I have two words for this peek: two months! That’s how long Caitlin Van Horn of Roost has lived in this Birmingham, Alabama, home. After living in Seattle for three years, Caitlin and her husband moved back down to her southern hometown to be closer to family and friends. The house was built in 1940 but…
Emma Jane Noren is a Swedish photographer based in London. She shares her lovely factory-converted flat with her property developer/actor partner, Ricky, who renovated the flat. They worked together to make a comfortable, open and cool living space, softening up the industrial look by mixing old with new. The light-filled space not only provides a…
Graphic designer by day and illustrator/printmaker/doodler by night, Sarah Sharpe loves creating abstract patterns using conflicting colors and has a personal style expressed through bold textiles, vintage scarves and lots of color. While her day job for a large company does little to stimulate her creativity, she uses evenings at home to create a nice…
This adorable Santa Cruz cottage is home to Scarlett Reed of Saffron and Genevieve. The cottage used to be part of a chicken ranch, and with its location just a short distance from the ocean, this cottage is both country and beach! Scarlett often rotates hand-picked antiques from her home to her shop. She is also an…
Image above: Portland print by Nathan Trivette at Etsy Today, Amy and I are hopping on a plane to San Francisco to work on a special summer project with our DIY queen, Kate Pruitt. After we cram in a few days of fast-paced work, we’re heading to Portland to finish the project, visit some of our…
One of my 2011 resolutions was to embrace a “simpler is better” philosophy. I’ve always been sort of a “more is more” type of person, but as the years go by, I realize how gratifying simpler, cleaner things can be. From furniture to paper goods, I’m enjoying focusing on this more minimal aesthetic, and these…
Our Comox Valley City Guide update comes to us from Simone Thompson, a designer and photographer living in Comox Valley, Vancouver. As a resident of the Valley for the past 10 years, Simone has learned the ins and outs of this ocean-side city. Today, she shares with us some of my many new additions to the…
Whether you’re engaged, married or happily enjoying single life, I think weddings can be a fantastic source of entertaining ideas. No rings are required to enjoy a great table design or beautiful food displays, so I love getting to share wedding shoots when they’ve got color schemes and decor that could span a wide range…
I really enjoy spending time going through all the finalists in the Saveur food blogs each year because I learn about new blogs and see many new perspectives on food. Danielle Tsi’s beautiful and well-written blog, Beyond the Plate, was nominated in two categories this year. It was nominated in Best Original Baking and Desserts…
Welcome back, readers! Although typically I struggle to decide which beautiful treasure to feature in the “a-z” posts, this week there was simply no dithering. ”O” is for orchid (in this case, the cymbidium orchid). This flower has many wonderful, versatile properties – it can appear feminine or masculine, fragile or sturdy. Designing with orchids…
Just a couple of months ago, San Francisco-based party planner and letterpress printer Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day!, put all her furniture in storage and moved to Paris for a year with her two young sons and husband Paul. Living in Paris for a year had been on the couple’s must do list for…
For a span of probably three years (before I became a teenager and everything hit the fan), I was a huge Secret Garden fan. Meaning that I basically wore out my copy of the book, and spent hot Arkansas summers dreaming of the moors, a rambling old house and an English maid to make tea….
In the world of online magazines, I have a few favorites that I hold near and dear to my heart for their exceptional quality of content. Right at the tippity top of that short list is Sweet Paul Magazine. Paul Lowe’s commitment to gorgeous photography, interesting stories and really beautifully presented work makes his online…
It’s about this time every year that things come back to life. Flowers are in full bloom, and kids spend their hours out of school in the pool. You’ve probably completed your annual spring cleaning and noticed that a few pieces of furniture are beyond the capabilities of the vacuum and 409, so isn’t it…
Woodworking is possibly my all-time favorite craft, and seeing new inventive techniques and creative re-uses only reinforces my love for the material. Matt has taken a simple, old chest of drawers, some shutters and an old belt and turned them into a really rad piece of furniture. The dark and light woods, leather and crisp…
If I ever owned a business, I’d like to think that I would do everything myself. But I know better, and I can pretty much guarantee that my desire to handle plumbing or paperwork would die quickly. The kind of shop-related projects I can really get excited about, though, are the little handmade details like…
Sometime in my adult life, I would love to live in a home with a working fireplace, but in lieu of that, I will settle for a great mantel. I love that you can find loose mantels because they are truly versatile objects — just the other day, I saw that Shauna & Stephen had…
I really love good identity design. When a designer can carry a theme through web, print and product design, it feels like everything clicks into place. A Friend of Mine design studio in Melbourne created these business cards, web and mobile designs for Bookish, a platform for distributing, selling and reading e-books. As much as…
The delicious cake and cake stand above are from Herriott Grace Design*Sponge turns seven years old this summer, but today, I’m officially 30. I was only 23 when I started this site, and in some ways, I can believe it’s been that long, and in others, it still feels like yesterday. I’m so lucky and…
While working on today’s Treasure Hunting hangers post, I realized that one of my favorite ideas was the very simple clothes hanger lamp from Droog. Designed by Hector Serrano, the clothes hanger lamp is a plastic hanger with a very low-watt bulb attached, allowing you to create a light fixture out of your own wardrobe….
