Yes I'm That Big of a Nerd

I made a countdown calendar for my trip to Greece. I think perhaps it has been too long since my last vacation.

I think the excitement is justified. Greece is gorgeous, I highly recommend visiting at least once.

Won't You Please Come In

One of the negatives about living in a condo is that you often lack a proper entry. This is the case with my home. When you enter my front door you walk right into my dining area. Not a big problem really but it would be nice to have a place to enter, drop your keys, and hang your coat before you're smack dab in the middle of your dining room. I hoping the next home will be equipped with a center hall and I've been collecting photos for future inspiration.

The hardest decision for me to make seems to be, should there be a slim console table and a chair or two?

via diy

domino via sfgirlbyby

via haus maus

via design*sponge

Or should there be a really fabulous bench?

via style files

house beautiful via decorno

via this is glamorous

Decisions, decisions. Which option do you prefer? It's fun pretending I have to make this decision some time soon when really I probably have a few more years before I have to worry about it.

Let's Play a Game Shall We?

Take a long hard look at this photo and tell me what you think is wrong with it.

That rug is driving me crazy!! This is an advertisement for, among other things in that photo, the rug. I cropped the name of the company out of the advertisement because they've already suffered enough embarrassment. How hard would it have been to set this display and not have the rug be a wrinkled mess? In case you think I'm over reacting, I may have cut some of rug out of the photo when I did the cropping. Trust me it is all a mess. It is difficult to understand why a company would pay so much money to have an ad in a popular magazine and not make sure every last detail was perfect. Okay that's enough crazy ranting for one day. We will now return to our regularly scheduled programing.

Tastworthy Tuesday: Food, Inc.

Mark your calendars. A movie everyone needs to see will be opening in select theaters (in New Jersey) this Friday. Food, Inc. sets out to lift the veil on our nation's food industry exposing exposing what as often gone unrecognized by the American consumer. Our nation's food supply is controlled by a handfull of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livlihood of the small farmer, and the environment. The film features interviews with experts such as Michael Pollan, the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg. Food, Inc. reveals surprising and often shocking truths about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

As I develop more and more allergies to foods that I never had problems eating in the past I have become concerned with where my food is coming from, what chemicals are being used in order to produce it, and how the animals are treated before they end up on my plate. My guess is once I see the movie it will confirm the belief that it is worth the extra money to support local farmers and purchase from organic and sustainable producers. Perhaps the food now is actually too cheap. Perhaps our unrealistic desire for cheap food as created the situation we are now facing.

Check here to find the film's opening date at a theater near you. Check out this article from the Boston Globe that has a great interview with the film's creator Robert Kenner.

Sign up to receive Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Interior Trends: Gilded Accents

I was pleasantly surprised by the gilded accents that showed up in several homes in the July/August '09 issue of Elle Decor. This is coming from a person who would normally recoil at the thought of a brass light fixture, shiny gold knob, or worse gold bathroom accessory. In a time where brushed nickel and chrome fixtures have become the norm it's an unexpected touch to see the antique brass handles, hinges, and light fixtures in the Hampton's home of Aerin Lauder. The honed finish of the antique brass is warm and refined and shares no similarity to its horribly shiny 1980's cousin.

I'm not sure if it's a look I could pull off in my own home. However, this wall of gold leaf frames in the bedroom of Monelle Totan feels like just the right touch of fabulous. Did you hear that Donald? This is a reasonable amount of gold for a home.

Pick yourself up a copy of the July/August '09 Elle Decor and check out the rest of Monelle's San Francisco home. She is the vice president of design for William-Sonoma Home and it shows. Her home is wonderfully restrained with graphic punches in the artwork and floor coverings.

Sign up to receive Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Destination Milos: Sightseeing Carryall

I'm on the hunt for the perfect bag and I could use your help. I'm looking for something I lug around with me as a carry on and sightseeing that will hold my camera, wallet, passport, maps, etc. I need it to be big enough but not bulky and not terribly sack like. I have a few sack shaped bags and I always end up digging around the bottom trying to find what I need. I pulled together this little roundup of bags but I'm wide open to suggestions.

1. doublecross bag 2. chain mail satchel 3. filigree shoulder bag

4. ruffle bucket bag 5. lydia 6. everyday bag 7. grey lines hemp bag

8. chain metal bag

Can you help me choose the perfect bag for vacation? Do you think any of these can do the job I need it to do? Do you have a favorite all purpose bag?

Related Posts:

Destination Milos: Travel Neccesities

Sign up to receive Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Tumbling Over White Floors

I know I've mentioned this before but I'll say it again, I read a lot of blogs. And many of those are blogs about interiors. In the past, when I came across a post with a photo that appealed to me I would star it in my google reader with the intention of going back to it at some point. Well that never happened and I ended up with hundreds of starred posts. I decided to put together a tumblr blog and use it as a place to store all of the photos of fabulous interiors I collect. It's such a simple interface, it takes seconds to upload a photo, link to the original blog post, and add some tags. It's been a fun exercise because I'm starting to see some trends develop in my interior design taste. One thing stands out, apparently I really like white painted floors.

via desire to inspire

via dwellings and decor

via desire to inspire

via the style files

The rooms feel so fresh, clean, and bright. All of the characteristics that my current home is lacking. Perhaps that is why I'm so drawn to these photographs. I wonder what it is about folks in the U.S. that makes them so uptight about painting wood floors? If I told any of my friends or family I wanted to paint my floors they would think I've lost my mind. Maybe I should show them some of these photos, that should help to change their minds. You can check out more rooms with white painted floors here. Enjoy!

Related Posts:

Went a Little Crazy This Weekend

Sign up to receive Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Tasteworthy Tuesday: Kitchens That Work

As I mentioned to you last week, this past Sunday was the "Kitchens that Work" home tour hosted by the Montclair Historical Society. My catering company, Bon Vivant Events, donated the dessert for the country bbq that followed the tour. I thought I would share a few shots from the event.

We served Strawberry Rhubarb Shortcake with Lavender & Aged Balsamic (with fresh vanilla bean whipped cream of course) assemble yourself style. Although the event was casual, it was an opportunity to present our company to the neighborhood so we offered a classic summer dessert with a sophisticated twist.

Since I don't want to give away all of the goods for free I'm keeping the recipe for the amazing fruit topping to myself but I will share the recipe for the biscuits or "shortcake". The recipe came from Sunday Suppers and is so unbelievably easy. Even if you do not consider yourself a baker you can definitely master these.

Buttermilk Biscuits

makes about 15

Ingredients:

1c unbleached all-purpose flour
1c cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbl sugar
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt
8 tbl cold butter
¾ c cold buttermilk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a food processor, combine all dry ingredients. Pulse to aerate. Cut cold butter into ½ inch cubes and scatter over the flour mixture. Pulse 12 times. The mixture should look like cornmeal. You should still be able to see pea sized pieces of butter. Dump the mixture into a medium sized bowl and add buttermilk. Mix swiftly until just combined. Using an ice cream scoop (about 1.25 ounces), scoop biscuits onto a baking sheet. Do this quickly so as to keep the mixture as cold as possible. Bake for 15 minutes.

We also prepared small gifts for the guests to take home with them. Jordan, our executive chef, makes these amazing candied walnuts. We bagged them in small glassine bags and attached our business card to them. I think we over estimated the number of guests that were going to show up because I have a shopping bag full of these sitting in my living room. What am I going to do with all of those nuts? Oh well, it's a learning process I suppose.

Related Post:

Tasteworthy Tuesday: Bon Vivant Events, LLC

Sign up to receive Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

The Domino Magazine Files

Remember these lovely images from the Domino days of yore:

Are you pining for the slideshows that once existed on domino.com? Did you have an image from Domino that you just loved but never remembered to save it to your computer and now you would like to include in a blog post? To you just like to waste hours (like I do) flipping through photos of beautiful rooms?

Well, you're in luck. The lovely Cassandra Lavalle from the blog Coco&Kelley has created a flickr group named The Domino Magazine Files where anyone can contribute the Domino Magazine images they do have for everyone to share. Here's the group introduction from Cassandra:

With the Domino Magazine website officially gone, all we're left with are the images saved from the good 'ol days. I never had a chance to get all of my favorites off the website before it closed, so I'm creating this group in hopes of collecting as many as possible in one place!

Please only add photos that were published in the magazine or from the site. If they are from the My Deco files, please note that. Also, try not to duplicate photos that are already here.

There are already over 800 images added to the group pool. If you be great if everyone could continue to contribute the Domino images they have saved. When you add an image to the group it would also be a huge help if you include which issue it was from and any other information you have about the photograph.

Have fun perusing and lets keep this community going!

Sign up to receive Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Destination Milos: Travel Necessities

(sorry for the post earlier with no text, I'm not sure what happened)

Even though there are still about 56 days (but who's counting) until we leave for Greece I've been trying to get a jump on planning and gathering all of the stuff we'll need. Traveling from the U.S. to Milos is a bit of an arduous experience so I want to be as prepared as possible to make this a pleasant and comfortable journey. My last trip to Greece included some terrible luggage on wheels that constantly feel over. It was enough to drive a person crazy. This time will be different. So while I would love to get myself a set of vintage powder blue luggage like this one:

ora grace vintage

I will probably end up getting something more practical like this Swiss Army set from Amazon. I've been doing some research and it seems worth it to spend a little more on luggage if you want to get more than a few trips out of it.

In an effort to jazz up this rather conventional set of luggage, I think I will get myself a few of these pretty luggage tags. Hopefully they will make it easier to spot my bags among the sea of similarly hued suitcases.

jack and bee

Since I won't be going vintage with my luggage I think I will get my vintage fix with fabulous jewelry organizer. It should help save me from the big knot of necklaces that I usually end up having to deal with.

cheeky vintage closet
A necessity high on my list is a fabulous carry on. I need something that will be able to hold of the items I will use for entertainment on this 14 hour (eek) voyage. One thing I'll will definitely be stashing in my carry on is my ipod. Is it even possible to travel with out one? This case is actually for a small camera but it fits my ipod perfectly and is totally sweet.
(P.S. I ordered that camera case last week and it arrive at my door yesterday. I love it! It really is perfect for an ipod and I'm very impressed with the quality of construction. I would highly recommend products from the jack and bee etsy shop.)

left: carry on must have sold out (bummer) right: jack and bee

One other item I plan on stashing in my carry on is this In Touch Clutch which has a bunch of pockets to hold my passport, a notepad, pens, business cards and more. And for a little luxury, this lavender filled spa pillow to rest my head on that should help me drift off into dreamland and make my cramped airplane seat just a little more comfortable.

left: downstairs designs right: mireio

What are the items you feel you can't travel without? Anything you think I need to add to my list of must haves? Do you have any travel plans for the summer? What will you be taking with you?

Sign up to receive Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Tasteworthy Tuesday: Bon Vivant Events, LLC

I was so hoping my Tasteworthy Tuesday post this week was going to be a "Ta Da" check out my company's new website. Well, It's not quite there yet (the menu links don't go anywhere) but it is pretty close. So without further ado, welcome to BonVivantEvents.net

Bon Vivant Events is a catering and event planning company founded by myself and two of my very close friends. Our services range from menu planning, rentals, space planning, centerpieces and decor, and beyond. You name it and we'd love to make it happen for you.

Check it out, I have business cards!

I'd love it if you could pay the Bon Vivant website a visit in few days when I have uploaded a full description of our services, sample menus, and photos of the food we have prepared for previous events.

This Sunday, June 14th Bon Vivant Events will be providing the dessert for the Country BBQ following the Montclair Historical Society's Kitchens that Work Tour. The BBQ will be held from 3 to 5pm at The Charles Shultz House (Evergreens), located at 30 North Mountain Avenue in Montclair. Tickets for the event are $40. All proceeds benefit MHS' ongoing preservation and education programs.

Related Post:

Appetizer Idea: Sun-dried Tomato Polenta Squares with Herbed Goat Cheese

Sign up to receive Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Just Had to Laugh at Myself...

...staring at one of my walls, hand on chin, very seriously pondering which color of greige, beige, or gray I'm going to paint my living room walls.


I have essentially chosen 15 variations of the same color. How could I possibly choose which would be the best color?

After much pondering and observing the colors in all possible lighting situations the winners are Silver Drop and Swan Wing. Isn't Swan Wing such a lovely name for a paint color? The Silver Drop is actually much lighter in person then it looks in this photo. I hope we like it once it's up on the walls because the living room has way too many walls to consider repainting.

Weekly Round Up: June 6, 2009

Keep stopping by to check out my progress on this crazy project.

Get your wallet ready before you check out this link.

Uh oh, more great shopping.

I'll try making these and you can be my taste tester.

A fascinating woman and some of her amazing designs.

Related Posts:

Weekly Round Up: May 16, 2009

Weekly Round Up: May 10, 2009

Weekly Round Up: May 2, 2009

Sign up to receive Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Designer Spotlight: Catherine Martin

Initially I intended this post to just be a Happy Friday and drool fest over these fantastic Catherine Martin Rugs. Then I spent a few minutes navigating her website and it turns out Catherine Martin is one terrifically fascinating person.

Catherine is married to Baz Luhrmann and has been collaborating with him on projects for the past 20 years. She won two Academy Awards for Costume Design and Art Direction for her work on Moulin Rouge! In 2002, Catherine designed Baz Luhrmann's re-working of Puccini's La Boheme which opened on Broadway to critical acclaim and won her a Tony Award for Production Design. The list of amazing projects she has worked on and the acclaim she has received for them is long.

As if all of that wasn't enough Catherine now collaborates with Designer Rugs and Porter's Paints to produce her line of rugs, interior paints and wallpapers. What's next you ask? A line of bedding and bath textiles as well as tableware set to be released in 2009. I will definitely be keeping a look out for those new items.

Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Tastworthy Thursday: Fleur de Sel Caramels

Sorry guys, I totally flaked on Tuesday and forgot about my food related post. On the recommendation Nichole, who has fabulous taste, I ordered myself a box of assorted caramels from Galipette, a French Pastry Lab in Paris. For the past week I've been thoroughly enjoying the chocolate cocoa nib caramels and the toasted hazelnut caramels. It wasn't until this evening that I happened upon the salted caramels in the box.

Dream. While the other caramel flavors are delicious there is something so wonderful about the simple confection and the combination of salty and sweet. A package of Galipette caramels is reasonably priced, however having them shipped from Paris can get a bit pricey. Since this appears to be a habit that I will not be able to break anytime soon I need to get a bit industrious. I'm going to try my hand at candy making and try to whip up some salted caramels of my own.

After some web crawling I found a recipe that got a lot of great ratings. I'm going to give it a shot and I'll let you know how it goes. If you have ever tried making caramels before I would love to hear about the experience.

Fleur de Sel Caramels

makes about 40 pieces

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water

Instructions:

Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly oil parchment.

Bring cream, butter, and fleur de sel to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside.

Boil sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel.

Carefully stir in cream mixture (mixture will bubble up) and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248°F on thermometer, 10 to 15 minutes. Pour into baking pan and cool 2 hours. Cut into 1-inch pieces, then wrap each piece in a 4-inch square of wax paper, twisting 2 ends to close.

Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.

Photo Credits: Galipette

Linda Ferrol Studio

I discovered the Linda Ferrol Studio after spotting these lovely paper lanterns on Bloseum by Dutch paper designer Jurianne Matter. They are so sweet and I think they would be so great as party decorations.

I went searching for a U.S. shop that carried Jurianne's products which brought me to the Linda Ferrol Studio. The shop is filled with fabulous goods sourced from around the world.

1. The Market Basket from Morocco

2. Silver Moroccan Poof

3. Hamam Bowl from Turkey

4. Little Wish Boats

5. Pastel Blackboard Chalk

I'm thinking the small silver bowl would make a pretty soap dish for a guest bath. The blackboard chalk is so adorable and would make a wonderful teacher's gift. I don't even own a blackboard but I'm thinking of picking some up for myself.

Design Evolution updates via RSS feed or email.