{ products i'm dying to use for my clients }

you know those pieces that you just can't get out of your head once you see them? like you look for every opportunity possible to be able to use them? well. i do. and i'm very impatient about it. 

there are about a zillion more wallpapers from Osborne and Little that I could list here (i want to use them all), but i think this one would be so darling in a kids room. 

i love this one too. is there anything more classic than blue and white? {via}

Ann Sacks has some of the most beautiful tile i've ever seen - i love the movement and pattern that this has. it's unique while still being classic. {via}

i love that this fixture feels rustic and a little traditional but modern all at the same time. 

i'd love to use this one in a more traditional setting - i actually designed a "fake" room around it the other day when i was just trying to free up some creative energy and do something without thinking about scale or budget or floorplans.

so there you have it - a few pieces i'm loving lately. thoughts? what treasures can you not get out of your head these days?

{ inspired by this: family-friendly bungalow }

i truly find myself inspired by so many types of design, but my favorite homes tend to be elegant (without being fussy), layered and collected (without being cluttered), and simple (but not lacking interest).

what i really love about this home is that it's exactly that: a home. design is not just about creating a beautiful space. it's about creating a space for people to live in. to sink into the couch and watch television in. to have their family over for dinner. to ring in the new year. and they can't very well do all of those things if their home feels like a museum. 

the gallery wall full of family photos, a classic roll arm linen sofa, and plenty of textures make this home feel interesting, personal, and completely approachable. 

what's inspiring you lately? happy hump day everyone! lovelovelove.

all photos via domaine home with interior design by jute.

{ monday morning coffee: stop thinking, start doing }

happy monday everyone! i hope the weekend treated you well. mine happened to be pretty full of work, but it was the best kind of work and left me even more excited to tackle this week. which is sort of what today's monday morning coffee talk is all about. 

i've been realizing lately that sometimes it really is more important to get something finished than to get something perfect. don't toil over every detail of a project so much that you start to hate it and lose your excitement. there are so many projects that i've wanted to execute but haven't yet because i felt like i couldn't get them just right. all of my fears about the project just fester and overwhelm me, and then nothing gets accomplished. this weekend was a weekend of creating. some of the projects were simple and some were elaborate, but it just felt so good to be getting things done. 

sneaky peeks of two of the projects above {the first one I worked alongside of the fabulous anna reynal - i can't even put into words how much better work is with a friend!}. stay tuned for more to come. i'm feeling good about this year, y'all. :)

have a wonderful week. lovelovelove.

{ TGIF }

{photo via my instagram}

oh my word y'all. i am so, so ready for the weekend. while i will be squeezing in a bit of work (client meeting / shopping trip tomorrow and a photo shoot on sunday) i am veryyy much looking forward to slower days and relaxing evenings. my brain is fried after this week and my house is a freaking dis.as.ter. i really don't know how it gets this way so quickly! one day it's spotless and the next it's a zoo. since our apartment was recently photographed, everything looked spik and span on the outside but if you looked in any drawer or closet it was stuffed to brim with junk. we have yet to get reorganized. don't even get me started on the piles of laundry and lack of groceries in the fridge...

just keepin' it real over here.

happy weekend all! here's to a little work, a lot of relaxing, a few glasses of wine and hopefully, some clean clothes. lovelovelove.

{ bold ceiling treatments }

i've been sourcing lots of bold ceiling treatment inspiration lately, and i have to say, i'm really into it. while i do really enjoy the look of painted ceilings (like the black one in the first photo above) i'm even more into the idea of wallpaper. a large scale pattern up above just feels so unexpected and whimsical, yet not overwhelming {when done right}. i have such a love affair with this hygge and west wallpaper its ridiculous.

{photo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

{ monday morning coffee: managing expectations }

{via}

sometimes i wonder how i can best use this little blog. it's become harder and harder to update as blogging becomes a bigger, more powerful and elaborate beast. as people keep saying, the blog world has changed over the last couple of years. it's not just about sharing inspiration photos anymore. inspiration is EVERYWHERE. in fact, i think that's half the battle. we're so high on inspiration all the time that we don't quite know how to put it into action. we're overwhelmed with ideas and don't know how to act on them. so instead of offering more inspiration on this monday that has me particularly stressed for the coming week, i thought that i'd spend each monday morning moving forward giving you a little update on what i've learned about my own little business as of late.

i think one of the biggest lessons that a new entrepreneur has to learn is how to manage expectations. both of his/herself, of his/her peers, of clients, etc. 

when you start a new project, especially when you're just starting out, it's SO EXCITING. you have SO MANY IDEAS. you think you have SO MUCH TIME. you imagine everything BIGGER AND BETTER. and then little by little, reality can set in just a little bit. you're spending tons of time on one project and not able to devote enough to others, your vision differs from a clients or your peers, the constraints of the deadlines and budgets begin to weigh on you...you get the picture. it's not all fresh flowers and fabric swatches. it's a lot of work. 

it is so important from the get go to enter a project with enthusiasm and high expectations for the outcome, but to not let that overshadow the less glamorous, but very important items like contracts, budgets, timelines, communication strategies, etc. taking the time to sit down and detail your expectations for each of these components of the project not only gives you and your client piece of mind, but it also allows you to focus more time on the fun stuff - the part that you're good at!

are there any other freelancers or business owners out there who have had to learn this lesson? do tell!

{ thoughts on valentines day }

{photo via}

it's not that i love valentines day, and it's not that i don't. all year round i tell myself that i don't care about this holiday and i'm content just to sit in with trevor getting take out and watching a movie. and every year i end up retracting that statement. all of the tweets and instagrams and posts about so and so receiving flowers at work or a fancy dinner out on the town or what have you, gets to me. so this year i learned to speak up from the get-go and say "VALENTINE'S DAY IS FRIDAY. I CARE. PLAN SOMETHING."

:)

so tonight we are using a gift card that we got at christmas to a local restaurant that we've been wanting to try for a long time, and i'm excited! i really don't think it'll be too extravaggant, but trev and i don't get to have many "dates" outside of the potbelly/chipotle variety these days, so i'm just excited to try something new and spend a little time together away from a tv and a computer. plus i've been cooped up in the house for the past couple of days thanks to that little snow storm everyone's talking about, and have a little case of cabin fever. ;).

happy valentines day everyone. hope you all feel the love!

{ snowed in }

{via}

it's been a crazy week around here. yesterday we were so excited to have serena from love by serena over to photograph our home. i can't wait to see the final photos. i love serena's work and know she did an incredible job.

today i'm snowed in and pretty much thrilled about it, minus the fact that i'm out of coffee. i've got plenty of client work to catch up, and a skype call later with anna to discuss some up and coming projects we're working on together. andddd i will be doing all of this from the comfort of my very own little office which recently got a facelift thanks to a new ikea desk, some furniture rearranging, the amazing chasing paper, and my new print from the everygirl shop.

little sneaky peak. i know, it's a lot of white. ideally i'll get new chairs at some point, but i also figure if there's one room you want to be white and washed out, it's the office. a nice blank slate. :)

happy thursday everyone. hope you're staying warm. lovelovelove.

take me to santa barbara

i know i'm not alone when i say that i'm pretty much done with winter. yes, there's still a part of me that hesitates to say that because i really try to appreciate and soak up all of individual seasons since there are so many things i truly love about each. but i'm ready to walk outside without feeling like i want to cry, and getting out of bed in the morning is such.a.chore. because it's just so dang cold.

which is why i've decided i'd like to go on vacation in santa barbara. and i've decided that this little house will do just fine. isn't it charming? i love that it feels like a real home instead of just a vacation house with a few leftover folding chairs and random furniture so that you don't have to sit on the floor (although truthfully i'd probably still take it :). i'm such a sucker for slipcovered dining chairs and am loving those barstools, along with pretty much all of the textiles. 

i can just picture myself waking up after a wonderful nights sleep, ready to greet the day by enjoying a cup of coffee on the little balcony outside of my bedroom, overlooking the gardens. ah yes. yes, that will be just fine.

but seriously, if you have an actual vacation coming up (not the virtual kind that i tend to take quite often) consider me jealous. i do hope one comes around at some point this year, but i suppose only time will tell.

hope you all have the best day. lovelovelove.

{ new living room lamps + happy weekend! }

we've been really, really needing lamps in this humble little abode. i mean, if there is a bigger mood killer when you're entertaining than glaring overhead light, i'd love to know what it is. all the ceiling lights in this apartment somehow feel especially blinding and harsh, so you can imagine how dang excited i was when my friend allyson (fellow past intern at the everygirl!) over at lulu & georgia offered to send over a pair of their beautiful lydia lamps. seriously, i can't get over how much better this place feels now with our new lighting situation. 

i particularly love the pretty gold detail on the edges. layered lighting is so important y'all. when i come home from work and switch on my little lamps, it's the simplest pleasure. do i sound overdramatic? i'm sorry. living with only overhead lighting for 6 months does that to me. 

bentley loves them too. don't let that forlorn face fool ya.

happy weekend, everyone! i hope it brings you lots of joy. lovelovelove.

{ the power of styling }

{ABOVE IMAGES VIA 1, 2, 3}

we're in the midst of finalizing corners of our home (which you will all see very soon!) and as i switch gears into styling territory i've realized that just about everything looks better with a bunch of branches. they add the perfect amount of texture and height, while feeling easy and relaxed. 

as a side note, i love the way all of these vignettes tell a story. finishing things up around here has been a little stressful for me because i have such a clear idea of how i want this home to feel. collected, soulful, warm. i want it to tell a story. unfortunately, two twenty-something year olds live here which means we can't always avoid big box stores like IKEA. i'm really relying on the final stages of styling to help keep things from feeling too sterile or generic. wish me luck!

hope you all have the best day. thanks for stopping in. lovelovelove.

{ enjoy today }

{photo via}

i started my day with a broken computer charger, meaning i was unable to work on my design projects or put up a new blog post. instead, i read, made a to-do list for the day and had a nice, quiet breakfast. around 9:30 i walked over to the local arts high school that i work at part-time (in the theater department). i answered some emails and did a bit of work around there and thought about the styling project that i need to make a dent in when i get home, and the two clients that i will be following up with later today. i even  thought about the business idea that i've been brainstorming the last couple of weeks, and how i could carry it out in real life. and then i got a phone call saying that a substitute is needed for a theater class in a local after school program tonight. would i be interested in filling in?

sure, i said!

sometimes i feel like i'm working on so many things and i'm not sure what each of them means. how do all of these things fit into my life? my career? how do i make sure i'm thriving in these areas and not spreading myself too thin? at the end of the day, what's the point in it all?

but.

sometimes you've got to stop assigning reason and calculating how every move you make and project you work on will add up to your ultimate success. today, i'm enjoying everything that i'm working on. and that's enough for now.

lovelovelove.

{ inspired by this: beacon hill town home }

i came across this photo over the weekend of this wonderfully whimsical beacon hill town home and just fell totally in love. i've decided that i need nine lives in order to live out of all of my decorating dreams. the more i'm immersed in interiors and design, the more i begin to appreciate it all.

it's a bold choice to use a wallpaper like this in such an open area, but this is done so, so well. there are just enough traditional details (foyer table, staircase) to help the design still feel grown-up and sophisticated, without watering down the playful aesthetic of all the colors and patterns. i am in complete awe, and inspired to push the boundaries this week with my own designs. 

make sure top stop over HERE to see the full house tour. happy start to a new week! lovelovelove.