{ 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!