Whoah

With the power outtages & heat wave & travelling to escape it-  I AM TUCKERED OUT. 

{Christian is too...  or at least he was for one quiet moment.}

I'll be back soon with a sneakity peek of a client project!!

ps- Instagram is really my new latest obsession.  I CAN'T GET ENOUGH.  This pic is from there.  :)
If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

I'm Shopping for... Spool Chairs

When I shared sneak peeks of a client's project about a month or so ago,  I received a few emails asking about the spool chairs.

{Spool Chair in my client's home...  Custom LL Textiles "Squircles" in fresh blue & oatmeal}

I loooove spool chairs.  They're deceivingly comfortable and just have this relaxed & carefree vibe.  You'd never see them in a stuffy room.  My clients grew up together in the Northeast and we wanted to bring that feeling of "home" into their new house, which is here in the DC area, so I proposed a pair of spool chairs.  I was thrilled when my client loved the chairs too & we decided on one of my fabrics printed on an oatmeal-colored groundcloth. 

Spool or "bobbin" chairs, also called "Carver chairs were named after John Carver (c. 1576–1621), founder and first governor of the Plymouth colony in America. A chair of this design, reportedly owned by the governor, was displayed in Plymouth, Mass., in the late 19th and early 20th centuries."(source- Brittanica.com)  ...Which explains why we they have that Northeastern / coastal vibe :)

  

We looked at a lot of different options before presenting two options (a lower end option and a higher end option) to our clients...

We ended up going with Vanguard's spool chair, shown here in white:

..And here in a dark stain:

{Vanguard Furniture}

...But I did fall in love with some others during our search:

{Hickory Chair}

It has box cushions so it's a bit more structured-looking.  It also has casters like the version we selected.

=  SOOO GORGEOUS!!!

{Noir Furniture...  this was our other option, available in black.}

I saw this one, below, a couple of Markets ago, and it felt very rustic with their fabric selections & showroom design:

It's by the Penisula Home Collection Company & here it is in white:

{Peninsula Hoe Collection Co.}

I sat in it & while comfy, I have to say, the spool chairs with the arm cushions are much more comfortable.  I would use if it were a spot for shorter sits, vs. comfy, cozy long ones.

Here's a beautfy by Motif Designs:

{Motif Designs}

..And I loooove the little cushion detail in this one by Julian Chichester:

{Julian Chichester}

...Anyway, as you can see, they're available at a number or pricepoints & there are so many to choose from.  (If you google it, you'll see even more options.)  

If I ever have a lakehouse, I'd love one or two of these for their laid-back days-gone-by feeling...

Where would you put yours?



If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Also---  I need a HUGE favor for a friend of mine, Elise, who recently opened the Design Center of NOVA.  She is applying to win a business grant and needs 250 votes by Friday in order to be considered.  If you have a spare moment, please vote here!!

Just enter in "Design Center of NOVA" to vote!! THANK YOU!!

A New Addition to our Team

I am SO EXCITED to announce that my husband David (or Dave/ Dav) is coming to work for our design business!!  Today's his first day at Lauren Liess Interiors (which I now feel like I should have named "Liess Interiors")  and we are seriously giddy.  (Or at least I am.)

{I also just found out about Instagram pictures and am addicted.  Thanks Eddie!}

He'll be managing the implementation phase of our clients' projects / timelines etc., handling the accounting and working on product development (you know, all the fun stuff ;) ;)   For a while now, we've enjoyed going to Market together & meeting & making friends with others in the design industry, but now we'll be really freed up (schedule-wise) to travel when we need to & to get more accomplished.

Our goal is to not only have our business running smoother than ever before, but to free me up a bit more to spend more time with clients, more time designing (vs. paperworking & coordinating) and more time working on the fabric line. We've also been reading your emails about our online decorating services and are planning on bringing them back as soon as I get a bit more adjusted to the new baby/ being back at work/ etc.  (I'll be sure to post as soon as the service is available...  and thank you so much to those of you who've shown an interest!!) 

{The living room of a very stylish long-distance client of ours, Anne.  Her home was featured by Jenny on the Little Green Notebook .  Anne took with the suggestions I gave her and seriously ran with them to create a gorgeous very personal home for her family.  She's one talented mama!!!  Photo by Amy Majors Photography.)

Bringing Dave into the company is a HUGE change for our family & for our business.  I'm both nervous & excited.  It's always been a dream of ours to work together.  (We're sort of one of those annoying couples that likes to spend a ton of time together & never gets sick of being together...  But we aren't PDA-ish, I swear!!!)  It's a big step & we're hoping & praying that it works out.  (And will be working like crazy so that it does.) 

I know Dave will miss working at the highschool (where he was teaching English & was the English Department Chair) and  I've been so proud of him & all that he's accomplished there.  I hope that he loves this as much as that.

okay.. Did I say I was excited already?!!!!!  Because I am TOTALLY FREAKING OUT I'm so excited-  eeeeeek!!!  :)  

(That's me squeeling...  and yes, I really do say "eeeeeek")

So anyway, things will be changing a bit around here, but definitely for the better!!  Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

To view our e-design client, Anne's whole home tour, visit Little Green Notebook, here!  Thank you so much to Jenny & Anne!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.  We are booking for early August for traditional (in-person) full-service projects.

Carnival Style

{allposters.com} 

There's something beautiful about a carnival.  Yes, they're full of over-the-top pictures, rides, toys, signs and loud noises, but there's a beauty in the mayhem.  We went to a carnival recently and to me, when I looked at things individually, they were just rides or tacky signs or whatever, but when I looked around at the carnival as a whole, it was something better.  It was a little world of whacky and crazy and vintage-feeling fun.  And it was beautiful. 

{blogs.sfweekly.com }

Once nighttime falls over a carnival, it becomes special.  Whatever field or parking lot that used to be in its place is totally transformed, and you forget all about what used to be there and what will be there again when the carnival leaves town. 

{flickriver.com}

I haven't been to one like this is a while, but my favorite carnivals or fairs are the kind that have sideshows.  I was fascinated by these when I was a little girl and won't ever  forget the sword swallower I once saw in a tent...  or the contortionist.

I love that sense of mystery...

{pinterest}

I would always try to pick the prettiest horse on the carousel...  usually pink with lots of roses.  ;)

{allposters.com}

...  And the food is so bad but so good...  I love the crazy vintage signs.

 {senselessscribbles.tumblr.com }

It was sitting here, at the counter of the carnival snack wagon the other night, that I started appreciating the details.  I mean, how perfect is it that the snack truck had this little fold-out set of shiny blue barstools to pull up to the counter?  They were just the right size for our boys.  And I love that they serve sodas in the vintage style glass bottles.  They taste so much better that way. 

{my guys- Christian and Justin- sharing a funnel cake}

septembersbliss.blogspot.com

I love that all of these little over-the-top details and the busyness makes something that's just right.  There's an energy & an excitement about carnivals that's fueled by all the bright colors and the in-your-face everything.  All of the colors and things shouldn't work together, but they do. 

{flickr}

And it reminds me of certain rooms & styles of decorating.  (In a very good way.)

{miles redd, house beautiful}

There are so many different bright colors in the room by Miles Redd above, that you wouldn't ordinarily think could all work together, but they do.  It has this great energy to it.

The room below has a bit of that quirky vintage feel to it of the classic old-fashioned carnivals.

{poppytalk.blogspot.de }

The whacky mix of patterns on the floor in the room below creates that happy feeling.  It's so perfectly "off." The little stack of books on the table reminds me a bit of circus tents.

{isuwannee.com }

The tufted turqoise sofa, below, is one of those super-saturated colors seen all over carnivals.  The vintage touches and quirky shapes throughout the space add to the excitement.

{apartment therapy}

The mix of art and patterns below totally comes off as crazy in a good way.  There's so  much going on, but as a whole, it just works.

{elle decor}

The space in my friend Jenny's house (of Little Green Notebook) is perfect in its mix of bright happy colors combined with the vintage gilded mirror.  It's so unexpected but just comes together to create a truly charming space. 

{little green notebook }

I'm sure none of the designers of the rooms above were inspired by carnivals, but they all managed to create spaces that, to me, are energetic and fun-feeling and are really unexpected.  Some are more dramatic while others are more laid-back but they all have that fearlessness that I think epitomizes a carnival.   I reminds me to look harder at everything I'm exposed to, because there's inspiration in all of it, even in a place that at first glance is loud and garish and a bit sticky.

Our boys are already asking about when they can go back.  And next time they might actually reach 42" which means a whole new set of rides!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.