Velvet & Linen

mansour modern sale on one kings lane

As I've mentioned before, I often start the design of a room with a rug. After many years, I have edited my rug search to a few wonderful rug dealers. One of the first rug showrooms that I visit when starting a new project is Mansour Modern. Their wide selection of high quality rugs never disappoint me or my clients. 

When Steve and I started this project, we thought we would never find a rug big enough for the living room. We were amazed to find that Mansour had several gorgeous rugs for us to choose from. 

 

This beautiful rug from Mansour had the perfect "English Gentleman's Library" feel.
 

The colors of this Mansour rug complimented the DeGournay wallpaper beautifully.
 

Our clients fell in love with the neutral colors in this rug. The citrus green accents in the rug provided the inspiration for the fabrics we selected for the draperies, pillows, and  the Swedish benches.
    

We found another lovely rug at Mansour for the dining room. 
   

The Map Room rug from Mansour was the inspiration for the ottoman fabric, as well as the leather on the chairs. 
   

The warm toned Oushak rug we found at Mansour was perfect for this cozy family room.
 
 

When I found out that Mansour Modern is going to have a sale on One Kings Lane, I knew that I had to spread the word!

 
The sale starts tomorrow, and all of the carpets are at least 50% off!  

xo

Brooke

our kitchen garden...

As most of you know, I am a mother of three children ages 9 to 16. Like most of you I am constantly trying to getting them to eat healthier. Several people in my life suggested that I get my children involved in actually growing the food we eat. I thought this was a great idea, except for the fact that we live on a postage stamp sized lot. 

I love our home, but our garden doesn't leave much room for a vegetable garden!

 Then one night during our family dinner conversation I suggested a crazy idea. What if we replaced our front lawn with a kitchen garden? I'm very blessed to be married to an open minded man! Steve ran with the idea and drew this...

Next thing I knew we were digging up this...

 

to do this.... I found these great 4'x8' cedar raised boxes here. They were easy to assemble and were the perfect size for this space.

 

This morning, Leila, Chloe, Steve and I set off to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market to visit Jimmy and Logan at HayGround Organic Gardening to start planting our garden.
   

Jimmy was so patient with me (and my enormous sweater!). He helped us select the perfect bell peppers (yellow, red, and violet!) and a couple hot peppers for my spicy husband ....
   

Jimmy also introduced us to some amazing edible plants that we'd never heard of.
   

Leila (with her wet hair, just out of the shower!) and Chloe had so much fun picking out organic strawberries to plant in the garden.

 I learned so much from Logan. He explained that I would need to get some organic peet moss for the blueberry plants I bought. They love acidic soil. Good to know!

   

We were so excited to get home and start planting! Corn on the right. Squash and eggplant in the middle. We still need to plant our pumpkins so they will be ready for Halloween. The lavender hedge will provide greenery and a wonderful scent. Heirloom tomatoes will grow on two pyramids. We still need to plant our snap peas on the other pyramids. 
 
   

Eventually this area will be filled with pots of herbs.

 

We accomplished a lot today, thanks to our two helpers, Leila and Chloe.
   

The thing I love best about our garden is that it is a secret garden. From the street, no one knows what is inside....

 

If you get really close, you can get a glimpse through the roses...

 
 but you only discover what we are creating when you walk through the gate.
  

  

 

xo 

Brooke

If you would like to create the home of your dreams e-mail me about our design online services.

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a new garden design...

Steve and I enjoy designing every aspect of our projects, including the gardens. I thought you might enjoy seeing this garden that we recently completed.

 

Our clients' children love playing in the water jets. The jets also turn the pool into a beautiful fountain. 

We used Restoration Hardware teak chaises and umbrellas by the pool. Their quality is great. 

Our friend Lace did an amazing job helping us with this garden. I've learned so much from her about succulents and other drought tolerant plants. Thank you Lace!

  

Lace created these gorgeous succulent arrangements. They provide color and beauty on the patio with very little maintenance. 



 

Steve designed this formal rose garden, which will be a beautiful focal point for the living room. 

 

The map room has a great view of the garden as well as the children's play structure.

  In the front garden, this arrangement makes a wonderful focal point. 

 

 

To reduce the amount of watering, we created a meadow  in the front garden. The ceanothus will become a green carpet under the trees. We place a potted lemon tree on each of the four corners of the entry space. They smell divine and the children love picking the lemons!

 I hope you enjoyed the tour! Feel free to rest in the hammock a bit. It's nice and cool under the canopy of the eucalyptus!

 

Thank you to Brian Diamond at Native Design for doing a wonderful job installing this garden!

 xo

Brooke

  

coastal living photo shoot!

Several months ago Steele Marcoux, Design Editor of Coastal Living Magazine , sent me an e-mail asking if we had any projects that would be a good fit for Coastal Living. I immediately thought of our clients Jennifer and Steve's home. Not only is their home the perfect "California White Shingle Style Home", but Jen and Steve's life epitomizes the relaxed casual California coastal lifestyle. 

It seemed like it took forever, but we finally had the photo shoot this week!  Photographer Roger Davies and his assistant Albert Fu did an amazing job shooting our clients' home! 

Jen and Steve's adorable daughters kept us entertained all day long. 

 

Steele, Roger, and I admiring one of Roger's images on his computer. It was such a treat getting the chance to have him document our work so beautifully!
    

Emily Henderson did a fantastic job styling each shot. She has such beautiful style. We had the chance to chat a bit between photos, and she told me that she just started a blog. I went for a visit last night. I think you are going to love it.  Check it out here.

Me, Emily and Steele taking a rest on the second day of the shoot. 
 
 I wish I could share some of the images with you, but Steele made me promise not to! We're all going to have to wait until next Spring when they are published in Coastal Living. 

Thank you so much Steele, Emily (and her husband Brian!), Roger and Albert for two fantastic days. 

A huge, enormous THANK YOU to our clients, Jennifer, Steve, Macie, Kayley, and their adorable pup Roxie for going above and beyond the call of duty. Steve and I both know how busy you are, and it means so much to us that you did this for us!

xo

Brooke