Dallas Blog | Material Girls | Dallas Interior Design

Tonight I was searching for mirrors for a client online and stumbled upon this one by Restoration Hardware.  I’m just a little obsessed!

I seem to have a general infatuation with this Moorish inspired shape.

So much that I made a logo out of it for the biz!  Isn’t it funny how we subconsciously flock to the same shapes over and over again?

{Dose of Design blog- PB Rug}

{Spanish synagogue- Prague}

{The Globe and Mail}

{Elle Decor- La Mamounia hotel- Marrakech}

{Color, Design, and Art blog}

{Home Accents Today}

{Kravet fabric- Riad Clove}

Moroccan inspired headboards-

{Red River Interiors blog}

{Domino}

If you want even more Moroccan inspiration, visit Maryam of My Marrakesh.  Her blog is centered around her family’s quest to build a guest house in Marrakesh.  Very inspiring!

Today I received this cute lil email flyer in my Inbox….

A lot of the time, the email flyers that I receive are completely random, (they could almost be interpreted as Spam), but I could immediately tell that this one was different.

The bold colors and unique mirrors really caught my eye.  There was no way I was going to move on with my day until I zoomed in on these lookers!  So I ventured onto their website and I soon discovered that the Made Goods products are absolutely, positively AMAZING!  I get goosebumps just looking at them.  I have never seen such original and detailed mirrors…maybe ever?

These focal-point mirrors certainly give texture a good name…

Aren’t these yummy?

And guess what? The texture doesn’t stop here.  Be sure to check out their accessories, furniture, and recently-launched chandelier line for more surfaces that are interesting to the touch.

Off to have dreams about these! G’night!

I’m currently designing a playroom for one of my clients (who has three young girls) and we want a stylish and fun paint color that can take the girls from elementary school to highschool.  We fell in love with the color scheme in Jill Zarin’s daughter’s room and I’m dying over the fact that I don’t know what paint color it is!

{Traditional Home}

I’m sure that if I ever did find out what color this was, I’d end up being completely surprised at its true hue.  Maybe it “really is a periwinkle” or “really is a navy”- some color that I completely didn’t expect.  That has happened to me before with an awesome Cole and Son wallpaper that I found in a magazine.  Woah, was it dark in person! Definitely wasn’t expecting that.  It’s so difficult to tell a true color just from a photographed image!

Anyone out there BFF’s with Jill and seen this color in person?

Would LOVE to know what is the true blue of this room!

Being a residential designer is wonderful for the most part, but just like any job, it has its good days and bad.  I consider a “bad” day one where I end up spending all day looking for a certain piece and then end up leaving the showrooms empty-handed. (well, empty-handed of tear sheets at least)

Of course interior design has a lot to do with talent, but I also think that it has a lot to do with luck.  I may have the perfect size/shape/color/pattern/texture of an object in my mind, but alas, not one showroom’s inventory will seem to want to agree with my vision!  I usually end up being a bit of a perfectionist on my projects and refuse to give up looking for the perfect piece until I find it.  But the funny thing is, six months after the project ends, I will randomly stumble upon that perfect object- funny how it works that way?

{House Beautiful}

So why do I bring this up now?  Well, I have been looking for a very particular large scale, wall-hung mirror for a client’s dining room for the past three weeks.  I’m not talking about casually browsing stores.  I’m referring to the kind of search where you obsess over it constantly- stalking every store’s catalog, internet site, and showroom for this object (often checking multiple times a week just to make sure that perfect piece didn’t arrive while you were sleeping the night before).  The never-ending search where you start to put social engagements and other work second to the quest for this object.  Any spare time is spent looking for it and even a trip to get gas in your car, ends up turning into a “let me just run in next door to see if they have something…”

{House Beautiful}

It would be fine if we had the time to wait for a custom mirror or for new inventory to come in, but my client needed the mirror for a party on the 16th and as noon rolled around today, the hope of finding it in time was not looking good.  By this point, I had given up on finding the perfect sized mirror before Saturday night, so was willing to compromise for something a tad smaller, a mirror that could at least be a “stand-in” for the party.

Enter- Home Goods.  I randomly made my bi-monthly stop at Home Goods today and guess what I found?  A mirror!  And not just any mirror- a mirror for $150!  One that would work perfectly for the time being and not only that, it looks EXACTLY like the Mosaic Mirror currently on Horchow’s website that I’ve always loved (but is currently back-ordered until March and retails for $450)

{Home Goods Mirror}

{Horchow Mosaic Mirror}

Who would have thought that the best mirror we’ve seen thus far would be from Home Goods of all places! I guess you just never know.  All’s well that ends well, I suppose, and if my client ends up loving it, hey, you never know, we just might keep it as more than a party prop!

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!

While perusing F!D Luxe the other day, I came across a Schumacher wallcovering collection that I hadn’t ever seen before.

It comes on panels and is called “Nest”.  This richly colored collection is comprised of twenty four wallcoverings created entirely from feathers!

Designers all around the country are raving about it…in this month’s House Beautiful column entitled the Next Wave, at least two designers named it as the “most inspiring thing they’ve seen lately”.

Being the wallpaper fanatic that I am (and I am using that term lightly), I may have to take a trip down to the design district just to get a look (and maybe a sample or two if they have it!) of this fabulous wallcovering.

All of that color+ all of that texture= so very drool worthy!

(And, according to Schumacher, these feathers were in fact gathered humanely, so hopefully we won’t get any comments on this post from PETA!)

Today I received an email from an MG reader wondering if I knew the paint color that was in Audrina Patridge’s bedroom?

Dear reader, unfortunately I do not…however, I am so glad you sent me the link to these photos from In Touch magazine of Audrina’s Hollywood Hills home.  I can’t tell you how long I have been looking for a glimpse into either Lauren’s, Heidi’s, Audrina’s, Lowe’s, Stephanie’s, or Kristen’s homes!

I have never been able to find any photos of the “real” homes of the Hills cast.  And with all of the talk about the show being scripted and fake, it makes you wonder if the homes are in fact staged and just part of the Hills’ set design!  But apparently these actors (excuse me, I mean these girls) really do live there.

What do you think of Audrin’a digs that her mom decorated? I personally love the rich plum paint color in her bedroom paired with her crisp white bedding and curtains…however, I think other parts of her house could have used a real decorator’s touch.  What do you think?

If anyone out there knows what brand of paint/color is used in Audrina’s bedroom, please leave a comment with the info!

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!

Seeing the photo below in this month’s House Beautiful, reminded me of how much I love a good WIDE stripe!

{Wallpaper is Millennium Stripe in Beige and White by First Editions- design by Meg Braff}

I think wide stripes just make so much more of a statement than a narrow stripe.  My belief is that if you are going to stripe it up, you might as well do it to the extreme.  Make it bold!  Wide stripes look great just about anywhere- on headboards, painted on walls and ceilings, on wallpaper, on pillows, on chairs, on window treatments and on rugs!  There is nothing better than a wide stripe (ok, maybe a fun geometric) but you get the picture!

Of course, wide stripes don’t look great everywhere- you certainly have to choose the right application.  Scale is very important in this case!  You need to make sure the repeat of the stripe isn’t too big and overwhelming for the piece you are putting it on.

Take a look at these whimsical rooms below, that decided that in the right application, going wide is the answer!

Bringing the stripes all the way up on the ceiling, helps this bathroom feel much taller.

{Domino}

Horizontal stripes helps to widen a room.

{Miles Redd}

Wide stripes on roman shades make a fun, graphic statement in this playroom.

{Traditional Home}

There is no “coloring between the lines” here!  The designer decided to take the stripes all the way out to the exterior border of this headboard.  Never would have thought to do this, but it works wonderfully here.

{House Beautiful}

Wide stripes can look fabulously graphic on a black and white rug.

{Visual Vamp blog}

Wallpaper is one of my favorite applications of the wide stripe- go bold with red and white or keep it simple and understated with a tone on tone neutral stripe.

{This is Love Forever blog}

Stripes even look great on the ceiling- especially in a nursery!

{Apartment Therapy}

Or how about wide stripes on the floor?

{Point Click Home}

Or even alternating colors on the wall?

{Coastal Living}

I adore wide stripes on furniture…and I’m talking WIDE! The settee below takes wide to a whole new level.

{Decorpad}

Green and cream stripes are repeated throughout the room below.  This repetition is what makes this room so interesting and cohesive.

On the right chair, a wide stripe fabric can look really lovely. Normally I am not a red person, but the chair below is so rich and fabulous!  The more contrast in color that your two stripes have, the more of a statement you will make!

{Patricia Gray Blog}

Since wide stripes are more whimsical and playful in my opinion, doing them in a nursery or playroom is a great idea.  Julie Richard of Shelter blog, created this nursery for her son, which was featured on La Dolce Vita’s Personal Style, Defined series.  Perfection!

{Design by Julie Richard of Shelter}

These photos make me want to go get some painters tape and start striping whatever I can get my hands on!

I am totally, completely, utterly infatuated with…

I know this hand-painted wallpaper is just about everywhere you look these days, but I still love it.  I’ve never been much of a bird person, but somehow I find myself very attracted to a wallpaper that has birds dispersed all over it!

Yes, it’s very expensive and yes, the lead time is excrutiatingly long…but that’s the price you must pay for perfection, I suppose!

{Flickr}

De Gournay specializes in 18th century Chinoiserie and 19th century French designs.  They can alter the designs with a more modern color palette to give these classics an updated look.

The interiors below are rooms in which the designer has used de Gournay wallpaper.  Imagine the room without the paper…do you think paint would have had the same effect and jaw dropping factor that the de Gournay paper has created? Most likely not.  The pattern is what really “makes” these rooms.

{Bedroom designed by Miles Redd- Domino}

{Barbara Jacksier blog}

{de Gournay}

{Velvet and Linen}

{Domino book cover}

Normally I don’t like to bring up Domino because I end up getting all emotional- but do you remember the beautiful cover of their decorating book? That was based off of a DG wallpaper!

{Velvet and Linen}

{de Gournay}

{de Gournay}

{Maison 21}

{Velvet and Linen}

{Elle Decor}

Matthew Williamson’s London Boutique and the De Gournay dress

After seeing these photos, are you now under de Gournay’s spell too?