dwellings and décor

Below are some beautiful green bedroom interior images from my photo collection. Green will most likely give your space a natural style so if you want to glam it up a little adding shiny metals and white painted furniture is just stunning. Check out Greg Natale’s photo in the last image top left. You will notice that most designers chose to compliment the green with beautiful rich woods and white linens. I just love this look. As you may have read from a previous post one of my favorite colors is green. I am even doing my whole wedding in green and white. I picked out my bridesmaid dresses last week and I matched the color of the dress to a Sherwin Williams paint swatch so I can send the dresses to the girls. The paint sample is called Shamrock which is perfect because we are going to Ireland for our honeymoon. I guess it’s meant to be.

Clockwise from top left: 1. Ellen McDermott 2. Nicole Hollis 3. Maisons du Monde 4. Noah Webb

Clockwise from top left: 1. Dowling Kimm Studios 2. An Indian Summer 3. Bil Huber 4. Adeeni Design Group

Clockwise from top left: 1. Greg Natale 2. Maspar 3. Skonahem 4. Jeremy Samuelson

Please check out another blog I started here on Twolia called Design Lovely which is about all Art including Photography, Fine Art, Illustration, Graphic Design, Handmade Items, Textile Design, Architecture and More. We also announce Art Showings, Design Contests, and other Events. I hope you enjoy it and let me know if you have any feedback.

There is something so natural and beautiful about real block wood furniture. I love the wood grain that shows through and the smell is amazing. I have mixed feelings about the environmental factors of wood furniture. On one hand I don’t want to see more trees cut down and on another I don’t think we should have furniture made with formaldehyde which is a type of glue found in particleboard and MDF. I have read that some environmental companies are starting to not use formaldehyde in the furniture making process so this is a nice compromise. You will notice that with most furniture companies there is a huge price difference between the furniture you see below and furniture made with particleboard or MDF and veneer. A few things to consider when purchasing wood furniture is how long you intend to keep it and how often you would be using it. Particleboard and MDF will on average not last as long as hardwood furniture therefore you may end up spending more money in the long run if you have to keep buying the same piece every few years. For instance you might want to go with a less expensive piece of furniture in your guest room because drawers and such will not be used as often and therefore it will last longer. Hopefully this information will give you another perspective on furniture buying and I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have on the subject.

Clockwise from top left: 1. Neiman Marcus 2. Style Park 3. Room Online 4. Artful Home

Thank you Ashley from decorology for honoring me with a Hooked on your Blog award, from Hooked on Houses. I love exchanging design ideas with you and I think you are so creative and talented. I am really honored!

So apparently I am to list blogs that I love and 8 things you didnt know about me. So here they are.

In alphabetical order:

1. Coco + Kelley ( I am loving her rooms from the runway posts and her wedding week was fabulous)
2. Creature Comforts (Constant source of beautiful design with compelling layouts that make me swoon)
3. Decorology (Tons of interior inspiration and she also makes you question things in design that you may not have asked yourself)
4. Desire to Inspire (My main source of interior inspiration, don’t know what I would do without them, they are both so sweet and friendly as well)
5. JuBella (She has impeccable taste for design and she makes all her posts very special by adding small touches to the way the images are layed out)
6. Mer Mag (Great Finds and I love how cohesive and clean her posts are)
7. Red Otter (Friday Favorites are my favorite)
8. Snippet & Ink (Love Love Love her wedding inspiration boards)

And…8 things you didn’t know about me:

1. I have three sisters and we all have different sets of parents
2. I only go to the beach about once a week even though I am walking distance to about 5
3. Apparently I am related to Typhoid Mary and William of Orange
4. I am 5′10″
5. I’m a Leo but people tell me I am not a typical Leo because I don’t need to be the center of attention and I am usually not the first person to step up as leader but will when needed.
6. I went to Lahainaluna Highschool on Maui and it is the oldest school west of the Rockies.
7. I love to sew, paint, and scrapbook but dont do them nearly enough.
8. I don’t own a blow dryer.

A great alternative to paint is wall collages and these beautiful examples are sure to give some inspiration for people considering this route. Its cheap and easy to collect photos of flowers whether it be from a magazine or an old book. Wallpaper samples like in the bottom left image is also a great idea. There are endless possibilities of what you can do with this idea. Some examples are small grouping of images together to create a one of a kind art piece. You can also create a headboard look or cover an entire wall to create a colorful accent wall. I remember in high school I dated a surfer and he created a whole wall of surf posters so when you looked at it from a glance it looked like one big wave.

Clockwise from top left: 1. Rooms in Bloom 2. Schmidhofer Photography 3. Debi Treloar Photgraphy 4. Skona Hem

Misha sells beautiful handmade wallpaper that have a Traditional Eastern influence. Interior Designer and owner Chiara Enrico started designing wallpaper after spending an extensive time in Shanghai. She describes her work as “Modern Western creativity meets ancient Eastern traditional figurative decoration.” The silk paper is hand painted to create this timeless and one of a kind look and she also provides custom design to tailor every clients needs. Check out the gallery to see installations of her work.

I love this inspiration image for its color and patterns. The black and white fabrics work great for decor and upholstery. If I were to create this room I would use the black and white stripe fabric for long modern drapery and then the black and white circle fabric for the chair upholstery. I also picked out this modern dining table because it reminded me of the girls pointy shoes in the inspiration image. I like the idea of doing some sort of simple sponging for the wall to create the light and dark gradation of the rich tan color. I would probably complete the look with white painted hardwood floors and a dramatic chandelier.

1. Black & White Stripe fabric from Kravet (26277_81)
2. Inspiration Image from Conde Nast Store
3. Louis Chair from Chair Couture
4. Dining Table from Gus Design Group

I think if you were to choose one room to paint dark I would choose the dining room. Painting it a darker color gives you the opportunity to make it look dramatic especially with the right lighting. Dark blue walls can make your space feel cool and calm which can be great for people who work long days and just want to eat dinner and relax. Dark blue dining rooms are especially gorgeous with medium honey toned woods and stark white. Add some glam with a sparkly chandleier and a shiny mirror to complete the look.

Clockwise from top left: 1. Apartment Therapy 2.  Lucyina Moodie 3. Marie Claire Maison 4. Judith Miller Inc.

Clockwise from top left: 1. Belle Home Studio 2. Tom Scheerer 3. Elle Decor 4. Desire to Inspire

Silhouettes are popping up everywhere in home decor. Commonly seen in picture frames the silhouette motif can be seen on pillows and shelving now. Once known to be a Victorian and traditional art piece for the home is now stylish and modern. Make your own silhouette art by tracing someones shadow and then apply it to the wall or frame it. I love what Trace Face did in the top right hand picture.

Clockwise from top left: 1. 101 Woonideeen 2. Trace Face 3. Modern Dose 4. Keltainen Talo Rannalla

“Fashionable ladies need to sleep too.” is what Jamie Drake said about this bedroom that he lavishly decorated. Jamie Drake is known for his bold looks and patterns and he definitely did not stop here. Although most would think that pink fits nicely in a little girls room Drake was able to make this exorbitant amount of pink in this bedroom look more sophisticated and fashionable. This large and open bedroom not only serves as a resting place for this sleeping beauty but also as a place for seating and writing. Drake also designed a closet that looks like it would be more suited in a retail store than in a home. I personally don’t think I could live in this much pink but its sure fun to look at.

Images from Traditional Home Magazine

From the fashion runways to your home purple is the color to surround yourself with. I especially love deep purples for Fall and I like to use purple in small pieces like lighting and pillows so you can change it out easily and quickly when you want to incorporate a new color. Thomas Paul has a beautiful line of purple pillows out at the moment and I am dying for the one with the gypsy looking girl in the circle. Another talented and great artist is Yumi Yumi and she designed the floral and bird illustration. You must check out her Etsy shop for more of her work.

Clockwise from top left: 1. Plush Pod 2. Foscarini 3. Thomas Paul 4. Lush Lamp Shades

Clockwise from top left: 1. Thomas Paul 2. Thomas Paul 3. Etoile Home 4. Yumi Yumi

This is my current wedding inspiration board. We have decided on the location and we went with a place on Maui called Olowalu. It has a very large grassy area and is very private and secluded. It is also right on the water with amazing views of the other islands and the ocean. We are having the reception and ceremony here and we decided to go with this really pretty tent that has chandeliers and drapes that hang to the side. I am going for a very romantic and vintage look with a touch of hawaiian. As you can see there is a green and white theme going on which I hope will bring these styles together. I started designing my invitations and cant wait to see what they look like. My mom and I just went looking for ideas for dresses and also gift baskets. I am going to have four flower girls and my idea is to purchase really pretty vintage looking dresses and then tie a green ribbon around the dress. For gift baskets we want to also have a vintage feel to it and it will be sort of a spa like gift basket to tie in our R & R theme. So much to do!

These interiors show great examples of how to use the color red in living rooms. Red is such a lively and vibrant color and its easy to go overboard with it. Red also tends to compete with other colors so I like to tone the red down with neutral colors like browns and beige’s and compliment the red with black and white. If you are considering painting your space a lively red I would suggest only doing an accent wall or add white wainscoting to tone it down. Not quite ready to paint your space red? Add red in accents like pillows drapery and artwork to bring in red tones. A red sofa can also make a huge statement. If you need assistance on designing your space with red please contact me at rachel@roominabook.com.

First Row: 1. Halley Resources 2. Kendall Wilkinson Design

Second Row: 1. Jonathan Adler 2. Tod Hunter Earle

First Row: 1. Ingrao 2. Zanotta

Second Row:1. Faucher Artists 2. Turquoise

First Row: 1. Mark Seelen 2. Coastal Living

Second Row:1. M Design 2. Mark Schomisch Design

Most A-Frame Desks have such a sophisticated and strong look to them. The top two have a very elegant and stylish look mainly because of the shiny metal legs and functional drawers. I imagine these desks would look great in an office boutique or in an office located in a skyscraper building. The bottom two are little more down to earth made with beautiful hardwood. I feel like these two are more masculine. I imagine the bottom right one going into an architectural office. The bottom left one has a safari style to it and could work well in a large tent so you could pack it away nicely when you need to get on the move.

Clockwise from top left: 1. Williams Sonoma Home 2. Liz  O’Brien 3. Room Online 4. Richard Wrightman Design

I found out about Tori and Dean’s home through the blogoshpere. I actually havent even seen the show but I heard good things and kept seeing comments about the set design of the home.  I love all the color and cohesiveness of the house and whoever designed it has great style. Here are some images I found from the Oxygen website and I made little notes of my fave items from the show.

This is a special feature today because we get to look inside the home of owners of Auto and inside the store and their products. The owners of Auto Renata Bokalo and Roman Luba own this very chic and posh “mini department store” in New York City’s Meat Packing District. Their home is located upstairs from the store they own and work. I am sure many New Yorkers envy them because not only do they own a beautiful shop they are a staircase away from where they work. I have always thought that this would be a great way to live and its very environmental or some might say old fashioned. There does seem to be some disadvantages. Renata says that she can hear the music in the store when she’s upstairs and feels like she can’t get away from work. They decided to build an office to try to seperate all the zones. They also commented on the fact that they tried to make their home look different than the store. For instance they used darker colors in the home and they implemented more decor that come from their Ukrainian heritage. The auto store carries many different types of items ranging from pillows to jewerly to purses. It is known to be a one stop shop for anyone. If you are in the neighborhood you should defintly check it out and if your not they have a great website. http://www.thisisauto.com

Images from www.thisisauto.com and The New York Times

Purple is such a great fall color either for clothing or home decor so I wanted to design a board that would have some purple in it. I also love purple with blue and black to make it less girly and make it more sophisticated. This inspiration image has so many great colors and textures. I decided that I wanted to find a fabric for the bedding that would be a similar look as the big purple flower to make it the focal point of the bedroom. I then decided to go with a black backdrop like in the image and decided to go with an upholstered black headboard with ornate detail. I also incorporated wood, glass and white ceramic just like the inspiration image to really pull it all together.

Inspiration Image from Edge Reps

Clockwise from top left: 1. DWR 2. Bellacor 3. The Shade Store 4. Kravet (9098_110) 5. Maisons du Monde 6. Plastic Land

Since it is the beginning of September I wanted to share with you Fall Inspired Bedrooms. When I lived in Portland, Oregon I couldn’t wait for Autumn to come. It has got to be one of the most gorgeous places to experience the season. Most of the leaves turned this beautiful rust orange color and it would just light up the hills. Quite frankly I miss this season the most. As you can imagine we don’t have much of a fall season in Hawaii. I think I would rather be warm though, I am not a big fan of the cold. This rust orange color may give you a feeling of warmth for those colder days to come. If you are considering decorating your room in this color then I would suggest using accent colors like soft yellows and sagey greens. I also love this color with rich dark wood tones and hints of brown.

From Left to Right.
First Row: 1. Rebecca Duke 2. Loyall Sewall Photography
Second Row: 1. Rate My Space on HGTV 2. Greg Natale

Third Row: 1. Halley Resources 2. Agnes Bourne
Fourth Row: 1. Adeeni Design Group 2. Madeline Stuart

I really love how modern these chandeliers are. I think what makes them more modern looking is the fact that they have a shiny metal band that holds the strands together. It also seems like there is less fuss in the design. The table lamp is also a great idea to glamorize a modern or traditional space.

I have been putting together a more finalized wedding inspiration board and I am considering having a chandelier either in the tent for the reception or having one hang on a tree outside. I think I am leaning towards twinkle lights in the tent and a chandelier outside on a tree.

Clockwise from Top Left: 1. Eurofase 2. Modiss 3. Axo Light 4. Eurofase

There is so much talent that went into this amazingly gorgeous interior. The Gramercy Park Hotel located in New York City is filled with custom designed furniture, finishes and details and much of the art was done by well known artist Julian Schnabel. They used furniture from many different time periods and they describe the interior design as Bohemia reinvented for the 21st century. I love how there were able to keep it elegant and sophisticated with so many vivid and extraordinary colors. I hope you enjoy these stunning images and have a great weekend!

All images from Gramercy Park Hotel

When I was decorating my apartment in college I loved going to Urban Outfitters, especially when they were having a sale. They have such great fabrics and designs and I love that they aren’t too serious. Below are some images that I grabbed from their site. I love the old Hawaiian records in the second image on the bottom right hand corner. There is a coffee store called Hawaiian Village Coffee and all of their stores are decorated with old Hawaiian memorabilia. They always have old Hawaiian records with great cover art on them. Another favorite of mine from Urban Outfitters is the black and white photo of the Eiffel tower with the tree branches. If you check out their website they have other black and white photos of different cities across the globe. Their stores are also really beautiful and the one in Portland, OR used to be an old warehouse building and they even kept one of the facades the same.

All Images from Urban Outfitters

It just so happened that I found this beautiful inspiration image (#4) a little while after I found the pink lantern (#1). I couldn’t believe how similar they were. They even have the little half circles on the side. When I was collecting imagery for this mood board I wanted to create a similar feel of the inspiration image. I was going for fun girly romantic and elegant and I think the colors of pink white and black also helps to bring in that feeling.

From Top: 1. Bernabei Freeman 2. Horchow 3. Harriet Carter 4. Stina Persson 5. Vivre 6. Maisons DuMonde

There is only a few weeks left of summer so I thought I would post some outdoor design inspiration. It seems like people either dread the end of summer or they are ready for Fall. When I lived in Oregon I loved Fall for about a week and then I hated being cold. When you live in a place that is on average 85 degrees every day it may seem like its the best thing in the world but it can be hard at times to not experience the seasons. I live on a part of Maui that gets more rain which helps me get over the monotony of sunshine and it always reminds me of Oregon. No matter where you live or what the season is enjoy the outdoors and make it lovely!

Clockwise from top left: 1. Point Click Home 2-4. Cottage Living

Clockwise from top left: 1. Suzy Hoodless 2. Lizard Management 3. Tripod Agency 4. House Beautiful

Clockwise from top left: 1. House and Home 2. Judy Casey 3. Domino 4. Verne

Cork isn’t only for wine stoppers and flooring anymore. I recently went to a restaurant here on Maui and they had cork menus. I loved the way it felt and it had a nice clean sophisticated look to it. The menu had a similar design to the purse in the top left hand corner. Next to the purse are cork lamps and I think they would be perfect on the desk because you could just pin up notes to yourself on it. The ottomans are also great for its elasticity and are wonderful for kids because there are no sharp corners. Here are some cool facts about cork from Wikipedia:

1. Portugal produces 50% of cork worldwide.
2. Cork stoppers represent about 60% of all cork based production.
3. Cork is used in musical instruments, particularly woodwind instruments, where it is used to fasten together segments of the instrument, making the seams airtight.
4. Granules of cork can also be mixed into concrete.
5. The sustainability of production and the easy recycling of cork products and by-products are two of its most distinctive aspects.
6. As late as the mid 1600s, French vintners did not use cork stoppers, using oil-soaked rags stuffed into the necks of bottles instead.
7. Cork has been used in rocket technology due to its fire resistance.
8. Cork can be used as bricks for the outer walls of houses, as in Portugal’s pavilion at Expo 2000.

Clockwise from Top Left: 1. Cork and Cotton 2. Shop Lum 3. West Elm 4. DWR