Los Angeles Design Blog | Material Girls | LA Interior Design

A client of mine happens to be a sales director for iVillage (an NBC Universal Company) and they have recently launched their new Home & Garden Channel – totally worth checking out! It’s full of inspiration galleries, how to videos, house tours, gardening advice, blogs, and more!

The inspiration galleries are organized by section which makes it easy to find inspiration per room, such as: Nurseries, Window Treatments, Playrooms, Mudrooms, Dining Rooms, Wall Treatments, Backyards, Porches, Decks, Girls’ Bedrooms, etc.

A playroom featured in the inspiration gallery.

A modern bedroom featured in the Bedrooms section.

Another bedroom (the feature list sources as too, like this zebra print pillow from Target!).

Love the House Tours section too:

Which includes the home of Real Housewife of New York, Alex McCord.

And another home tour of Real Housewife of DC, Mary Schmidt Amons.

Check out iVillage for more!

Lately, I have been doing an incredible amount of furnishing sourcing for client projects – today specifically researching and sourcing area rugs, pillows, and poufs.  In my “internet travels” I came across Calypso and loving their home goods section, especially the collection of area rugs, pillows, and poufs – coincidentally everything I was looking for!

{Knit Wall Clock}

{Beignet Pouf}

{Lapis Quilt}

{Kuba Jaipuri Pouf}

{Trellis Euro Pillow}

{Goa Pearl Euro Pillow}

{Hampton Lattice Rug}

Last week on Houzz they featured some great ideas for message boards in rooms.

Here’s a look at some innovative ways to incorporate message boards in interiors:

Awhile back, I wrote a blog post about this staircase by interior designer Thom Filicia, using a rope as a handrail (loved the idea then, still love the idea now). I came across a website that manufactures ropes for handrails (and their line even includes the details such as fittings, knots, and towel bars).  The company is called Stair Ropes and they are based in the UK, with customers here in the States too.

They carry ropes in different colors and two-toned versions.

And different fittings and finishes.

And various types of knots and sizes.

Accessories too, like this towel ring.

I love the idea for an outdoor space too.

In the spirit of the 4th of July, here are some images that embody the American way of life – year round.

The American flag creates a focal point in this bedroom and the red, white, and blue interiors reflect an all American style.

An outdoor deck feels festive.

A picture of a garden I took on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, CA.  Most all homes have a flag in the front of their house, year round.

And we always keep a flag on the back of our boat, seen here in Newport Harbor.

…and in Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island.

Most boat docks are lined with the flag at the end of the landing, as seen in this picture taken on Balboa Island in Newport Beach – last winter.  The spirit is year round here.

More “all American” style homes on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, where the flag is a staple in front of most everyone’s homes.  (I’ve stayed here in the midst of winter, when the winds pick up, and hear the flags blowing through the howling wind at night.)

A patriotic children’s room – so cute!

A very sophisticated bedroom decorated with a touch of patriotism.

{Photos from Houzz, House Beautiful, and me)

Happy 4th of July!

“It broke through the wall during the last big storm and we decided just to leave it.”

Every once in awhile we could use a little humor in design, yes?  Well, for a little bit of silliness check out “Catalog Living” – a blog dedicated to; “A look into the exciting lives of the people who live in your catalogs” – all with a bit of humor.  (Such as the photo captions above and below.) The voice behind “Catalog Living” is Molly Erdman, a Los Angeles based actor, improviser, and writer (orginally from Dallas). Worth a read for a few laughs.

“Sweetheart, the Turners will be here any minute now!  Did you put the plate of figs under the table?”

{Quotes and pictures from Catalog Living.}

Always one to want to know what the Kardashian sisters are up to, I was in awe of this home office featured on CasaSugar designed by Jeff Andrews for Khloe Kardashian.  Khloe was introduced to Los Angeles based interior designer Jeff Andrews by his client Ryan Seacrest. (Coincidently, Jeff Andrews works with the same art gallery as I do and I had heard a lot about his project for Ryan at the time.)

Being that Khloe’s style is young and glamorous, but with an appreciation for traditional – the concept for the home office (and the entire house) was “glam-traditional.”  Here’s a sneak peek of the office (and I can’t wait to see the rest of the house in the future!):

The pair of guest chairs are vintage and Khloe already had them but didn’t love them so Jeff reupholstered in a fabric with a subtle sparkle.

To add glitz and dimension, the back of the bookshelves were lined with antique mirror.  The chandelier adds glamour and Jeff customized the piece by adding cut black crystals (purchased separately and added on).

The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore Stone (a shade of gray lavender) and the ceiling in a lighter shade of lavender (Angelika).  For the window treatments, they used sheers in charcoal/purple color which help to glam up the space.  The mirrored desk and side table along with other accessories pull everything together.

Look forward to seeing the rest of the house!

The ubiquitous farm table can be found in contemporary and traditional interiors alike.  It’s almost like a pair of jeans – it can go with anything and be dressed up or down.  Take a look at some of these interiors that feature a farm like table in different styles and settings.

Some variations on the farm table, as featured in Country Living:

Crate and Barrel

Sundance Catalog

Ikea

Ethan Allen

In addition to accessories, pillows, and rugs – check out these fun Thomas Paul lighting selections.  (They all come in an array of color & fabric choices too! Click on the links for more options.)

Bridgett Pendant Lamp

Nevin Pendant Lamp

Shea Pendant Lamp

Thor Pendant Lamp

{*I love this one!}

Vic Pendant Lamp

And sconces too:

June Sconce

Pierce Sconce

Eloise Sconce

The placement of artwork is something I often work with a client on towards the end of a project.  It usually involves us spending time together figuring the best placement for each piece.  Often I find a client may have a personal attachment to a piece of artwork that they will want to place in a special or specific location.  I tend to place artwork based on scale of the wall and arrangement of furniture. But truly, there are many ways and means of how and in what way to hang artwork.  I’ve also worked on projects where the client needed to acquire art and have worked with that client to help them select pieces.  Although, I always start by telling the client art is a very personal choice and feel they should buy what appeals to them.  Some clients have collections, others are looking to acquire, and still others are on budgets and are looking to simply decorate.  I had a client who wanted to invest in fine art and we worked collaboratively with a fine arts dealer, another client who’s husband had a comic book collection that we framed for the home office, and another client where we shopped at home good stores to find inexpensive artwork to fill the walls.

Domino magazine always featured great little how to tidbits and creative adivce like this spread on different ways to hang artwork.

This breakfast nook featured in a spread from Elle Decor displays family photos and children’s artwork with a mix of pictures leaning on a shelf and  collaged walls below.  A very personable display of art.

Framing like items is always such a great way to feature a collection, similar frames and matting define the grouping and look ideal in a hallway or corridor if there are many to display.

Clustering a set of pictures appears as one large back drop of artwork.

An interesting vignette of different scaled artwork.

Art en masse in the same size and framing creates a gallery of artwork.

Balance dominates in this living room display of art although the pieces of artwork are different in size and frames, but the arrangement is of equal balance.

Another past Domino magazine feature, a collection of plates (left) and a series of art (right) offer another way of arranging.

{There are so many creative ways to display artwork and arrange wall collections. Analyzing interiors can give you a lot of ideas on how to arrange artwork and figure which works best for your space.}