Chesterfield Sofas

Hi guys! Alt Summit has been mid-blowing, like it is every year. I spoke with Emily from HGTV, Kirsten from Simply Grove and Morgan from the Brick House and it was so, SO fun. Love those ladies.

In between chatting with bloggers and tweeting about Alt, I've been negotiating with drivers from Uship.com to pick up a beautiful camel Chesterfield sofa in North Carolina and drop it off to me in NY. Have you ever used U Ship? So far, so good. I got a bid for $150, which seems more than fair considering gas prices.

I really lucked out and found this sofa on eBay for a fraction of the cost of new Chesterfields. The buttery camel colored leather is *exactly* what I was looking for. I couldn't believe my luck!

Chesterfield sofas are SO classic to me! I can't wait for ours to arrive early next week. I think even Michael's jazzed about this purchase. I love how masculine AND girly these pieces can be. And the broken in leather? It's so pretty and it's basically kid proof!

I'll be sure to report once the sofa comes in, but in the meantime, here are a couple more Chesterfield inspiration shots...

Tired but Happy

Whew! What a weekend! I've been working non-stop trying to finish an install before leaving for Alt, which I am unbelievably excited for! Last year was crazy fun.

Some of the left over flowers from the client photo shoot today. I love using citrus leaves in floral arrangements lately!

Tomorrow morning I'll hop on an early plane to SLC for the conference. I'm speaking this year on blogging about interiors with Kirsten, Emily and Morgan. We're each going to focus on a different aspect of the interior design world as it relates to blogging. I think it's gonna be good - I'm especially excited for the Q&A section though. That's always when the real fun starts! :)

Who else is coming to Alt?

Preserved Boxwoods

I am a HUGE fan of preserved plants. They don't look waxy like fake plants do because they are actually real. I read online that you can preserve your own plants, but it sounds like a messy project with glycerine involved.

Restoration Hardware actually carries my favorite (and most reasonably priced) preserved boxwood globes. They come in all different sizes and all in these simple and classic concrete-looking planters.

I have the smallest globe (5" tall- in the first photo) sitting on our entry console. I usually have fresh flowers here too and they look so pretty sitting next to each other. Like most New Yorkers, we don't get a lot of light at the back of our apartment, so my boxwood gives me a little punch of everlasting green life.

I use them in a lot of my client projects too. They are just so easy to care for! No watering is needed at all. And if they start looking a little dusty you can just mist them with a water bottle.

The Ultimate Luxury: D. Porthault Linens

Jackie O, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Coco Chanel all used D. Porthault bed linens. They are uber luxurious, and come with a price tag to match.

The company has a big white sale twice a year and the next one starts this coming Monday, the 16th. I've been dying to go and just see if there's anything even remotely affordable. After all, 40-80% off of very expensive = still expensive.

As if I needed fuel to add to the fire, Lonny posted this image on their blog yesterday, and I'm dying over that pattern! Where is my money tree when I need it?

Spied some more D. Porthault in MS Living. Also, is that my rug?!?

The quality of D. Porthault sheets, towels, cases and coverlets is supposed to be unrivaled, but if you like them just for the cute floral patterns, you might try checking out Urban Outfitters for lots of cute, very affordable bedding.

Lonny

WSJ

Lonny

Elle Decor

Experimenting with Nailhead Trim Patterns

I found some really pretty solid brass nail head trim at my local Mom and Pop hardware store. It came in two different sizes, which was exciting! I can't wait to play around with some designs for a DIY project I'm working on. Here are a couple of inspiration images:

via Design Manifest

Cool DIY project HERE

BHG

Southern Accents

So many possibilities! I really love how textural the nailhead can look. For me, great decorating is all about these kinds of details.

PS Another really amazing nailhead trim project HERE.

Cornice Board Above the Bed

Trina, who writes the blog A Country Farmhouse, used my pelmet tutorial to make a cornice for her master bedroom.

I LOVE this restful, serene look for a bedroom. It's easy to think an all-white bedroom would be sort of sterile, but it's so soft and lovely. Wouldn't you love to crawl into bed here and take a long nap? :) Great job Trina!

Beni Ourain Moroccan Rugs

Beni Ourain rugs are everywhere these days. They're so soft and so pretty and they have this really great organic vibe since all of the patterns are unique and not usually perfectly geometric. They can cost an arm and a leg (even on eBay), but lucky for some of us, West Elm has come to the rescue with a very affordable version for sale here. We're using this one in a client's nursery and I think it will be perfect. Cozy but still sophisticated (which sounds great to me for a nursery).

It wasn't quite in the budget, but I also loved this honeycomb pattern from Clayton Gray Home. The really nice thing about this one and the West Elm reproduction rugs is they come in standard sizes. The traditional Moroccan rugs, while amazing little works of art in their own right, are often smaller and longer than what our rooms usually need. So unless you're layering the rug over a large seagrass or sisal, it feels a little impractical to pay $7k for a tiny rug.

They sure are gorgeous though...

Trad Home

Jonathan Adler

Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles

Living Etc

Palmer Weiss

Pottery Barn also made a Beni reproduction a few years back called the Tangiers rug. It sometimes shows up on Craigslist and eBay. I used it in Joanna's living room here.