lots of windows please.

ever since i saw a post that things that inspire did on bringing the outside in, i have become obsessed with the idea of windows taking the place of upper cabinets in a kitchen. it is just amazing how beautiful it looks to have all of that space open. i am a huge fan of not using upper cabinets and this allows so much light into a space. then i saw this picture of the shower enclosed with window panes and i think it is just genius! so if you are building think windows...and lots of them!

*images courtesy of things that inspire, southern accents, things that inspire, delight by design, meyer davis studio, searching for style

take a picture, it will last longer...

i think one of my favorite parts of having this blog is the visual reminder of what i am inspired by...having all of these images saved, gives me a great resource to go to when i am helping a client. when you are building a house or hiring a designer, images are so vital in expressing your individual style. you can learn so much from looking at pictures: obviously i like open kitchens with a combination of light and dark elements, i lean towards no upper cabinetry and i like introducing industrial touches either in lighting or in a piece of furniture.

so if you are just trying to find out what you gravitate too or if you are considering hiring a designer, start storing pictures...this will serve as a great starting point to tweaking your own individual look!

*images courtesy of charleston home (first and second), house and garden, domino, design sponge, newlywed diaries/martha stewart, the city sage, house beautiful

industrialized....

the look is popping up everywhere, even in those pesky mail order catalogs that arrive at your house daily. the industrial look is something that makes my heart skip a beat. i don't need a whole house filled w/ stainless steel but little bits of it interjected into a space makes me happy. that is why when i saw the kitchen w/ the locker baskets, i freaked. that image quickly jumped to the top of my "favorites list". i found the article from country living and read the story on the designer, Aaron Foster, who created that awesome kitchen- everything was from ebay, home depot, or flea market fairs.....

then last night, i almost died when i saw please sir's locker set...ohhh, how i would kill to have that living in my house! she spotted it in college and knew she had to have it! oh the possibilities that locker set holds!! so i am on a mission...i will be searching every reStore, flea market, and restaurant supply company (i have never been to one...tay get ready, we have an outing)....i need a little more industrial in my life...like this old metal desk from a french post office...wouldn't it be a perfect place to pay bills?!

*images courtesy of country living, please sir, 1st dibs via riviera antiques

bread box...

i inherited my love for antiques and vintage finds...my parents have taken me to antique stores my entire life. i spent many saturdays wondering around the huge warehouses at lakewood and scotts...unfortunately, i could have cared less at the time...it pains me to think about it. i would kill to be able to go to lakewood now (may it rest in peace)!

for christmas and my birthday a couple of years ago, my mom and dad gave me a vintage bread box and flour tin. i adore them. i have always wanted one b/c that is where we always kept our bread growing up. i can't wait until i have a kitchen with open cabinetry where i can really show them off....but in the mean time, i'll enjoy them sitting on my counter and giving me thoughts of home.

*pics courtesy of purple area, cottage living, bluepint bliss (these aren't old but they're still cute), country living

it's where you make your coffee...

the kitchen is the heart of a home...the spot i greet my husband everyday when he gets home from work, it's the office when i am trying to talk to a "potential" new client and i don't want them to hear my daughter screaming in her room, it's where barron hunts for food that might have been thrown overboard by a little someone, it's our favorite place in town to grab a glass of wine or beer, and of course- it's a karaoke bar/dance floor when no one is looking.....

*pics courtesy of marie claire maison

tile my wall please....

when it comes to kitchen and bathrooms, the more tile the better....take it up the wall to the ceiling, use it as a wainscoting.....start thinking beyond using it as just a back splash or to cover a shower area....the results are awesome!

*pics courtesy of casa reveal, decorno, porchlight interiors, restoration hardware

could you do this....

open shelving
Originally uploaded by homebug

how amazing does this picture of open shelving look? gosh, i wish that i would be bold/ clean/ organized enough to be able to pull something like this off. i think it looks fabulous!! and i heart shelving where you need a ladder to scroll across in order to reach something!

my work...

so one of the houses i am working on is almost finished and i wanted to show y'all some pics. the kitchen is one of my favorite spots. the house is on sullivan's so we went w/ a coastal look. shaker style cabinetry is definitely where i tend to lean...we did mix in beadboard for the island (its painted eliza lucas, one of my favorite colors- the brand use to be lord and evans but its from the historic charleston collection and i think SW owns it now). the counter top is calcutta marble honed. the refrigerator is a sub zero glass pro 48" w/ glass door. i persuaded the clients to use a white viking b/c i have been in love with suzanne kasler's 04' southern accent showhouse FOREVER (its crazy that i still love something that was designed 4 yrs ago- which makes suzanne even a more awesome designer). the bridge faucet is by rohl in polished nickel. the subway tile backsplash is waterworks (i wish you could see the sheen, its just gorgeous in person). and the lights are 19" harmon pendants in polished nickel from restoration hardware.

* sorry i am terrible at taking pics...i hope to have a professional shoot the house when everything is done. i'll show you more pics later on of the house....

aga range

so i was recently introduced to the appliance company AGA when i started working on a kitchen project that was using one of the ranges. the appliances arrived to the job site yesterday and the range it is super cool. it is made out of cast iron so it looks like a 1930's style stove but w/ all of the modern day entities.

the farmhouse sink...

i love the farmhouse sink...probably b/c it has that vintage feel that i am constantly going back to. i can't help it, it totally gets me. there are so many choices out there when it comes to this deep utilitarian sink basin. believe me, i just spent my afternoon yesterday and then again last night, trying to decide on the right one for a job i am working on. there are so many sizes out there. we have found that it is really important to know exactly which farmhouse sink you are going to use when you start the "kitchen designing process"....this is especially true if you are going to use a vintage one. and the quality of the product varies a lot according to the vendor (we weren't very pleased w/ one we just put into a kitchen this week). plus, you have to keep in mind that many of them taper at the bottom- generally this is found in the ones made from porous fireclay. just a little info i thought i would pass along in case any of you are in the market for a fab farmhouse sink!

wallpaper tile

ever wonder where tom scheerer gets that amazing tile for his beach kitchen backsplashes- cuban tropical tile. they have a gallery full of amazing custom made products. because each tile is hand made, you are truly able to customize the tile by selecting your own colors and pattern. i am sure you are thinking that its got to be expensive to do this but a 12 x 12 is about $7 per tile. not too shabby for something that is so visually stunning and unique to your home!

loving the unexpected...

nothing makes my heart skip a beat more in design then being surprised by the unexpected. this kitchen takes the cake by introducing thrift store drafting tables for it's kitchen island. i just have such a love for bringing in vintage finds and incorporating them into the design of a home....especially when the results look so effortless! i hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! we sure are thankful to my mom for babysitting!! maybe i should send out a service announcement: watch out for new parents running kid -free!

atlanta homes and lifesyles

we spent new years in atlanta (football game...not my number one choice of ways to bring in the year but it was fun none the less). in our hotel there was a magazine of atlanta homes which somehow happened to make its way home w/ me (i justified it by thinking of it as if it were the toiletries they offer in the bathroom...just another friendly jester to welcome you). it's a very good magazine. i especially loved this one house which was featured in an article titled "the un-white house". the architecture was amazing. it was a contemporary house built in a traditional bungalow neighborhood. the architect used angular walls and windows that really make the house stand out. it has loads of light pouring into the house and the kitchen is beautiful. i love the limestone ann stacks tile they used in the backsplash, very modern- sleek and sophisticated. i was also pleased to find that the magazine had a great website. (i can now access the mag even if i am not staying in an atl hotel!)

pickled white oak

one of my favorite things about having this blog is that i feel like it keeps me in the "know"; i am challenging myself to want to keep up with the latest and greatest, as well as educating myself on things that i may not have known previous to this....which leads me to today's post on pickling... i think we are going to be seeing a lot more of the "pickled" look in wood finishes. it seems like the weathered, distressed, almost drift wood look is where designers are heading- and i love this. maybe it's because i live in a beach town but i love the soft, gray hues that are given off by the wood and the rawness that it produces. i guess i am kind of over the really dark stained cabinets and this is my way of opening myself up to a new evolution of wood cabinetry. i adore this kitchen done in the pickled white oak. it is so clean and crisp...something that i find myself gravitating to much more in design. pickling is definitely not limited to cabinetry; it looks amazing on furniture, applied on floors or ceilings (oh, love it on the ceilings).

i was intrigued on how they actually do the pickling stain to the wood so i researched it a little. it was created to make new wood look old or "dusty". stainers took the wood, generally oak, and created a formula...take a handful of rusty nails and soak them in vinegar for 3 days; this would produce a gray solution that was then applied to the raw wood. today, they have come up with a much more calculated approach to pickling...it involves primer and paint thinner. either way, the look is gorgeous and i think something we will be seeing a lot more of....

backsplash envy (well actually entire house envy)...

suzanne from simply magic totally makes me envious of her kitchen backsplash tile, custom designed by her super fab design team woodson & rummerfield...i noticed this little beauty in a display of her christmas card. i emailed her and told her it was amazing and that's when she informed me that ron and jamie had this ann sacks tile custom colored green, gray, and white for her space! the top pic is a view of her entire kitchen/ dr/ lr space. lucky lady! i read in one of her previous posts that her husband had mastered the art of tile installation...wonder if he installed this? btw, great talent to master. tile installation can get pricey, especially the decorative, art inspired tiles that are now available. finding someone who has this talent is a true gem! (you can check out other pictures of her house at w & r, it is to die for...love the powder room wallpaper!!)

bronze, the classy way of saying brass....

i can't believe i am writing about this but brass is creeping back into the design world. some of you may say "did it ever leave"...well, if that is what you are thinking- YES, it left! you must be one of those who are holding onto that chandelier that came w/ the house when you bought it in the early 90's. i think that if you put the word "antique" in front of brass- antique brass, it makes the word sound so much better. brass is something i associate w/ the 80's and early 90's...but lately, (can't believe i am saying this) i am loving some bronze/ antique brass looks . you will be seeing it in hardware, which is pictured above (thanks beach bungalow8). i love the way it reads in this kitchen and the light just screams cool. lighting is another place it will be found... and you will also see this finish in a lot of furniture design. i adore this lona design console in pale pink with bronze accents. so, i guess we must give brass...let me clear my throat- bronze/ antique brass another look. and forgive those nice people who have hung onto their beloved 80's brass chandeliers.....