Geode Love

My son and I went on a "field trip" to the Rock Barrell in Dallas yesterday to hunt for some fancy rocks and geodes - his latest obsession!  His awesome kindergarten teacher came along for a visit and we all searched and played together.  It was so inspiring and I wanted to buy everything!  Here is a little taste of the Geode trend in fashion and for the home.  Click on the photos to find the link to purchase or browse!

Y'all....this is genius:

It's called a Mimish and it can hold all of those stuffed animals that don't have a real place to call home for you.  Then the kids can enjoy it as a bean bag chair!

So smart.  Why didn't I think of that?

My darling friend Julie Gates, who was the host of the Gene and Julie show for years (CBS Radio - 103.7) always used to chat with me about great ways to store stuffed animals.  There never was a perfect answer for either of us but we didn't know about the Mimish then!

My son piles his "pets" into an old Elephant Saddle that belonged to my father-in-law.  He loves to sit in it and snuggle or read but it is enormous and takes up half of the playroom.  You can see a picture of it in this DMoms Feature from a few years ago.  As we purge and prepare for our move, I think the Mimish is the perfect amount of space to allocate to our stuffed animals.  I'll order one for him and let him fill it up to move with us!

Friday Favorites: Office Organizing!

Happy Friday Y'all!

I woke up this morning with a new attitude - and I needed one!  I have had a hectic couple of weeks and I needed to re-adjust and get back on track.  This morning I decided that it was time to get my act together and stop racing around like a chicken with it's head cut off!

So, my precious assistant Kendal and I are wearing our jeans to the office and we have set aside some time to organize.

I refuse to show you what my desk looks like now but this is what I hope my desk looks like at the end of the day:  clean and ready for a project (I have a few on my to-do list!)

Office of San Francisco interior designer Catherine Kwong.

I needed some inspiration and I wanted to share a little bit of what I found:

My friend Catherine Carr, a professional organizer, has dubbed this "Love Your Files Week." Check out her ideas!

Love this site for fantastic office supplies.

Seven steps for perfect files from See Jane Work.

Check out this amazing built-in bar to home office nook transformation.

I want all of the office supplies on this site. 

Of course it all needs to look great too so I need to set some time aside to do this to some of my frames.  Gorgeous!

Friday Favorites

Have a great Friday y'all!  Check the links below to see some of my favorite on-line treats of the week. 

Are you going to try my friend Alex Hitz's recipes from House Beautiful?

Absolutely signing up for a trip like Gwyneth's when my kids are a little bit older.

I love keeping up with Carolyne Roehm's Charleston Project and can't wait to see the finished home.

Looking for a new color obsession? I love Privet Berry Blue.

Hosting a baby shower?  This is cracking me up!  I have to do it sometime.

Missing my sisters today.  I'll be emailing them this quote in a moment.

Do I spy a Chiang Mai Dragon swatch on the floor in this kitchen?  I can't wait to see the finished project!

In my next house....

In my next house (a girl can dream!) I will be decking a room out in de Gournay's Plum Blossom.  Isn't it beautiful?  It isn't inexpensive but I think it is so beautiful and I'd happily scrimp on other elements of a room if was able to slather the walls in this!

What room would you do?
A dining room?
A bedroom?
 A foyer?
Maybe a jewel box of a powder bathroom?

It would be beautiful anywhere.

Dining Room by Hilary Thomas and Jeff Lincoln in House Beautiful.

The furniture in this dinging room is far more traditional but it still works!

This is from a "Designer's Own" story in the January/February 2012 issue of Vogue.
Photograph by Petrina Tinslay.

Sheer Texture Rolling Blinds are amazing over the windows but the hardware is a bit distracting right?

The papers are entirely hand painted so no two are exactly alike.  The photo above shows an artist painting the de Gournay Plum Blossom Wallpaper.

A detail shot - isn't it gorgeous?

In the Know: John Robshaw for Duralee

You may be familiar with John Robshaw and his beautiful bedding, but have you seen his latest collaboration with Duralee? With fabric so lovely, and a reasonable price point, what could be better? 

A few favorites.... (how does one resist an elephant fabric?) 

In the Know :: Eye Poetry

How dreamy are these photographs from Eye Poetry? I could spend hours on end looking through all of her beautiful work, but these are just a few of my personal favorites. 

For more prints visit Eye Poetry's Etsy shop here. 

Inspiration Board: Gallery Wall Goodness

I love a good gallery wall.  At our first home, we had our staircase practically wallpapered in images, all in black frames.  I always thought that there needed to be some sort of unifying element (like the black frames) but some of these homes prove otherwise.  

At our current home, we recently started on our staircase again, but we did a lot of editing.  This time, we are only hanging black and white images. I think I might be missing the pops of color that we had before!  

What do you think?

MyRenovatedLife

Belclair House

EclecticRevisted

 HouseandHome

 ElleDecor

PrettyStuff

MeyerInteriors

In the Know: The Animal Print Shop

These animal prints by Sharon Montrose have made their way around the blogosphere, but I just can't seem to get enough of these charming prints! I especially love the Little Darling series- simply adorable prints of baby animals that would make the perfect addition to any nursery or kids room.

 How perfect is Molly Sim's nursery?

The Animal Print Shop

Spring Fever Bedroom Makeover on The Nate Show!

Did you catch me?  I was back on one of my favorite sets yesterday.  When Nate Berkus asks you to add Southern Style color to a bedroom on his stage, you go!  We used Southern Living Homes Editor Jen Kopf's bedroom as our inspiration and ran with it.  I hope you like our tips!
Click here to watch the segment. 

Huge extra thanks to Leontine Linens for providing the gorgeous bedding!