Let it Snow!

Finally a real Winter!  This is the best one in years...

We're loving the snow (and snow days-  yay for being married to a teacher! )  It feels like it did when we were kids...  The pine boughs are touching the ground (and our cars) the snow is so heavy:  (This pic was taken before it had finished but you get the idea)

Our backyard is a "fairy land" :

We had fun making "Frosty" but he didn't make it through the most recent snowstorm: 

Christian loves his daddy:

Justin's been hanging inside:

And we've all been spending lots of time in front of the wood-burning stove.  (So glad we kept it!!)...  Even little miss Ashby:

xoxo,
lauren

Wanna see something funny? (Before & After House Exterior)

Here's our house when we moved in this past Spring:

 

And here it is from the street now:  (Yesterday was a Snow Day!)

 

We had fun painting the door orange & left it that way thanks to many of you saying you liked it.  We also added a huge trellis on the front with jasmine vines and also few shrubs(all we could afford until next season).  Dave painted the cedar siding a dark warm gray:

... But didn't quite get to the sides or the back of the house before Winter hit:

Oops! 

Just keepin' it real. 

My neighbors must think there's something wrong with us.  ;)

xoxo,

lauren

Door color: Behr's 'Maple Leaf' (#250D-6)

Siding Color: Ralph Lauren 'Master Room" done in Behr exterior flat paint
Trim Color: Behr's 'Cotton Whisper' (#W-F-300)

Oh Pretty Paisley

I think it's safe to say that this was the house seen 'round the (blog) world:

Many of us fell hard for it.  Jill Brinson's home feautured in House Beautiful is definitely one of my favorite homes to date.  I love everything about it.  But one of the touches that hit closest to home for me was the blockprint paisley. 

(Les Indiennes, above)  I've always had a soft spot for paisley.  Some people can't stand it (I've had clients who "hate" it) but I'll never forget the purple blockprint matching paisley outfits my mom made for us when I was around 4 years old...  I thought mine  was the prettiest thing ever...  I wonder if we still have it somewhere??  And then she had intentions of making us yellow paisley flannel nightgowns but didn't get around to it, but I still remember the fabric, which was always around in the sewing bin.  When I was in college I found a similar pink paisley fabric and immediately bought it and made drawstring pajama pants for myself.  I still love them:

A few years ago -  gosh, probably more like 4 or 5(?)-  Pottery  Barn came out with these amazing blockprint paisley quilts.  Does anyone remember them?  My favorite was a white quilt with bright beautiful green paisley.  I wanted it so badly.  But we'd just gotten married & had already purchased our bedding.  (This was before the concept of switching things out seasonally had occured to me or that quilt would be mine!!)  Anyway, they don't make them any more & I couldn't find a picture of it, but I still want that quilt. When I saw these quilts in the catalogs & in the store, I can't explain it, but I was almost upset...   Upset because I felt like they just took something right out of my mind & stole it.  Not like I was ever going to manufacture quilts or anything, but because I sort of felt like paisley was mine.  Especially that perfect green blockprint.  This was before I read blogs or design magazines, and so pretty much what showed up in stores & in catalogues was the extent of what I saw, so when I saw paisley making a comeback - probably way later than it did in design or blog world- I was a little harrumphed.  (Sort of like when Restoration picked up Bobo...  I was thrilled to see it & have it be accessible but secretly a little disappointed it was now mainstream.)   

Anyway, pasiley's in my heart & since it's making an appearance in so many beautiful rooms these days I thought I'd share some of my favorites.  Do you remember this insanley beautiful bedroom (below) by Tom Scheerer? (House Beautiful)  Love the rough hewn beams against the curvey bed.  The duvet cover is by Les Indiennes and now I want one. 

How fun is the wallpaper in this dining room by Alessandra Branca below? (via Girl Meets Glamour)

 

Check out the little blue pasiley pillow on the sofa(HB):

This bedroom below is just a perfect paisley cocoon!  It's by Cathy Kincaid (featured in House Beautiful & photographed by Reed Davis.)  The paisley on the walls & curtains is called Kashmir & is by Michael Smith. 

The quilted coverlet is by Aleta.  Here's another of their gorgeous fabrics:

 

Tom Scheerer uses lots of blockprints in his work.  The next series of rooms were designed by him.  How amazing is this canopy below?

A pretty little paisley chair: 

How awesome is this chair? (below)

 More paisley pillows: 

And seeing all these canopies has me itching to do one:

 Below is a happy paisley headboard.  Notice it's in the same fabric as the chair a few pics up?

You might remember from my post on Tom Scheerer that I'm apey for this fabric below:

Below is another gorgeous print from Les Indiennes and it reminds me a bit of my beloved Pottery Barn quilt. 

And finally we've got some rooms & fabrics by Peter Dunham.   

Below, the pillow on the chair is Kashmir Paisley by Peter Dunham. 

More blockprint on the walls, below.  From afar it looks like paisley but it's actually just another blockprint:

Here's a close-up of a Peter Dunham blockprint:

 

Loving this:

Now let's go back to Jill Brinson's to-die-for living room:

Did you see the Vamp's post here or Joni's post here in which she challenges us to create Brinson's look in our own homes like Valorie did?  Valorie (aka the Vamp) found these great inexpensive pillows here at Amazon ($22 something) to replicate the look of Jill Brinson's home in her own.:

I thought I'd share a few more.  I LOVE Jackie Von Tobel's designs and her paisley pillow cover(below, $95) is perfection.  Jackie is one of the nicest, most generous bloggers out there.  (And to say she's talented is an understatement.) 

Here is a Pacific & Rose paisley pillow ($20): 

And this version from Saffron Marigold ($22.99):

Anyway, wishing for a pretty green (inexpenve) version for my own home!  What about you on paisley?  Yay or nay?

xoxo,

lauren

ps- also check out Haven & Home's post on blockprints. 

and Thank you to Jennifer Sergeant for doing an article on our Better Homes & Gardens feature on her new blog, DC by Design!

In New York...

It was our first time out together (alone) since having baby Justin!  We hopped into the car...

... and headed into the city to see Eddie's window it in person (even better!):

Then we headed over to Buck House for a champagne toast ...

...to meet one of Eddie's best friends, Deborah Buck, below:  (images are Deborah's via The Peak of Chic.)

Deborah could not have been more fun.  She's got an amazing eye & is such a strong, determined woman.    And then we meet these 2 beautiful & sweet longtime friends of Eddie's, Debora & Ronny (below).  They both had this genuine way of making you feel incredibly special just by talking to you:

Above, you can see Eddie & Jaithan's good friend Austin in the background talking to Jaithan, and then Patricia AKA Mrs.Blandings showed up and I did not get a pic of her either of until later!  (I also missed Kay, who works with Deborah at Buck House---  I was so bad with taking pics!!)  Next we headed over to the cocktail party at Bloomingdales to celebrate Eddie's WIN!!.  (Below, me, Eddie & Dave!)  The dj played fun music and I was having trouble not dancing since it's been almost a year since I last went out & danced!

...Finally we headed out to an amazing Italian Restaurant with Margaret Russell & Matthew Talomie of Elle Decor Magazine.   Matthew is awesome & just so full of ideas.  He's incredibly creative & I can't wait to see all he comes up with.  Below is a pic of Matthew & Jaithan who we all know: 

And below, here I am with Deborah & Margaret, who was as poised & gorgeous as she always looks, and also very warm & open.  She's got a lot cooking in the next coming months with Elle Decor.  It was so much fun to see her & Eddie together after Top Design.  To say I admire her is an understatement.  I was actually really nervous to even meet her but she was so down-to-earth and nice that it went away quickly.  She was really interested in what everyone had to say and is very charistmatic.  (Like Eddie, but in a more subdued way.)   We all had some really interesting conversations but one that I wanted to pass on was about blogland rumors/ questions, etc.  As we all know, there are always crazy rumors going around in blogland about how much photo shoots cost, how advertising may or may not affect magazine content, etc. and Margaret would surely be happier to set the record straight than have us bloggers idly speculate.  If anyone ever has any questions about anything going on at Elle Decor or want information or photos for a post, I think she'd gladly answer them in an email.  As she also mentioned on The Skirted Round Table, when we use magazine photos for our posts, we should look for the watermarked images and make sure to credit the magazine and photographer. 

 

Here's the whole group below, & there's the famous Mrs.Blandings right next to Eddie up front:

And we closed up the restaurant and stayed way too long without realizing it...  I tried to convince Deborah & Patricia & Margaret to head out with us afterwards but it was LATE and I'm sure my plea of  "Let's go dance!" was not exactly enticing. 

I had so much fun & it was totally worth the drive!  Thanks so much to everyone for the experience & congratulations Eddie on winning the Big Window Challenge for Elle Decor!!

xoxo,

lauren