inspiration

floral art 23 January, 2010

This post on Floral Art is LONG overdue! Jennifer McGarigle‘s Floral Art shop is definitely one of my favorites in Venice Beach (and, let me tell you, she has a lot of competitors in that there on Abbot Kinney among all those vintage shops).  I think we all needed some new and fresh approach to the  flower arrangement. You can say how one can reinvent the obvious, flowers are beautiful as they are but Jennifer’s sophisticated yet simple ideas are very impressive and unique, creating the signature style for which she’s known in LA. Enjoy!

And if the flower bar is not enough for you Floral Art has a Home Collection too.

<images via www.FloralArtLA.com>

design star season 5 18 January, 2010

Sunday night, the saddest time of all. That’s when you start wondering where did my WHOLE weekend go? Well, somewhere between crazy domino/backgammon games (till 4am!), cheering for husband on a soccer field, a few delicious recipes and a lovely in-house party (and then the feeling of guilt for everything eaten), searching for the inspiration for the new project and simultaneously sunbathing in Santa Monica, a quick roam through Farmer’s market…have I mentioned everything?!

Anyways…HGTV Design Star Show has been accepting applications for the season 5 and January 19th is the last day for the submissions. Good luck to everyone. And while we are all waiting for the new season to air, I decided  to put together some of my favorites on the “White Room Challenge”.

Absolutely love the texture created by wood logs and the pop of color of apples. Great proof once again that good des

<images via www.HGTV.com>

party ready 24 December, 2009

Finally the moment is here…and you can proudly show off your holiday decor creations and enjoy the limelight moment. So would I do.

Did I tell you how much I love CB2 glass sphere candle holders. There’s so much you can do with them and they’ll look stunning in any composition. So with the holiday spirit I decided to fill them with faux snow, ornaments and spruce branches. Nicely refreshing during the day and magic and glamorous in the dark. Lately I’ve been obsessed with the vintage glass museum displays. I added up a little winter spirit ot those too for lovely frosted compositions. I wanted to bring nature in so used all natural elements: moss, pinecones, berries and spruce.

And of course, the Christmas tree…with red and white ornaments

The key to spread holiday cheer all around the house is a lot of shiny and reflective surfaces. So you can see the tree and lights from all the angles.

Happy Holidays to everyone! May the next year bring peace and more creative ideas!

I’m out…need to wrap up the gift wrapping.

Ekaterina

Windsor Smith 19 December, 2009

After all, Los Angeles is a city of many talented people. I may hate it during the holiday season for the lack of snow but, as Maison 21 said, when living in LA “weather is something one visits, but doesn’t actually live in”. So I’d better stop complaining and get to the point…being the LA talented crows. And in this particular case is Windsor Smith, the founder of Windsor Smith Home. Browsing through her site I found Smith’s quote talking about her inspirations:

“I am up thumbing through out-of-print architecture books or reading about our legendary women of style… Elsie De Wolfe, Slim Keith, Babe Paley… I draw inspiration from the armchairs they are reclining on, in their country homes. My eye travels to the crystal girandoles on the mantel they are leaning against, or the moss-covered garden statuary their horse is riding past… I like to create libraries where men with names like Howard, Bing and Spencer sat in cashmere sweaters and contemplated the 13th hole on the Bel Air golf course. I am drawn to a simple but elegant time when the women were so legendary that surnames weren’t necessary…. Slim, Babe, Coco…”

How more romantic can interior design sound?! And I couldn’t agree more. My greatest inspiration is history. I love the interiors that breath stories behind them.

holiday inspirations 15 December, 2009

I don’t know about you, but if I read another article/post named “deck the halls” or ” ’tis the season” I’ll absolutely get insane. Decorating for Christmas/New Years might be very overwhelming. When it comes for this time of the year, I become a child and all my cool-headedness and choice making abilities disappear. With all this magic in the air it’s easy to go overboard.

As a kid, you kinda don’t have much choice. You inherit your tree/ornaments/garlands etc. and pass it along. Then you have roommates/friends with their design ideas. But settling in a new truly mine space I have a chance to rewrite the history and get a fresh (and CLEAN) start. With all this pressure I decided to narrow down my choices by these inspiration board.

Starting with the basicsso my color palette would be bright red, pure white (with silver sparkle) and spruce green. And this room from Roomenvy Blog has all the key elements. It’s simply chic, festive and CLEAN.

my sugar-cane palette in these yummy ornaments and may be some pattern with these and i love the craftiness of these

I get very home sick around New Years. I miss the lavish forest sunk into the fresh snowdrifts. The sparkling and heavy branches of spruces above the head and crisp air. So to break off my candy theme, I want to bring in nature.

berries, nuts, pine cones and birch bark to toss here and there for the fresh nature-inspired decor.

and, of course, the gift wrapping. Let’s be eco-friendly and stylish and use something we already have for those needs. I like the contrast of rough recycled paper and soft atlas ribbons.

what a nice way to add color and wit to the wrapping.<click on images to see the sources>