I love this: Seahorses

This summer my favorite accessory is the seahorse. The elegant shape of this tiny creature lends itself to pillows, lamps, even cocktail napkins. A little seahorse goes a long way in adding something playful to your décor.

Seahorse Outdoor Pillow by Thomas Paul

Jonathan Adler Seahorse Lamp



Seahorse pillow at Williams-Sonoma Home


Caspari Seahorse Cocktail Napkin

A new lamp for our fine feathered friends

Just when I thought I had reached my limit on bird décor, this little gem landed in my lap. The Voliere lamp is a most elegant cage of copper wiring and faux birds. This bit of whimsy is available as a pendant, table lamp and floor lamp. Not only is it super stylish, there's no newspaper to change.. Available at The Conran Shop in New York City and online.

Pick a paint for the 5th wall

Next time you're deciding on a color for a room try this: look up. It could be your ceiling that needs a new look. Think of it as the 5th wall and make it the room's accent wall. We recently painted a client’s living room ceiling Newburyport Blue from Benjamin Moore, and the results are stunning. We used a matte finish on the ceiling. A Semi-gloss or glossier paint may reflect more light, creating a the a visual "stop" that can be distracting. The painted ceiling in the bungalow/craftsman home works beautifully with the color palette we picked for the home. More on what we did with the rest of the house coming soon; until then, get a ladder and start painting up.


A few more examples of painted ceilings. How lovely!

Add some Mid-Century to your mix

My blogging has been slow these days as I’ve been spending most of my time in the mid-century, combing some of Seattle’s best vintage and antique shops looking for lounge chairs, dining chairs and tables with just the right touch of Mad Men chic: understated beauty, simple lines, streamline shapes. One item that caught my eye for both my clients and my own home is a credenza. Once the item to store your turn table, a credenza can easily be converted to house a modern entertainment center (that’s what I’m holding out for) or sleek storage in a home office. If you are looking for a touch of the mid-century to add to your décor, this sleek and functional piece is the one to have.

Ballard House 2.0

We've lived in our house in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood for a year and a half, and it was time for a few personal updates. We got very lucky with this place: our neighbor, a contractor, bought the 1926 house, gutted it and re-did everything. Thankfully he (and his wife) have a good eye and made some tasteful decisions. Still, after living here for over a year and through all the seasons we wanted to make some changes. We started in the dining area, one of the rooms that sold us on the house. Previously a sunroom, it is surrounded by charming pane windows original to the home. They are not the most weather resistant; the west facing windows draw in heat in the summer and hardly keep a breeze out during winter. Too beautiful to replace, I wanted the least invasive window coverings that wouldn’t hide the beautiful molding and also provide some insulation. Drapes seemed too fussy for the room, and any top-down-bottom-up option hardly seemed kid friendly. Roller shades were just the fit, simple, subtle and appropriate for the space.

We also replaced the light fixture with the Meurice Pendant light from Jonathan Adler. I love the mix of the modern light with the classic windows. The fixture's bronze finish matches the rest of the lights and door knobs in the house with a touch of faux bamboo, something that makes me very happy.

Finally, we unpacked our collection of white pottery for display in the corner built in and had all the windows in the house professionally cleaned, inside and out. What a change that made. Look for more Ballard house updates. Like any good home project, there’s always something new to do.

The lamp that almost got away

When Michael and I first moved to Brooklyn nearly 11 years ago we fell in love with the clean simple lines of this teak floor lamp at an antique shop in Park Slope. At the time, we hadn’t officially moved into our apartment in the same neighborhood, so buying another piece of furniture seemed extravagant. Still, after two days of thinking about it I rushed back to the shop to buy it and, of course, it was gone. I’ve spent years looking for it at every vintage shop I’ve came across… until this week. On a shopping trip for a client at The House in Magnolia I found the one that got away, complete with the exact same shade. I didn’t think twice, this time blurting out “I’ll take it!” That lamp taught us a hard lesson about pulling the trigger fast when you see something that truly is love at first sight.

Inspired by Green

When it comes to flower arranging, I like to exercise some restraint. While it would be too easy to buy everything that catches my eye at the flower shop, I resist that urge and stick to one or two color combinations. Green and white are one of my favorite color pairings. I love how crisp and clean they look together. The long stems of this viburnum flower compliment the tall piece of pottery nicely.

This small piece of white pottery is one my prized possessions. I use it in table settings, holiday decorations and flower arranging any chance I get. I’ve often thought it would look great full of white rinoculous and I am not disappointed.

This seemed like a timely opportunity to introduce Nick and Linus to the shamrock. I put this plant on our dinning table and it has inspired a lot of conversations.