black (and white) friday art + don't forget to vote!

black and white paintings from my constructivist series:

available in the marketplace or custom size by commission

sold

sold

available in colors too!

as featured in max humphrey of burnham design's apartment in september 2013 lonny magazine,

also, a little black (and white) friday reminder: please don't forget to vote for me in the  california home+design magazine awards "design tastemaker of 2014" competition. voting ends monday so be sure to vote for me, and all your other favorites through monday 12/2! (yes, you can vote once per day- share the love!)

giving thanks, 2013

ted, november, 2013

i am so thankful to be celebrating the thanksgiving holiday with my little buddy, ted. given that he was so ill in july, it is a miracle that today he is happy, healthy and begging for treats. while his surgery helped enormously, we know that his rare and aggressive cancer will be back at some point, but on thanksgiving 2013, ted is a feeling good and will be totally spoiled. we are going on a long car ride to visit my family in san diego, and since ted loves a car ride, he'll be in heaven the whole way, even as i'm cursing the traffic. ;-) so grateful to have him with me today.

ted, after surgery in july to remove his stomach tumor. i was so scared he wouldn't make it.

and i am also grateful for the outpouring of love and support from friends, family, and even total strangers during the darkest hours of his illness. it truly took a village to save his life, and my gratitude to the hundreds of people who came together for him is simply inexpressible. absolutely changed my way of viewing the world, and without that love and support, ted would not be here barking for treats today. so thank you to ted for being ted, and thank you to everyone who cared enough about a little dog to help save his life. today as we enjoy our turkey, you'll all be in our hearts.

ted, demanding treats. considering 4 months ago he was refusing to eat or drink, these barks are music to my ears. as long as he's barking, i'm feeding. ;-)
happy thanksgiving everyone! give your loved ones a hug today- they are the things to be most grateful for!

my 2014 trend prediction for house beautiful!

interior designer pro tip: creating a focal point with mirrors

my entry hall.

read all about it on 55 downing street.

please VOTE for me to be the california home+design magazine tastemaker of 2014!

it's awards season here on the internets, so i need to ask your help (again) by voting for me in the california home+design magazine awards to be "design tastemaker of 2014". you can vote once a day thru 12/2, so please vote for me and all your other favorites (don't you love it when you don't have to chose just one friend to vote for?)

i'm number 4 of 30 (you will know me by my stripes), and i think i should be tastemaker of 2014 because:

1. i'm an interior designer.
2. i blog.
3. i paint.
4. i design wallpaper (4 new patterns coming spring 2014).
5. i design rugs (debut collection, spring 2014).
6. i collect vintage furniture
7. i tweet
8. i pin.
9. i instagram.
10. i have big hair. again.
11. puppies and babies like me.

if these things don't make me a tastemaker, what does?

thanks for your support! mwah!

the new SCOWTERS store is open for business! this xmas buy VINTAGE!

my friends over at scowters, your favorite bi-weekly facebook flash sale, have exciting news: they now have a storefront open 24/7 for your internets shopping pleasure! no more waiting for the flash sales only to miss out on the merchandise because someone beat you to it or you forgot that it was thursday night!  the store is still on facebook too, and you know you spend your time on there anyway!

the new scowters store is searchable both by category and by price, and you'll find one of kind items ranging from art to furniture to jewelry to barware to tchotchkes- basically you name it, and if it's cool and vintage, they've got it. when my scowters friends asked me to help publicize their new store with a sponsored post, i was pretty excited cuz i knew i'd find lots of of fun deals as i searched for merchandise to feature.  while doing this post, i found many cool things for under a $100 bucks that the new scowters shop is gonna be my go-to stop for holiday shopping!

in fact, this holiday season, i'm encouraging everyone to buy VINTAGE and here's why:

1. it is the greenest thing you'll ever do. everything is recycled, so no toxins were dumped into the environment or no chinese slaves were used to make it.
2. everything is pretty much one of a kind. no post xmas returns cuz aunt sally got 9 pairs of pajama jeans. your gift will be unique and treasured by the giftee, guaranteed.
3. for every dollar spent on vintage, 14 smabillion dollars are pumped back into the local economy. (ok, i exaggerate, but these are mom and pop dealers, so every $ that comes in gets spent on more merchandise, plus gas so they can get to the next estate sale, plus the venti coffee they drink while waiting in line at said estate sale. you get the picture.
4. last, VINTAGE IS COOL, and it makes you cool to buy it.

if those reasons didn't convince you to visit the scowters store, here's a couple more more that will:

stop by today!

interior designers create rooms for LIVING (not just photo shoots!)

sometimes being an interior designer is a weird thing. you work so intimately on a home for months, and then when the project is over, and the final photo shoot is wrapped, you may never see that space again outside of your portfolio.  so i'm loving this new age of social media, where i can actually see my clients living their lives in the spaces i worked with them on. matt armendariz and adam pearson are my first clients to fully embrace the social media lifestyle, and i can't tell you how happy i get when i see them and their adorable furry family on instagram enjoying their home! such a great reminder that the best spaces don't merely look good in photos as we are all used to seeing them presented in a magazine, but are spaces for living and enhancing the lives of those who interact within them...

an example: i think this instagram is sort of what we think of when we think of interior design- a room styled, but empty...

but *this* is the reality, and my inspiration for this post. i can't tell you how happy this made me! real people really living, but in a beautiful space! yay!
here's some more random shots from adam's and matt's instagram feeds, featuring the cutest lil trio of sisters around:

see why seeing this home being LIVED in makes me so happy?

design intersects everything made: west hollywood, friday, november 8th

i hope all my local design friends are planning on attending this great west hollywood event! diem, this friday, nov 8th, register now!

share our strength nokidhungry.org dinner benefit at CB2 weho!

sorry for the late notice, but if any angelenos are free monday night, i hope you'll consider participating in a dinner benefit for share our strength- nokidhungry.org.  hosted by internet phenom and photographer extraordinaire, bonnie tsang, and neal fraser, one of the best chefs in los angeles (BLD!!!) dinner is from 8-10 at CB2 weho, and tickets are just $50 of which the proceeds all go to stopping child hunger. win/win, yum/yum.

black crow studios rules at #HPMKT! (and my "memphis" wallpaper is available to order on their website!)

i was super sad to miss out of fall market at high point for many reasons- i missed all my WONDERFUL friends who i look forward to seeing twice a year. i also missed all the great new introductions- i love being amongst the first to know about what's new 'n pretty! and most importantly, i missed out on a good friend making her high point debut: tracy's hiner did a kick ass installation of her black crow studios wallpaper at the cr laine showroom (i always need to use the phrase "kick ass" in a sentence when talking of my girl tracy,  cuz she is one of my favorite peeps). holly mckay blalock, the mastermind behind cr laine ( and another favorite peep) designed an entire room around tracy's dreamy watercolor wallpaper, and boy was it pretty:
 also throughout the showroom were canvases for purchase using tracy's same amazing watercolor prints- a great idea for those who love the black crow studios look, but don't want to make the commitment of an entire room! and luckily for y'all, they are now offered on the black crow studios website as well! and you know what else is now available on the black crows studio website? my "memphis" collection wallpaper, in 5 delicious colorways! finally, y'all can purchase by the roll!  yay!

and stay tuned- we have more wallpaper collections in the works with black crow studios to debut this spring!

last, we haven't had a video from my rad 80's youth on the blog in years, so inspired by tracy and holly's kick ass room, here ya go: