Design & Decor

Julia Child’s Childhood Kitchen

February 20, 2013

I recently covered the remodel of Julia Child’s childhood kitchen for Houzz, and I just realized that some of you may have missed it! This was a really fun project for me, because I am a huge fan of Julia Child. I’ve read her memoirs, two biographies of her, and pored over her cookbooks. And of course I enjoyed Julie and Julia as much as the next girl. So I really was thrilled when I was asked to interview designer Charmean Neithart, who worked on the remodel of this historic home.

I’ve shared a few of my favorite photos above, but you’ll have to click over to Houzz to read the full scoop on Julia Child’s childhood kitchen! Charmean was such a joy to interview, and I really love how the kitchen turned out – very vintage-meets-modern, don’t you think? My favorite part of the story was learning that the shade of blue they chose for the ceiling (and had almost used on the cabinets instead) was almost identical to the blue-green that Paul Child used on the cabinets in Julia Child’s Massachusetts kitchen.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I hope you’ll go have a peek at the story! xo Laura

(images: Erika Bierman Photography)

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Color Palette

February 18, 2013

in Color, Design & Decor

Good morning my dears! I’d like to introduce a new occasional column called Color Palette, where I will be matching up paint colors with lovely interiors and other inspiring images. Sounds fun, right?

For our first color palette post, I chose this dreamy home from Light Locations, spied over on Mrs. French’s blissful blog. Silvery grays and pale creams give the impression you are floating in a cloud, while the worn woods and those gorgeous herringbone floors keep things rooted. All paint colors shown above are Farrow & Ball: I would use Skylight on the walls, Cornforth White on the ceiling, and Strong White on the trim; Skimming Stone or Elephant’s Breath would be lovely on painted furniture.

Again, lots of white and pale, cloud-like colors here, but my eye was drawn to the chippy painted stools in greenish blues pulled up to the farmhouse table – lovely! All paint colors from Farrow & Ball.

In the children’s room we have a more spirited palette of pale pink, crisp white, bold raspberry, and green apple. Fun and fresh. Paint colors are all from Farrow & Ball, except Blushing Red from Benjamin Moore.

1. Love Print | 2. Cameroon Juju Hat | 3. Pine Pedestal Table | 4. Linen Wrapped Pots | 5. Farmhouse Dining Table

I couldn’t help but also round up a few of my favorite things from this space, from that popular Love print and Juju hat wall hanging to English country classics like nice pots and sturdy tables. I hope your week is off to a fabulous start! xo Laura

p.s. – Were you expecting a Saturday Crafternoon post today? Sadly, I had a stomach bug all weekend and was unable to work on my painting, but I’m hoping to spend some time on it today. Stay tuned, I will still be posting + hosting a link party this week!

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Happy Weekend {& A Mother-Daughter Redesign}

February 15, 2013

in Design & Decor

Happy Friday, my dears! I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s day. Tomorrow I will hopefully be finishing my first Saturday Crafternoon project, and I hope you will take the time to do something for yourself this weekend and devote an hour or two to creativity. If you do, don’t forget to come back and link up to your project on Monday! But before I go, I spied this lovely project from Caitlin Flemming of Sacramento Street and was completely charmed.

I love the serene color palette and antique-meets-modern look. When I see a soft, neutral space done as well as this I am reminded how great it can be. That giant mirror in the living room is killing me – so gorgeous! What do you think?

Have a happy, fabulous weekend, friends, and I will meet you back here on Monday! xo Laura

(images: photographed by Emily Johnston Anderson for Rue Magazine; styling & interiors by Caitlin Flemming)

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Peppermint Bliss & A Happy Colorful Home in Austin

February 12, 2013

in Design & Decor

I actually feel sort of bummed that I’m only now finding Bailey Quin McCarthy of Peppermint Bliss. It’s just that there is so much interior goodness I’ve been missing out on and didn’t even realize it! Bailey and her hubby Pete McCarthy run Biscuit Home and the soon-to-launch decorBase, and currently live in Austin with their adorable little daughter. The McCarthy home is super colorful yet perfectly balanced; the kind of home everyone in the family could find their own little favorite nook to fall in love with. You can find the entire home tour and interview in the February issue of Matchbook Magazine, but I just had to tempt you by sharing some of my favorite shots + ideas from the McCarthy home below…

As soon as I laid eyes on Bailey’s dining room and bedroom (above) my heart started thumping – that wallpaper! Those pink walls! The lemon yellow headboard, green gourd lamps, and pink framed bedding…yum, yum, yum! As some of you surely know, my own home has a lot of white going on; and frankly, I’ve been getting bored with it. I’m on the hunt for new ways to bring color into my space, and these rooms have been sparking all kinds of new ideas that I’d love to translate into my own home.

Another wonderful thing about the McCarthy home is the way the frothier, more colorful rooms are balanced by deeper, darker, more masculine spaces. Dark, glossy bookshelves and cabinets, brass objects, and that lovely faded carpet in the kitchen give the house a bit of gravitas.

I love finding homes like the McCarthy’s – you know the ones I’m talking about. The kind that make you grin like a goofball and actually think you can pull off something similar at home – fresh, colorful, and bold, yet not fussy at all, so it somehow seems within reach. Bailey’s blog Peppermint Bliss is a wonderful corner of the interwebs to spend some time, so I highly recommend that you head over there as well. Have a splendid day, my dears! xo Laura

(Photography by Emily Anderson for Matchbook Magazine)

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Love Your Home

February 1, 2013

in Color, Design & Decor

Happy February, my sweets! This month we will be exploring ways to love your home more than ever – from making gutsy style choices you love, to personalizing your space, sharing stories of first homes, childhood homes, and learning to appreciate the home you have as it is right now. If you haven’t done so yet, you might want to sign up for my new Monthly Newsletter (or the Mini News for pint-size design + stories) to keep updated; the first issue will be going out this weekend!

The space I would like to share with you today comes from The Cross Design in Vancouver, and I swear, my heart started doing little flips when I spotted it on Houzz. I think we all have those triggers that make our hearts beat faster – a certain color, a pattern, a shape – and knowing yours is a great step towards creating a home that you adore. I don’t know about you, but I don’t just want to like my home, I want to be madly in love with it!

If you hadn’t already guessed, I would say one of my loves is peony pink. This slightly over-the-top hue cheers me up like nobody’s business. But as I look around my home right now, I can hardly find anything of this particular color. Why, oh, why, have I been depriving myself of this small joy?

If you have a favorite hue or pattern, or other splendid thing you love, but have not brought into your home, perhaps you understand. I think it’s easy to get a little too hung up on what others might think, of making a mistake, of having to repaint over a color that turned out to be hideous, and on and on…until nothing happens. I’d like to take this as a chance to encourage you (and me!) to just go for it. If there is something decorating-wise you’ve been debating for ages and you know it would make you really happy, do it. If you love a color, go buy a pot of paint and paint something. It doesn’t have to be a wall! Paint a chair, your table legs, or the inside of a cabinet.

I am going to begin by rounding up the small pink objects I do have spread about my house (like this one on Instagram) so I can enjoy them daily. Next? Hm…there may be a bit of pink and mint-tinted chalkboard paint in my dining chairs’ future… xo Laura