Winter Whites~ Can I take your order?

To kick off 2012  I wanted to share some inspiring interiors, layers of warm winter whites & neutral colors and  textures to embrace the new year.

 (Photo taken by my friend Camille)

 Think snowy crisp morning, think neighborhood cafe' reading your favorite blog. 

Ready to order your look for 2012?

Here's the menu...

 ~Skinny Peppermint Mocha~ 

Delicious dining room served up by Benjamin Moore in their Earth & Sky color trends for 2012. 

http://www.benjaminmoore.com

'wewishuamerycrismaswewishyouamerycrismas......'

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

This year our Christmas tree is wonky and messy, a far cry from my usual freakily controlled color coordinated trees of the past.

Clive Christian Furniture. It's personal!

Edwardian Kitchen in Ivory & Natural Oak
 (Photo images courtesy of Clive Christian Furniture)

Clive Christian Furniture is all it is cut out to be. I have just celebrated 15 years in the industry and believe it or not it all started out at Clive Christians in London in my early 20's.  I was lucky to have the opportunity to gain a wealth of experience under a great mentor, I learned the furniture trade from the best. 

Architectural Paneled Bar in Yew

Although I had walked in with experience of my own from the hospitality industry I was always very comfortable presenting large scale projects to board of directors etc... but nothing would have prepared me for the housewife, who are more clued in than any group of budget analyzing hotel directors!
Clive Christians clientele is a rightfully demanding group of individuals and their architects even more so, learning to design and deliver on these prestigious projects was a lesson I learned early on and have carried with me till today; regardless of the size or budget, each client gets my full undivided attention at all times.

The Dining Room in Yew

Working with Clive Christian  has given me the opportunity to work on many great projects including the Sheikh of Riad 's Kensington House and Enya's home in Ireland, Aisha Castle where I designed and installed a total of seven rooms. 

"INTERIOR Details: The Designers' Style"

I love books.

Always have, always will.

I have quite a nice collection which I have treasured and painstakingly packed and repacked from home to home and country to country.

Sadly I don't give books the time they deserve and for this I am guilty. However the past few days I took time to curl up with a book that I had bought around 15 years ago and quite honestly I forgot I had.

The smooth feel of a hardback book, the sound of the pages flipping over to reveal image after image of exquisitely perfected interiors is something I had missed.

The book I have been enjoying is  'INTERIOR Details: The Designers Style' by Noel Jeffrey & Chris Casson Maddon

New York native Noel Jeffrey,  is unequivocally one of New York's design magnates and a published author, he opened shop in 1969 and today he runs his business The Jeffrey Design Group on 58th Street in Manhattan.

In this book, Jeffrey identifies the key elements of residential interior design through the works of Designers & Artists such as Samuel Botero, Vincent Wolf, Victoria Hagan among others.

The stunning photography does each room justice and I am not sure if I can go back to looking at amateur photography online, at least not for today. I applaud their work.

The 16th Century 'Summer Dining Room', Maltese Architecture & Design

On the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea, Casa Rocca Piccola was built in the late 
16th Century for 
Don Pietro La Rocca, a Knight of Malta and an Admiral. On his death it was left to the Italian Langue of The Knights to house some of the more important Italian Knights of Malta. However for the last 200 years some of Malta's more famous and illustrious families have occupied Casa Rocca Piccola.


Apart from its illustrious past, its architectural beauty and historical importance, the elegant interiors are breathtaking, The following images courtesy of casaroccapiccola.com will guide you through the many stately rooms. Of which the above 'Summer Dining Room' is my favorite.

~ Images and some exerts via casaroccapiccola.com ~

WAKE UP your Kitchen

Sometimes your kitchen needs a big WAAAHOOOO moment to inspire more cooking, gathering and general well being, it does doesnt it? 

Scared before you even start? Dont be!

No need to get out the jack hammer, that's a promise!

For the more adventurous, a paintbrush......

Spruce up your tired contractor white or (off white?) walls with a fresh coat of paint. Think apple green, sky blue, the sky IS the limit.

If you are considering painting your kitchen this Paint Color Tool from House Beautiful Magazine will make your life easy. Just click Launch Tool and repaint your room or any of their sample rooms as many times as you like till you find your perfect color!

http://www.housebeautiful.com/decorating/paint-colors/

Seeing that Tangerine Tango is Pantones 2012 color of the year, I'm kicking off with this up and coming paint color, cheery and bright, but not for the faint hearted.

~ Tangarine Orange ~ 
Photo courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com