Thanks so much for the kind birthday wishes yesterday! They took my mind off crows feet and liver spots for at least a few minutes, and that is priceless. Today I have the pleasure of sharing my bud Naomi of Design Manifest’s super stupendous renovations of two rooms for a brother/sister tween team. If you haven’t already checked out Naomi’s blog, you need to head on over there and hire her to redo your entire house.

This is why:

Have you ever been more jealous of two tweens? I mean, other than Victoria Justice’s legs, that blue bathroom is pretty much the thing I want most in this world. And the vanity with Swan lake wallpaper is totally the Bieber’s knees.

Go see the rest of the transformation as well as Naomi’s other stellar projects here.

I’m off to find an air conditioned place to do laps. Gotta get this baby out.

Laters!

I am so. damn. tired. Yesterday I took a picture of my basketball sized belly so you could see that I’m headed into the misery stage, but I’m too tired to upload it. I even took pictures of my crazy curtain debacle but I’m also too tired to deal with that.

This is shaping up to be an exciting post. Let me spice things up a bit.

I am obsessed with every single thing in this room. I’m not sure I would be happy living here 24/7, but as a cozy library it KILLS. Those window treatments put all other window treatments to shame. The paint color and glossy built ins are ridic. The textile combo is absurdly good. And I’m going to steal that light fixture… as soon as I can figure out where it comes from.

This room by fellow Austinite Bailey McCarthy touches my happy place (visuals not necessary). The glow in the dark constellation wallpaper may make an appearance in the kid’s bathroom at our house.

GLOWS IN THE MF DARK, Y’ALL. If I were really brave, I would paper Ike’s ceiling with this bizness. But that sounds hard and I may have already mentioned that I’m tired.

Instead I think I’m going to just order this cute print for Ike’s room, glue some glow in the dark stars to the ceiling, and call it a day. (Thanks for the poster link, Katie!)

In other news, I might paint our bedroom this color:

Or maybe this color:

Dede Pratesi’s bedroom is pretty much my idea of perfection.

And as if this post weren’t already disjointed enough, you need to head on over to MFAMB and check out the room Jenny Andrews just decorated for her precious kidlet.

Awesome real people decorating on a budget makes me SO HAPPY.

What is not making me happy is my curtain situation.

Still working on it. I don’t understand why this stupid room has to be so difficult.

Yet another trip to Ikea is in the works, and a trip to the West Elm outlet already happened.

Pictures to follow. Soon.

You already know AB Chao, although you may have trouble placing her face. That’s because she looks like this:

Yeah, she’s kinda famous for her headless self portraits. But she’s even more famous for this:

You can’t even google the words “farrow” and “ball” without this room coming up. EVERYONE has seen it — even Kelly Wearstler. And she liked it. A lot.

But AB Chao has made other things, too. Like this:

And this:

And even this glamazing garage redo:

Pretty awesome.

And sure — you might hate her a little. She’s tiny and even peppier than her teenage daughter, she used to write for fancy tv shows, and her clothes are always cute. Even her husband is cute.

I mean — dammit, AB. You need to quit it with the cuteness.

But here’s the thing:  I’ve known her for years and she’s a really nice, really real person who knows how to make something out of nothing (those curtains in the top shot? first dropcloth curtain diy I know about). This is important because being an average middle class wage earner should not be an impediment to style.

And now you can join her Dewit Design Camp and be like AB.

Dudes, AB Chao is coming to Austin from June 30-July 1 to school you! Learn this stuff:

• Basic principles of design
• Creating inspiration boards
• Drawing layouts
• Paint, wall coverings, lighting, window treatments, furniture, art
• Using and repurposing existing items
• Decorating on a budget
• Common mistakes
• Putting it all together
• Styling
• Shooting interiors
• Q & A

Plus you will get to eat yummy food and hang out at Meredith Pardue‘s fancy new art studio. You know Mer:

She makes those paintings that are in all the glossy magazines.

She lives in Austin, too.

Austin is cool.

Cool people live here.

Be even cooler and meet Misses Chao and Pardue in person and soak up their coolness by osmosis.

Sign up for Dewit Design Camp right HERE.

I might even show up if I don’t drop a baby first.

Curtain talk tomorrow.

Comment if you have any Dewit questions today.

Hi kids! The sun is FINALLY out after a Noah’s Ark deluge, and it looks like I should be able to snap a few pics of the newly painted dinette this afternoon. Be ready for a superpost tomorrow, filled with mockups and waffling and too many choices. You know — the usual.

Meanwhile, I’d like to point out that some people know exactly what they’re doing. Some people know how to make a plan and stick with it. Some people is my friend Christian May of Maison 21, who created a crazy amazing window for the Legends of La Cienaga Design Quarter event — an event so paltry it includes nobodies like Kathryn Ireland, Muriel Brandolini, Nate Berkus, Waldo Fernandez, etc. Let’s check out his window deluxe:

Like I told Christian yesterday, that screen is trying to have sex with me. You know the monkey wants to watch.

One of the best things about blogging is meeting a host of talented, amazing people — Christian falls into that category.

He knows what he’s doing.

He hoarded that vintage fabric and then had the chairs custom upholstered at Gina Berschneider, purveyors of fine things such as this:

Watercolor hot flashes!

Finally I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the infamous monkey:

Custom painted by Christian, and then dissed by angry Noguchi loving Apartment Therapy readers everywhere.

Perfect for the show window.

I aspire to be more like Christian — to know what I am doing.

But first we will have to work through the pink kitchen, which is messing with my emotions.

Tomorrow.

I’m taking a break from my own decor drama to give a shout out to my bud Naomi of Design Manifest, who has a splendiferous article about Mona Ross Berman in the latest issue of Trad Home. The best thing about the article (besides Naomi’s mad writing skills) was reading about how the designer dealt with a kid and pet friendly household, which is something near and dear to my heart (and furniture). Now if someone were to gift me with a yard of Scalamandre’s infamously expensive Le Tigre or Leopardo velvet, I would of course grab it… and hide it. Far, far away from Ike and the baby and my heinous vomity cat.

This is a spectacularly gorgeous, totally hostile environment for children. I might as well move to Jupiter.

I know that a lot of people have expensive textiles and white couches, and somehow manage to impose something called “rules” on their kids and pets that magically keep expensive stuff clean. But I’m dealing with a stable of wild animals and it’s really important to me that our house be livable. Wipeable.

Cue Naomi and her article on Ms. Berman.

No carpet underfoot and leather chairs make this dining room as approachable for children as adults. May I also point out the lilac walls and Sarfatti chandy? Kids can’t ruin that unless they bust out a ladder and get really maniacal (I guess it could happen).

The banquette is covered in LAMINATED Duralee fabric. Brillz.

Ha! Just try to destroy this, children.

There goes one of the little buggers now — looking for trouble, no doubt.

Mom and dad have subverted midnight rotovirus attacks by using washable velvet fabrics throughout the master bedroom.

Keeping breakables in cabinets away from tiny hands is always a good idea.

As long as no one mistakes the walls for a coloring book, everything should be fine here.

So what do you think? Would you rather have your lovely delicates on full display and train your brood of pets and children accordingly, or are you on Team Wipeable?

Should we just call this debate Fabric vs Leather?

[Trad Home]

A while back my pal David John of the uberfantastic blog You Have Been Here Sometime casually informed me that he had worked for Jamie Bush, architect and designer extraordinaire. I shouldn’t have been the least bit surprised because David John is ultra talented, super educated, and lots of other important stuff. And then I started stalking Jamie Bush… dude has some genius solutions for odd spaces, and he knows how to work materials like nobody’s business.

Just when I think I’m over Mid Mod, this comes along to remind me that I’m only over erstatz Mid Mod — the ugly lovechild of fleabitten avocado green upholstery and big box espresso veneer.

I would happily sell my soul to live in a place like this — half baked neotrad aspirations be damned.

I never said I wasn’t a fickle beast.

[Pics via Remodelista]

I’ve been busily (obsessively) taping little scraps of patterns all over the walls, feeling good about some things, horrified by others, and generally overwhelmed by the sheer variety of stuff out in the world. Probably this process was easier when Sears Roebuck offered your choice of three patterns, to be delivered by train or pony. Instead I find myself squinting into a crystal ball, wondering which of said 800 million patterns will be least offensive to me in a decade. Compounding the problem is Better Half Ben’s insistent, rather querulous complaint that all my choices are so “decorative.” That’s gauche, dude. And kind of obvious.

All this is to say that I had an interesting reaction to stylist and socialite Jackie Astier’s home featured in this month’s ED.

It’s all moody broody texture — not much in the pattern department. Now part of me finds this cozy and fabulous, and part of me thinks I’m just backsliding into my safety net. Haven’t I already been here before? Maybe. But lacquered walls and tonal faux bois wallpaper feel so soft and dreamy.

Oh, and grasscloth. Delicious delicious grasscloth.

This bedroom is too girly for me, but I think the color palette feels a little more avant garde than the gray gray grays used elsewhere.

It’s a lot of eye candy, but I also feel like I’ve seen so much of it before. Damien Hirst: check. Mastercraft brass: check. Beni Ourain: check. Milo Baughman Karl Springer Paul Evans: check. Kind of veers into furniture museum territory.

Still, I think she does a lovely job making the space feel more intimate. I’ve been hard at work trying to create layers with pattern, but maybe in some cases texture is the way to go.

What do you think? Are you all about pattern or texture?

[Elle Decor, Jackie Astier]

Seriously. Do. Not. Do it. I warned you. If you actually type it correctly, you will be treated to a panoply of, ahem, somewhat less prurient wonders. Although not exactly XXX, Rose Cumming‘s wallpapers, fabrics, and interiors, do hold a distinct sex appeal of their own.

Her Zebrine wallpaper has gotten a fair amount of interest in recent years, but I’m actually more interested in the starry Galaxie prints (how cool would that be in a dark colorway for an unexpected kid’s room?), and Sheryl — a tufty hot number. The only problem is that RC’s prints are to the trade, available through Dessin Fournir, and I have been to lazy to set up an account.

Anyone know if tufty time comes in colorways other than pink?

Yes, I know pink tufted walls would be cute in a girl’s room. Sorry, but I can’t go there. I may or may not have been traumatized by pink walls as a smallish child (and teenager).

Sidenote: thanks to everyone who left a comment on Friday’s post, or shot me a lovely email filled with well wishes. Still hanging in there.

Yes. Just like that.

[Peak of Chic, Lonny, Loathe Like Love, Peak of Chic, House Beautiful]

How did this:

Come out of this?

People are so endlessly fascinating.

[Peter Marino via Architectural Digest]

Now that I have implanted a devious musical seed in your collective head that will surely germinate and take over the rest of your day, let me just say that it’s good to be back. New Orleans was fantastic! Amazing! Splendiferous! But we’re still in the process of home renovations, last minute repairs, and the inevitable move which is scheduled for next week. That’s right — D Day is one week from today and I’m shaking in my boots (because it’s 56 windy degrees this morning and I can wear them — who dat?!). We have NOTHING ready. Nothing. So, while I would love to regale you with tales of my trip, with pictures of my new floors, and with a big reveal of Sander’s handipaintwork, I just can’t this morning. Because I have to pack up my entire life into tiny boxes, taking care to leave toothbrushes and undergarments accessible at all times. Excuse my tres gauche patois here, but it’s going to be a clusterfuck, y’all.

Nevermind all that. Let’s look at this beautiful house designed by Tyler Dawson, shall we?

I don’t get House Beautiful but I should, because the November issue was pretty swell. Thanks to my decor obsessed hairdresser Lisa for letting me slobber all over her copy.

I’m really trying to work up some nervy color palettes for New House. I think the paint color was a huge step in the right direction, but now what???

A colorful rug would be a chic, family friendly choice since pattern hides dirt (and strawberry jello) so well. I am obsessed with this Chinese deco rug. There are a few on craigslist I’ve been stalking for a while, but I have yet to find one under a grand. I’m also considering a non neutral couch…

I may even get some patterned curtains for the kid and guest rooms. I know? Who the bleep am I???

Perhaps I am experiencing some residual delirium from all the absinthe and jambalaya, but I don’t think so.

What do you think about non neutral large pieces like couches and rugs? Crazy or crazy good?

You know what is even more exciting than paint drama? Yesterday Robert Couturier left a comment on this post. I know I just casually typed that all deadpan like, but my heart is seriously trying to escape from my chest right now. The only thing keeping me in check is the restraining order that will most assuredly be issued against me should I become a little too rowdy whilst proclaiming my undying love for RC. Still, the man is a design god so it’s not like I can just pretend that I’m not scrawling “Mrs Robert Couturier” over and over inside my “special” notebook. Here’s why:

I am obsessed with his sculptural sensibility. The man understands space and how to create an element of surprise.

He knows how to make tradition fresh and livable.

He mixes and matches eras effortlessly.

Rest assured I am taking notes for my own suburban English mini mansion (all 2350 sq ft of it) — how to strike the balance between overdone and underwhelming?

I think an aubergine sofa may be in order.

Thank you, Robert Couturier, for making my day year.

[Architectural Digest]

When I first came across Kelly Wearstler’s latest foray into megahotel decor I didn’t think too much of it, as it just seems to be Kelly’s beach house on steroids. But you can never underestimate the Wearstler’s ability to awe and inspire. There are some wicked fascinating details in here — some really good and some just really weird. Let’s have a look.

With a neutral palette and signature mix of natural materials and bold forms, the Anguilla is 100% Kelly.

Complete with seaweed luxe lighting and a befedoraed concierge.

Sconces mounted on patinated mirrors? Why, yes.

Crystal lamps and burly wooden finishes? Mmm hmm.

Karl Springer boner.

Marble marble on the wall…

Who is the fairest of them all?

I want to get drunk here.

And then retreat to my lounge, away from the riff raff.

That’s my ocean, bitches.

Yes, all of it.

So most of the weirdness comes from this creepy interloper who keeps trying to gank my room.

Ok, and maybe those lamps are a little hangman’s noose, too.

Happy Tuesday!

[Kelly Wearstler, Viceroy Anguilla]