Interiorscaping

Designer's Home: Vicente Wolf
http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/ 

This month I started getting seed and plant catalogs in the mail from the various nurseries that I've ordered from in the past. I love sitting with a cup of tea, on a snowy day in January, flipping through page after page of perennials and roses in full bloom. I promise myself that this year is going to be the year that I don't let a single weed exist and I will feed my roses every week and so on. How I long for gardening and the smell of dirt but for now I tend to my "interiorscape" aka the houseplants in my house. 

Another room in Vicente Wolf's home. Elle Decor 

In design, you think about visually pulling the outside in, well, I like to physically pull it in. Don't be afraid to use what are typically thought of as outdoor garden containers inside your home. Not only does it look earthy and unexpected, it's actually quite practical because here in the northeast, you need to give them refuge from the elements anyways.

http://nibsblog.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/garden-note-54-house-plants/

Many house plants need humidity. If you have a sunny spot near a window in your bathroom, oh how your plants will love you! Occasionally spraying them with a fine mist sprayer works as well.

http://finegreendesign.com/blog/

http://finegreendesign.com/blog/

Now that's a clever idea. I guess if it holds dirt you can put a plant in it. 

Below are Southern Living Magazine's Top Six Houseplants that anyone can grow. 

1. Moth Orchids

2. Succulents

3. Anthuriums

4. Indoor Flowers
Pick up whatever  is blooming at the local grocery store.

5. Primroses
Aren't these cheerful? 

6. Peace Lillies

Did you get some inspiration for displaying your plants? I just love decorating with iron urns, concrete planters and statues indoors. Do you? If you do, are you reluctant to move them out, in the spring, like I am? I think I just need more of them!

Hope you enjoyed your visit,

Michelle

PS Today I picked up supplies for a couple of projects. Can't wait to share! 

A New Collection of Home Furnishings

Just a quick post today-I want to introduce you to Cococozy. Around our house, if I start talking about my new blog endeavor, my kids will often chime in with "mom wants to be like Cococozy (usually with a roll of the eyes)! Well, I was inspired by that particular blog and shortly after I started following it, the lawyer by day, blogger by night, launched her own line of home decor! Wow, I do want to be like Cococozy! 

Here is just a sampling:

COCOCOZY Logo cotton knit reversible throws

COCOCOZY Quatrefoil

COCOCOZY Bedding:  Euro Shams and Boudoir Pillows

Check out her entire Spring 2011 Collection HERE!

I'll be back tomorrow with some inspiration for "Interiorscaping" your home.

Michelle

Fun Friday Find: Custom Pet ID Tags

Check out my pet portrait portfolio HERE

Yeahhh, It's Friday! I really enjoy doing my Friday posts because, well, it's fun! I search the Etsy website for something that strikes my fancy and today it's custom ID tags for your pets. Also, I'm using the "pet" theme as an opportunity for a shameless plug for my pet portraits. You have to admit though, that guy up there looks fun!

Brutus Custom Pet ID Tag, Copper

http://www.etsy.com/listing/65713086/brutus-custom-pet-id-tag-copper?ref=cat1_gallery_2

Double Sided Pink Dog Bone ID Tag

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62186488/double-sided-pink-dog-bone-id-tag?ref=cat1_gallery_1

Pet ID Tag, Hand Stamped - Petite Copper With Pewter Paw Print

http://www.etsy.com/listing/65242421/pet-id-tag-hand-stamped-petite-copper?ref=cat1_gallery_19

Abbey Custom Pet ID Tag-3/4" copper flower

http://www.etsy.com/listing/63473805/abbey-custom-pet-id-tag-34-copper-flower?ref=v1_other_2

Mid Century Modern Custom Silver Pet ID Tag

http://www.etsy.com/listing/61526057/mid-century-modern-custom-silver-pet-id?ref=cat1_gallery_38

A little bling for your pups, don't you love them? These are just a few of the many customizable tags that you can find on Etsy.

Thanks for visiting, Have a great weekend,

Michelle

Some Things Are Just Better In Pairs

European Cat in Malta by Isy Ochoa, oil on canvas

Okay, sometimes I just have to laugh at myself. Last night, before I went to bed, I jotted down a post idea and this morning I realized that I actually published that idea- oops! So here is the rest of my AWOL post.

House Beautiful

This photo is one of those photos that completely inspires me. I love everything about it. The walls are so incredibly beautiful. (Oh honey, your to do list just got longer, I think we need to paint our foyer-again!). The console and the turquoise lamps- just my style. In this traditional house, the large scale design on the walls and the modern striped rug bring the space up to date. The design is by the very talented designer, Tobi Fairley. 

One Kings Lane

A pair of lamps on either side of wall art is a simple way to pull this scenario together. I have been considering painting a greek key motif around the sides of my white dining room table but I think I like this simplified version better. What do you think? A bit more modern?

Westchester magazine, photo by  Phillip Ennis, via Room Remix blog

A pair of vases, candlesticks or a pair of anything works equally as well.

One Kings Lane

One Kings Lane

One Kings Lane

Lamps in pairs. You see it all the time in design because it works! Not into so much symmetry? In future posts I will show some ideas for creating asymmetrical table scapes. Btw, One Kings Lane is one of my favorite resources. I get email updates from them and that's what prompted this post. Many of the lamps above are available through that website. Even if you're not buying, their website is full of great, inspiring ideas!

Pair of Mirrors by Vicente Wolf

Vicente Wolf, another favorite of mine. You will definitely be seeing more of his work in future posts.

Photo by Moisses Esquenazzi via Cococozy

Just for fun, I have to show you these bedrooms, each with a pair of twin beds.

Photo by Katie Leede via Cococozy

Pairing objects creates a sense of order and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Repetition and symmetry are a couple of the hallmarks of classic design and as you saw here, that's not to say it's unoriginal or uncreative. Generally speaking, what do you like better, symmetrical or asymmetrical designs?

Have a great day, and look for another "Fun Friday Post" tomorrow, 

Michelle 

Pulling Together Mismatched Chairs

I came across these decorative decals on This Old House website (http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/) What a clever idea for pulling together a bunch of mismatched chairs.

Love hosting dinner parties and big holiday gatherings, but hate hauling out your collection of mismatched chairs? Before the event arrives, give orphaned chairs with flat backs a cohesive look with a coat of paint and decorative decals in dressed-up furniture styles. The decals go on in a few simple steps (just make sure the surface is clean and smooth before transferring the design) and peel off easily when the look wears thin. 

Blik's Classic Chair Backs; about $30 for a set of six; whatisblik.com

 The decals, I think, are very economical but of course it has my head spinning with ideas! Anyone have some chairs I can experiment on?!

Michelle

Top 10 Rooms With Black Walls

decorpad.com

 Black walls can be sophisticated, elegant, dramatic, or high tech and edgy. 

http://www.ruemag.com/gallery/dining-spaces/

Ultimately, achieving a certain style will depend on the accent colors and materials that you use in the room. Traditional furnishings and wainscot painted white is a classic look in a black room. In the photo above, the dark floors anchor the seating arrangement.

apartmenttherapy.com

Modern furnishings and art create a crisp, serene space.

http://www.ruthiesommers.com/

 Black walls are a superb back drop for artwork. 

Elle Decor

For large group of photos, it's like having a border around the grouping, pulling it all together and...

decorpad.com

A single piece of art will just pop off the wall. Aren't the chairs gorgeous?!

http://www.flairhomecollection.com/

Lighting is so important in all interiors but especially in a room with dark walls.

http://www.flairhomecollection.com/

A sconce becomes a highlighted  piece of art casting light around itself.

Ralph Lauren Home

How glamorous! Always consider how one room flows into the next. I chose this room because of the 

all white adjacent room. It makes the space that much better. 

My son's room.
(Check out the entire mural and others  HERE)

 Personally, I have two rooms with black walls (my sons bedroom, above, and in the family room, below). Then again, practically every piece of clothing I own is black or white, oh wait, I have some gray pieces as well.  I want to say black is my favorite color, but I can't, because after taking Color Theory 101 I know that black isn't a color, technically, it's the absence of color. 

Black accent walls.

So, What do you think, love it or hate it? It takes some confidence rolling out black paint on your walls but if it's something you were considering I hope these rooms have inspired you to take the next step. Do you have a room with black walls? Leave a comment or send me a picture I'd love to hear from you! 

Have a great weekend,

Michelle

Happy New Year, Felice Anno Nuovo and Ein glückliches neues Jahr!

From the name of my blog, you may have deduced that I'm partial to Italian. I've taken a couple of classes and I'm teaching myself even more with the help of Rosseta Stone. In the post title, I included a German greeting though because this post is about my German cupboard. I found this old baking cupboard at an antique show. The dealer said that he brings one of these back from Germany every year but they hardly ever have all of the drawers intact (at least that's what the story was). I instantly fell in love with it!

 I felt compelled to take pictures of it today because tomorrow the Christmas decorations get packed away. I have decorated it the same every year for a couple of years now. I love my old raggedy Santa perched in front of a sleigh filled with moss and nut covered topiary balls and the beautiful apple decorations hanging from the doors. About ten years ago, when I started painting some of my antiques (I know, I know -purists are cringing), I painted this a color called Thomas Everard Coffee a Williamsburg Historical color by Martin Senour Paint.

 It holds a collection of polish pottery and serves more as a china cabinet than a baking cabinet. The porcelain drawers have the names of various spices and baking staples like flour and sugar. 

Every month House Beautiful has a feature called "Send Us A Picture" and when they did one asking for pictures of china cabinets I considered sending in a photo of my old cupboard but just never got around to it.  Below are eight of the photos from their featured designers:

  

More like a china room than a cabinet! Wouldn't this be nice?

Are you proud of your china cabinet? Send me a picture I'll show it off! Send it to michellesamoraj@gmail.com.

Hope you enjoyed your visit. Please let me know you stopped by and tell me what you think! I would love to hear from you! Again, Happy New Year, hope it's an inspiring one! Michelle