Law Office - Messy but Complete!

One of my first solo projects as an interior designer has come to end!  For this project, I worked with one of the coolest, most laid-back lawyers who had recently moved into a new office space.  The space has amazing character and the lawyer had quite a few things....the space just needed some finishing touches.

Don't mind the mess - but a new rug, some accent furniture to go with his antique finds and some accessories turned this into a brand new space! 

Del Brocollo Wedding

A good friend of mine just got married and the wedding was all of the best words you can think of to describe a wedding.....beautiful, fun, full of dancing, delicious food, happy people, stunning decor, etc...... 

Cool things about the wedding:

1. It was held at the Petroleum Club of Houston on the 43rd floor of skyscraper in downtown Houston. You can imagine the beautiful views as the sun set during the ceremony. 

2.  My friend Susan didn't want a "wedding color." So, her bridesmaids wore gray and the decor was a mix of colors, purples, pinks, greens and blues.

3.  Awesome live band and lots of dancing!

4.  Good people attract good people and the Susan and her husband are good people.  Evan and I had so much fun meeting new people and making some fun friends.

5.  Definitely the most important..... You could see how happy and excited the bride and groom were during the entire night!  Big smiles, no nerves, just happily in love! 

Horizon Tile Showroom Grand Opening

Last week a new tile showroom opened and threw a fabulous open house party!

Check out these beautiful invites!  Yes....I would love to attend!

The Horizon Tile showroom is featuring more contemporary products like these.  This designer has created an assortment of tiles ranging in materials like shell, metal, ceramic and glass.

It's amazing what things people will find to add some bling to.  These sparkling crystals are inserted into the porcelain tile backsplashes.

How fun are these dimensional tiles - I LOVE the teal one!

Funky glass and stone tile mosaic.

It's always fun when friends are around - here I am with Ashton and Mary- two designers at By Design Interiors.

Whoops!

It turns out, some porcelain tiles are VERY durable!

While loading my car after a meeting last week, something very unexpected happened.....I thought I had opened my car door enough to get my basket of materials (which included a 4x18 porcelain tile) into my front seat.  I guess I was wrong and all of the sudden, my car window exploded and sent glass all over the place.  There was glass everywhere (in fact, I am still finding shards of glass).  

Luckily, I didn't get cut too bad.  I had to rearrange my schedule for the next day in order to get a replacement window.  The repair man was stunned when I explained that no, no one had tried to break in......I did this myself :)

Festivals 2011

With the weather getting cooler and a whole lot more bearable - there have been festivals all over town.  Several of them are just down the street from Evan's apartment.  

First was the Greek Festival which is one of the most popular festivals in Houston.  Last year they sold 37,000 shish kabobs!  That's a lot of kabobs! Evan and I met a couple Greek friends of mine and we divided and conquered the festival.  Each person was responsible for getting one item- then we met in the middle and tried everything.  The giros were classically delicious, the Ethos wine was splendidly yummy, and the grape leaf wrapped lamp.....mmmmmmmmm!!!!!

Then it was Italian Festival time!  You could smell the food wafting over to Evan's apartment and we had a fun night walking around the booths and food venues sampling pizza margarita, fried artichoke hearts and sardine focacia bread.  Of course we ended the night with a small scoop of strawberry gellato. 

Evan and I enjoying the live band at the Italian Festival.

Van Gogh Inspired Home

No two project is the same and I've gotten to the point where I refuse to answer the questions "what is your style?" because my personal style doesn't matter- it's all about my clients. 

A particular family was inspired by a Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Almond Branches in Bloom."

They purchased an official print from the official Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam and we had it framed for the entry to serve as the one element that tied the whole home together.

The wife is from China and is very influenced by her culture- you can see flairs of Asian inspired decor throughout the space.

Her dining room is completely different with it's shade of teal, new 'picture fame' molding under the chair rail, a beautiful painted detail on the back wall and silk draperies.

Their study/media room got a face lift with a new coat of paint, stunning window panels and framed art that the couple had collected on a vacation to China.

Always a work in progress- we are waiting for a few more elements to finish the spaces. But what a change!

Project in Progress

I get to meet all sorts of people in my job- different clients, different vendors, artists, manufacturers, sales reps. Back in January, By Design gave me a client, a fun family in Northwest Houston completely changing their style.  Since January, I have gotten to know this family and it has been fun watching them get excited about their 'new house.'

Over the past few months, we have changed out their flooring, painted all of the walls, re-tiled their backsplash (and fireplace surround) and now we are working on their furniture. 

While we are waiting on their sofa and other pieces to come in- we found some great accessories to fill their niches.

This little powder bathroom's makeover was simple - 

1.  We replaced the countertop with granite, changed out the sink and faucet

2. We had the mirror framed in a beautiful bronze frame after painting the walls

3.  We spray painted the light fixture to match the faucet

4.  We added some fun accessories to the countertop and walls

Voila!

The client fell in love with this piece of furniture...and it's easy to see why! With a cool lamp, this entry vignette will be absolutely adorable!

Chocolate from Dubai

A friend of mine just recently had a 3-week long business trip to Dubai...and she brought me back a chocolate bar!  I know I have been blogging an awful lot about food lately- but I couldn't resist telling you about Camel Milk Chocolate.

Yes....chocolate made from Camel's milk.  It is actually quite delicious and full of spices like nutmeg.  Oddly enough, it kinda tastes like Christmas!

Mini Vaca - Part 3

Sunday morning was rather lazy as you can imagine; we didn't roll out of bed until after 10.  We drove around Galveston looking for some breakfast and got a little snack to enjoy on the beach.  Before leaving for Galveston, my mentor Cindy excitedly loaned me a gigantic kite telling me "I HAD to fly it this week...that is was SO much fun!" The kite was so large it took up the entire back seat of my car. 

After a few failed attempts at getting it up in the air at the delight of several beach-goers- Evan managed to get the kite flying and every time he had the string, he managed to get it further and further in the air.

It was fun to see all of the kids on the beach stop and point up at our kite in amazement...you can barely see it way in the distance in the photo above! 

Mini Vaca - Part 2

The whole premise of our mini vacation was to attend the PAWS Gala in Galveston - an event to raise money for the Humane Society of Galveston.  Evan's roommates parents are avid supporters and got us tickets to the event.

The event was held at the Galveston Convention center and turned out to be rather extravagant! Welcoming you as you entered were booths decorated around the theme "CleCATra's Party," and people dressed as Egyptians.   

I couldn't resist dragging Evan into Cleo's Cat House for a fun picture!

During a cocktail hour, there was a silent auction followed by a live auction then a yummy dinner. After a parade of pets, an awesome live band entertained us for the rest of the night. 

I think that is Galveston's Weatherman as our announcer for the evening.

Being across the street from the ocean, we had to go for a midnight walk along the beach!

Mini Vaca - Part 1

This past weekend, Evan and I took a mini vacation to Galveston, TX.  When I say mini...I mean it.  We were in Galveston for less than 36 hours but we had a blast and certainly filled our time with some great stuff.

Keeping in line with my current obsession with good food, we stopped at a restaurant called Gilhooly's.  This little place is definitely off the beaten path in a town about 30 minutes from Galveston, called Kemah. But is has become well known for its fresh seafood and relaxing atmosphere.

Evan enjoying the beautiful weather and a beer.

To start...we got one of Gilhooly's specialties.....fried oysters with shrimp...mmmmmm!!

And we split a bowl of gumbo...you can't go to the gulf and not enjoy a bowl of seafood gumbo! The weather was perfect while we sat outside enjoying our food.

Evan retaliated my picture taking by taking pictures of me :)  

More to come of our weekend getaway!