boston design guide

: : lovely .grace. of .designsponge. has put together [with the help from elisabeth of black pearl press] a great .design guide to Boston. Places she might have missed could be in the comments section, but feel free to add your own if you think something is missing.

best of summer 2007

.deliciousdays.

.port2port.

.simplyphoto.

.fine little day.

.girl talk. .flickr.wardrobe remix.

: : even though we're having some beautiful summer days this week in Boston, and I'm hoping to get one last swim in this weekend, reality is that summer is over.

fall is on it's way, and I'm loving it. there's no better place to be for fall than in .new england. with all its beautiful colors.

but before putting my sweaters on, and cuddling up inside under cozy blankets, I wanted to share some of my favorite summer pics from some of my favorite blogs. these all make me smile and dream of warm summer days. enjoy!!

south end open studios 2007

: : the south end open studios was fabulous as always. Boston was showing of it's best side, clear blue sky and brisk, fresh air. but, my timing must have been poor, I missed the people I had hoped to meet, and the flea market was a bit disappointing. does anyone know of a good flea market in Boston?

new collection from mod green pod

: : Last year, at the South End open studios I stumbled upon .mod green pod's. studio. Mod green pod founder .lisa. is local to Boston, but her partner and sister-in-law .nancy. lives and works in Austin, Texas. Together they started .mod green pod. , an organic cotton home textile company. I just received an email from .nancy. with a press release for their new line of home textiles, the .sprout collection. with patterns named after their own children.

I hope to stop by their studio on Sunday and pick up some samples and maybe have a chance to meet .lisa.

south end open studios

: : yes, yes, yes.....the south end open studios is here again. and the best south end open market of the year!! this weekend September 15& 16th you can browse local artists studio's in the south end, and shop for great art, jewelry, furniture etc. also visit the open market on Harrison Ave. this weekend they will have the most vendors, and I'm hoping [judging from years past] a big flea market area. see you there!

heavenly bed

: : many months ago, my roommate's dad gave me a piece of advice, he said "invest in a good bed when you are young". the more I thought about what he had said, the more I convinced myself of how right he was, and became embarrassed about my craigslist used mattress find that I've been sleeping on for the past 3 years. but there wasn't enough reason, until...Iz found out he had been assigned to rotations in Boston and would be living here with me for the fall. we were both so excited! if anyone deserves some quality time together, it's us, after 9 years of long distance relationship, two years spent in the same city, but none of them ever spent sharing the same room.

after he was moved in however, we quickly realized that my bed just simply didn't cut it, size wise or comfort wise. so we are now on a hunt for a heavenly bed [literally, I think the decision will be a Westin heavenly bed]. so, I've been browsing some inspirational bedroom pics to get some ideas. domino magazine has a great photo gallery of interiors. and my favorite bedroom pic so far, miss .oh .joy's. own [top right], has just been accepted into the domino decorating contest.

fusing plastic bag tutorial

: : I found this weeks ago on .etsy lab. and have been meaning to share earlier. this might be this weekend's project for me...along with organizing my studio, which at the moment is just a pile of paper/fabrics/frames and much more.

this looks so fun and easy though! basically you just take cheap plastic bags [which I know we all have a hidden stack of] and fuse them together using parchment paper. then sew the edges together and you've got yourself a new tote bag. made completely from recycled materials.

if you try it, please share your results. as will I.

Hollywood Regency

We received so many inquiries regarding our last post on the Hollywood Regency style, we thought we expand on this subject a bit further.

If you are looking for the Hollywood Regency style, Kelly Wearstler is the reigning queen. Her latest project in Miami's South Beach, carries her distinctive look as seen here:

Another designer that does this theme quite well is Jonathan Adler. You've probably seen his lamps and porcelain products everywhere. JA is a bit more fun, more flamboyant and in our opinion, maybe not as refined as Kelly Wearstler is.

Let 's look at a few new products we found at the Las Vegas Market that are great for this look:

This bed from Julian Chichester is to die for:

This nighstand is very refined, very pretty in person:

This bookcase is divine:

More products similiar to this can be found at www.julianchichester.com