Velvet & Linen

a few things about me and a late thank you!

Two new bloggy friends, Kelly and Victoria from Design Ties

tagged me to write about 6 interesting things about myself. I think I'm so boring, but hopefully these will do.

1. I'm a morning person. I wake up every morning at 4:00. It is my most productive time of the day.

This leads me to the answer of Ness' question. I tend to blog and answer e-mails from 4 am to 5 am. Here is my little (tiny actually) desk in my kitchen where I get most of my blogging done. Thank you, Ness for giving me a reason to tidy up a bit!

2. Steve and I never planned to have children. We were married for 6 years, and then all of sudden every baby I saw was adorable. 9 months later, we had Charlie.

He looked like a plucked chicken. I had no idea what to do with him when they

sent us home from the hospital. 

Charlie had jaundice. We had to put him under our skylight during the day to 

get some sun, hence the socks on his little hands and feet (and my sock on his head!).

 

3. Two years ago, I discovered that I can't eat gluten. That didn't sound so bad until I realized that I couldn't eat pasta, pizza (my favorite food), donuts, and sandwiches! I think I would have lost weight, but I just started drinking more!

4. Every dog that I have ever owned has been small white and fluffy. People say that owners look like their dogs. What does this say about me?

Bebe and Frasier, our most recent pack of white fluffiness.

5. I love flea markets, antique stores and E-bay. My dream is to one day be able to design all my projects using only found objects. 

This is my antique vanity the way it looked in my old home surrounded by my

vintage purses and prints. I think this antique vanity is so much more interesting than

a new one, plus it was so much fun to find!

6. I have become addicted to blogging and am surprised that I find so much to talk about. I am also so surprised by the incredible friendships that I have made through blogging.

I would love to know more about all of you! If you feel like it, please do a post about 6 interesting things about yourself and let me know when it is up! 

A few weeks ago, Hayley and Tracey from the always inspiring Porchlight Interiors gave me this lovely award. I am completely honored to have been chosen by them. Porchlight was one of the first blogs that I discovered when I started blogging. I was so impressed by their talent. Porchlight has been one of my daily reads ever since.

I have become so attached to so many of you that it is too difficult to select just ten.

I hope that all of you will accept this award from me. Your have given me so much support and inspiration. I can not thank you enough!

xo

Brooke

a valentine

When I was 21 years old, I was a student at UCLA here in Los Angeles.  I was an English major, and I thought I had my life figured out.  I was certain that I would take the LSAT, apply to law school and become a lawyer. Then I met Steve.

My friend, Sherry and I went to the Cheese Cake Factory in Marina del Rey before we went to a party at her boyfriend's home. As we were being seated at our table by the water, I noticed an adorable man sitting with two women, who were obviously twins.

He wore these round glasses, and as Sherry and I walked by, he gave me an irresistible smile. 

This man and I smiled at each other for the next half hour. It felt like we were having a conversation with each other without ever speaking a word. When it came time for Sherry and I to leave, I walked by his table and we both said good bye. Sherry and I got into my white convertible VW Rabbit and left the parking lot, but something was wrong. I told Sherry that I needed to go back. I went back into the restaurant and introduced myself. He said that his name was Steve and that he was with his twin sisters who were in town from Maryland. I asked him out and he called me the next night to plan a date for the following weekend.

Steve picked me up at my parents' house, where I still lived, and we  spent 11 hours with each other. It was as if I had found the other half of myself.

We were married a year later and have been living a dream every since.

Happy Valentine's day my dear Steve. Thank you for being my partner in this crazy ride of a life.

xo

Brooke

fun with wallpaper

During the design of a recent project, my client and I both fell in love with Jane Churchill wallpapers. 

They all have a wonderful handpainted texture.

All of the Jane Churchill designs made my client and I smile.

We knew that we wanted to use some of these wallpapers, but we weren't quite sure where. While we were thinking about what to do, I decided to have my daughter, Leila's bathroom wallpapered with one of Jane's creations. I let Leila choose, and this is how it looks...

Since we chose a simple white beveled subway tile, Leila's wallpaper could be the focal point in the room. 

I loved the wallpaper in Leila's bathroom so much that I wallpapered my laundry room in this seafoam floral Jane Churchill design.

It is a little hard to tell in this photo, but I painted my cabinets a matching sea foam green and bought pretty sea foam knobs from Anthropologie.

My hook rug looks orange in this picture, but it is actually the same pink as the flowers in the paper. My vintage pink wicker hamper fits in nicely as well.

My client loved the idea of using Jane Churchill wallpapers in her girls' bathrooms as well. Here is one of them. We used a matching Jane Churchill trim on the window shades. 

We used a thassos marble slab counter and white tiles in this bathroom. 

This is their other daughter's bathroom. Again, the white tile and marble really show off the wallpaper. The light fixtures are from PB Teen. 

I'd love to hear what  you have done with wallpaper!

xo

Brooke

if I would have known, I would have blown my hair dry this morning.

I had a wonderful unexpected visit from Pierre Frey yesterday morning.

Named after his grandfather who founded the French luxury design house that bears his name, Mr. Frey was kind enough to visit our shop to show me many of the beautiful fabrics from their latest collections as well as the stories behind these new designs.

Here I am with Mr. Frey and Shari Korn from the Kneedler Fauchere showroom

(where all of the latest lovelies from Pierre Frey can be found)

If I would have known Mr. Frey was coming I would have blown my hair dry!!!

Pierre Frey was founded in 1935 and is still 100% family owned. It is now run by Patrick Frey, the only son of Pierre Frey senior. Two of Patrick's sons now help to run the business as well. Vincent Frey over-sees marketing and development for the company. Patrick's son Pierre is now in charge of all of the US subsidiaries.

The Pierre Frey New York showroom, neutral with splashes of bright colors.

 

Patrick Frey with his sons Pierre and Vincent. 

Some of the Pierre Frey textile pillows in the Rive Gauche boutique.

Besides the Pierre Frey lines, they have also acquired three other beautiful European textile houses. 

Established in 1824, Braquenie specializes in 18th and 19th century French motifs. 

Fadini Borghi has been making gorgeous Italian textiles since the 1947.

The third textile house that Pierre Frey acquired is the french company Boussac.

Established in the 1930's, Boussac was originally known for its cotton fabrics but has since become a source for a large selection of textiles. 

Their latest collection includes many fun vibrant prints.

 

Pierre also introduced me to the Pierre Frey blog,

where they share the inspiration for their latest textiles as well as their recent and upcoming events.

I really enjoyed their post on the history of blue

which discusses the use and symbol of the color blue in textiles from the first introduction of the color in the 12th century to the present.

In the post, they share some of the antique blue fabrics that Pierre and Patrick Frey have collected and used as inspiration for their designs. 

xo

Brooke