channeling the lighter shades of wood

Hey all! Ever since I saw a pair of blonde mid century chests my mind keeps thinking about the mid to lighter shades of wood. I've even considered liming out my silly oak cabinets in the hallways and in my bathroom. So far I have liked this tutorial as well as this one.

Any of you have experience with liming, pickling or white washing?

Happy weekend! CITRUS=HAPPY

Hi all you happy weekenders! I've been feeling a little citrusy as of late. Must be the scene and the sweet aroma of all of the orange tree blossoms outside of my bedroom window.

Also the boys and I have been on quite a few dates lately. On one of these said dates they helped me to drag home a pair of twin headboards for a fancy friend of mine...and whatdoyaknow they are a dead ringer to that of Trina Turks...what timing. We will certainly have ours lacquered up very soon. Did you happen to see Trina's happy home in Matchbook Magazine?

{most of the above images from from Matchbook Magazine..photography by Bonnie Tsang}

The study of a triangle

I have really been loving the triangle shape. In fact I am drawing my next bit of inspiration for some drapes from the above photo. The space is designed by Connie Beale and is virtually vintage being that it was published way back in the March 2005 issue of House & Garden. Then the photo right above the bottom one is from Hamish Bowles home and was published a couple years ago in the Vogue Living Australia. I actually posted about it here if you want to see more pictures.

All other sources can be found on my triangles board.

Happy weekend!

A guest judge for Minted's new art prints

Who likes Minted? Well you are going to like them even more when I tell you that they are set to start selling art pieces. In fact I was truly honored to participate as a guest judge for The First-Ever Minted Art Print Challenge. It was a tricky decision coming up with the winner of my favorite print but after going through hundreds of submissions I finally settled on the print. Want to see?

The print is called Wildflowers by Kelli Hall. Kelli is a designer from Atlanta and also has quite a few other designs that are pretty great. This is what I had to say about the print I chose over on Minted:

“In my mind Highway Wildflowers is a winner not only for the fact that it is an abstract but also for its beautiful colors,” says Christina. “I feel that every home could benefit from an abstract piece like this one because it is fun, fresh, modern, chic and sophisticated. Also abstracts are not just for modern homes but in fact sometimes look the best when juxtaposed with traditional elements.”

A few more art pieces designed by Kelli.

Anyway, go here and sneak a peak of the first batch of art pieces that will be available through Minted at the end of March. There are lots of other great artists to pursue as well..I'm also a fan of Annie Clark's work.

On a side note that's not all the sidenote-ish because it has something to do with judging but.... I thought ya'all would be so interested in the fact that I lived out my life long dream of judging a pageant. I can't believe that I never shared that with you (actually I can).

My life is now complete...ha

Hip hip hooray for Goodwill pulling through on a vintage dress that I wore to the event and hip hip hooray for husband taking so many darn pictures:-) Note the orange judging pencil.

Stay tuned for some more design inspiration.

Loves.

lately and a motherhood moment

"If any of us engaged in the work of mothering thought much about it as the task of fashioning the fine points of civilization, we would be frozen into immobility by the enormity of the task" (Loud and Clear, 57, Anna Quindlen)

Frozen is right!! Sometimes as a Mom I am completely overwhelmed by the task at hand that I almost literally freeze and do nothing but just stare at the wall. Then there are other times I am sure that I can take on the world and may as well bust out a cape and my wonder woman cuffs.

I really love being a Mom and feel that it will be the very most important and noble job I will ever take on. A few things that were working for me last week:

*Can we just say that a live kefir/young coconut combo at the gelatto shop just about heals everthing. I can't tell you the happiness that is in the concoction.

*Cleaning the house really really good for the first time in weeks knowing that the kids were only going to come home from school and mess it up. That is when I thought an outing to Fountain Hills was just what the doctor ordered. It worked! We didn't get home until bedtime..which extended the clean time and my fuse.

*Planning all of the wildflower outings/hikes to go on after I picked up a copy of Arizona Highways magazine...that was a great and healthy distraction if I must say.

*A vintage ceramic head at the antique store that looked a little Anjelica Huston-ish. I may need her to liven up a space in my home.

*Desert drives are the best this time of year. Cactus are just so sculptural and unique. We passed a new lake and let the kids get out and take their shoes off to play in the water.

*My sister came over with her cute kids. When she came to the door she looked like a million dollhairs and then turned to walk away and by golly her sunglasses were hanging on by one arm. That is when she said baby Anna had broken it off. I smiled again at the things motherhood does to oneself.

It's crazy because as a mom if you don't loose yourself you won't find that better part of yourself and if you loose yourself too much then you are just plain lost..oh that whole balancing act can be a tricky thing...ya know??

Hope this will be a nice week for all.

Bonkers for Apparatus Lighting Design

I am absolutely bonkers for the the above lighting pieces that are from Apparatus Studio. To me the pieces are a perfect marriage of modern meets vintage. These light fixtures were born when designers Gabriel Hendifar and Jeremy Anderson started playing around with vintage lighting components. Aged brass, painted glass and found objects assembled by hand to create eclectic, utilitarian fixtures. I love that these pieces still look so fresh and current. Can we talk about the styling of these photos?? May be due to the fact that Gabriel Hendifar's interior design work has been featured in Elle Decor.

drapes and color inspiration with a dash of flora

Well good morning. I have drapes on my mind. Window treatments can be so ridiculously expensive..especially if one can not sew and wants something custom. Today I have children's spaces on the brain and had in my mind that I wanted something solid in color. I then thought about checking IKEA or other retail establishments but was afraid I would be very limited to the colors I could choose from. Then while surfing the web I found a line that had some wonderful looking colors. I'm not too sure about the quality but I am willing to give them a shot because they are great colors at a great price. The colors in fact remind me of J. Crew Spring and a bunch of paint chips that I recently picked up from Sherwin Williams. Once decisions are made then I think this is a great season to top off any look with a great flora..like that of Peter Dunham's fig leaf fabric, no?

Charming home in France

Take me to France now and I would work out my issues with chipping paint later. Seriously is this not the most charming place? Straight out of a movie.

The above space designed by Isabel Lopez-Quesada.