Childstyle Shoot

Last week when I posted my Weekend Instagram I neglected to share one very important weekend event and that was the Saturday shoot of Bryan's nursery for Childstyle.  Childstyle is a new HGTV web series starring blogger Rebecca Woolf of Girls Gone Child.  It was so much fun to have the whole crew here (and it didn't hurt that they served us Cacao for lunch) filming, getting to know us and doting on Bryan.  We really enjoyed meeting everyone and sharing our home with them and can't wait to show you the segment once it goes live.  Stay tuned for links later in August!  Here are some pics from the shoot (including Bryan's "spoiled country club baby with beer" pose).

Weekend Instagram

Scenes from the Venice Home and Garden Tour

Art that Looks Like Interiors....

1. Table by Oscar Narud
Other sources unknown
-Lauren

Design Lessons: Ikat, a labor of love

I went to West Week at the PDC about a month ago. Not only did I get to meet Holly Hunt in person, but I also attended a great presentation by Tim Johnson of Jim Thompson (yes, you heard that right - I did not get the letters mixed up) on the process of making their eponymous Thai silks.  There were tons of fascinating tidbits, like, did you know that the mulberry trees they use are not in fact trees but bushes? And did you know that fine silk is like fine wine, affected by the soil, climate, and other conditions that affect the mulberries and hence the silkworms?  And that silk weaving on a hand loom is a family business that is passed down from generation to generation?  

And what I found the most interesting was learning about Ikats. The explosion of Ikats in the textile world that has taken place over the past five years stems from a laborious process that is steeped in history.  Ikat is a woven fabric. Well, I suppose almost all fabrics are woven, but what I mean is that the pattern is woven in versus printed on white goods.  Woven patterns in and of themselves aren't unusual.  There are woven plaids, jacquards and all sorts of tapestries and crewels with woven in patterns.  Ikat refers to its own special type of woven pattern process.  The word for Ikat in Thai is "Mud-mee". It is a made up of two separate words which literally translate as ‘to tie - threads’ and these two short words perfectly sum up how this particular textile is made. What is different about Ikat and what gives it its sort of flamed / rough edge quality is that the pattern is created by dying the weft yarns not one color but a series of colors, or rather by tying off sections of the yarn so that some resist the die.  It's like tie dying a piece of yarn instead of an entire piece of fabric. After dying the yarns the weavers line up the weft yarns on the loom by hand which creates the uneven "mis-aligned" edges or watercolor effect of the pattern.  Nowadays, many Ikats are printed, because, as you can imagine, a true Ikat requires hours upon hours to weave and get right (not to mention a degree in higher mathematics).  Check out the images of the process courtesy of Jim Thompson:

Creating the tied off sections and dying the yarns.

Untying the yarns and putting them on the loom.

Weaving and the final product Jim Thompson's 'Chloe' silk.

Blogger Style Challenge: Leigh's Layers 2

Leigh put together a second style board for my Blogger's Style Challenge. It's fun, casual and comfortable. I can't believe those awesome kicks are from Naturalizer!

[1] Phoebe Coleman Love me Tender Necklace
[2] Chambray Jacket
[3] Loft Shirt Dress
[4] Hayden Harnett Kitana Shoulder Bag
[5] Naturalizer Corina Pump

Fantasizing

I'm not the gambling type, but back when the mega-millions jackpot hysteria was happening I jumped on the bandwagon and bought a ticket.  If anything, buying a lottery ticket gave me the license to daydream for a few days.  If I could have my dream life, what would it be?  Which got me thinking, why not create a lifestyle board on pinterest that captures the life I'm striving for in images.  Granted, winning the jackpot and creating realistic life goals are not one and the same. If I won the lottery I'd have to figure out where I'd want all of my various abodes to be and what sort of charitable foundation I'd like to start. In reality though, I'd love to live in one city that has most everything I'm looking for and the luxury of time to devote to the purposes I hold dear.

So here it is.  It doesn't really say all that much about career and family goals.  I actually think I'm doing pretty well in those departments and am on the right track.  So let's just call this more of an adult game of MASH and a sort of visual life mood board if you will. 

The general picture? Living in a brownstone in Brooklyn with just enough outdoor space for entertaining and for the kid(s) to play.  A stones throw from Manhattan and a short jaunt or bike ride to all the great parks, restaurants and other amenities that Brooklyn has to offer.  And of course running my own home-based design business including my hardware line. What sort of concept board would you create for your life?

Images: 1 / 2 /3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

This Weekend on Instagram

Since the Socal weather was so amazing, most of the weekend was spent outdoors swimming, lounging on the patio and having a great bloggers' meetup. Thanks to for coming everyone!  Here are a few instagrams I snapped before hand.  More photos and a complete lineup of all the fabulous attendees to follow.

Art that Looks Like Interiors....

1. Bathroom by Myriam Balay-Devidal
2. Dining Room by Pat Steir & Joost Elffers via Elle Decor
3. Dining Room by Stephen Shubel

 - Lauren

Dining Delicacies

Honestly, I'm not sure why I keep trying to do these alliterative post titles.  Kind of silly, right?  I swear "Dining Delicacies" is my last one and I'm on to more sophisticated and mature post names.  In any case, I've shown you the Master Bedroom and Family Room that I helped my friends with. The dining space is the final area that they asked me to give them ideas for. They'd bought this beautiful table and chairs from Restoration Hardware and specifically requested a flocked damask wallpaper, so it was a pretty easy space to do (don't you love clients that know what they want?).  The rest was just a matter of creating some drama with dark walls and having some simple drapery that doesn't compete.  I think it works nicely with the other two "rustic industrial chic" spaces that we've created thus far.

[1] Wine Barrel Chandelier

[2] West Elm Drapery Hardware

[3] Client Sourced Black Flocked Wallcovering

[4] Pottery Barn Riviera Stripe Drapes

[5] Blinds Chalet Panama Cedar Matchstick Shades

[6] Restoration Hardware Vintage French Round  Sidechair

[7] Restoration Hardware Monastery Dining Table

Hope you're coming!

It's gonna be a blast!