Passions & Projects

Her hair might be pink at the moment, but the inspiration for YouTube it girl Maddi Bragg’s downstairs dwelling was quite literally very black and white.   Sending me some of her favorite interior pics from Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr, the gorgeous white washed images of tussled bedrooms and cozy couches were punctuated with bold blacks, beautiful blushes and at least 51 shades of grey.   And better yet, she liked ’em a little interesting or dare I say unusual, signaling to me perfect alignment with her strong sense of personal style and her honest confidence.   Immediately after lusting over the images she sent myself, I jumped online and began framing the vision in my minds eye with all…

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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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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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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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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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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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About an hour in, we abandoned the plan and went rogue.  And I’m so happy we did…         I’ll be back in Megan’s studio tomorrow (today – yikes!) and I’ll keep the photos coming!

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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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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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I wish I had the words to describe how crazy the last 3 weeks of life has been but even now, searching for them, I simply can’t find any to do it justice.  I guess it’s more of an undefined feeling that lies somewhere between sheer exhaustion and utter exhilaration that accounts for most of the blur, but truth be told, it was all in good messy fun!  And when presented with the opportunity to work with Lindsey Hughes, Beauty Baby 44, I knew I wasn’t going to let myself off easy.  So I guess I had it coming! But let’s get to the reason why you’re here, the transformation of Lindsey’s newly renovated downtown loft.  When I first met…

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This painted donut DIY is easy as pumpkin pie!  Seriously, if you can hold a paintbrush, you got this. It’s easy on skill but huge on style!  Pick your pumpkins, your paints and your donut style.  Paint your “donuts.” Let ’em dry.  “Ice” your donuts.  Let ’em dry.  Sprinkle on some happy, don’t be shy.  Let ’em dry.  Stack and style your DIY pumpkin donuts to trick or to treat or simply look good   enough to eat!      For more ways to style a pumpkin check out the ultimate no carve pretty pumpkin round up here!  

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   Before everything turns into a pumpkin, my kids and I decided to soak up the last remaining days of summer and give the prickly pineapple its’ fair share of fun in the sun.  The occasion, my husbands birthday, our plans…a little BBQ before naptime, but shhh…it’s a surprise!  His birthday was actually a couple of weeks ago but this is our first weekend in town to celebrate as a family. First up: Mason Jar Pineapple Planters 3 ways!  This one is as easy as pineapple pie! For 2 of the 3 versions, we painted the inside of the jars by dropping in the paint, giving it a good shake (Sebastian’s favorite part) and then letting it sit overnight to…

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September is going to be a busy month, good thing the kids will be in school soon enough and I’ll be so busy that I (hopefully) won’t even have time to be sad.  We shall see!  But I have 3 projects that I’m currently working on and have been busy Pinning away for inspiration, ideas and products!  The first is for a good friend of mine, an Emmy nominated make-up artist who is branching out and opening her own lash studio.  I’m super excited to get my hands on this space because when something is small, it means every inch is easily manicured and nothing gets neglected.  You’ve got the time, the energy and the budget to really make an…

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While spending last month designing and decorating NiCasa Showroom in downtown Los Angeles for my friend and NiCasa owner, Nicole, I was reminded of a little motto of mine, when in doubt, spray it gold.  I said it so often after hauling in truckloads of treasures that by the end of the week Nic herself was saying it in anticipation of my “plan” and I was no longer being met with the quite the same level of resistance over the idea.  Or the sound of  “Ok…sure…if…you…think…that…will…work?”  Why?  Because it did work and I made a believer out of her in record time.   So when in doubt, spray it gold — and spray it gold we did — matte gold,…

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