Back to School: Modern Dorm Room

We are taking my youngest son to college on Saturday, so I have dorm rooms on my mind!   ......And when Modani (a modern furniture company) asked me to create a 'dream dorm room', I figured this would be a fun way to express what I would love to see in a dorm room if I was going to college now as an 18 year old!

Art print//Art print//Purple Chair//Orange Pouf//Desk Chair//Desk//Buddha Bookends//Task Lamp// Blue Pillow//Purple Pillow//Blue Throw

I love a modern aesthetic and of course, I'm drawn to color.  But comfort while studying would be high on my list, so I would love a tall office chair and a desk with clean lines and an awesome task lamp. My text books would go between those darling Buddha bookends!

My walls would be adorned with colorful prints, and when I wasn't studying  I'd hang out in a bright comfy purple chair and rest my legs on that wild pouf!  I'd love a white duvet on my bed and then the throw a little color at it with the purple and blue pillows and throw.

Oh to be young and going off to school!  I have fond memories of my college career and I'm so looking forward to hearing about my son's new adventures!

Cheers!

(While Modani asked me to participate in their Back to School Project, I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own.)

For store locations, click here.  And lucky for me a San Francisco Store is coming soon!

Creating a Statement with Your Front Door

I enjoyed reading my friend Elizabeth's post (over at The Little Black Door) about her glass front door --- and how she feels about it.  It got me thinking about my front door, and the front doors that I'm currently designing for my clients.  

I love a front door that makes a personal statement.  Here is my front door.....

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I'm originally from Hawaii -- and now living in California. And when we remodeled our home a while back, I wanted my front door to speak a little bit about Hawaii and my past.

Collaborating with my friend and designer extraordinaire, Marion Philpotts of Philpotts Interiors (yes, I've written before about her -- we are dear friends and were classmates at Punahou School).......this front door is one of my favorite parts of our home.

Marion picked up the gecko door handle on a trip to Bali, and put me in touch with a metal worker to create a copper basket weave inset in a custom mahogany door.

I always like to use tropical looking plants in my front door pots, and I smile every time I look at the Bufo frog sculptures that were in our home in Hawaii.  The Buddha sculpture was a gift from my BFF and reminds me to remain 'in the present' and that life is beautiful!

What about you?  Does your front door make a personal statement?  Email me a pic!  I'd love to see it!

Things I'm loving...Pink and Orange

During the summer, I am drawn to hot pinks and bright oranges
 not only in fashion, but in fabrics and furnishings. 

I love neutral furniture with pops of color.  This room just makes me smile!

Fabrics from Romo are on my project list these days and I can't wait to share some client updates!

Aren't they yummy?

Pillows are an easy and affordable way to add pink and orange to your decor.
Here are some of my faves!

1//2//3//4//5//6//7

Cheers!

The Art of Bean Finneran

I'd like to introduce you to an artist whose work I really admire.

Meet Bean Finneran.

Bean Finneran creates sculptures called 'cones' out of hundreds (and thousands) of individually created 'ceramic curves'.  I've included her YouTube video at the end of this post so that you can see how these sculptural gems are created.

I first came upon one of her sculptures while visiting my beautiful and talented friend 

Marion Philpotts.

The fuschia sculpture that Marion owns now sits on her lanai.

(photo via)

When I went back home to Hawaii a few years ago, I visited Marion and she had the Bean Finneran piece featured on her coffee table in her living room.

(photo via)

Ms. Finneran's sculptures are so reminiscent of natural sea coral, and I love that each 'sculpture' is made of individual parts that can be reshaped by it's owner.

Watch and you will be amazed!

Cheers!

Kitchen REVEAL!!!! Week 6 of the One Room Challenge Linking Event

Hey ho!  I can't believe that six weeks have flown by so fast!!!!

If you are new here, this is the final reveal week of a six week event called the "One Room Challenge" created by the fabulous Linda, of Calling it Home.

So without further ado -- here is the final final of the kitchen remodel!

Remember the before?

The new countertops are carrera marble, and the backsplash is a wonderful 2x8 tile that we found at a local tile shop.  In deference to my clients, who paid for my services for this project, I'm not going to list all the sources and paint colors.  I know you'll understand!

I'm a minimalist when it comes to clutter on a kitchen counter, so I styled it for the photos with just a few things in green.

Then, to see what blue accents would look like, I photoshopped these in. :)

I'm loving the clean palette -- there are so many pretty colors and accents that would work as decorative accessories for the countertops! (In fact, stay tuned for an upcoming post on styling kitchen countertops!)

This was such a fun project with delightful clients!

I hope you've enjoyed following along!

Cheers!

Check out the other participants here.