Who What Wear Office Tour

Images of the offices at Who What Wear are no stranger to the design blog world, but I don't believe they will ever get old. Just the other day, I set their office images to rotate on my background of my desktop as I am trying to fulfill some new year resolutions, like take a more professional approach to design.

The gorgeous design of the offices, their furniture, accessories, colors and fun use of fashion accents gives me that extra boost I need to create (or picture) a similar work space for myself.

Check them out. . .

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Now, if I could only talk my husband into allowing me to style his office area where I like to work. . .

Florals

I wouldn't call today's focus trendy, but more of a personal preference because I find many people still trying to wrap their minds around it.

I love bold, graphic, geometric, solids, etc. I love it all, but I believe a design that gets overlooked a bit too often are florals. Florals can be done really wrong. Those large cartoon looking things in hippie shapes and colors that can only, but really shouldn't even, go in a little girl's room should be done away with.

Many people also believe that the other side of florals are grandma's sofa from that puke green and brown carpet time, but I am here to tell you none of that has to be. Florals can really break up the too crisp and perfect lines of a room and add subtle pops of color as well as tie design elements together by sharing the different colors of a room on one pillow or a duvet cover.

I also love that florals are used on everything these days like artwork, wallpaper, bedding and sofas. There are no limits to where and what florals can do. I just finished a project that incorporates a great floral fabric in our living room and, NO, it doesn't make the room too girlie. Just ask my manly husband.

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Some Big News!

Quite a few things have happened since my blog went on hiatus at the end of last year. Some happened and passed, but there is one that is ongoing. My husband and I are expecting our first child and just two days ago we found out we will be having a little GIRL!

Neither of us had a guess or a preference of what we would have, but we are both over the moon about our baby girl who will be gracing us with her presents mid-May.

On the drive home my husband made a joke about me getting online that night to start picking out baby clothes, how wrong he was. I spent the night online planning out her nursery. You could say the overall theme is simple, clean and soft.

For the longest time nurseries were either pink or blue. Design then evolved to nurseries not being gender specific, which meant they became either a light green or yellow. I am happy to see that nurseries have turned a corner once again and are cuter and more unique than ever. Thank goodness designers and everyday people like us have started to take the path of "I will design what I like" not so much of "I will design what is in".

Check out some nurseries that had specific details I love.

 Chandelier for a baby girl nursery? A must!

 Have always loved this For Like Ever poster that you can purchase here.

 Love the idea of a sofa in the nursery and what room can't a Madeline Weinrib rug go in?

 Blush is a very elegant color choice these days. I feel like I could be guaranteed raising a little lady if I created a room for her with white furniture, natural wood, lace and accents of blush.

 Yes. A lot of pink, but loving the chandelier and the pop art idea of your adorable baby.

 A cute stencil choice and great dresser with oversized mirror.

 The color gray is kind of the way to go these days with creating a room that is not completely gender specific.

Love this bright color combo, the scalloped inlay design and the idea of using the closet as the space for a crib.

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Home Tour: SF Girl By Bay

Victoria Smith is a photographer and photo stylist as well as the editor of the blog sfgirlbybay. She labels her style as bohemian modern and just recently did a little furniture shuffling in her San Francisco apartment for the new year. I immediately fell in love with her style which evokes comfort, simplicity and a very personalized look. I wonder if she would mind me crashing at her place for a week or forever.

 Just another example of how you can make a space your own with white walls whether by choice or by force for us here renters.

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Ringing in the New Year with Pantone's 2012 Color of The Year

 

What better way to start out the new year than with the Pantone 2012 Color of The Year: Tangerine Tango. I will admit that I completely jumped on the Honeysuckle (pink) train last year, but I will have to ease my way into my own personal use of tangerine. This orange can add the perfect pop of color and, in small doses, can take any interior from safe to chic.

 

 A unique idea to paint a border running along the bottom of your staircase.

When it comes to fashion I might steer clear of tangerine, except perhaps in a handbag. Orange just isn't my color, but I am excited to see Tangerine Tango in many interiors throughout this next year.

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Bedroom Love

Spotted this bedroom while browsing Pinterest today and wish I could have crawled in and read a book while eating sour cream and onion Pringles (so yummy). 

That headboard is such a statement piece which means you can go a bit more simple with the rest of the room. I am also crazy about the artwork above and the high hung drapes. This just says cozy to me.

Heart Home Magazine

It looks like my last post should have been titled 'Disappearing for who knows how long.'

WE MOVED TO CHICAGO.

We found out on a Tuesday that my husband had been accepted to his top pick for Law School, Wednesday we accepted and I quite my job I had just been offered, Thursday we drove to Chicago to find an apartment, we packed all Friday, and Saturday we rolled in to Chi-town very very late. The last two weeks have been awful and I wish to never relive them, but this weekend we finally got our internet hooked up and things are looking up. That is all I wish to say about that.

In just the few short days of having internet I miraculously stumbled upon a new online interior design magazine from the UK called Heart Home magazine. I immediately fell in love! I hope my reasons for loving this magazine will continue once it moves on from its infancy because I found it very refreshing, beautiful, and a ton of fun. The entire magazine just seems to be feature after feature of beautiful homes and their designers (most often the homeowner themselves). Many of the features differ from many you see in other Interior Design magazines in that the homes each have a cozy feel created by the owner filling their home with simple necessities and then simple accessories that mean something beautiful to them. I would say this style can be seen all throughout Europe and I am crazy about it.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the magazine and YOU MUST check it out for yourself!