Lauren Santo Domingo AKA Fashion Guru

I absolutely love Lauren Santo Doming's apartment! She is a stunning fashion consultant and Vogue Contributing Editor. I just discovered this article on VOGUE.com and had to comment!

She is quoted as saying “I think that is the mark of a good apartment; you can never really be done—It’s like a proper wardrobe. At my house, it might be a small tweak, but you’re never going to see the same thing twice.”

Her quote is so applicable to my life! I know that when I get married I will be the exact same way... constantly changing my apartment or at least periodically updating it. It is so fun to be able to collect things with your husband throughout your life just like Lauren has done! Whether it is the weird tooby scientific thing on the table or the giraffe skull! Take a look at these gorgeous photos!

I also think Lauren's dress is beautiful and full of life and texture which plays off the earthy tones and hot colored accents in the apartment.

I love how she transformed her guest room into an office.. what better than to have your gorgeous shoes as your background in your office... I will start collecting those.........

Wishlist? JK..gorgeous..but i would NEVER be able to keep my jewelry that organized!

..and I love this puppy. What a great project if you have a son :). Ha.. good luck dads.

I love the silver tray with her collection of bath accessories on it! Its dressy but organized. According to "Get the Look" on vogue.com the gorgeous boxes are Lynn Feld Antiques vintage opaline boxes with bronze detail. (Bergdorf Goodman, NYC)

I also love the little Herend ring dish. When I got engaged I was given one of these and I love it! It is the loveliest place to keep these little dainty treasures.

And we end with Dos Warhols and Cole & Son Wallpaper (MY FAV!). Need I say more! Tre Chic!

PS Lauren looks comfortably elegant and I wish I could meet her.

Billy B.

"The Essence of Relationship Between the Client and the Decorator must be We."

- Billy Baldwin

After reading through two books dedicated to Mr. Baldwin, "Billy Baldwin Decorates" & "Billy Baldwin Remembers" I learned that he was not only known as a designer to the stars, but a style icon himself. He had impeccable taste, but said "if you can tell I did a house, I didn't" .

Mr. Baldwin's creativity flowed more freely when client's shared their opinions. He relied on the client/decorator relationship to drive the design.

He also had a pet peeve, client's with too much money. I love this about him because to me it showed he was a real person.

Mr. Baldwin said, "I can't tell you how many people I know who won't by something unless it's expensive. I know it isn't good business, but I tell them what I think anyway. I think an unpleasant atmosphere results from the entry into the obviously 'rich' room-the kind that makes you feel you're caught right in the middle between the devil of a museum ant the deep sea of the embarra de richesse."

Here are some of my favorite renderings and rooms from the books I mentioned above.

1949 "A Gentleman's Brown Living Room Accented with Bright Green and Punctuated with a Collection of Black and White Prints and Drawings"

I love the chocolate brown lacquer walls, and black lacquer table. His arrangement of artwork harmonizes the room as well.

Fabulous sofa print fabric, sunburst mirror and the rug is to die for..

I am personally obsessed with the double cushion ottoman & of course the fur rug! Favs!

1949 "A Pink-Walled Stair Hall in a Country Cottage, Its woodwork White Its Floor Painted Black with a Striking Rug and Runner of Black and White"

Orange Doors... Amazing

"The Things I Love" - Billy Baldwin

1. Clean Clean Color

2. Brilliant Flower Colors.

3. Lots of White

4. A 'Coming Home' Look in The City

5. Cotton Everywhere

6. Off-White Textured Materials

7. The Look of Comfort

8. The Banquette

9. Curtains As Simple As Possible

10. Off - White Rugs and Carpets

11. The Elegance of Simplicity and Honesty

12. A Room that is, Above all Personal

Merry Maps!!!

I had dinner with a friend of mine Daley Harris the other night. She is a brilliantly talented artist! She creates custom hand drawn maps & invitations for weddings. She did a map for my sister's wedding in August for the out of town guest's gift bags! A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

Check out some of her work below. She is so talented!!

http://merrymaps.com/

Ode to Billy Reid

When I read this article about designer Billy Reid, I almost cried. I had the privilege of listening to him speak at a Design Conference held at Auburn University in 2007. He is very down to earth and incredibly creative. He draws his design concepts from the preppy, laid back culture of the South. Billy Reid truly inspires me. Here is part of the article from the New York Times.

The Designer Billy Reid Wins Major Fashion Award

By STUART EMMRICH

When the actress Carey Mulligan announced last night that Billy Reid had been voted the winner of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner for 2010 — in front of a crowd that included the designers Michael Kors, Olivier Theyskens. Jason Wu, Zac Posen and Alexander Wang; the “True Blood” stars Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin; the ubiquitous Kim Kardashian; and the evening’s co-chairwoman Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue — there was a brief, seemingly stunned silence, followed by a burst of enthusiastic applause and whoops and hollers from the back of the room, from which the 46-year-old designer shakily made his way toward the stage.

“I did not expect to be up here tonight,” he said in an emotional voice. “I’m shocked.”

He probably wasn’t the only one. Earlier in the evening, as guests mingled over cocktails and mini-cheeseburgers (the former enthusiastically accepted, the latter all but ignored), early betting was that the award, which came with $300,000 and a specially commissioned bronze swan by the sculptor Rachel Feinstein, would go to one of the better-known 10 finalists, like Prabal Gurung or the fast-rising Joseph Altuzarra.

Moments before the award was announced, the designer Carolina Herrera turned to a fellow dinner guest at her table, which included Diane Von Furstenberg, Francisco Costa, David Lauren, the artist John Currin and his wife, Ms. Feinstein, and murmured, “It will be Altuzarra, no?”

No.

Instead the award went to someone who grew up in the small Louisiana town of Amite, later studying at the Art Institute of Dallas and working as a buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue before introducing his own line in 2004. He now works out of a studio in Florence, Ala. (He also has a shop on Bond Street, in Manhattan, as well as a few other cities.) As he said on stage, tightly grasping the Feinstein sculpture, “It’s a long way from Amite.”

Photos from Vogue.com of the Event

Billy Reid's Website Shots

I love these looks. Southern Comfort & Southern Style

I Am Kind Of Into Fur...

Since it's starting to feel cool right now in the state of TX... and rainy all I really want to do is curl up with a good design book and/or Audrey Hepburn movie and a faux fur throw. Here are some inspirational photos from Elle Decor that got me thinking...

"In the library of Ralph and Ricky Lauren's Manhattan apartment, the wall of lacquer shelving serves as a backdrop for a custom-made sofa, armchairs, and cocktail table by Ralph Lauren Home; the binoculars are antique, the vintage floor lamps are from Wyeth, and the silk rug is by Stark Carpet. " Elle Decor

I absolutely Love this room. It is symmetrical and yet still achieves a softness due to the arrangement of color, natural light...and the fur throw.

"In the living area of Atwood’s apartment, which was renovated by architect Matteo Bermani and decorated by Nate Berkus, a vintage Arredoluce Triennale floor lamp illuminates a sofa by Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia; the 1970s cocktail table is from 1stdibs.com, and the vintage hand chair was found at a Manhattan antiques shop." Elle Decor April 2009

Once again notice the fur throws and pillows on Brian Atwood (if you don't know who that is.. the famous shoe designer. http://www.brianatwood.com/) "I die". Oh and btw i love the gold hand chair.

This photo is of a vacation home in Montana. I love the fur throw on the ottoman, but I also love the foot stool upholstered in cowhide. I feel like the room isn't too overdone, yet the bed is pretty whimsical and rural at the same time.

"At Hobble Diamond Ranch, the Montana vacation home of Susan and Robert Burch, London-based decorators Philip Hooper and Sally Metcalfe added a bucolic touch to the master bedroom with a birch four-poster by Diane Cole Ross." Elle Decor