Hey guys, thanks so much for entering the Graham and Brown wallpaper giveaway! It was super fun to read about your decorating hopes and dreams… sorry I’m about to crush most of them.

Hopefully not permanently?

Anyhow, comments are now closed and I ran the numbers through the magical doohickey, bee bopp booo bing zam:

Wow, that is just weird. Numbers be crazy, yo.

Congratulations to Lauren, you are the winner!

“Would love to win Bao in cream. I’m buying a small fixer upper apartment and would love to use this in the entry.”

Sounds like an awesome plan to me… I would slap some crazy art on top and call that space done.

HUGE thanks to Graham and Brown for hosting this amazing giveaway!

For everyone who didn’t win, here is some wallpaper porn to get you through this trying time. Don’t say I never did anything for you.

Happy Friday!

[pinterest]

Friends, I don’t do giveaways very often. On a daily basis I am inundated with emails from press people trying to get me to review off brand paint and eco toilets, but I try to keep the blog strictly related to things I want to get in my house right now.

Things like wallpaper.

Me and wallpaper have a lifelong love affair going on. It started when I was a wee baby, swaddled in a muslin cloth tacked together by wallpaper paste, rocked to sleep with the sweet smell of wet wheat in the air… fast forward to today, when I have a closet filled with stacks of wallpaper samples. Sometimes I stroke them gently at night and whisper sweet nothings into their ears. Don’t tell anyone.

All this to say I am a little excited to be giving away THREE ROLLS of Graham and Brown wallpaper designed by Steve Leung!

The winner will have her/his choice from any of the six Asian inspired patterns designed by Steve Leung in any available colorway.

THREE. ROLLS. BAM.

That’s enough to paper a huge feature wall, or perhaps a small powder room, foyer, or laundry room.

So, basically $80000 worth of wallpaper… or maybe $255 USD. Whatever. That’s a lot of wallpaper. Let’s check out the players, shall we?

There’s Jiao, which has a touch of the De Gournay about it. This color is very pretty in real life, but other colors are also available.

This is Bao, which means treasure. Adorable, because my Chinese bud always calls my kids “bao bao.” Anyway, the rep sent me a black sample but I lovessss the cream on cream. You can’t tell from the picture but this pattern is very textured.

Hua has some metallic interest in the branches.

Juan is so sparkly it’s like a disco in your eyeballs. I am kind of obsessed with the gold on cream colorway.

Ling has great scale, and is slightly textured. All of the colors are nice. Karly likes the cream on cream but I think the red might be Chinese Chippendaletastic.

And then there’s Mai.

Let me tell you about this honey of a paper: you can hang it vertically or horizontally. It has a teeny touch of metallic interest, but not Kim Kardashian much. All the colors are great — the white and silver is dreamy and versatile, but the charcoal is dramatown and would be perfect in a foyer.

In short, I want to marry this paper and I’m a little annoyed I agreed to give it away rather than keep it for myself. 100% serious.

There better be a lot of entries or I will be tempted to create 100 anonymous email addresses and enter my own contest.

Kidding! Hahaha.

Ha.

I took some pictures of the samples the rep sent me so you could kind of get a sense of the texture on the papers.

Jiao/Mai

Bao/Hua

Juan/Ling

All of these patterns are nonwoven paste-the-wall papers that are so easy to hang even a dummy like me can do it. And if you tire of them, just peel the paper off the wall in strips.

You need this in your life.

Contest rules:

Please peruse the available selections here and pick a fave pattern and color. Leave a comment telling me all about your favorite paper and what you plan to use it for. The winner is free to change her/his mind so don’t get all analysis paralysis on me… I’m really just curious and y’all know I love to talk decorating projects.

That’s it! Leave a comment and you are entered for a chance to win three rolls of Graham and Brown wallpaper designed by Steve Leung.

The contest ends at midnight central time on Thursday, May 16. Winner will be announced on Friday.

Let’s blow it up, people.

[Graham and Brown]

The interweb gods have spoken:

And the winner is Ellen, miss #25!!!  Congratulations Ellen!  You won a 3 month subscription to book swim.  I’ll email you to set it up.

For everyone else who wants to read on the cheap, check out book swims plans Here.

or, mull it over for awhile:

Archive II by architect David Garcia

Don’t you just love give away days?  I j’adore them because it makes me look benevolent and kind and awesome and all that junk.  Well, today is no exception, I’m going to be looking pretty rad when I bestow one lucky commentor a three month subscription to Book Swim.  Pray tell, what is book swim?

I’m so glad you asked.  Book Swim is the cure for my shrinking bank account and my increasing amount of laziness (look, I’m cooking an entire human here, it’s work).  Book Swim absolves me of all my television watching guilt.  In a word:  Book Swim is awesome.

Book Swim is the Netflix for Books.

Yes, the netflix.  For books.  It’s about time, right?

While titles from design heavyweights like Wearstler and Adler are noticeably absent from the Book Swim selection, I did manage to find the above.  (Can you guess which ones are in my queue?)  For the most part, I’m pretty impressed with their selection, about 80% of the titles I searched for were found in their database, including obscure reference books and random collections of short essays.  All and all I’d consider the selection pretty good considering that there must be, like, a gazillion trillion books in the world.

Want to try it out?  Of course you do.  Leave a comment on this post between now and Thursday, 7/1 at 6:00 pm Central time.  The winner will receive a free 3 month subscription to la Swim.  Check back on Friday when I announce the lucky duck.

If you can’t wait that long to get your read on, go sign yo self up HERE.

Lots of you loved the Woolly Pocket giveaway, and with good reason — those little guys are mind bendingly awesome. I plugged your sweet comments into the random number generator and bop bop bing blam ka ching, we have a winner:

#6 — Jyll, come on down! Apparently you did all the right cheerleading stunts, wore an appropriately tacky t-shirt, and screamed until your throat turned hoarse, because Wally is coming home with you. Lucky girl!

For those of you who are crushed by a bitter sense of defeat, turn that frown upside down by ordering your own Wally right here.

Many many thanks to the super nice people at Woolly Pocket, who go above and beyond in their quest for the green life. How so, you may ask? Well, just check out their school garden initiative:

For $1000 schools can order an entire gardening system, complete with a curriculum. I love this idea because it’s so important for kids to learn the magical joy that growing things from tiny seeds brings. This in and of itself makes WP uber rad, but they just have to one up themselves by helping to raise money for schools who need it. I think my runty black heart just grew two sizes. If yours did, too, you can go here to vote for Woolly Pocket, which will them a chance to win big bucks from Pepsi for the Woolly School Garden.

But the giving doesn’t stop there — if you go here and tweet Woolly Pocket’s message, WP will donate $1 to the Woolly School Garden on your behalf.

Just look at those happy faces!

Ok, dudes, back later with some goings on at Casa Erin… the dust be flying round here.

Summertime gives me a naturegasm. With all the lush verdure, I sometimes feel like I can hear things growing, and it’s good to be filled with a sense of purposeful renewal. That’s why I’m so excited the nice folks at Woolly Pocket are sponsoring a GIVEAWAY for us, plus I’m guest posting over at their blog today. How’s that for cross pollination? Now, what the bleep is a Woolly Pocket, you may ask? Friends, prepare to be amazed.

Woolly Pockets are gardening systems that can be used indoors or out. They’re made from recycled materials formed into flexible, breathable pouches that have a moisture barrier so you can hang them on walls or set them right on your more delicate furnishings. All you have to do is add soil, plants, and water, and then — blammo! Instant garden. You can read more about the how tos right here.

Wally is a modular, wall hung pocket that can be used outside to build a vertical garden, creating a cool oasis (ok, a pool helps, too).

Or Wally can be used inside to recycle all that dirty carbon dioxide you’ve been shuffling around.

Wally is space saving and maximizes moisture, so you don’t have to water 1000x times a day.

Here are two Wally pockets placed side by side in the kitchen, where they’re being used to grow all sorts of yummy edibles. Brilliant idea for those of us with small outdoor spaces, or poor growing conditions (hello, Austin!).

You know you want to try a Wally on for size, and today is your lucky day! We’re giving away one lined Wally pocket in peacock blue, so you can use him indoors or out. All you have to do is leave a comment by 12 noon CST on Sunday the 13th for a chance to win. Due to shipping constraints, I’m afraid this contest is open to US residents only. The winner will be announced on Monday the 14th, so tune in to see if it’s you… it might be.

Now I hope that you’ll all hop over to the Woolly Pocket blog where I’ve written up a little guest post that includes lots of images designed to inspire you to get busy gardening, indoor style. You know you want to go to there, so what are you waiting for?

Go! Now!

But leave a comment first, ok?

That’s right, my thoroughbred friends — we’ve got an equestrian themed GIVEAWAY in honor of Karly’s sold out edition of Horsey prints! This one comes courtesy of the fine folks at CSN Stores, who sell everything from bathroom vanities to Knoll and Kartell housewares through their mammoth collection of 200+ stores. I’m sure you can imagine that sifting through 489,654 items before selecting La Horsey was quite the sweaty herculean task, but it’s ok. Don’t worry about me. Everything I do, I do it for you.

Now that I’ve drummed up an appropriate amount of sympathy and lodged a ridiculous Bryan Adams tune in your collective head, let’s move on to the good stuff!

Just look at those sweet baleful eyes… who wouldn’t want to give this little guy (or gal) a good home?

Measuring a substantial 22 x 22 inches square, our equine friend is hand screened with java colored ink onto jute, finished with leather piping, and stuffed silly — because no one wants a skinny pony. Our lucky winner can display him (or her) whether they be old money or poorgeoisie — this pillow has legs. Somewhere.

The Brass Tacks: Enter to win this FREE Thomas Paul pillow, valued at $80, by naming the horsey in the comment box below. That’s right — all you have to do is NAME THIS HORSEY to win a FREE Thomas Paul pillow. You have until Sunday, May 30, at 12 noon CST, to leave your comment below. A random number generator will choose the winner, who will be announced on Memorial Day, Monday the 31st. Sorry, due to shipping constraints, this contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. Please enter only once, but feel free to tell your friends and neighbors, announce this contest on facebook, and tweetaleet all about this bizness. We’re looking forward to some excellent names, the best of which will be announced along with the winner, because bragging rights are almost as good as a free pillow right? Right?

Now saddle up and get cracking. Yee haw!

Good Tuesday All! I’ve got exciting news: Poketo give away winners are listed below; and lame news: computer problems big time. See, I was actually trying to be a proactive blogger by installing a wordpress update, somehow amidst all the fancy code my computer and my server stopped talking to each other and now I can’t get any work done in blogland or otherwise. Whant whant whant. So, my mac is in the shop and I’m relegated to shamefully using my husband’s yucky PC, which has (gasp!!!!) NO BOOKMARKED PICTURES OF PRETTY HOUSES. It sucks to say the least and now you dudes have to pay the price by reading this short post.

HOWEVER!!!!! These 3 people should be mighty excited:
#31 Anita
#8 Connie
#17 Alma

I know that a couple of these winners are frequent commenters but I want everyone to know that these were the true random number generator results and I actually thought long and hard about spinning the wheel again lest you dudes would think there was funny business going on. I decided that I best not tempt fate and that hopefully you trust a gal who’s been bringing you daily love for 2 years now. Right?

For those of you the random number generator didn’t pick, you can still grab a recycled tote at Poketo here.

And just because I love you all dearly, here’s a picture of my new fantasy wallpaper. I’ve been dreaming of this ever since Nelya posted it at head over heels last week:

stay tuned for a guest post tomorrow…and praise the lord you don’t have to sit through another miserable day of me using Matt’s computer. All should be well by Thursday where I maybe maybe will show you some pics of my backyard remodel.

Praise halleluia everyone, it’s a give away day! Today 3, yes THREE lucky winners are totes going to win a tote from everyone’s favorite accessory shop, Poketo. You know, Poketo, the adorable company we recommended in gift guides here and here. The ones that make these adorable goodies:

note, none of these are included in the give away, you’ll have to scroll down for that, but you can buy the yummy items above by following these links:

crayon rings $12
Secret Tees, pack of 4 $60
Tools of Antiquity Journal $40
Blackbird Fly Twin Lens Reflex Camera $140
Irana Douer Print $48

Last week, Poketo launched a new line of recycled handbags including:

These awesome recycled bubble bags (made from used and donated clothing)

tote bags made out of (wait for it) recycled suits

and finally, the ones we’re GIVING AWAY:

These colorful recycled street banner bags are my personal fave and I’m totally jealous of the 3 (three!!!!!!) lucky winners that get to take one home.

Here’s the deal: you want one? Just leave a comment in the comments section. Comments section is closed next monday, May 3, at 5:00 pm CST at which time la random number generator will pick 3 winners. I’ll announce it on the blog Tuesday and 3 of you will get to do your grocery shopping with a nice earth-saving smug grin plastered across your mug. Got it? Now go, comment.

Poor Karly — she is one sick little girl. She’s been working so hard at her real job, plus staying up late to play with me and baby Ike, and don’t forget the hella funny posts she’s been writing lately. So, let’s all give her some presents! Send me a link of a present for Karly in the comments section and I’ll try to add them to this post periodically sporadically throughout the day.

Here’s my gift to her:

Mmmm, a visit to the deliciously creepy Godiva store in Harajuku, Japan, because who doesn’t want to get slimed by a giant chocolate stalagtite? Ok, maybe this is for me…

If you don’t already know, Karly likes gold and animals and lasers and weirdo artwork. I’m sure ya’ll can find something delightful. Annnnnnd, GO!

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Wheeeee! It’s present time! The fabulous Sherri at The Claw sent over these SUPER FREAKING RAD gifts for Karly. How come you other posers aren’t playing along? Stop pretending to work and get busy!

Awesome chairs from Moroso.

Tiger love from the most excellently named blog, Jellybean Weirdo.

And then there’s the piece de resistance! Holla!

Thanks again, Sherri!

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Well, well, what have we here? Three glorious gifts from The lovely Raina of the If the Lampshade Fits have arrived on our virtual doorstep.

First we have a fabulous gold lamp designed by uber hottie Jaime Hayon that shall be delivered by him personally. Yowza!

Next we have an extra special wall mounted, horse head vase for Karly, whose heart goes pitter patter at the sight of anything equine. This one is also a Hayon original.

And finally, a set of gold double doors custom designed by Mr. Hayon for Karly’s house. Say what? Well, it’s a good thing she’s sick and I’m feeling magnanimous, because otherwise I’d hit her over the head with the lamp and steal the doors somehow. It would be easy to steal a pair of giant gold doors, right? Totally inconspicuous.

Thanks, Raina, for your amazing gifts!

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Hey, looky here! JoAnn has been nice enough to send Karly a recycled glass tile from Ellen Blakeley:

Hey there, good looking!

Thanks, JoAnn for sending such a nice gift!

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Hooray, the presents are a rollin’ in now! Here’s one from Cassie at Roseland Greene:

So, yes, that is a giant clock made from a zillion spraypainted toys. Did I mention in my call for entries that Karly specifically likes white, painted toys? Nay, I did not. But Cassie is just that damn good.

Thanks, Cassie!!!

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A gift package from the magnificent Miss Tula at Whorange just came this way:

Yep. That’s what it says, and you know you feel the same way. Here’s the lowdown:

directions:  place macarons on plate.  eat macarons.  lick plate.

Thanks, Tula! nom nom nom…

Whatup, whatup, pals — welcome to 2010! Karly and I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year, filled with a heaping helping of awesomeness. Peeping around the blogosphere I see that many of you have been busy elves, posting your wee little hearts out. Must be because Apartment Therapy ran their biggo blog contest during the holidays, and everyone enjoys watching their stats raise the roof thanks to AT’s traffic driving link love.

Guess who went on vacation during all the brouhaha? Oops. Because, had we been here instead of traveling and eating and boozing, we most certainly would have been big pimping, and you would have voted for us, right? Right. To those of you who did take the initiative to vote for DC without us gently prodding demanding that you do so — much love and many thanks. Now we be friends 4EVA.

But The Homies ain’t over yet. There are six finalists and we have two whole days left to convince you to vote for our favorite blog:

Door Sixteen. Because Anna is always mixing it up, posting fresh roundups coupled with witty insights. And, she works crazy hard renovating her New York Victorian home to spectacular result, which is obviously a labor of love. Somehow she also manages to be simultaneously timely and timeless — no small feat. Plus she has cute bangs and two lovable pooches. What more could you ask for in a blog?

AT highlighted a motherload of greatness, so while I’m at it I’d like to give a shoutout to a few of my favorite homies. I can’t possibly list all of them, but these high vote getters shine brightly because they all feature their own homes and design work. Everyone loves to read roundups and trend reports, but nothing beats a sweet reveal.

The chick from The Brick House slays me. Apparently she lives near Palm Springs, which is squarely in superthrift central. You have no idea how jealous I am of her finds — Austin is the most picked over thrift scene in the universe. Pffft. Also, she’s a photographer. And she’s a teacher. And she likes black paint. Hmmm. Reminds me of someone else I know…

It’s always martini time at Whorange. You gotta love the eye popping retro appeal, her feel good posts, and most importantly, her magnificent hair. Tula is the girl you want to go out on the town with, because you know she’ll take you to all the best art openings, and she’ll totally notice your fabulous shoes.

Who has impeccable taste and a penchant for moving… a lot? Whether in Paris, Seattle, or Atlanta, Ally of From the Right Bank makes each home uniquely her own. Plus she’s about the sweetest blogger out there. Tune in to see what she does with her newest project out in the deep south, but you better hurry before she’s off and moving cross country. Again.

Trendsetter AB Chao of hashai ignited a virtual firestorm when she painted her bedroom Farrow and Ball’s Downpipe. After winning fan favorite in All the Best’s bedroom design contest, she’s landed a client of her very own. Now that’s she’s gone pro, we’re all waiting with baited breath to see who she’s designing for…

Last but not least, Raina of If the Lampshade Fits is our homegirl. The ex designer and shop owner is currently renovating her very own Barbie dream home, and if her daughter’s new digs are any indication, it’s going to be killer. My only question is, when can I move in?

That’s it for today’s shoutouts. There are so many amazing blogs out there that I read daily, and next year I plan to take a break from my vacation and vote for them all. In the meantime, I think maybe I should start posting more pics of my house, which I’m pretty sure is a great idea, but I’m also concerned about the amount of cleaning necessary to show my home to the world. I’m not trying out to be on Hoarders or anything, but the tot’s toys have multiplied like tribbles, and Fisher Price is taking over our house.

Guess I better get to work on taking it back.

As Erin mentioned yesterday, next week we will be posting our world famous holiday gift guide.  Yep, 5 full days of non-stop recommended shopping action.  It’s going to be massive.  In preparation for our extravaganza, I suggest you take note of the two shopping rules I live by:  1.  Never shop on an empty stomach and 2.  Always get something for yourself.

In preparation for the e-commerce bloodbath, The Inglenook Decor is making sure you can check rules one and two off your to-do list.  The lovely ladies that run Inglenook contacted Erin and I offering up holiday plates for your dining, self keeping and overall holiday pleasure.

You dudes know the drill:  swoon, comment, and maybe maybe win.  La random number generator will pick a winner next monday and I’ll contact you via email on Tuesday.

The winner gets his or her choice of either of these two lovely holiday plate sets:

Option 1:  Haute Holiday Dessert Plates, set of four* plates in a lovely gift box

*sorry, I had originally posted that there were nine plates but I was mistaken… the plates are 9″ wide and come in a set of 4

Option 2: Four Calling Bird Dessert Plates with 24 karat GOLD!!!!!!  Have I reminded you lately how I love gold?  Le sigh!  These babies come in a set of four.

If you just can’t wait until we post our guide next week to get your holiday shop on, perhaps you could cross a few names off your list with any of these gems from the Inglenook (note, these items are NOT part of the give away, I just feel like showing them to you.  So there)

Clockwise from top:

Gold Leaf Metal Birds Nest With Silver Spoon, $26.00

Amelie Luster Glasses, Set of 6, $36.50

Brown Shanghai Links Needlepoint Pillow, $53.50

Avocado Bamboo Pillow, $77.50

Ok everyone, start your engines… Pick a plate set and leave a comment and hopefully all your holiday wishes will come true.