Highfield Taking Shape for the Spring Parade of Homes!

The Highfield is taking shape! This masterpiece will be featured in the Kalamazoo Parade of Homes June 8-16, so mark your calendars and don't miss the opportunity to take your own private tour of this lakeside retreat! Until then, we can all swoon over these progress photos that give a glimpse of what the final product will be like...

 Front Exterior

 Rear Exterior

 Beautiful landscape and hardscape surrounding the waterfront side of this home

 Hard at work on the hardscape - but not a bad view during the work day, right?

 Staircase

 Master Bathroom

 Master Bathroom Shower

 View from the balcony of the master bedroom - yes, please!

 Kitchen

 Dining Room

 Living Room

 One of the greatest features of this home - the boat bar!  Bottom's Up!

Lower level with sunken living room

Built by Falcon Custom Homes, Interiors by Ashley Cole Design, Landscaping by Alfresco Landscapes, Boat Bar by Carlson Design with Visbeen Associates.

To see more photos, please visit our facebook page!

interiors // it speaks to me

thank you guys so much for your sweet comments on our first girls dinner post! it was so thrilling to receive such an enthusiastic response, and we're really excited to bring you more installments of our girly feasts!

as for today, we're talking about this here entryway

nov 2010 veranda // gil schafer, architect // miles redd, decorator  // via the foo dog ate my homework

i think that rug wants to be in my entry right now.

or possibly in the dining room under my new antique table amidst perfectly whitewashed walls.

girls dinner // pizza party

i'm really excited to introduce a new series on BIA today. we're talking dinner!

now, i realize that i have not once implied here on BIA that i can do anything in the kitchen (besides maybe make salsa). that's because i'm not especially skilled in that department. but that's always been the beauty of our girls dinners! they're low-key, festive but not excessively prepped, and just straight fun. of course, it doesn't hurt that they're held by a multitude of talented designers including the ladies from ampersand design studio, the ever-crafty laura at a girl who makes, and yours truly.

for the first of this new series, we're having a pizza party! here's a glimpse of how it all went down:

lettered placesettings.
you can get clever with this or keep it simple. opting for a unique or decorative paper stock goes a long way!

results:

delicious apps (essential!)

assortment of equally delicious salad and pies:

time to play!

and, even though we were totally full of great food and good wine, there's always room for gelato!

photography by eric linebarger

here's how to get the same look yourself:

kraft roll // striped tablecloth // tall platter // short platter // crayons // white napkins // metal clip // white dinner plate

check out ampersand design studio for a detailed polka dot napkin DIY and a custom coordinating invite!

you can also find a great DIY leftover bag over at a girl who makes.

type tuesday // type fight

i'm loving the spirit and competition of these letter battles hosted by drew roper and ryan paule.

every week or so, these find gentlemen pit two artists against each other. occasionally even themselves.

readers get all the say in whose the better letterer.

pretty fun, right?

if you love letters, you may want to keep your eye on this site, rich in inspiration.

images via type fight

Detroit Home Design Award Winners!

We took home two awards from the Detroit Home Design Awards this month!

1st Place - New Model Home

Stockton

Built by Falcon Homes, Interiors by Gallery Interiors

3rd Place - Small Remodel (less than 1,000 square feet)

Carlton

Built by Jeff Segard, Interiors by Donna Cohen

[Check out our previous blog post showing the before and after photos of this remodel - it was a doosie!]

To view all of the Detroit Home Design Award winners, check out the spring issue of Detroit Home Magazine on our website.

the house // G's desk

happy monday, all! i hope many of you had the same gorgeous weekend we were lucky enough to bask in. eric and i spent most of saturday cleaning up the yard and enjoying our furniture-less patio (given how amazing it is to have a backyard after years in a loft, patio wares now trump any other furniture i may have been eyeballing). in fact, much of yesterday involved scouring local furniture stores and the intranets for something suitable.

yet again, we learn that i have expensive taste.

lucky for me, g's desk is one thing that didn't come at a high price. and, ironically, it was exactly what i was hoping to find! side table, desk and vanity all in one.

not in perfect condition, but i tend to like that. i plan to paint the lamp base and might replace the chair with a victoria ghost chair. also still scouring the web constantly for a great poster bed . . . what we end up with will largely determine the bedding.

as always, things are slooooooowly coming along.

interiors // favoring white

there must be some severe shift in the planetary alignment or something because i've been favoring white as of late. which is not unheard of as far as spaces i'm occasionally drawn to . . . but it's really something i never consider for my own home.

this got the whole thing started:

design by laura day, photography by patrick cline // lonny magazine

because the chairs and those mirrors don't hurt anything either.

my dining room and office are begging for it.

any warm whites i need to know about?

interiors // right down to the rug

i don't know how i haven't seen this home before - loving this space on so many levels!

design by wendy schwartz // via rue magazine

Finishing Up Show Season At Home!

It's already time for our last trade show this show season, and we are finishing it up at home in Grand Rapids! We will be at the Cottage & Lakefront Living Show at the DeVos Place, which starts tomorrow. The show runs through Sunday with the following hours....

Friday, March 23..............3:00pm - 9:00pm

Saturday, March 24.........10:00am - 9:00pm

Sunday, March 25.............11:00am - 5:00pm

Wayne will be doing his presentation on Waterfront Design: Challenges & Opportunities on Saturday from 2:00pm - 3:00pm and will be sketching LIVE at the booth Friday, Saturday morning and Sunday, so don't miss your opportunity to learn from a pro!

We look forward to seeing you there and having a great final show of 2012!

interiors // wax factory gone graceful home

this stunning home belongs to the inspiring isabel lopez-quesada, whose delicious portfolio i could feature for a week straight.

design by isabel lopez-quesada, photography by simon watson // via architecural digest