Wonderfully White

I often admire homes with beautifully painted dark rooms and heavily patterned wallpapered walls. The rooms always look so sophisticated & together. But for me I love white. But white alone is boring, and we tend to fill up our walls with lots of colorful artwork, books, etc. When I saw this home shot by Patric Johansson, I kept going back to it and thinking how beautiful it was. White, clean, yet colorful and organized. Exactly what I strive for in our home.

Back when we were renovating our apt. I tested out 5 different whites for our walls! And not just on one wall, I literally painted each wall throughout the rooms to see how each white looked with that particular room's natural light. It was an arduous (but worth it) process. I ended up going with a greyish white (Ben Moore - Winter White) for most of our walls, and for trim and ceilings I went with Ben Moore - Simply White. The two look beautiful together. I definitely tend to lean more towards the greyish/blue whites than the yellowish whites. When I'm ready, I look forward to showing you photos of our apt.

{all photos by patric johansson via desire to inspire}

Mike + Anna

I'm loving Mike and Anna's apartment and work space on Design*Sponge yesterday! They are awesome!!!!

{photos taken by anna wolf for design*sponge}

Sweet Little Notes

I love this brilliant little idea from Inchmark. She keeps a jar on her desk and jots down all of the funny things her kids say throughout the day. What a great way to record those special little moments!

{image from inchmark via in this instance }

Vané and Chad's Wedding

{clockwise - st. ann's armenian church, program, vané and her father, vané and chad married}


{view from cocktail hour, cocktail hour buffet station, me, vané and anne}


{guest book station with pin favors, detail of the cake with cake topper, me and patrick at the photo booth}


(the bride and groom's table, vané and her father dancing the tango, favors, flowers}

This weekend Patrick and I attended Vané and Chad's wedding, it was a gorgeous and extremely personal affair. There were so many personal (and amazing!) touches throughout the wedding, but at the end of the day, looking back at the event it was not just about these touches but more so about Chad and Vané as a cool and fun couple and their wedding totally reflected that. It was FUN!, from the start to the end of the reception, there was a fantastic energy and any given time the dance floor was packed. From Vané and Chad's first dance to her dance with her dad to the Tango! I do not recall her ever mentioning once she had an inner tango queen living inside of her, I really couldn't believe my eyes! She and her dad had moves that I swear they must have been practicing for months, but she made it quite clear she was total natural! Then with Vané being Armenian, many of her family and friends danced to traditional Armenian songs, which was so much fun to see. During dinner, we sat with another friend Anne and her fiancé Tom, which was so fun to talk about our upcoming nuptials ( At least Anne and I thought so :), ours in 12 days and theirs next Fall. I won't go into too many details about the reception as it is only fitting that Vané will. But I will say this, in the end it was such a personal event, Vané's blog throughout the past year has proven to be such a great reference and inspiration tool for all of us brides and she truly pulled off a wedding that reflected all of her energy towards the blog. Lucky for me I have made great friends out of this wedding blog world, and it has been so much fun to experience all of our planning inspiration, advice and "problem solving" together!

Be sure to check out Anne's blog for more photos of Vané and Chad's wedding.

{images from thoughtful day}

Accordion File Organizers

With the abundance of miscellaneous wedding related papers, binders aren't enough. Storage boxes are great, but living in a small apartment, I don't have much real estate to dedicate to them, so I have been buying accordion file folders. They are great for all of the receipts, gift cards, stationery and invoices I have been accumulating. But most important, they fit in my purse and are easily stored on my book shelf.

(left - right)
Russell and Hazel - Moleskin
See Jane Work
Paper Source - Traveler's Companion
Real Simple - Martha Stewart Crafts

Flea Market Style : Emily Chalmers

I was recently gifted Flea Market Style by Emily Chalmers and this book is a treasure trove of beautiful homes decorated with mostly flea market, garage sale, and dumpster finds. No matter your preference of vintage style, whether it be retro, bohemian or mid-century; page after page this book will inspire you, I promise.

Emily Chalmers also happens to be the proprietor of the London shop Caravan, located in Old Spitalfields Market, one of my favorite markets in the world!

I just love how the tabletop items in those last few photos are displayed!

Miquelrius

Thanks Adam for introducing me to Miquelrius !

Great Notebooks: Fashion + Fun!

For years I carried a Rhodia sketch book everywhere I went. Although they were so good to me (I have stacks and stacks of them in my archives!) I now carry my beloved Moleskin. I love the simple black leather cover with the elastic strap and the weight of the paper is perfect! It is such a classic design.

Take a peak at some of my favorite notebooks in the market.

#1 Moleskin #2 Rhodia #3 Russel and Hazel #4 Kate Spade #5 Smythson of Bond Street #6 Exercise Book #7 Rewrite