Velvet & Linen

have i mentioned my fear of flying?

Steve and I are off to Atlanta tomorrow. This trip came about in a very bloggy way. My new friend, Angela from WA and I were talking on the phone. Although she calls herself Angela from WA, she is actually a Southern gal and her descriptions of Atlanta in her gorgeous Southern drawl were too much for me to resist. Next thing I knew, we had planned our whirl-wind trip. Arrive in Atlanta Thursday night. Scott's Antique Market on Friday. a tour of the city and a visit to Mrs. Howard's  with Veranda's Leslie Newsom on Saturday.....

Leslie and her mother, Lisa Newsom, editor of Veranda Magazine (the magazine also known as my design bible) were nice enough to take time out of their recent family vacation in Santa Barbara to visit us at our home in Channel Islands. I couldn't have been happier! What could be better than meeting two women who have shaped my idea of great design? 

 

So, I'm very excited about our trip, but I also have an insane fear of flying. I know, I've heard it all: Flying is the safest way to travel.... Nothing helps. Poor Steve has permanent scars on his arms from my clenching. I am truly surprised that any airlines will let me on a flight after the last flight (a little turbulence, a lot of crying and screaming...). 

Anyway, to keep me from thinking about tomorrow's flight, I thought I would do a post on another bathroom that we finally finished. 

The Ann Sacks iridescent mosaic tile is amazing. We used  industrial fixtures from Liza Sherman for the ceiling lights.

The bath is on the other side of the bathroom.

Love that lavender velvet seat cushion. I know it's hard to tell, but the tile picks up all of the colors in the room, the citrus green on the walls, the lavender of the towels and glass knobs, the colors in the rubber duckies (well maybe not, but they are awfully cute). 

So, I promise to post from Atlanta. Wish Steve luck with surviving the flight and all of that arm squeezing.

xo

Brooke

finished!

I seem to always be sharing our work when it's almost finished. Well, I thought I would show you this bathroom now that it is done.

I originally posted about this Master Bathroom here.   It goes with this room.

We used the same soothing green, blue and white color palette.

The citrus green velvet on the Suzanne Kasler Alexandra side chair gave the room the "pop" it needed. We purchased the chair from Grace Home Furnishings and had it custom painted to match the trim in the room. 

This has to be my favorite shower that Steve has designed. Love the windows, love the tile design. All of the tile is White Thassos marble and Blue Celeste from Ann Sacks. 

I really had to hold myself back from drawing myself a bath! I don't think my clients would have appreciated seeing me up to my neck in bubbles. It is tempting though...

Love their double sink cabinet with the Thassos marble slab top. 

The Remains Sorenson Lantern is elegant and beachy at the same time.

It is really satisfying to visit a project once it is finally complete and see our clients' dream come true!

xo

Brooke

bloomin' crazy

Although Steve tends to like well manicured gardens, I lean towards  gardens that have a little more organized chaos. 

This is our Bouganvilla that grows around our garage doors. It starts out a deeper pink and gradually fades to this.

This is the walkway to our Channel Islands home. Eventually the pavers will be replaced with a charming gravel path....

Although you can barely see my iron piece this time of year, I think adding little antique elements in a garden gives it more character. 

When we are home, we love to open up the double front doors so we can view the garden from inside as well. 

I found these pots at Botanik in Summerland and hung them on the wall by the front door. 

The aged grey shutters make a beautiful back drop for these topiaries by my front door. 

My little bird house is happily surrounded by white begonias and hydrangeas.

On the back deck a white hydrangea has found a temporary home in this old bird cage. 

Stacks of parchment colored pots are stored in metal wire baskets. 

I hope it is beautiful where you are today! 

xo

Brooke

giannetti home evolution

Before I start this post I want to send a heart felt "Thank you" to Keri over at Antique Therapy. 

Keri was asked to be a guest blogger on blogs.com and to give a list of her top 10 antique blogs. I was so excited to see Velvet and Linen on her list! You can check out Keri's whole list here. Keri, this post is for you!

As I have written in a couple of posts, I find that my design style is definitely evolving. 

It is not surprising that our little shop is evolving as well.

I thought I would share with you these images I took at Giannetti Home yesterday. 

I can't thank Mary enough for taking the time to spruce up the store. I think it looks beautiful.

I found this gorgeous thread bare Pakistani rug on sale. I love the way the vintage turquoise glass bottles pick up the color in the rug. 

The Table Coral is nature's beauty at its best. 

Mary did a beautiful job displaying the coral, parchment books and Steve's oil paintings on the industrial shelving unit.

My new love is alabaster lamps. We just got a pair of these balustrade beauties. Their creamy color looks lovely with my Swedish pieces. 

I still love the combination of industrial pieces (like the wooden gear) and the Swedish furniture. Lavender seltzer bottles and old shoe molds are displayed on top of this 19th Century Swedish side table. A basket with vegetable dyed, organic cashmere throws sits underneath. 

There is something so wonderful about simplicity of our new Aragon dish ware. The Linneas Lights double wick soy candles have been a huge hit with our clients. 

I bought several of these weathered grey baskets with handles. Clients have bought them to store wrapping paper and plans. A couple people bought them to use as waste paper baskets.  

I just made this Courtney Sofa in a thick cream linen. The clean lines and the romantic curve of the arms make this my favorite sofa right now. 

Steve and I are off to Atlanta next week to go to Scott's Antique Market as well as the Home Furnishings Market. I can't wait to show you what we find there. I wonder what direction this experience will take my design evolution!

Happy Weekend and Happy 4th!

xo

Brooke

4th of july design

First of all, a big thank you to all 102 of you (58 of you on my blog and 44 of you via e-mail) who gave your opinion on my banner. I hope you like the new one, for now. I'm sure it will evolve as I evolve!

I hope you don't mind that I  share my work in progress, but if I wait until it's perfect, I'll have a blog post every leap year!

So, I am working on my client's office and I thought it would make a great Independence Day post...

We haven't styled the bookshelves yet, but we did create a great red, white and blue seating area by the fireplace. She already owned the fun red leather club chairs. We added some John Robshaw pillows, and a Pottery Barn rug. It was much cheaper to buy the John Robshaw pillows and have them sized to fit the chairs then to buy the fabric and have pillows made. The English bamboo table is from one of my favorite showrooms, Dan Marty. Sherry and Ralph at Ralph's Interiors did a great job (as always!) making the ottoman, covered in a beautiful Raoul Textiles fabric. 

Steve designed this home so that every room has wonderful light. 

We painted the walls blue with white trim. 

My client bought several gorgeous art pieces from the Sears Peyton Gallery. 

This piece works perfectly paired with the bench that Sherry and Ralph made. The fabric is by John Robshaw. 

I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July!

xo

Brooke

graphic identity crisis

Last week, Ivan over at The Meade Design Group did a great post about the value of a solid graphic identity during a recession.  The subject of  graphic identity is something that Steve and I are discussing a great deal. We are currently working on changing our logo and business cards so they feel cleaner and reflect our current design philosophy.  

These discussions have led me to evaluate my blog design as well. 

My current banner is just feeling a little cluttered.

 

So, here are some ideas...

I love the feeling of the Italian fragment above our bed. 

What if we turned it into this...

and added Velvet & Linen in Zapfino...

 

 

If I do this design, I will change the background color of my blog to white and have the lettering in a silvery grey. 

Or should it just be really simple...

Perhaps in grey...

I'd love to hear what you think. Do you like the simpler look?

xo

Brooke

colour me very happy!

I want to send out a big "Thank You" to my bloggy friend, Maria at Colour Me Happy for including my post about my home in Channel Islands in her Top Ten Posts! Not only do I have enormous respect for Maria, but I'm so honored to be included with these amazing bloggers:

Things That Inspire

Cote de Texas (who is celebrating her 2nd Bloggy Birthday. Happy Birthday, Joni!)

Design Esquire 

Designing your Dream Home

Patricia Gray

Just Imagine

Brillante Home Decor

A Schematic Life

Lauren Faythe

xo

Brooke

the bed challenge

I am usually a simple bed person, but occasionally I have a client who asks for something a little more elaborate.

Recently, Mrs. R showed me this image...

Image from Elle Decor Sept. 2008 

She wanted a valance over her bed as well as side panels that would match her drapery. She had a similar condition in her bedroom (the bed would be going between two windows) and just loved the way this connected the bed and the windows.

BEFORE

Miguel, my drapery fabricator, and I were up for the challenge. Based on Steve's drawing (which I can't seem to find in my computer!), Miguel was nice enough to make a template of the valance in cardboard. We were then able to modify it before he made the final valance. Here is a close up of the completed valance. The key was making sure it didn't feel too fat and bulky while avoiding it feeling too skinny and wimpy. We added a matching cord trim to the bottom to finish it off. Again, we wanted to make sure the cord was just the right size.

Here's my partner in crime, Miguel installing the draperies, and my wonderful design assistant, Lisa who helps me with everything. The color scheme in Mrs. R's bedroom is several shades of cream. Very neutral and calm.

Here is the finished bed. We chose a pair of mirrored chests from Horchow and alabaster lamps with cream shades from Circa lighting. The silk and wool cream rug is from Williams Sonoma. 

Sherry and Ralph did a wonderful job on the silk velvet headboard. Catherine the Great (who really is great) created the bedding. Catherine did a beautiful job of quilting the fabric for the pillows and the coverlet. 

Steve designed the cabinets that are now on one side of the bedroom. We added the same striped fabric in panels to soften the cabinets and tie them in with the bedding.

A chaise sits across from the bed near the french doors with a view of the back yard.

Mrs. R's was definitely a challenge, but I love the way it turned out.

What do you think?

xo

Brooke

coralscapes

I'm finishing up work on a home near the beach. We wanted the home to have an elegant  coastal feel. So when thinking about what to display in the bottom of the dining room buffet, we decided to do this...

We used several different types of white coral with hints of red in some of the shells.

My client and I had so much fun creating this coralscape at the store. We started with the amazing piece in the middle at worked our way toward the sides. 

We're still playing with the centerpiece for the table. My clients haven't found the right piece of artwork for the wall above the buffet, but things are coming along!

We also added a few star fish and coral to the bookshelf.

So that's why this California girl is hooked on coralscapes! Don't forget to check out Julia's Hooked on Friday party to see what other bloggers are hooked on.

Have a fantastic weekend!

xo 

Brooke

burlap continued...

In a recent post, I talked about my love of burlap and shared the headboard that Steve and I designed 

for our guest room. 

Mary and I brought them up to Channel Islands today to replace the headboards that I put in our Client's guest house. 

Here they are in place, but now I think we need to make burlap bed skirts.  I think a simple bedskirt with six pleats will make these beds complete. 

We also made a burlap bench for the room.

Our upholsterers at Ralph's Interiors did a wonderful job with the tufting (thank you Sherry and Ralph and Co.). The bench works as seating in front of the television, where the kids hand out and play  video games.

Sherry and Ralph did the diamond tufting the way it would have been done years ago, by pulling and tying the burlap. I love that detail.

Like the headboard, the bench has a nail detail.

So, the guest room design continues... 

xo

Brooke