Tuesday Eye Candy... Baubles and Beads

I'll take each one of these dreamy and decadent floral-inspired necklaces via Anthropologie....

(Flower-Filled) Scenes from My House

I planned a big gala event this weekend which involved many, many lovely dahlia arrangements. So guess who got to bring home some flowers to decorate her home? I broke them up into big and small groupings and scattered them around the house, from the living room coffee table to my kitchen window, so no matter where I am in the house I'm surrounded by beautiful blooms! Here are some of my favorite vignettes...

Gorgeousness, yes?

My bedroom dresser. The funny silver bulldog is a HomeGoods find...

Woof!

One of my jewelry displays... just an Ikea bulletin board covered in muslin...

The office sofa with a glimpse of our fun picture wall... I think the terra cotta roses look gorgeous on the neon yellow drink tray!

The kitchen window is full of playful knicknacks, which makes washing dishes much more pleasant. The turtle flower planter and the hob nail pitcher are flea market finds. And the Dunnies are courtesy of my friend Ingrid's wedding (she wrapped them up as favors!)

Wedding Wild Flowers

Gorgeous floral arrangements... via one of my favorite wedding blogs, 100 Layer Cake...

(Photography by Max Wanger)

Paradise Found

Last night I was lucky enough to attend the Horticultural Society of New York's annual Spring Gala with my great friend and colleague Colin Baer of Colin Baer Events. Colin was one of 20 decorators invited to design a dinner table for the event based on the theme "This Side of Paradise." (What a brilliant way to save money in the budget while at the same time enjoying the talents of the best florists and decorators in the city!)

Colin asked me to work with him on his dinner table, which I was flattered and thrilled to do. Colin is so talented and I knew he would create something spectacular and original, so of course I wanted to be a part of it! The concept for our table was a modern urban paradise. We knew most of the designers would interpret "paradise" in the more expected ways, such as a tropical or island feeling, so Colin was smart enough to take it in another direction. We were picturing a super-chic roof deck dinner party with lots of lush green plants, so Colin created a four foot tall vertical garden with lady slipper orchids, flamingo flowers, succulents, ferns and a variety of mosses. And wow, did it turn out gorgeous!

I worked with Colin to select and style the various tabletop items - furniture, linens, china, glassware, and so on. From Party Rentals we chose a gorgeous gray silk dupioni fitted tablecloth, modern glass chargers and plates, sleek mother-of-pearl flatware, black and white striped napkins (to echo a sun umbrella or window awning), and a variety of deep purple accents to pick up the petals of the orchids. I love how it all turned out!

Meanwhile, there were some other fabulous tables on display, like this poppy-inspired one from the The Designers' Co-Op. Talk about eye candy! The huge flowers were all hand-made from gauze that was custom-dyed and molded...

Ooh, and this Asian fantasy from Bardin Palomo... check out those chair covers!

Bloom-filled vases paired with glossy black tablecloth, from David Beahm Design...

and a garden extravaganza from Flowers, Sticks and Stones...

What a fun night it was. Hopefully, I will have more photos to share in the future... it really was something to see. And to Colin, thanks so much for allowing me to be a part of event, and kudos for a job spectacularly well done!

All images via Biz Bash (except #2 and #3, via Colin Baer)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all have a great weekend and a very happy Valentine's Day!

(And thank you, monkey pants, for these gorgeous flowers... you are the most wonderful boyfriend a girl could ask for! xoxoxo)

Fresh Flowers

I did my weekly run to the flower shop today to pick up a few stems for the house. I like to do a grouping of small vases together, each with a different type of flower. What a treat that they had cattleya orchids (my absolute favorites)...and for only $2 per stem!

I also found this pretty blue jelly jar today while I was poking around the thrift store. I love the deep teal color and thought it would look perfect paired with purple. These small, vibrant carnations did the trick!

One of my other favorite things are these blue short-stemmed wine glasses in the foreground. I think they are the prettiest things ever! Another good find from Anthropologie...

The rest of my day was busy lunching with friends and putting together materials for my business, but I'll be back tomorrow with more fun stuff...