Apartment LOVE: Monelle Totah

There are some homes that I can look at over & over and never tire of. These are the FAVORITES. We usually see them a million times splattered all over blogland and to me, Monelle Totah's home featured in Elle Decor a few months ago is one of those. It gets to the point where I almost feel bad posting because I know everyone's already seen it, but I just have to because I love it so much. Monelle is the head designer at Williams-Sonoma home so it's no wonder her place is GORGEOUS. Her living room is my favorite spot:

All- white with small hits of black and silver. It's sophisticated & just insanely beautiful. With its leggy furniture pieces, exposed wood floor & the color palette, it feels airy & open. That coffee table = yum yum!! Accessories are layered to perfection & it just feels ready for cocktails in there!! I'm also loving the dining room (below). It's a bit softer with a little more age due to the antiques, but has the same nice graphic punch of the overscale striped rug that the zebra hide had in the living room. I love seeing the silhouette of the table under the simple linen tablcloth. Such a relaxed elegance...

Below is a stocked little secretary & stylish mail-collecting spot. (At least that's what I'd use it for! ;)

The kitchen is light & airy & freah. The glass cabinet doors makes it feel larger than it is:

Of course I'm loving the white slipcovered headboard & general feeling in the bedroom (below). Also, check out her tired nightstand on the right side of the bed. How great is it for stacking books?! The two ottomans at the end of the bed are great touches (would be full of clothes at my house ;) and something about the green hydrangeas in the arrangement just seals this space for me. I love that hit of green! I have no idea what her budget was in this space but I think it could be fairly easily created on a tight budget. Headboard, ottomans, prints on the wall, books, seagrass rug... And I love the old sawhorse/bench under the window. I've seen them a lot while out shopping (Lucketts usually has one! - very inexpensive) and always consider buying them! (They're a little too skinny to be comfortable sitting on for any period of time though but look amazing... probably great for putting on shoes & setting books on... haha now I want one!! don't go to Lucketts!! just kidding ;) And for me, if I make a splurge in a room (which I usually do) it tends to be on the lamps...

I love seeing little stands & table & chairs in bathrooms... Do this one stay around after the photo shoot I wonder? Sadly, non of my bathrooms are big enough for any of these pretty extras... yet ;) hee hee... I'm also loving the toile in the shower area:

This bedroom has a perfect little galler wall & I love the splashes of gold and orange in the all-white space. How easy is this room to switch up seasonally?!! love it!

And the modern chair & art playing off the with the frilly chandelier & painted bamboo dresser = WOW

And finally, one last shot of the main area. It's just beautiful and if we didn't need striped rugs before, now we do ;)


Also, if you haven't seen already. Brooke from Velvet & Linen is having the COOLEST GIVEAWAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh I won't spoil the surprise if you don't already know, but just go over there.

Have a great weekend & I took photos of our finished bedrooms (finally) and will be posting Mon!!! We're painting those nursery stripes -ahhhhhhh!!!

xoxoxo,

Lauren

ps- I just have to tell you about the weirdest dream I had last night: I was at K-Mart and Martha Stewart was there because of her products (I think she's stopped selling there in real life?) and she was helping to put carts away in the parking lot. I thought that was very nice of her. ;)

Stephen Knollenberg

I just can't get over that window & view (above)!!!! Browsing around the internet I came across the work of Stephen Knollenberg. He has a firm with offices in both DC & South Carolina & I'm loving everything I'm seeing. I've got a crazy day ahead of me & have to run but here's some eye candy...

I just love the feeling in all of his spaces...


The weather vanes below remind me of one my grandparents have in their family room...

He uses lots of neutrals which (surprise surprise!) I love...

Below is another amazing window, I'm guessing in the same house...

Awesome kitchen below... Love the absence of upper cabinets...

Beautiful stone fireplace below. It's got the potential to feel heavy yet he balances it perfectly:

Love the little table below:

mmm so warm & pretty:

Would love to soak in here....

Below, just so pretty & delicate:

Loving the feeling of age in the space below...

So simple...

You Southerners are so lucky to have that lush foliage just outside your doors!!! (below)

Finally, one last space. Loving the slicovers & the refined feeling. So simple & elegant...

Hope you enjoyed. Have a great day!!

xoxo,

lauren

You might remember this house...

In June of 2007 I fell in love with Margot Brunelle Fooshee & her husband's Long Island home (no name given!!) featured in House Beautiful. (I'm sure many of you remember it, but sometimes I do posts just as much as an organization/ inspirational tool for myself as for you! :)

Ruthie Sommers, their friend and interior designer helped them create a very "undecorated" feel throughout the home. {There are 2 sides fighting inside of me --- the one side that loves pretty coordinating fabrics & design details and comfortable perfection... and the other side that loves rooms that feel as if there wasn't a decorator involved. To be honest, my own home is more of the latter and most of my client's homes seem to be more of the coordinated type. But more about this later! } The aqua on the walls above are "Blue Seafoam" by Benjamin Moore and were this color when the couple moved into the house. I MUST use this color somewhere in my house!! In the sitting room above, I'm of course loving the white slipcovers & the map, which reminded me so much of a room I'd done at a lakehouse, below. (It's almost a cooler, fresher version of it: the slicovers, the map, the trunk coffee table)

And back to the house of my dreams, the kitchen is so practical and I have to say "cute," with the crab print & the sunny yellow chair. LOVE IT!!!

A door from the kitchen leads to the outdoor shower. (on my wishlist!!!)

The living room (below) is a bit more refined with a graphic black & white Morroccan print rug and graceful furnishings. it still feels young & fresh, however.

The dining room feels a bit more tropical to me and I have to admit, I have a thing for drop leaf tables so I love that one as the buffett that can double as a larger table.

The vignette below is so great!! The silver starburst & drawer pulls juxtaposed againzt the yellow chair & honey dresser--- ahh love it!

I would love to stay in the guest room below. Along with the "Sout Beach" wallpaper, all the fun pops of red just make it so cheery & fun. You get a great view of the wide plank pine floors in this picture too. Aren't they gorgeous??

They used such a mix of styles & colors & it all works so beautifully together.

The master bedroom (below) is a white haven. From the floors, to the walls, to the bed-- it's almost all white.

The image below has been my inspiration for my own bedroom & we're almost there. (ok, No, I don't have gorgeous vaulted ceilings and all that space, so we're going to need to use our imaginations for that part!! :) I love all the white with the shot of warmth & natural that the oak dropleaf table gives it. The black on the lamp and dutch door (how perfect?!!) add some more interest and of course, I usually feel a room should have a shot of greenery and the simple vase of leaves they used does so much in this case.

All photography by Don Freeman.

I hope you enjoyed this house as much as I did!!! have a great day!!

xoxo,

lauren

Darry Savage: White Diamond

Reading the Spring Home & Design Issue of the Washington Post Magazine this morning, a featured designer & antiques dealer, Daryll Savage, more-than-caught my eye!! (Below, see all the aged white & moss?!! = perfection)

Darryl Savage's Annapolis waterfront home boasts an all-white color palette & a 100 foot deck along the back of the house over the river. Below, the view is amazing!!

Darryl owns & runs DHS Designs' Antiques in Potomac, Maryland and the website has me drooling!!! With clients like as Charlotte Moss, it's no wonder!!

Below if a view of his living room, with photos taken a few years ago. I have to say, the photos featured in the Post Magazine were a little more to my taste... It's been restyled a bit and there's now a very cool huge white paper mache hippo in the living room. The all white-palette with hits of black perfectly showcases the views.

Darryl's motto with this house was "Bring on the bling."

The ancient statues at attention along the window are incredible!! Somehow, though, Darryl manages to make it all look fun instead of serious.

Darryl loves his neutral palette because he can inject any color he wants into the scheme at any time, as seen in the red coral branches below. (Sounds like someone I know?!! ;) ;)

I'd LOVE to dine here!! Or party here!!!

His bedroom, below features more black than the rest of the home. Check out his leather dresser to the back left!!! (Again, the Post's view of this room is better and you can check out all those photos here)

Here's another shot from a differet photo

And check out his 22-year old daughter's bedroom, below. The walls are done in glass beads, the floors are seamless white marble and the chandelier is pink crystal. Lucky girl!!

One of my favorite things to hear was that Darryl says his neighbors roll their eyes at him, always wondering what crazy thing he'll do next. Currently, huge Chinese statues are out front. Who knows what else he's got in store??

I can't wait to be able to have fun like that at our new place!!! :)

xoxo,

lauren