Friday Crush

How can you say no to that face?

I get to spend the holiday weekend with my adorable nephew Charlie, and I can't wait! (I also may be sneaking in a trip to some of my favorite decor shops...will update you if I do!) I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!

I'll be taking a break on Monday to spend time with my family, so see you Tuesday.

Artful Inspiration

A month or two ago, Carter and I spent a lovely day enjoying Washington DC and we made a stop at the National Portrait Gallery. One of the first paintings we saw seized my attention something fierce and I snapped a shot with my phone:

In my excitement, I totally neglected to jot down the details (actually I thought I had, but can't find them!), but isn't this work nice? I was in love with the colors and overall purple-ness and it was HUGE, so I loved the scale. Gorgeous. I keep thinking about it...it definitely made an impression on  me. I would love to decorate a room around this painting.

Seeing as how I can't exactly purchase this painting, I shall now look to Etsy to see if I find similar art - I'm sure it's out there. Do you have any favorite Etsy artists?? Or, have you tried your hand at painting your own abstract works?? Do tell either way (ooo, and send pix if you did one yourself).

Headboards from MY

I love a custom headboard, don't you? I think a headboard can be a beautiful focal point for a bedroom - and if it is big and bold enough, you can keep everything else in the room tame (and inexpensive) and still have showstopper sleeping quarters.

Megan Young took center stage yesterday, but I'm not quite done - she designs knock-out rooms but also offers a custom headboard service, and her results are gorgeous! After seeing these beauties, I'm majorly inspired to get out the plywood and a staple gun, but I'm not sure my results would be as stunning as these:

 The Garcia

The Linden

The Nathaniel

The Liza

The Kelly

The Kelly (with buttons)

The Betsy

And my personal favorite...

The Simpson

with its pagoda-like silhouette - would be perfect with a geometric fretwork pattern in a bright color of one of my beloved Chinoiserie silhouette fabrics...oh my.

If you're interested in one of MY's custom headboards, check out here website - http://meganyoungdesigns.com/. UPDATE: Amanda gave me the scoop that Megan designs these lovelies for anyone! So feel free to contact her, no matter your location.

Megan Young

Woah.

Thank you, Southern Living, for introducing me to Megan Young. I've said it before, but I find myself eagerly awaiting my So Li each month to check out the home section, as they have been featuring some great designers and spaces...and this month was no exception!

Megan Young's colorful, ecclectic and gorgeous home in North Carolina was featured...and it's a doozy. The picture up top is actually from her portfolio, but here are images of her own home, featured in the mag:

Photography by Laurey W. Glenn

Woah.

Woah.

And more woah.

I'm in love. This home is SO wonderful - every room is vibrant, sophisticated, classic and young at the same time. I think Megan's use of color is perfect - and her philosophy is near to my own heart - use what you love!

Well, I'm downright enamored with MY, if you can't tell, and went running off to her portfolio and it did NOT disappoint. She is so talented.

Check out this eye candy (I went a little nuts with pictures again...I just wanted to show them all!):

Some more from her own home in NC:

An NYC apartment:

Another home in NC:

Are you loving Megan's gasp-inducing aesthetic as much as I do?? I have comments for every picture I posted, but for lack of time, I'll let you enjoy them sans commentary.

Megan started working in NYC, went to design school there and worked wtih Alex Papachristidis before making the switch to North Carolina (which I believe was her home) and starting her own firm.

I will certainly be keeping my eye on her work...I'm sure there is more to come from her!

* All portfolio photos from meganyoungdesigns.com

Lucketts Loot

Saturday morning, I convinced Carter to take a "quick" detour from our original weekend plans to go with me to the Lucketts Spring Market....and I'm so glad we went! The outdoor market (a special extension of the usual store), located about one hour from us, had a plethora of goodies to pick from. I had the best time walking among the vendors and scoping out their loot...and I of course came away with a couple of gems myself.

Some items that caught my eye:

This pair of striped nightstands were killer. They would actually be perfect in our bedroom, but I'm happy with what we have, so here they stayed. But I looooved them.

Carter and I have nearly this exact piece in one of our guest bedrooms...we bought ours off of Craigslist. This version had gorgeous fretwork in the glass doors and a top decorative piece that ours doesn't have, but all other details were exactly the same. There were LOTS of shabby chic and burlap/french country-type vendors there...this was one of them.

I adored this little stool - this vendor had lots and lots of them.

Ok, this rug is the one that got away. I L-O-V-E-D it and was mesmerized by its color palette and Chinoiserie motif....was contemplating where I could use it....wondering how much they were selling it for...and BOOM, this lady walks up, is like "Oh my gosh, I love this. I'll take it." NOOOOOOO. Dang it.

I love you old, beat-up Chinoiserie rug.

Now on to the finds that came home with me!

This awesome fretwork table/shelf came home to be used in our upstairs bathroom...although I'm currently very in love with it and am trying to think of another, more proper use (and somewhere to show off the fret). Although I love the color, I think for our use it will be painted black.

The fret shot.

And now for the money find:

YES! You are seeing that correctly...I finally found a bamboo chandelier to call my own. I was standing in line at the Lucketts store, buying a beautiful little set of dessert plates, and this was hanging right above my head with a price tage of $65...ummm, yes please. Oh happy day! I didn't shut up about it for a while to Carter (who, at that point, had given up following me around and stationed himself on a little grassy spot with his blackberry and the fretwork table).  The chandy is PERFECT for the design scheme I have going for one of our guest bedrooms...I can't wait to use it.

Of course, as soon as I got my hands on the chandy my thoughts went to the Chinoiserie rug and how beautifully they would coordinate! But alas, I can't win them all. As I was walking out to meet Carter, I walked past the lady who bought the rug and she remarked that she loved my chandelier and lamented that she didn't get it herself...and I smiled. There is enough good loot to go around for everyone.

Friday Crush

I saved this gem from my post on Steven Gambrel for today...I am CRAZY about this bar. And the wood paneling. And the light fixture. And back to the bar. It's not normal to have such strong feelings for a piece of furniture (and it's surrounding embellishments)...but I have them. The orange is a nod to Mr. Gambrel's love for UVa., perhaps?

Hope you all have a fun weekend ahead. For those in the DC area, don't forget the Lucketts Spring Market going on this weekend in Leesburg, VA. See you Monday!

Wahoowa, Mr. Gambrel

Elle Decor's recent "A-List" of their fave designers mentions the University of Virginia in the short blurb of NYC-based Steven Gambrel (a graduate of the University's architecture school). UVa. and Elle Decor typically don't tango, so I was excited to see two of my worlds come together in print - my natural reaction was to head on over to Mr. Gambrel's site to check out his work.

Designer Steven Gambrel

I've seen Steven Gambrel's spaces dotted amidst the blogosphere (actually, some of the pix I'm now realizing were his), and I'm smitten with my fellow Wahoo's aesthetic. I love seeing a portfolio that runs the gamut...he's wonderful with color, neutral spaces, hip and eclectic, elegant with touches of traditional...again, like that CD where all the tracks are good.

The proof:

All images via srgambrel.com

I got a little picture-posting-happy because I literally couldn't pick just a couple to post...I loved them all (and I'm even saving one for tomorrow). And I only scratched the surface of looking through about 3 or so of his "Town" projects (his portfolio is split between Town/Country)...that means that I'll obvi be going back for some more inspiration and a tour through his Country spaces.

Another designer to add to my list of favorites...