Dallas Blog | Material Girls | Dallas Interior Design

Of course you’ve seen the black and white- maps, botanicals, and architectural drawings pop up everywhere in rooms these days.  You can’t hardly open up a magazine without seeing a series of them somewhere within its pages.

But how about the black and white nudes?  I keep seeing these sketchy pieces of art everywhere lately and although I usually shy away from something like this, I actually found myself purchasing a pair for a client, from the Robert Allen showroom the other day.

{John Richards- at Robert Allen}

What I loved about these is that they weren’t incredibly detailed and didn’t get too up close and personal with any body parts .  They were  just very simple and sophisticated.  They were exactly the kind of series that I had envisioned to set on top of this busy “nude” geometric wallpaper by Osborne and Little in a small dining area.

And as luck would have it, the figure sketches ended up working out perfectly for the room!  The repetition of the wallpaper’s neutrals within the art and bit of black to act as a punctuation mark, made a nice graphic statement on the wall, without screaming for attention. I always say, every room needs a touch of black!

Now that I’m no longer looking for these figure sketches, I keep coming across them everywhere!  Are these the new “botanicals”?

Ashley Goforth used one on her client’s gallery wall.

{Via Decorpad}

Z Gallerie- Spa Day 3

William Sonoma Home- “Anna In Repose”

Horchow- “Nude” Paintings

Soicher Marin- Nude Sepia Drawings after Fragonard

1st Dibs- Etherial Figure Drawing

Paragon- Nudes

What are your thoughts on the nude figure drawings?  Love ‘em for interiors or leave ‘em for anatomy class?

Candice and I keep running into each other EVERYWHERE.  It’s so strange, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, and then BOOM!  She keeps appearing out of nowhere.  I find myself in a showroom asking the salesperson “who is the designer of this sofa?”  Candice. “Who is this fabric by?” Candice again.  ”You don’t happen to know whose rug this is, do you?”  You guessed it…Mrs. Olson.

We’ve just had too many good run-ins lately, that I’m beginning to wonder if there is a place out there that doesn’t carry something with the Candice Olson name attached to it.

“Candice” is like the decorating BFF that you never knew (in person at least).  She seems so down to earth and friendly…qualities that could make a homeowner feel at instant ease.  She seems easy to relate to and perhaps that is why the Canadian interior designer has done so well in her career.

Most people (especially my clients) are familiar with her through HGTV’s Divine Design but I must admit, I’ve never seen a full episode.  This is the one place we haven’t run into each other (just yet anyways).  I know, a designer never having seen Divine Design?  Unheard of, right?  But 1) I rarely get to watch TV and 2) when I do get the rare chance to watch TV, I try to fill my mind with anything but design.

One thing I know of for sure is that Candice has made herself into a household name.  Through her extensive lines in various showrooms, she has created an empire that I can’t help but be jealous of.

In the recent past, Candice has teamed up with Kravet, Paragon, Silestone, AF Lighting, Surya, Revco, Norwalk, Thermador and York Wallcovering to make the Candice look available to designers and the general public.  I’m curious to know as to when this woman sleeps?  I feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day for little ole’ EJ Interiors, so I can’t even imagine Candice’s workload, all of the places that she has to be, and all of the decisions that have to be made day in and day out for her business.

Some of her pieces that I drool over…

I actually just recently purchased this sofa for my own living room.  It’s the Tina sofa (in off white) from Norwalk and I’m loving it!

I just purchased this Milton sofa for one of my clients…and she’s loving it!  (well, from the tear sheet at least..it hasn’t arrived just yet)

We also purchased six of these Margot chairs for the same client’s dining room (and we selected these without even knowing that we were picking out even more Candice furniture for her house)

Candice’s fabric line for Kravet is just as chic!

I had another client who requested that we use a textured Candice wallpaper in her master bathroom.  We used the Sisal Twill paper and it turned out beautifully!  Now if only the backordered mirror and rest of the bathroom furniture would magically appear to top off this scenario!

{Sisal Twill wallpaper}

{Lattice Wallpaper}

Ok don’t make fun of me for Candice overload, but I want to use this dining table in another client’s home.  I haven’t been able to find a table (at this pricepoint) that has lines and a finish as graceful as this one’s.

{Fitzgerald Dining Table}

I saw this chandelier at The Patricia Group the other day and thought it was the coolest thing.  This would have looked great in my other client’s “man cave”.  Ok, ok I’ll stop!

{Metro Chandelier}

One more…this is my favorite lamp of hers…

{Opulent Table Lamp}

Now I’m curious to know…what’s next for Candice?  I have a good suggestion- how about a paint line?

Need some last minute gifts from a group of talented artists? Then visit Third Space (next door to Neimans) on Main Street in Dallas.

For one week only, nine local artists will be displaying their work priced to sell as a special holiday treat.

So go take a gander- you may end up finding the piece of your dreams!

One of my clients needed some art (and quickly) for her guest bedroom that we’ve been working on.  Her mother will be here visiting for Christmas in a mere nine days!  So needless to say, we’ve been scrambling around trying to put together the finishing touches on the room that she will be staying in.  We wanted to give off a hotel feel in this space.  White, deep magenta and beige are the predominant colors in here (while brushed nickel accents add some sparkle to the room)

So on my Sunday Funday, I am making two coordinating pieces of art for her out of wallpaper by Osborne and Little, that she can place above her small dresser.

.

It really has turned out to be such an easy and inexpensive project (and in no way, am I very crafty!)

All you need is a pretty frame (I purchased two at Aaron Brothers for $36 each), a 2″ mat (I got two espresso brown ones cut at Hobby Lobby for $10 each), and some fabulous wallpaper scraps.

Pick the part of the wallpaper that you like the best, cut to fit, insert into frame and voila! Instant art.

And if my clients ever gets tired of this color scheme or pattern, then no worries, because this project only cost $92!

It’s too bad I don’t have more wallpaper, I’d love to make a “series” for myself or some wallpaper art as a gift for someone for Christmas.  Oh well, there’s always next year!

One of my clients emailed me about the website, Avalisa- and I’ve been obsessed every since!  I have spent hours just combing through all of their fun, kid oriented, stretched wall art and fine art prints.  (not to say that some of their multi-colored, patterned prints, couldn’t go in an adult’s room too!) Their simplified, lively and unique designs are what draws me to their pieces.

They have so many to choose from too.  Here is a small sampling of what they have on their website- but there is much much more where these came from.

They even have wall murals as large as 96″ x 96″!  You can also get custom colors and sizes made of their wall hangings.  We are about to order a few ourself. I wish I had known about this when I did the pediatric dental office.  They are such a great resource!

I just got the skinny from Lucky Mag about Anthropologie’s newest venture.  This popular retail chain will be teaming up with artists around the world and selling their unique hand-made home decor creations to the general public!

Samantha Robinson from “the land down under” produces these hand-cast Watermelon bowls.  A fun tidbit- they are molded from actual watermelons and then painted!

These fun porcelain bowls covered in wool, lace, and crochet are produced by John Bauer of Cape Town.

The Material Girls can’t get enough of wallpaper!  And how about hand-stitched wallpaper from British artist Tracy Kendall? Never quite seen anything like it! (passage is from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream)

Pieke Bergmans’ creative pieces include sleek, colorful glass vases that are hand-blown onto more industrial pieces (in this case, a ladder)

These chairs by Leslie Oschmann, an artist from Amsterdam, are not to be missed!  These vintage chairs get their personality from found canvases.

These items are very limited and can only be found in certain Anthro stores across the US!  If you are in New York, you are in luck! All items from this collection are being sold at the Rockefeller Center flagship.

This botanical art makes me so happy…but happy that it’s a Monday? Well maybe not THAT happy!

Aren’t the colors in it stunning?  They complement the paint color (Benjamin Moore’s California Breeze) so nicely.

This botanical painting, created by Sarah Graham, was in the living room of this year’s Kips Bay Showhouse.  House Beautiful featured the Bunny Williams’ designed room in their August issue and also spotlighted the bold canvas painting.

I did a little research (isn’t that what blogging always leads to) and found out more about Sarah.  She is a British artist who is represented in London by Sims Reed Gallery.

{House Beautiful}

The coordinating pair of paintings were made specifically for the space and can be bought at Bunny Williams’ shop, Treillage for $10,700 each (price includes the frames).

Her graphic drawings are equally as beautiful as her paintings.  Done on handmade paper, these drawings are incredibly sophisticated and so timeless.

Cardiocrinum Giganteum (phew- that was a mouthful!)

Paradise Flowers

Chinese Ink

Lilies

If I was Sarah, I’d probably be doing commissions all day just for myself!  How could you resist- these would make such a great series!

Can you believe that it’s already been a year since Brad Pitt’s last shopping spree at the Art 40 Basel show in Switzerland?

Last year we blogged about his lamp purchase-

This year he went for the wall art.  Brad perused a few paintings at the show. 

And even managed to have time to pose with some statues…

He ended up settling on this piece below for $960,000.  It’s a 1998 oil on linen painting by German artist Neo Rauch.  The name of the painting is Etappe.

I love living vicariously through Brad’s expensive purchases! Can’t wait to see what he picks up next year.

I found the cutest pieces of art on nybgshop- just in time for spring!

These charming, framed flower paper reliefs are created by Jeff Rudell and would look perfect in a little girl’s room.