Room for two more?
If you live in the city, you are space challenged. And it doesn't matter how much square footage you have...it never ends up being enough. So for additional seating for dinners or casual lounging, my secret weapon is to incorporate ottomans into the design plan. If you place them underneath a console, they can offer a splash of color to your scheme without cluttering up your space. And when you need extra seating in a pinch, you can pull them out as needed.
The Lexington Ottoman by Plush Home
ANCHOR YOUR SPACE FOR AN INTIMATE FEEL
Outdoor dining should be fun, playful and low-maintenance without the pressures of formal dining. After all you couldn't get away with plastic dishware and tea light candles at a formal dinner, but being outdoors sets the tone for a casual and hassle-free meal.
From a design perspective, you can create a comfortable and cozy feel by anchoring your dining space against a wall or hedges. Enclosure on at least two sides helps to create a sense of privacy with your space. If you don't have a wall or fence, you can plant a hedge of hydrangeas, boxwoods, or ficus to create a border and to also block out any distracting views.
An ideal outdoor dining area has a covered space, flat ground, is bordered for privacy, and near your kitchen. Here's a shot from a current traditional ranch project that I'm working on.
Little Black Dress
One of our interns recently asked me for advice on where to best spend a limited wardrobe budget. I couldn't help but smile because I was about to give her the same answer a Diva once gave me...and the same answer that fashionistas have been passing down to one another since Coco Chanel designed the first "little black dress" (LBD) in the 1920's.
The LBD is a simple, elegant, timeless, and often short dress that is the essential staple in every woman's closet - so when starting or refreshing a new wardrobe...this is where you begin. It's important to remember that when you are choosing your LBD to keep it classic. It's meant to last you for a number of years, so avoid anything too particular, trendy, or seasonal that will appear dated by next year.
The simplicity of the LBD allows you to dress it up or down depending on the occasion. Heels or flats, a blazer, great sunglasses, and an over-sized bag make it chic for work. Yet the same dress accompanied with more ornate jewelry and accessories, an elegant shawl, an up-do or nice blow out, and a small clutch makes it perfect for any evening out.
From students to celebs to First Ladies, the Little Black Dress is tried and true and here to stay...
Street Fashionista: Laura Burkitt | Location: Sydney, Australia | Dress: Dion Lee Slit Dress | Photo by: Phil Oh | Courtesy of Street Peeper
Sunglasses: Tom Ford sunglasses | Platform Sandals: Prada | Necklace: Tuleste Market necklace | Bag: Yves Saint Laurent bag | Photo by: Kelly Stuart | Courtesty of Elle
Location: Corso Venezia, Milano | Dress: Burberry | Photo courtesy of: Sartorialist
Location: Milan, Italy | Photo by: Tamu McPherson | Courtesy of: Refinery29
Location: London | Heels: Christian Louboutin | Bag: Zara | Photo & Blog: Vanessa Jackman
Monica Cruz
Noemi Watts
Victoria Beckham
Anne Hathaway
Gwyneth Paltrow
Famke Janssen
Carla Bruni
Michelle Obama
Rock the cheerleader pony.
You don’t have to have spirit fingers or carry pom-poms to try this ponytail. Look fresh and sophisticated with this simple slicked-back high ponytail. For a bump-free top, try spraying a bristle brush with hairspray before combing hair back to tame kinks and flyaways. Turn up the volume on this classic style with sexy black liner and pretty pink lips.
Try a messy braid.
The comfortable-chic look — a messy braid with loose layers in the front works for a bohemian style. To amp up the glam factor, try adding a little volume at the top by teasing the crown.
Tie up your tail.
This look is as easy as it is glamorous. Start by giving your hair a side part and running a pomade through to define and smooth flyaways, then secure the pony near the top of the head with an elastic. Attach the ponytail to the nape of the neck by threading elastic string through both sections, but you can also use two large bobby pins for the same effect. Finish with a shine spray to keep your pony looking sleek.
Do the swept-away look, with a side part.
Let a side part add some glamour to your pony. Use bobby pins and a smoothing cream or gel to hold back shorter layers. You can tease your pony and spritz with a volumizing hairspray for an added boost.
Keep it cute and curly.
Go for the sweet yet seductive look with a slicked-back, curly ponytail and playful fringe. Ditch your everyday rubber band and opt for a ponytail holder that matches your hair color for the perfect party look.
A braided ponytail is the perfect look for a fuss-free center part and a low-slung side braid is great whether you’re hitting the red carpet or working that girl-next-door weekend vibe.
To get this bad girl ballerina look, pull hair into a low ponytail and secure with an elastic. Then spritz the tail with to give it some grip and staying power and divide your pony into two sections. Taking one half, twist the hair and coil it around the elastic (as if you were creating a bun) and secure with bobby pins.
Make a center part, gather the hair at the nape of the neck and secure it with a bungee hairband for a tight pony. Next, take a section of the ponytail, make a loop at the end and tie it with a clear elastic to prevent wispy ends. Then wrap this piece around the pony and secure it with mini bobby pins—finishing with a shot of hairspray to prevent flyaways.
excerpt from Amber Kallor for Glamour Beauty.
Don't let the name fool you, bookshelves have many more benefits than just actual book storage. When done right, a properly accessorized bookshelf can do a lot more than hold your old high school yearbooks and grandparents encyclopedia collection - they can add color, architectural shapes, and overall interest to your space.
Here are my top 5 tips to get you started:
1. Think in terms of collections. Don't randomly put up knick-knacks just for the sake of filling a shelf. Tell a story...and NO snow globes please.
2. Consider scale. Make sure your accessories work well with the scale of the shelf - the goal is to make it look like that the shelf was built for them. An object that is too large or too small for a space will stop the eye, which ruins the experience of being a well designed and flowing space. Mis-sized accessories to me are just as bad as wearing a dress that is too baggy or too tight. Not good.
3. Use color. Play off the colors in your design scheme...but beware of being too matchy matchy. It's totally okay to use colors that aren't used in your furniture or wall color as long as they don't look completely random or stick out like a sore thumb.
4. Vary textures. Have fun with various textures and a different finishes, so your shelf doesn't look like you purchased all the accessories from an overstock E-bay sale.
5. Balance it. Play around with different placement options - a "balanced" accessory scheme is the difference between a pulled together look and a random look. Avoid perfectly lining up accessories like a row of toy soldiers. Use different sizes and shapes in each space and avoid repetition.
Here's an example of an accessorized bookshelf from a current project where I incorporated a combination of fine art, coffee table books, and accessories from around the world that represent my clients' diverse background and interest. From the bronze sculpture, to hand-blown glass vases, to the coral piece mounted on acrylic, using different textures is a key component in the majority of my design schemes.
The newest addition to our Plush Home furniture line...the Carlisle DoubleX Back chair.
A transitional design with clean lines, that when accompanied with the right fabrics, is so versatile it can work in almost any design setting. Its wood back detail gives it visual interest and makes this the ideal chair to break up a room that has a lot of heavy upholstery.
I'm really excited about this piece because it took a while to get the perfect pitch and scale that I was happy with. I installed these for the first time yesterday as dining chairs for my Encino project and was thrilled with what it brought to the room (pictures later!). Designed to work well with a dual fabric look.
As always we support our National economy by keeping handmade production in the United States.
I'm really loving what's going on with Downtown Los Angeles lately. I've been hooked on Bottega Louie and fell head over heels for Babycakes NYC this past weekend.
Vegan and non-vegan cupcake fans alike lined up for their fix of the gluten-free, agave-sweetened treats at Babycakes downtown, which opened the beginning of this year in the Pacific Electric Lofts at 6th and Main streets (next to Cole's French Dip). At the LA post of New York-based Babycakes, cupcake flavors include vanilla, carrot, chocolate and red velvet, made with chickpea-fava flour or spelt flour.
Other vegan (and kosher) desserts include: scones, biscuits, corn bread, loaves (such as banana chocolate chip, pumpkin spice and lemon poppyseed), muffins, cinnamon buns, crumb cakes, spelt tea cakes, brownies, cookie sandwiches and macaroons. And doughnuts. Also, for those who think a full cupcake is too much cake and frosting "shots" are just too much frosting, there is the genius of the cupcake top (just the "tops" of the cupcakes slathered with frosting).
Hours are currently 10am to 8pm but will later expand to 8am to 10pm daily.
www.babycakesnyc.com 130 E. 6th St. (between Main and Los Angeles streets), Los Angeles | (213) 623-5555
Excerpt from Betty Hallock, LA Times Food Critic
