awesome seats that want to come home with me

houston, we have a problem.

it would appear that i believe it necessary to house every single one of these seating vessels in my home. honestly. all of them are justified.

if my husband read this blog, he'd be having a heart attack.

abc home icon monroe loveseat | teva living leather tub chair | interior homescapes ming garden stool jonathan adler lampert lounger | home decorators collection maharaja chair | nate berkus for hsn stool (gone-zy) | 1st dibs eames time life chair | weylandts peacock chair | interior homescapes column garden stool | areaid bench | nate berkus for hsn hexagon ottoman | urban outfitters edie velvet chaise | arteriors tennyson linen stool | tom dixon fan chair | mitchell gold + bob williams major chair | windsor smith regency occasional settee

because it's awesome is one

image by hank + hunt for the sweetest occasion

one year old. sounds like such a long time and so short all at once. either way, it's been a pleasure. i was just saying to a friend the other day that i swing wildly between building a business plan and attempting to monetize BIA, and simply relishing in it as this place that i truly enjoy being. this place where others share the same interests and passion and excitement for design, but without the pressure of a paycheck or of even talking about anything except what we really just want to talk about. i've spent so much of my life trying to be what i think others want me to be. it's unbelievably refreshing to be exactly who i am in this space. thank you for making that so easy!

 artwork by wasted rita, found via strataflora

i hope that, just as it has over the last year, because it's awesome continues to evolve. whereas this past year has been very much about collecting and anticipating, i expect this year to be largely about doing. i'm excited to find out where it might go, and what wonderful opportunities and relationships might come of it. i'm enormously grateful for the opportunities and relationships it's presented thus far! i'm excited to share more of myself here in the future, whether it be my home or my work, or a number of other topics i've toyed with presenting.

i could go on (and i have several times only to delete it all), but i don't think i need to. thank you for stopping by when you do, for joining the conversation and for being you. none of this would be any fun without you.

little bright studio etsy shop

wear it proudly, kids. ox

International Builder's Show 2012

It's time for the big NAHB International Builders' Show! Wayne Visbeen has teamed up with GAF Corporation as their national spokesperson and will be sketching LIVE in their booth at the show. GAF is North America's largest manufacturer of commercial and residential roofing and professional installers have made it the #1-selling brand of roofing.

Visbeen Associates has designed these homes specifically for GAF products...

Sheffield

Evanston

Buckman

Come visit Wayne at GAF's IBS booth (see map)! He will be there the following times....

Wednesday, February 8 - Friday, February 10

10:00am-12:00pm

2:00pm-4:00pm

We look forward to a great show and seeing you there!

grand entryways are awesome

powder room updates are coming, promise. turns out, it's tough to get good shots of a 1 ft x 1 ft room with no natural light. who'd have thought?

but i will say that this has inspired me to go on a painting binge. g's room is next (dark purple, remember?). and then the entryway. so let's just admire this for today, shall we?

design by amy morris, photography by erica george dines, image via atlanta homes magazine

first of all, that floor kills. KILLS. i'm also quite smitten with the nice clean ivory paint color up top. then there's the arched doorways, abundance of natural light, the fact that the hall is wide enough for a gorge antique console and dream settee (which i want in my formal right this second, please). those topiaries would look good on my front stoop (eric wants lions. who's gonna win that one?)

at this point, i'm really just focused on the paint color. i need something clean and classic.

any color reccos?

okay, and maybe that settee.

nails.

the house || powder room before

thank you guys so much for the rug enthusiasm! it's always fun to hear your feedback. plus, it often validates my taste, and that's something almost anyone would get excited about, right? apologies for leaving you high and dry yesterday. instead of finding fab inspiration for you, i was busy finalizing paint samples to take care of a little problem that is our powder room.

exhibits:

(warning // screen dimming may be in order)

someone had a sense of humor . . .

(it's actually not a terrible color. i used it in the loft at one time. it's just a very enclosed space for such boldness.)

anyway, the transformation will be underway this weekend.

it has everything and nothing to do with baby seals.

hope your weekend is bright! ox

Architectural Tutorial: Eyebrow Dormer

eyebrow dormer [ayh-brou dawr-mer]

a dormer having a roof that is an upwardly curved

continuation of the main roof plane.

source - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eyebrow

Eyebrow dormers add a bit of distinction to a building's façade while providing a "curvaceous way to get some light" and ventilation to an upper level space. These types of dormers are not new to the architectural scene. They have been around since medieval times, seen on thatch-roofed cottages. Henry Hobson Richardson, "the father of the Shingle style," pushed this design element into the architectural limelight in the late 1800s. These days, they can be seen on homes and buildings outside of just the Shingle style and can be designed in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Here are some examples of Visbeen Associates' designed eyebrow dormers...

Ingleside

Cambridge

Traverse

Waverly

Clareville

Summer Haven

Sources:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,357593,00.html

the house || committed

so, i should start off today by saying that i have been leery of posting progress shots because i don't necessarily want pictures of my house all over the interwebs, especially when i'm not done (which, really, are we ever done?). plus, it's going to be a very slooooooow process, and that could get old. but i also know that if i'm going to do an unprecedented amount of house decorating discussion here, it would be crazy not to show you bits along the way.

so. against my initial judgement, let's talk about one of the first things i've actually committed to (yay commitment!) . . . the family room rug. exciting? maybe only to me. feel free to humor me here.

as of now, my vision for this room involves basically different everything furniture-wise (except the armoire and maaaaybe the parsons chairs) and i seriously heart the idea of grasscloth walls (leaning towards yellow hues), but a similar arrangement. i imagine an upholstered ottoman eventually, which will break up the pattern a little, but i'm otherwise really loving the visual impact of our new trellis rug!

images by tobe reed for because it's awesome

i considered something "safer" like charcoal (which is quite lovely, if you ask me), but was compelled to go with more color. mostly because i haven't committed to a sofa and, subsequently, a sofa fabric/color. gray on gray isn't my goal for this room. although, i'm not against it in theory.

other commitments include a beautiful new upholstered bed for the master, but we are lacking appropriate bedding, so you'll have to wait to see that.

i'll elaborate on my vision for this room in an upcoming post.

rug: homespun modern trellis rug in navy from rugsusa.com