hat, my personal top 2015 decor obsession, has me tickled every shade of pink seen below.  Why?  Because I’m not alone in my quest for some answers regarding this (ever?) lasting trend and some good Juju to go along with it!   Now let me explain, the first time I saw one of these beauties was earlier this year in this Lulu and Georgia campaign (below), and while I had no idea what it was, I knew it was love.  I also remember thinking to myself, what is that fluffy beauty and how…

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Warming Up To Christmas Cali Style

Originally hailing from the East Coast, Christmas in California or simply the holidays here in general, never fail to both amaze me and sneak up on me at the same time.  Because without the cues from mother nature to signal their impending arrival, I always find myself dazed by the passing of time here in Los Angeles.  And even though I’ve now lived here for more than 15 years, I find I still miss those seasonal markers that announce The Holidays, and I suppose I always will.  I can also say that I will probably never get fully used to the idea of celebrating holidays on the beach but I’m not exactly complaining about it as much either. In a…

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Studio Reveal: 108 SQ Feet of Inspiration

It might be tiny but this once empty pool house turned high brow lash studio offers up some major inspiration in a modern yet bohemian kind of way — and it’s all packed into just 108 square feet.  So whether you’re drawn to the watercolored walls, the modern fixtures or the couldn’t be more perfect rug, there’s no denying the impact of the small space and its’ ability to make you lose any sense of its’ zip code as you take in all it has to offer.   Now I know I’m bias, but this is just the kind of room that is both calming and inviting without being predictable or dull.  It sets the cool and collected tone as…

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

Fall is upon us!  And by us I mean the west coast.  I know the rest of the country has known for weeks, maybe even months now (and to that I say, sorry?) but here in LA, it’s night number 3 I’ve closed all the windows, snuggled up in a sweater and still complained, I’m freezing.  I know, I know, I’m weak. It is after all November, and I’m aware the pumpkins are turning into reindeer.   And therefore it’s probably about time I pay attention to the plaids and chunky knits also piling high on the shelves and find a home in my home for some faux fur too.  Yup, I’m ready, cause not is sadly no longer an option….

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Design Dilemma: How to Hide an AC Wall Unit

Answer:  a wood pallet and a faux “living” wall! In Megan’s Lash Studio, smack in the center of the wall just below the ceiling is a large AC unit, 20” x 29” to be exact.  Now, that may not ordinarily seem like an oversized beast to tame, and in a larger space it’s really not, but you have to consider the room itself is only 12′ x 9′.  And it’s the first thing you see as you open the door.  Add on to that those walls I painstakingly watercolored and the AC unit became bigfoot with an ankle monitor, the monitor being one of the largest plugs I’ve ever encountered 4 inches below big Bertha.  And every day, for the…

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Heads Up!

When the idea hit me to install a wall of faux animal heads in my friends showroom in downtown Los Angeles, I had no idea the buzz it would create — or the amount of inquiries I’d receive from that one faux frenzied wall.  What started out as an idea that percolated in my head for a few days expanded into the showroom’s show stopper, growing from 3 or 4 faux heads to an entire wall.  The more I thought about it, and all it’s possibilities, the more dedicated I became to the idea and the more elaborate both the wall and the heads became.  I think on the one hand I was having so much fun adorning the heads with…

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Bar Cart Brigade!

Spotting a bar cart in an interiors photo these days is much like playing a game of where’s Waldo.  Some are completely conspicuous, standing dapper in the corner ready with your favorite drink while others are in camouflage – working hard to blend in while performing alternative duties.  But either way you cart it, there’s no denying this home accessory’s current fame — and as it’s popularity continues to rise, so do the uses it’s demanding public has has found for it!    Sans alcohol and all the traps and trimmings that make a bar cart easy to spy,  these multi purposed and uber functional carts have proven they’re up for any challenge.  You can spot them providing towel service,…

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Why You’ll Fall in Love With Black Doors too!

It was almost 2 years ago now that I first read an article on Houzz titled 11 Reasons to Paint Your Interior Doors Black, and like you, and as even the author of the article admits, it seems counter intuitive in a way.  Black?  Really?  It seems dark and goes against almost any image you can conjure up in your head of intetrior doors and I’m guessing you didn’t grow up with any painted anything but white or eggshell either.  Yet after seeing the photos, because words alone cannot convince you, I couldn’t wait to try it.  Nor could my friend Kristi who recently rennovated their new home.   We were instant converts and I’ll show you why! First up,…

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60 Second No Carve Pumpkins

Last year when the calendar turned to October 1, our house was one of the first on the block fully decorated.  And when I say fully decorated, I mean Sebastian and I spent 2 solid days preparing our house for the “candy” holiday  — and we were able to do so because the inside had been decked out for nearly 2 weeks.  How I managed to hold him off those two weeks I have no idea.  This year however, life is bit crazier  — I don’t even have costumes for the twins yet let alone time to carve a pumpkin. So, this year, not wanting to disappoint, I came up with 60 second pumpkins — it’s like speed dating for…

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Once Upon a Watercolor

After a few months on hiatus from this project, I’m finally back in my friend Megan’s soon-to-be lash and make-up studio.  When I originally posted Gettin’ Set to Bat an Eyelash, we were still finalizing the overall esthetic, but the one thing Megan absolutley wanted no matter what was a “wow” factor. She wants her clients to feel like they’ve escaped ‘the valley’ and create a space where they want to hang out and get comfortable. Now, it’s a tiny space, but anyone who knows me knows I LOVE SMALL SPACES.  Why?  Because it’s insanely EASY to make every square inch crazy good!  You can pack a whole lotta design into a small space and it’s also insanely easy to…

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The Power of a Good Mood(board)!

After I wrote Love Life Like Lindsey, I got to work on creating the vision board or mood board for Lindsey’s space, or one similar as this is currently on my wall and doesn’t surround a vanity.  But I did so because I wanted a test run before installing her actual wall for several reasons, the most important being it’s tone.  I wanted to have an actual reference sample so that we could have a meaningful conversation on what she wants her inspiration board to look like and find out what images do the best job for creating the emotions and feeling that truly inspire her.   And I wanted to do this because like me, she doesn’t take these…

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Love Life Like Lindsey – Inspiration Provided!

As I work on making sure Lindsey’s Hughes (a.k.a. BeautyBaby44) new loft is everything her heart desires plus all she never knew she wanted or needed, I find myself in very familiar territory — scouring Pinterest and the design blogs du jour in search of new ways to capture her creative spirit and nail them to the wall, literally. Maybe you guessed it — I’m dreaming up her collage wall.  And I say this is familiar territory because it was less than 6 months ago that I carved out my own little office space and filled it with happy reminders of what makes me tick, what keeps me engaged and what keeps me connected to a life filled with bliss….

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10 Chalkboard Tricks To Elevate Your Black and White

One of my favorite additions to Lindsey’s loft update is the chalkboard painted walls.  Not only do they allow Lindsey and all her friends a fun way to constantly update and personalize her space, but they are seriously functional and can be high on style as well.  And a simple google search will confirm just how serious some people take their chalk!  But fear not, to achieve a stunning black and white is actually pretty easy, so if you want to up your chalkboard game, here are a few tricks and tips to do just that.  Our kitchen is one giant chalkboard so I can promise these tips are tired and true and help you achieve any look you’re after!…

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