Velvet & Linen

our home on the cover of romantic homes magazine!

A huge thank you to everyone at Romantic Homes Magazine for their amazing article on our home. We were so excited to see our home on the front cover of the May 2010 issue! 

 

I was glad that my hydrangeas were still in bloom when we took these pictures. Those big pink popcorn balls added the color we needed. 
  

Romantic Homes Managing Editor,  Meryl Schoenbaum included some of Steve's money saving design tips in the article. 
  

A few pink accents and some of my hydrangeas brought the outdoor color scheme into my kitchen. 

  

My terrible scans don't do Mark Tanner's photography justice!
  

It really was a perfect day for a photo shoot. The sun illuminated all of the rooms, including my living room.
  

Mark Tanner captured the "tree house" feel of my bedroom. 
  

I was thrilled that they included my little vanity and Steve's pencil drawings. 
  

My little tub made it into the article too :)
 

Check out the May issue to read Meryl Schoenberg's wonderfully written article and to view all of Mark Tanner's gorgeous photography!

Thank you to Romantic Homes Editorial Director, Jacqueline deMontravel for featuring our home and for doing such a beautiful styling job!

xo

Brooke

what we would do with the klismos furniture line from restoration hardware...

Like most design bloggers, it was love at first site when I saw the  new outdoor furniture collections by Restoration Hardware. Steve and I were particularly impressed by the Klismos Collection. 

The classical lines and the antique gray finish made the Klismos collection our favorite. 

So when our clients asked us to design a beautiful seating area outside of their dining room, we were given the opportunity to put the Klismos pieces to beautiful use.

The French doors on the right of our clients' dining room open up to a courtyard surrounded by greenery. 

 

The Dining Room French doors are on the right side of this furniture plan. We created a comfortable seating area around the fountain...

 

and a Klismos Table and chairs for a cup of coffee after dinner.

We added several Belle Epoche Lanterns...

  and Party Globe String lights for ambiance...

A few Zinc Footed Planters...

as well as a  Maywood Urn filled with hydrangeas atop Haywood Pedestals.

Here is Steve's vision (love a man who can draw!).  It will be another few weeks until it's complete!

When you received  your Restoration Catalogue, did you imagine what you would do with some of their new outdoor furniture pieces? 

xo 

Brooke

the winners of the velvet and linen candle giveaway and a few updates....

Wow, this week really flew by!  I was planning to do a few posts about the things that caught my eye this week, but all of a sudden it was Friday! So, I thought I would just put it all in one post...

For those of you who asked about the Nina Etagere in our clients' Map Room...

Unfortunately thefurnishingmarket.net doesn't exist anymore!  To prove to you how much we loved this piece, here it is in another room...

 

and one other room...

 
and it was only $350! That may explain why they don't exist anymore. If anyone has another resource for the pretty Nina please let all of us know!

I also received an email from one of my favorite shops in Atlanta, South of Market. They have started their own blog, and it's fantastic (so inspirational!). Click here to check it out.

 

On Wednesday I had a special visit from the founder of Remains Lighting, David Calligeros and the beautiful Anita Boras, who is always amazingly helpful in their LA showroom.

me, David and Anita at Giannetti Home looking at some gorgeous lighting samples. This Cecily Sconce is really beautiful. David explained that the backplate is made from antique glass pieces. There are only 50 of these sconces. I would love to use two of them in my powder room!

 

The Remains tear sheets make specifying their lights a pleasure. All of the information I need is clearly shown.
  

David also gave me a virtual tour of the Remains' Leed factory in Brooklyn.
 
 I recently discovered that Leed buildings need to meet certain environmental standards. I was impressed by the beauty of their environmentally conscious factory! Plus their new larger factory gives them the ability to do custom lighting with ease.

 

It was wonderful meeting the people behind the great lighting designs that we use, like the Cleo double sconce....

that we used here! 

  

and the Sorenson lantern that we used ....

here! 

It's 7:40 Friday night, and Steve and the kids are getting a little annoyed that I am still on the computer, so I will have to stop here. But first I need to announce the winners of the Velvet and Linen candle give away!

Thank you to all of you who ordered Velvet and Linen candles. Although we sold out, we are expecting another candle delivery next week. I'd love to hear from those of you who ordered candles. I hope you love the scent as much as we do!

The winners are:

#63 Deborah Deaton and #167 Lisa Wagner. Please email me your addresses. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the Velvet and Linen candle comes in a smaller votive size!  How cute is that?

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

xo xo

Brooke

my latest giveaway: the velvet and linen candle

My favorite memories always have a scent connected to them... my childhood family vacations smell like an ocean breeze and "Hawaiian Tropics" tanning oil, and my elementary school memories smell like Elmer's glue sticks and the metal of the jungle gym where I played every day during recess. 

I began to reflect about the times we spend with our family at our Channel Islands home. What would be the scent connected to those family memories? Although there are the wonderful smells of our barbeques, and the ocean scent of our boat rides,  I also had the desire to create a candle that we could use at our home. 

This was the beginning of the idea for the Velvet and Linen candle. Eva and Laura at Linnea's Lights did a wonderful job in creating a candle that captures the essence of our California lifestyle.

 

Eva describes the "Velvet and Linen" candle as a water note scent with a touch of green. My children just say it smells like our home. Steve thinks it captures the relaxed feeling he gets when he is painting. 

We started to burn V&L candles in both of our  homes. Because our clients and friends also loved them, we decided to sell the candles at the store and here! 

To celebrate the "Velvet and Linen" candle, I am giving away two of them to you. All you have to do is become a fan of the Velvet and Linen Blog on Facebook. It's easy to become a fan!  Just click here to go to the "Velvet and Linen Facebook Page" and click "follow". On Friday, I will randomly choose 2 people from the list of Velvet and Linen Blog fans.

I want to thank everyone at Linnea's Lights for their help! 

xo

Brooke