Celebrity Designer Photo Favs

The New York Times recently had five celebrity designers choose ten of their favorite photographs from the New York Times Store's collection. 

It was fun to look through the 50 selected photos and see the personalities and styles of the designers shine through. And that's when I came up with a little game...

Match the designer to the photo!

Each designer shown above chose one of the five photos shown below. 

Can you make a match? (Answers are below)

{Green, 2006}

 

{Black Mask, 1967}

{Parachute Jump, Coney Island, 1946}

 {Guggenheim Interior, 2005}

{The Octopus, 1912}

There are LOTS, well 45, of other photos to look at if you're interested. And they are for sale if you find one you love.

Answers: Top to bottom - Tom Filicia, Jonathan Adler, Laura Kirar, Kelly Wearstler, Vicente Wolf

Time to paint...

...your nails! Have you heard of Butter London?

While we try to keep this blog all about the exciting world of interior design, today I wanted to share something that will help keep the ladies looking well cared for and fresh this holiday season! :) 

I learned about Butter London nail lacquer when my best friend dropped in on my mother-in-law, who in turn told me about her FABULOUS deep emerald, shiny nails. Trust me, these are not cheap looking, crazy-colored paints. My best friend is a real life shopaholic who actually attends fashion week (isn't that really only for celebrities?!), and her green nails mixed with authentic designer duds looked tasteful and fresh - just a perfect tweak to the dark burgundy, brown or black nails everyone has been sporting over the last few chilly seasons. Oh, and don't fret, there are more subtle colors too. 

Another reason I like Butter London is that in addition to the fun colors available, the nail lacquers contain NO FORMALDEHYDE, TOLUENE OR DBP - hence the "3 free" label. And they are made in the USA. We love finding products like this - definitely, GEORGE approved!

Here are a few of my favorite DARKS (it was hard to pick, there are so many)...

{Butter London's British Racing Green, Chimney Sweep & Branwen's Feather}

A couple of pretty PINK & RED CLASSICS...

 {Pink Ribbon, The Old Bill & Pillar Box Red}

And some shimmery, SHOW STOPPERS (again, so many pretty shimmers!)...

{Diamond Geezer, The Full Monty & West End Wonderland}

What do you think? Do you plan on adding some sparkle to your holiday wardrobe?

Just for Giggles

So this is just a quick video that confirms Kelly Bensimon is a little nutty. If you watch The Real Housewives of NYC (yes, I do and am not ashamed!) you know what I'm talking about...

I wonder what clients would think if we showed up with jellybeans and bedazzled champagne bottles?! 

Showering Baby Maynard Aloha-Style!

This past weekend Emily's parents and sisters, along with her husband Slug's (aka Chris) mother, flew in to celebrate the soon-to-be new addition to their families! The outdoor Hawaiian-themed party was perfect - almost too perfect, as the weather over-cooperated and gave us one of the hottest days of the summer! I'm not sure how Em managed with the heat, if you've been pregnant in the summer you know what I mean. ;) Being seven months pregnant definitely looks great on her!

Grandma Maynard organized the most adorable laundry line of itty-bitty clothing, tights and sleepers. It was so cute watching Emily pull and pull, and PULL, more stuff out of that basket!

Of course there were many oohs and aahs over the clever baby gadgets and sweet outfits they received...

I wish I got a picture of all the yummy food (lots of bbq, pineapple & dried cherry couscous, watermelon, tomato & feta salad, etc), but I only managed to capture the colorful surfboard and baby pram cookies. It was all delish!

{You know you're only mins from the beach when you have surfboards lying around ready to become a table!}

Lastly, some of the wee party guests. Here is cutie Luciana and my daughter Rael - baby Maynard's eagerly awaiting playmates!

Oh, and big brother George!

The shower was fabulous, but what is more fabulous is that Emily and Slug are going to be parents! 

Emily - I am so grateful for the friendship we have developed over the last few years! You are a great friend in many ways, but the fact that you fully understand my love for design and are just as willing to talk about it for hours makes our friendship that much more special. I can't wait until we will have yet another 'love' in common - our baby girls! In addition to discussing color, fabrics and furniture, I look forward to gabbing with you about the joys of motherhood, and commiserating about those tiring days too! ;) 

Wishing your growing family lots of love, health and happiness - can't wait for the reveal of your newest little "design"! xo

The Jewels of Rue

For those of you who don't know (there has been a lot of blogging about this!) a new - and free! - design e-mag launched last week! So far there are many jewels hidden deep within Rue's electronic pages - our favorite jewel from the premiere issue, however, is this GORGEOUS necklace by Elva Fields!

We are thrilled that Elva Fields was included in this issue because they have amazing, one-of-a-kind vintage jewelry, but also because the owner/designer happens to be our Emily's sister-in-law Emily. Yes, both of these talented designers are named Emily Maynard! If you haven't surfed over to Elva Fields' website yet you should because their unique necklaces made with vintage finds make a perfect statement and look beautiful when you're dressing up or going casual!

My husband surprised me with this Elva Fields necklace a few years ago and I still love it. I need to buy another one though, because the designs just keep getting better and better!

{Elva Fields, vintage celluloid belt buckle & crystal necklace}

Some of their current goodies...

Day By Day

Our moods change day by day, and the various colors of jade--from melon-y pink to chartreuse--will suit your every temperament. The addition of polished brass from India to highlight the leafy petals of a vintage flower brooch adds some stability to the swings, and brass leaf hook fastens the five strands at back.

Hold Nothing Back

"Express not repress" is what we always say, and you'll say it loud and proud in this all-out amazing combination of whimsy, style, fearlessness, and fun. Truly vibrant orange glass beads from Africa have the most wonderful etched finish and texture, and, en masse in 7 strands, they are positively breathtaking. They make the greatest hold-nothing-back statement as a torsade, and with a pair of vintage rhinestone brooches (mis-matched but quite the team together, each over 3" wide) they are full-on expressive in both scale and style.

Back From "The Beach"

Every August my husband's family meets at "The Beach" for a couple weeks of family time. My mother-in-law has been vacationing at this specific beach in Maine since she was four, and has only missed a couple of years in between! She started bringing her husband here when they were newly married in 1969, and brought up her three kids on this sand and in this surf. Let's just say it's by far the most special place for their family, and holds MANY memories for them - and in fear of being banished from the family, I will not disclose it's name or location. :)

This little settlement of cottages and beach is only accessible by one long and narrow road, and is quite tiny. What I love most about this beach is that most of the cottages are still small and quant - it feels very much like an old, tucked away, sleepy community.

My daughter had a BLAST running into the waves and playing in the sand...

If only you could bottle this kind of joy...

Back to some design talk...while I was away, the finale to Design Star aired and so I JUST got to watch in on DVR today. The surprise was ruined for me last week, but it was still fun to watch Emily win! I'll have to give myself a small tap on the back for picking her as my fav after the first episode. ;) In all honesty, she was the best and I love watching her quirky personality on camera. Unlike previous winners, I will actually watch her show Secrets From a Stylist!

Hope you're all having a good week. I can't believe it's September!!

Welcome, welcome!

Hello to all of you visiting via Better After! 

I am so thrilled to have been featured on Better After yesterday for my bedroom mirror project. Thank you so much for all of the thoughtful and positive comments - it is so nice to hear what other people think of my bedroom! I think that everyone is their own worst critic, so it is great to hear words of encouragement from others. :)

Hope you all have a great weekend! I'm spending my last day in vacationland (Maine) tomorrow and will hopefully fill you in on my fun trip out East next week!

Design Star: Rooting for Emily!

Remember way back when I mentioned how I had a good feeling about Emily on Design Star? I claimed her as my pick for finalist, and as each Sunday night passes, I'm so glad I did! This past week the last three contestants had to design a space in a glass room - they were finally allowed to design for themselves but were told to create a room that demonstrates what their show will be about if they win.

I LOVE the space that Emily designed!

{Great cowhide rug, amazing old chairs, yummy green sofa, perfect mix of coffee & side tables, darling fabric wall, fantastic vintage funk - and my fav, the fabulous fiddle leaf fig)

{Design by Emily Henderson}

Emily's show would be about designing with fashion as inspiration. Meaning take apart how you dress, and use your fashion style as inspiration for your home. When talking about her room, Emily described how she used a great blue and white fabric on the back wall similar to her blue patterned dress, she mixed in vintage details found on her dress as vintage chairs (both midcentury modern and Louis versions), and mixed in touches of brass and sparkly accessories to represent the jewelry she wears. I wasn't sure how she was going to make this concept work, but have to say that it was pretty fun to watch her go through the room and explain. And, I would genuinely love to watch her do it again because I love how this room turned out! I really hope Emily wins her own design show next Sunday! ps. I found Emily's blog 'here' where she talks about the show, goes more into detail about what she did in each challenge, AND gives shopping sources!

What do you think of Emily's space? Who do you want to win?

Here's her competition...which I happened to LIKE as well.
It's just not LOVE.

{Design by Michael Moeller}

Going personal...

Hey there! We have FINALLY got around to adding About Us tabs to the top of our blog! We love learning fun and personal tidbits about our favorite bloggers, and hope each of you will enjoy learning a smidgen more about our backgrounds, daily lives and loves!

We've gone personal...

 

Superficial...

      

& Designer...

Time to go check out those tabs - enjoy!

Emily's Fav!

Emily sent me over to check out her favorite designer's portfolio - you must take a look at the work of Tom Scheerer! It was chock-full of beautiful and inspiring images, and I also happen to love how it was organized - city, country, beach, commercial.

While there are many many portfolios out there that I love to browse and most contain stunning images, I seldom find one that is full of designs with out of the ordinary and unique ideas.

Not completely unheard of, but I don't see floating beds often. I'm really liking all the varying texture and furnishing styles in the first image with the twin bed, and the second room seems like an extremely relaxing and airy place to sleep...something about sleeping in the middle of a room seems freeing to me!

How about all those circular rugs? Quite unexpected, and I like!

{All images via Tom Scheerer Inc}

Don't you love Scheerer's inventive designs? It's refreshing to see spaces that are playful and creative, yet elegant and timeless. Definitely a FUN portfolio to peruse!


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Okay, this is Emily now.. I just had to weigh in on this posting dedicated to Mr. Scheerer since I adore his work. (thank you Saara for writing this post!)

Dear Tom,

I love the way you so seamlessly maneuver between so many different design styles; urban to country to your set-point-style, island...



I love how you have so much fun playing with design elements to truly create something captivating to look at.





I love that when I discovered your website, I realized that I probably had 20+ of your rooms already stored away in my design binders.



I love your clean style that somehow always feels completely liveable.




And lastly, I love your color combinations and how you almost always incorporate something playfully unexpected in every room.


Thank you for the design porn as Joe and Kim over at Desire to Inspire like to say:)

Love, Emily