In honor of Westweek there are a bunch of fun parties going on this week here in Los Angeles. For those of you who don't know, Westweek is a two day event at the Pacific Design Center that takes place every year around this time. During the two days, there are many discussion panels and talks given by some of the most interesting and talented people in the design field. This year's speakers include Elle Decor Editor in Chief Margaret Russell, 1st Dibs Founder Michael Bruno, Interior Designer (and fabulous blogger) Vincente Wolf, and many other wonderful people in the design industry.
Apparently who ever planned Westweek this year doesn't have children in the Santa Monica School District!
I was so excited to get my invitation to Margaret Russell's book signing for Tuesday night. I arranged for baby sitting and told Steve to mark his calendar, only to realize moments later that we would be at Santa Monica High School touring Charlie's classrooms. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing what Charlie is working on at school. But as a huge Elle Decor fan, I was a bit disappointed to miss meeting Margaret Russell. Oh well, Mom duties before design duties!
I also received this invitation for the One Kings Lane party at Almont Yard. Again, I called the babysitter and told Steve that we were going. Well, I opened up my calendar and saw "Leila's Open House and Book Fair" typed in for that night! I was determined to figure out how to make this work. Leila's Open House didn't start until 7:30. That gave us about 45 minutes to spend at the OKL party before we would have to fight the traffic back to Santa Monica.
Since Leila recently became a client (she wants to redo her room as her birthday present this year), it was pretty easy to convince her to come with us to check out all of the wonderful fabrics, wallpapers, and furnishings at my favorite Almont showrooms.
When we arrived at 6:00, the party was already starting to fill up! This beautiful gravel courtyard was one of my original inspirations for my garden in Oxnard. It's just lovely.
The first person I spotted was Ali Pincus, one of the co-founders of One Kings Lane. Although we have spoken on the phone several times and have corresponded via e-mail, it was wonderful to finally meeting her in person. She was as warm and friendly (and beautiful!) as I thought she would be.
Leila was getting a little bored with all of my chatting, so we headed upstairs to see Kathryn Ireland's new showroom. Kathryn's designs are all about color and pattern. Leila and I loved looking at Kathryn's inspiration board.
Kathryn used these library swing arm lamps to illuminate the vibrant walls of her fabrics.
Leila and I both thought that all of Kathryn's fabrics looked great together.
Leila was drawn to these shelves filled with different textile pillows.
She was fascinated by the different colors and textures.
While Leila was busy with the pillows, I was able to catch up with my friend Vanessa De Vargas. I met Vanessa for the first time when we hosted a Design Network Group party at our store last year. To view Vanessa's work click here.
After helping ourselves to a quick snack laid out beautifully on Kathryn's vine covered balcony, we made our way back downstairs...
Our next stop....
Leila had fun flipping through all of the wallpaper books.
Since Leila will soon be 10, she felt that she was getting too old for her all pink room. She loved the cool colors and more sophisticated pattern of this wall paper sample.
Maybe we could do a pair of these Coleen and Company lanterns.
The wall papers kept Leila busy while I looked around. The vignette atop this beautiful painted chest caught my eye.
We were running out of time, but we had a few minutes to pop our heads into Nathan Turner's store. Leila was a little upset that we wouldn't buy her the couch, pillows, and painting. I can't blame her. They were really pretty!
As a budding interior designer, Leila thought this chair would look just lovely with the sofa that she wanted.
We were now running late! We hopped into the car and made it to Leila's Open House just in time for her to do her presentation on Judy Baca that she spent all week memorizing. She did a wonderful job! I couldn't have been more proud.
The Westweek festivities will continue today and tonight. Of course tonight I will be picking up Nick from community service, getting Leila from her friend's house, and making dinner for our family . Am I disappointed about missing the parties? A little bit....
but not much :)
xo
Brooke
