Realestalking...I could totally Kelly Wearstler this house!

I bet you didn't know this but I used to be a Realtor and still hold a license, albeit on hold. But I still stalk the realty listings like nobodies' business. You would not believe the recent listing that I came across. It's like Gone With The Wind meets Mother Dearest, but set in lush grounds that are totally taken care of by the HOA. I think I about fainted. And you wouldn't believe the price, only $625K. Well I do know that's a lot of money but you can't usually buy sh*t around here for that much. And when you compare it to Kelly Wearstler's Beverly Hills home that she had on the market recently for something like $40m, well, then it's a drop in the ocean.

Take a look:

Seriously! Built in 1932 with marble floors, grand entry way, brass railing, I die!

And below are pictures from Kelly Wearstler's home. Similar, non?

I'm really tempted to call the Realtor tomorrow to have a look. This would be a great home to do some serious killer interior decor in!

Pretty Peonies

People love Trader Joe's here in Utah.  I personally love a few items, but find the store to be a bit dated and generally smells of rotting fruit when you walk-in, not to mention the abundance of fruit flies that are circling the non refrigerated fruit and flowers (sorry Trader Joe fans, don't mean to offend).  But they do have some very inexpensive items that I just can't resist.  Namely their frozen chocolate croissants and their flowers.

It was time for our annual Giro dine-o-round and I wanted to make some inexpensive table setting that were springlike and fresh.  I found these beautiful peonies and other flowers at Traders for a very reasonable price.  And four days later, they're still looking fresh.

I split a $3.99 bunch of flowers to make 5 bud vase table settings.

 2 bunches of $3.99 sunflowers brightens the laundry room turned bar.

I finally hung some drapes to hide the washer dryer.  You may recognize them from my clients' family room makeover.

Another couple of pictures of the outside.

We were the final house on the Giro tour and hence served yummy deserts, cocktails and coffee.

I'm becoming a bit of an expert on making Pavlova.  So easy to make but never fails to impress.  I bought those cute ice cream cups and teeny tiny spoons & forks from Crate and Barrel.  We've hosted this dine-o-round thing for a number of years now and I thought it was finally time to ditch the plastic plates and silverware.

Our fellow hosts made this lovely flour-less torte and served it with framboise.

 Lots of gratuitous cake shots!  But they all look so wonderful I couldn't chose the best one.

Afterwards the flowers came inside to brighten my kitchen table.  I love how they work so well with the kids' pictures.

Hope you all had a great holiday week-end!

Client Family Room in Action

And with this, my job is done! How perfect to be able to fit 21 kids around the tv watching The Lord of the Rings while the adults had quiet adult time outside.

And here's some pictures without the multitude of kiddies.

Not bad for a basement family room.

In the picture below you can see that we had a slight challenge with what to do with the different curtain heights.  I decided to go with a wire/cable system that makes the hanging system almost invisible.

 And just a reminder, here's how the room looked before:

I swear that shot above is not staged!  That is how they'd had this room for two years.

The blue tape is marking out the new sectional.

There are a couple of things that I would like to add/change.  Namely, the treadmill and bike, but unfortunately there just isn't anywhere else they can go.  And they must face the TV hence them sticking out into the room.  

The carpet and wall color had to stay the same.

The homeowner doesn't like a lot of extra things, so there won't be any side tables or bookshelves.  I did suggest getting a small "c table" to go over the chaise.

Something like this one from CB2.

It's see through so it wouldn't add any extra visual clutter, and it has wheels so it could be moved easily to the side.

Or these colorful slim metal ones from Room and Board:

But for now, the room is pretty much done!

Client Project Update

The CB2 ottoman arrived and it looks perfect in the space. It does just what I wanted it to do which was break up the sea of Ikea (not that Ikea is a bad thing, but you do want to have a mixture of elements). I still think I should add a chartreuse throw pillow, maybe as a gift to the clients ;)

I also managed to spruce up their guest room for very little cost. They have an amazing faux bamboo chinoiserie style bedroom set that most people would die for. The current finish is a washed out green which makes the set look, well, granny from Florida! I would love them to have them sprayed a gloss white. Maybe I'll have to get the spray can out myself. But for now, here is a little sneak peek. The mirror was an unbelievably low price of $50 from HomeGoods, as were the lamps at $60 each. I chose the blue color because they have an existing navy window shade that will be staying. The yellow body pillow is an attempt to add a pop of color and some plumpness to the bed. What I'd really love to see there instead is a chiang mai dragon lumbar pillow to tie in with the chinoiserie vibe. It would also add some much needed punches of color.