Posts with tag home

We love all of the amazing independent designers out there. In order to find out more about just what makes all of these creative types tick, we present to you an ongoing segment called Indie Designer Interviews.

Today's interview is with Louisiana artist Jodie Flowers Santora. Jodie creates quirky accessories to brighten up your home as well as fun monster patches your kids will love to wear.

The importance of good lighting is often overlooked, but as all good fashionistas, like Cher in Clueless, it's vital that one not stumble into some bad lighting, if it can be helped. And when you have home field advantage, there's no reason whatsoever to have a bad lighting concept. With just a bit of planning, you can get your room to glow.

Domino has five great tips for lighting your home beautifully, and we're including our suggestions on how to best make it happen in the gallery. We'll make sure your lighting concept is hip, flattering, and completely useful!

We've had moving on the brain lately. We're not sure if it's because we live in a college town and are starting to see the students creep back into town, with their cars overstuffed with bedspreads and bookshelves and beer, or because we moved fairly recently and are still feeling the effects (i.e. still can't find anything), but the fact of the matter is, we've been thinking about it.

And when we think about moving, we immediately think of housewarming parties. Trust us, we can turn just about anything into a party!

We know, it's still summer, but before long school will be starting and Victoria's Secret wants you to be ready, hence the Pink Collegiate Collection.

Victoria's Secret describes PINK as "a fully articulated lifestyle collection for young women" and "includes 9 different items, including fleece pants, hoodies, panties, tees, and totes... available in approximately 375 stores, many of which are in close proximity to the universities in the program." Thanks to a partnership with The Collegiate Licensing Company there are 33 schools featured thus far and more (hello, Arizona?) will be added shortly.

Sale! CB2.com has some gorgeous dinnerware on sale, such as the green chrysanthemum plates you see at right. $2.95-$4.95 apiece, people!

CB2 has a lot of chic, reasonably-priced stuff. Some of it's just on the cool edge of crazy. Look at this vase. Who would think that CB2 is actually Crate and Barrel?

Whether you've invited just a couple of pals or a whole bunch of people over, whenever you have guests in your home, you want it to make a good impression. That means putting away your dishes and maybe doing a little vacuuming ... but what about the first thing people notice when they come in the door? What about the scent?

A pleasant aroma can immediately set the tone of the evening, so you want to make sure you get it right. We're really digging Zensual. They offer a variety of intoxicating scents in both candle and diffuser form -- candles for when you want that romantic glow, and diffusers for when it's just too hot to deal with a flame.

Struggling to find the right piece for your living room that's both modern yet comfortable? Trendy yet unique? Stop wasting your time scrounging for thrift "mid-century" pieces at over-priced boutiques, and check out the Droog Hit Chair.

The Kentucky Derby is right around the corner (Saturday, May 3) -- what are your plans? If you're not heading to Louisville, you can still enjoy the festivities of the event by hosting a fabulous party in your home.

If you want to keep some of the Derby traditions in tact, you'll need to serve some particular drinks and dishes, but even before the food comes out, you'll want to set the tone with decor. Here are two ways to decorate, going along with the two types of Derby-goers (Millionaire's Row and the infield).

There are some decent options out there for environmentally conscious home decor. But really...some of them are kinda beige. Or cookie cutter same-same, or just too burlap-ish crunchy, you know?

Relax, you have options.

For one-of-a-kind decor, in the words of 1stdibs.com, "Do the planet a favor, buy vintage."

We only have one bathroom in our house. Luckily, I work from home and seldom shower so our time conflicts are held to a minimum. Of course, even if I wanted to spend a moment in the bathroom I wouldn't be able to enjoy it. My two small boys see to that. The idea of having quality time in there is just a dream in our house, something that only happens in songs and movies. What songs? How about Rubber Ducky? See, I know what I'm talking about.

That is why I was so excited when I saw this Biblio tub from Antonio Lupi which features a beautiful rectangular tub with clean lines and lots of space (length, I'm 6'3) built into a bookcase frame. How sweet is that?

It's amazing what you can get for $17,000 these days. A library for the bathtub. It's too rich for my pocket, but not for my dreams.



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I'm a big fan of all of the amazing independent designers out there. In an effort to get inside the mind of the indie designer and find out just what makes all of these creative types tick, I present to you an ongoing segment I call Indie Designer Interviews.

Today's interview is with Claudine Hellmuth, a nationally recognized collage artist, author and illustrator. She creates quirky, retro-inspired mixed media collages, including custom commissioned artworks.

Tell me a little about your work. I am an artist, author and illustrator. I create custom artworks for clients using their photos of themselves, their kids and their pets. I weave them into a collage artwork. I would say my look is whimsical with a retro twist. I have also written a couple books about my techniques and filmed 3 DVD workshops. And I create illustrations for various companies for greeting cards, calendars and advertisements etc.

How did you get started as an artist? I have been an artist all my life. I went to art college and graduated with my BFA in fine Art in 1997. After I graduated I knew I had to get some sort of day job and the internet was just really starting out then, so I learned HTML and got a job designing web sites. I did that to pay the bills meanwhile building my art career on the side in the evenings and on weekends. I got laid off from my web job in 2001 and have been working for myself ever since! I was actually so worn out from working both my day job and for my art that by the time I got laid off I was relieved!

What are your top fashion & beauty must-haves?
beauty: bare minerals make up and my proactiv system!
fashion: a great pair of jeans!!

I'm a big fan of all of the amazing independent designers out there. In an effort to get inside the mind of the indie designer and find out just what makes all of these creative types tick, I present to you an ongoing segment I call Indie Designer Interviews.

Today's interview is with illustrator, mother, and indie business owner Holly Jones, who runs Vinyl Wall Art along with her husband. These wall art decals are a fabulous inexpensive way to liven up a room, and Holly creates many different designs that range from kid-friendly to chic and sophisticated.

Tell me a little about yourself and your company. I worked 6 years as a designer & Illustrator for a major scrapbook company. Recently I quit to work at home so I could be with my two cute little girls. My husband and I started Vinyl Wall Art last July. I design all the wall art we sell.

What inspires your work? Fabric designs, greeting cards, children's clothing, everything I see!

Designers are very intriguing characters, I must say. Their entire lives are built upon deciding what is or isn't beautiful, and yet many of them are fashion disasters themselves. Just take a look at Mr. John Galliano. I'm sure you've got the point.

Betsey Johnson is another one of those strangely garish designers that dress themselves and their environment to look much tackier than their sold creations. Johnson's tackiness can be a bit of an exception though, because, at least when it comes to her home, she can make it work. Check out this spread that Elle Decoration did for Johnson's very pink, very retro-cool home. The mix of items is very eclectic and is wild enough to make it clear that she did it intentionally. When it comes to something as crazy as this, the envelope has to be pushed.

Despite the natural grimace that emerges on my face when I see so much soft pink, I don't think I would say no to living in this home. I mean, Johnson has a big Siouxsie Sioux glamor shot above her bed. Come on.

How many times do you find yourself arguing with your significant other over 1) how much time and attention he or she devotes to TV over you, and 2) how many thousands of dollars he or she wants to spend on an enormous, flat screen TV versus, say an equivalently-priced diamond ring?

If it's once, or hell, even if it doesn't happen at all, the TVs at Opulent Items would be a compromise for both of you -- your significant other can enjoy an expensive HD flat panel screen, and you can admire the luxury of 155 jewels that are embedded in the frame. The white TV has 155 rubies, and the black TV on the left has G-colored VVS diamonds.

Of course, your compromise comes at a price tag of $85,000, and that's for the smallest screen size. Upgrade from 32" to 40" and you're tacking on an additional $35,000!

OK dude. So, let's pretend you've been playing the James Bond routine all night, trying to meet that special someone by wearing expensive suits, looking mysterious, dropping pithy one-liners into every conversation, and playfully hinting that you just might be dangerous. And let's pretend that, miraculously, you found a woman who was charmed by your shtick. After you've taken your lady back to the man-pad, impressed her with your voice-activated mood-lighting and enormous collection of Barry White LPs -- then somehow managed to get her to spend the night -- you'll have to make her breakfast. It's the gentlemanly thing to do.

So, 007. What are you going to cook? My recommendation is that you opt for something simple -- like fried eggs, for instance. These are almost impossible to screw up, and at least you can say you made an effort. But to really make an impression, ditch your lame old frying pan and cook those eggs in a gadget befitting an International Man of Mystery.

Introducing the Gun Egg Fryer. It does pretty much exactly what you'd think -- fries eggs in the shape of a gun. Sure, it's a little over the top, but so were you last night, and she came home with you anyway.