Rooms I Love No. 22 - Gobs of Greatness!

I can take a map I love and hang it on the wall, or not!

All these images in this post of Rooms I Love show a rebel side. I am a rebel, I don't follow design rules and I believe greatly that our individual stories belong in our homes, not stories from a magazine! 

I can enjoy the classic nostalgia of a bobbin chair with a sleek cocktail I love.

I can have tradition in my uptown modern loft.

I can create my own "window to my world".

Ordinary built-ins are not for me, but they look lovely in your home.

I like my whisper of color, but you might just miss my subtle dark colors.

A suite I must have, for I use all of my rooms to spread my wings.

Just like my LBD, black is the only color for my trim! And yes, I will hang artwork right over top of them!

Image Sources: Home Bunch, Elle Decor, Alexa Hampton, Architectural Digest, Traditional Home

Translation - Fashion to Home No. 20 - Shoes!

Inspiration for the color palette for your home is closer than you think! Look down at the shoes you are wearing! That's right, your choice in shoes is a good start to defining your style and the colors you love to live around.

It can show how much "edge" or embellishment you feel comfortable with. Shoe inspiration can be that piece of the puzzle that helps you define your home design style and get you outside your box!

Our shoes can remind us where they took us. What we saw in our travels, while they provided comfort. How about the colors of the exotic safari trip? Or the calming sense we felt at the hidden beach?

Shoe inspiration can show us that our casual style is fitting for our home's room design. Share that with your interior designer. This is your home, your lifestyle, your dream room.

Do you look in your closet at your shoes and see a mix of styles? Fantastic! The room you are dreaming about can have that same mix of styles!

The foundation of a room is a great place to start! Selecting a rug or one to layer over top of one you already have is a great way of defining your style for the space. 

Like some shimmer in your shoes? Let's add a bit of that to your room design!

Trust me, shoe inspiration works! Take your favorite shoes to your designer and watch how your beautiful room unfolds!

Image Sources: Neiman Marcus, Pinterest, Rozsnyai Shoes, Instagram, Terges Shoes, Tumbler

Be Inspired No. 80 - Mirror, Mirror on the Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the mirror who's the inspired person who hung you there? When we see a mirrored wall we tend to cringe a little. Does it date the room? We visualize the mess it will create if we eliminate it. We search the web to see if we can paint it or wallpaper over it. Let's be honest, we treat it like a blemish on date night.

Hallelujah, raise the roof, these images have inspired us to a better solution! And isn't this solution how most things in our home are welcomed back into the space? By not ignoring them, but enhancing them.

What a beautiful finish. But let's be honest, maybe it is the solution for our mirror obsession. That cute, little, stunning piece of reflection you couldn't live without needed a place in your home. Bravo!

That "builder-installed" generic sea of mirror held up with unsightly plastic supports screwed into your bathroom wall or better yet glued to your wall with industrial strength adhesive? You won't even notice the blandness after adding a beautiful mirror!  Yes you are the fairest in the land.

Be inspired!

Image sources: Elle Decor, Pinterest, Notting Hill

Well Dressed Home No. 60 - Tartan Plaid & Animal Print, But of Course Darling!

It is a wonderful thing that beautiful fabrics are available to use both in our homes and in our wardrobe! Because at some point we all find that in one or both of those places we may have reached that edge of obsession or dare I say hoarding. Where we find ourselves not willing to let go of fabrics we love before we add a new-found fabric crush. 

So I am inspired by the melding of tartan plaid and animal print! Because whether added to our wardrobe or in a room of our home, it rocks! Plain and simple, it rocks! Two beautiful, timeless fabrics that will stand the test of time and be a wonderful "mate" to outfit other looks with. How brilliant!

This isn't your Grandma's damask! This is a combination that is hip even in the most formal of settings. 

I always say leopard is a neutral that can go anywhere, even with the stodginess of tartan plaid. But of course, Darling!

Sources: Ralph Lauren, Tumbler, Marcus Design, House Beautiful

Rooms I Love No. 21 - Less is More, Truly

This started out as a blog post about black and white rooms that I love. Then I came across other images that I loved that weren't a concentration on the black and white palette. As I stared, mesmerized at these images, what I realized is that what struck me most was the simple elegance of these rooms. Simplistic elegance is what won me over and caused me to stare.

The fresh approach to having a room with pieces you love, with a "less is more" attitude.

Less clutter, less stuff, less busyness, less chaos. More relaxation, more drama. And no, that is not a pairing of oxymoron-like adjectives. Relaxation from the less thans; more drama on the cherished items, for you can see them now. More perspective, more meaning.

Less is more creates a renewed appreciation for the finishes, the curves, the craftsmanship, the luxuriousness, the textures, the way light dances, the rejuvenation we feel, and the people in the room we feel it with.

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." William Morris

Less is more, truly.

Sources: Elle Decor, Tumbler, Ralph Lauren, A Detailed House, Mix Chic