Lately, Pt II

In addition to the day job, I've continued to write for houzz.com twice a week, which has made for a very busy life! As a result (and much to my disappointment), I haven't been blogging as much, but I'm diligently working on returning to a routine while maintaining a good work/life balance. That said, let me catch you up on some of my recent Houzz stories!

By Coburn Architecture and Interiors

A long-time supporter of mixing styles, I find the stark contrast between traditional and modern to be most striking, especially in the form of art. This was one of my favorite articles to write and research to date: Opposites Attract: Modern Art in Traditional Rooms

By Jon Lum Architecture

Pocket doors speak to me. They say things like, "Old-World glamour," "decadence," "grand soirees." Stuff like that. Not only are they lovely, they are also quite functional, saving space in tight rooms. I pulled together some favorites from houzz designers in Deep Pockets: Pocket Doors with Panache

By Faiella Design

I know dark bathrooms aren't for everyone, but I love them and had wanted an excuse to spend some time mulling through images of them for inspiration. Someday I intend to have a glamorously gloomy powder room in my house. In the meantime, I live vicariously through these bathrooms: Chic and Moody: Dark, Seductive Bathrooms

Many of you are familiar with my love of taking a small space (especially outside) and make it a precious escape. I've belabored this subject, so I think I'll just let you enjoy the pretty pictures. Balconies: Precious Rooms in the Sky 

This article garnered passionate commentary; people seem to hate tablecloths! I think they're great in some settings, unnecessary in others, but overall, I appreciate an additional dose of textile thrown over a table (especially when it's an ugly table!) to dress things up. Dressing Your Table: Cloth or No Cloth? 

By Dufner Hughes Inc. 

I had one friend growing up who had a canopy bed and I thought it was the most magical thing I'd ever seen. As I grew into a cynical adult, I thought canopy beds were for wussies (not really, but I wasn't as into them). Then I became the open-minded designer that I am today, and I know that everything has a place in the right application. Canopy beds don't just have to be for fancy little girls. They don't need to be swathed in 8,000 yards of fabric in order to add grace and elegance to a room. And, most importantly, they don't have to be feminine at all: Canopy Beds: All Grown Up and Still Magical

Barn doors are much like pocket doors in their function and grandness, but because they are a bit unexpected, I think they make even more of a statement. Doors with Character: Raised in a Barn

If you're in the U.S., I hope you have a great holiday weekend. If you're not in the U.S., tough luck, but I know you have some of your own great holidays! xoxo 

Lately

Hiya! Remember me?

Me, being wacky, 2.5 years ago

I suppose now is a good time to divulge what I've been up to lately. In moving to Austin, knowing very few people, I planned to find a job working under another designer, rather than continue as self-employed. Just before we moved, I was so busy wrapping up projects in New York, I really had no time for job hunting in Austin. So, against everything I stand for and am comfortable with, we hopped into a truck and drove to Texas without a well-mapped plan. Once here, I sent out some cold emails and attended a handful of horrifying networking events (where I met some terrific people, I might add...in the end, they weren't all that horrifying). In the first couple of months, I picked up some freelance and temporary work. Eventually, I landed the real deal: I recently accepted a full-time position with Cravotta Studios, owned by the illustrious and infinitely talented Mark Cravotta, who has an impeccable eye for high-end design and a thirst for finding the latest, greatest and most beautifully created furniture and accessories. A few favorites from his vast portfolio (note: I had nothing to do with these projects, although I wish I did!)




When Mark told me he'd been to the furniture fair in Paris and was thinking about going to Chicago's Merchandise Mart at some point, I made a passing recommendation that he someday check out New York's own International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). I made this comment about two weeks before ICFF was to begin, assuming my suggestion would perhaps be taken into consideration for next year. Much to my surprise and excitement, a few days later I received a text reading, "We're going to ICFF!" WE? Yes, we. Lucky me!

So, last Saturday, May 14, we boarded a non-stop flight to New York, spent Sunday at ICFF and Monday jetting from one designer showroom to the next, squeezing in a stint downtown to hit the less mainstream boutiques. There has already been a lot written about ICFF (mostly about its shortcomings), but Mark and I returned to Austin with new contacts and inspiration, so, as far as we are concerned, it was a success – I'll leave the constructive criticism about how the show failed the greater design community to other bloggers. I pulled together some of my favorites from the show on houzz.com: check out Killy's Top Picks from ICFF!

(Marginally) Easy DIY Roll-Up Shades

Let me preface this post with the announcement that I did not exactly have "fun" making these roll-up shades. We needed them, I knew I could do it, I was determined to do it, I kind of wish we could have had someone else do it, but now they're done, I'm happy about it. I'm not particularly excited about making more, but I probably will. Now that my complaints are out of the way, let's move on to what I did, shall we?

Since moving into our place in Austin, we've done a lot of painting (jog your memory here and here), and there's still more to do, but we needed a break. Only one room of our house had shades when we moved in, and they were gross, so we took them down when we painted, which left us with completely uncovered windows (hi, neighbors!!). Our "temporary" solution (that sadly became a little permanent) was to tape up white garbage bags in such a way that the windows were operable and let light in while also giving us a little privacy. Oliver even devised a roll-up-able roman shade-like design, making us even lazier about getting real shades up.

So, for the last almost four months we've been the crazy people with trash bags in the windows. Our bedroom is the room with the most windows, and is the closest to being complete, so I decided to tackle those windows first. We already had curtains on those windows (re-used from our last apartment), but they are quite sheer and needed an additional layer to give us privacy from the street, not to mention they were in desperate need of hemming.  I was going to simply line them, but that required a lot of yardage, so I decided to just make easy roll-up flat-panel shades to cover the windows themselves. I carted myself off to the fabric store one Saturday in search of cheap-ish linen. Of course, I got all inspired and came home with a completely different idea: a burlap panel on the front (to coordinate with our DIY headboard!), lined with a lovely floral fabric (on clearance!) on the back, that was visible when rolled up and added an element of surprise.

Great idea, except that these things weren't going to make themselves. Oh, how I wish they would have! The fabric sat around for a while (like, three months), until my parents' first visit was about a week away. I was determined to have at least one room look normal for them, so I busted out the sewing machine and got to work. I don't have any "during" pictures, because I was in such a frenzy trying to get them done, but allow me to try an describe what the house looked like while I was working on them: tornado-meets-sweatshop. Despite the muss and fuss, they turned out quite nice. I love the subtle, casual droop that occurs when the panels are rolled up.

While I had all the machinery and doo-dads out, I hemmed the drapes, so we no longer have a messy, dust collection problem.

When the panels are down and sun streams in, the rose pattern on shows through the burlap – a happy accident!

The operation of it is easy. I made "cords" out of leftover rose fabric and used them to hang the panels from   basic white cup hooks that we screwed into the mouldings around the windows (three for each panel, to keep them from sagging). I also made cords for the ends, which secure the panels in the rolled-up position:



I can safely say I'm really satisfied with how this room is turning out. Now, I just need to get myself geared up to work on the living room and second bedroom.

Happy Mother's Day!

Before we moved to Austin, Oliver helped my mom digitize and archive wonderful old family photos. He spent entire days looking at pictures of me when I was a kid and came home every time saying that it looked like I had the most amazing happy childhood because I have huge, open-mouthed grins in every picture. 

Please excuse the food remnants on my face; I was a ferocious snacker

Gee, I wonder where I get that trait from: 

All joking aside, Oliver was right; I had a great childhood, and I can attribute it to my mom (my dad, too, but this is my mom's day, plus she carried me around for nine months, so she deserves a giant dose of extra credit). My mom is smart, creative, upbeat, patient, brave and is always up for an adventure. I forever tease her for seeing the glass half-full and looking at life through rose-colored glasses (an attitude I most certainly did not inherit, sadly). She has an innate sense of style, which is visible in her clothing and interiors – this is an apartment she decorated, how awesome does it (and she) look?!?! I hope this is a trait I did inherit.

I really hope she doesn't kill me for putting this up, but it's hot, she's hot, and I couldn't resist:


I'm lucky to have such an amazing mom in my life, and I hope she knows how much I love her. I'm also lucky, because we kind of look alike:

Left: My mom; Right: Me 
I'm especially fortunate because I happen to have snagged myself a fantastic mother-in-law, as well – I'm surrounded by amazing women!! Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there! I hope you have a relaxing, refreshing day that's all about YOU.