My Oldest Best Friend's New Space Part Trios

The bathroom. Where all the things not so magic happen. Once again I whipped up 4 different mood boards to show Jess and here they are. Drumroll please...

So, our Moroccan theme is clearly in play with this one...but Jessica deemed it too colorful. shoot.

No Moroccan, but Jess loves purple. This one was "too white." Strike 2

I flippin' love the bathmat here, but it's also "too white." Can't win 'em all.

My favorite here. I lovvvve gray and yellow together. Jessica's verdict, "I like 4 a lot, but something seems off to me, or like it's not quite right." I'll admit, I agree. 

Consensus: She hates them all. 

She wants color, but not too much, and a shower curtain with a print. Back to the drawing board for me!

A note about my experience web-decorating...

I love this! I really do! It's been wonderful getting creative and pulling ideas from nowhere and seeing where I can take them. I love the collaborative process, getting Jessica's perspective and seeing how and where I can blend it with my own. I have a second "client" in the works, too! My friend, Kyle, and his roommate are redecorating their living room and I've been recruited/volunteered to take it on. Oh man, two guys... Let's hope I can make this creative three-way jive. (sorry, that was a little dirty. I'm very embarrassed.)

~AJ

My Oldest Best Friend's New Space Part Deux

So Jessica and I are taking a breather from her living room and moving on to the bedroom. She wanted a Woman's bedroom. Adult, sophisticated, elegant. I started with a Moroccan/Indian theme and went all out. It's always easier GO BIG and then reign in (I have found that this approach is the opposite when cooking. ha!) Below are the four different schemes we came up with, the last being the favorite and by far the most subtle.

Option 1: Very Moroccan, very colorful. Too colorful for my Jess.

Option 2: We've toned down the pattern quite a bit, but it's still a bit too... much. On to Option 3

Option 3: Elegant, Glamorous, now we're on track. We've lost our Moroccan mojo quite a bit and the only element that speaks to this theme is the capiz chandelier.

Option 4: Our Winner. Jessica loves the serenity and the lightness that this combo offers. We're still nodding to our original theme with the fun seagrass mirror and the Indian inspired side table, this is just a much more grown up version of what we started with. Pulling back really was the right choice here. Not to say that this is "it," but it's a fantastic starting point.

We'll be tackling the bathroom next before revisiting the living room and bedroom. I figure it's always a good idea to let things marinate (this approach is spot on when cooking.) See how I brought things full circle here ha ha ho ho ha, I'm good.

~AJ

My Oldest Best Friend's New Space

My bestest friend, Jessica, is moving to a new apartment in Chicago and has given me full rein (well, almost) to decorate her new place. We've been collaborating on ideas lately and I've been doing my best to showcase them through the site polyvore.com. We are currently tackling the living room and I've posted a few options asking for her feedback. The photos below are what we've come up with so far.

Note: If you're interested, there are a few of my past brainstorming postings there...some more successful than others ;)

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/profile?id=744377

~AJ

Vacation Inspiration: Coastal California

So, a month ago my lovely friend Jessica came to visit and we took our first coastal vacation. We drove from LA up Hwy 1 to Monterey. Along the way I snapped a few pics of items that I found particularly inspirational for use in decorating.

Our first stop was just south of San Luis Obispo in Avila Beach. We came upon the most awesome farmer's market/petting zoo. We had the best chocolate, strawberry, peanut butter banana split ever and made friends with a ...unique child named Noel ("You guys wanna hear an ancient Greek myth about peacocks?") Well, turns out, we did. Peacock feathers amaze me. The vibrancy of the color, the pattern. How can you look at a peacock and not know there's a God? I have always thought how fun a peacock feather colored wedding would be. For my wedding? No. But for the right person, Gorgeous.

We also toured Hearst Castle, and that's where the majority of the photos come from. It was grand. I'm an army brat who was stationed in Germany in my childhood, so I've seen castles...but this was...something else. It was hard to take everything in, but I tried my hardest to really pinpoint the details that were especially beautiful. Below are photos of some of the tile found throughout the grounds. They all have a modern geometric thing going on, which I've discovered, I gravitate towards. I'll post pics of my apartment soon, so you'll see.

Hearst Castle was home to some amazing gardens and I found a tree I particularly liked with the cutest, most perfect, most stunning flowers ever. These flowers are Pleasantville sweetness personified. (That doesn't really make sense, but go with me here)

How lovely is this flower?!

Jessica and I traveled up the winding, magnificent, edge-of-the-world-dear-God-please-don't-let-us-die highway to Carmel, CA. Ah, Carmel, you still have my heart. We stayed at the Fireplace Inn, because get this, your room has a fireplace. there. in the room! I'll let you get over the excitement. The rooms were tastefully decorated in a relaxed nautical theme with beadboard paneling. But the best part, the BEST PART was the bed spread! I have never seen such elegance. Such modern flair...

...joKING!

~AJ