Fabulous Find: Kelly Wearstler Bench!!!

This morning while sipping my coffee, I decided to cruise Craigslist to see if there was anything interesting. I've been searching for a white farmhouse table and instead was stopped dead in my tracks when I found...score...a Kelly Wearstler bench for the foot of my bed from the Chamberlain Hotel in West Hollywood!!! I quickly searched the Chamberlain to see other pics and found one of the rooms, and there was the actual bench!

So my husband and I quickly drove over to Hotel Surplus in Van Nuys, CA where they were selling about 30 of them for $130 a pop! After inspecting the quality (each one had light stains from wear and tear) I decided on the perfect one that had no stains. My husband bargained it down to $90 bucks plus tax! Not bad for a bench that is the perfect accent color for our room, complete with silver nail head trim, that requires no paint or fabric recovery (at least not till we move)! I'm so proud of my little weekend find! Take a peek of it in my room...

Here's a close up of the silver nail head trim!

My dresser that I have owned since birth is where I store all my perfumes and my favorite candle in black glass from my client Dayna Decker! More on that later...

My vanity is constantly in the works, but I am slowly adding aqua and pink and just this weekend I hung this gold mirror purchased from IKEA. It definitely looks more expensive than IKEA!!!

My dream starter house...

A couple nights a week my husband and I like to take walks through the back streets of our sleepy Brentwood neighborhood. We always pass by this house and I think it would be the perfect starter house for us! Well, it just went on the market and for a cool $1,325,000 you can have this 2 bedroom 2 bath, 1700 sq. ft home right off Montana Avenue by the Brentwood Country Club!
I can imagine having year long BBQs on this patio and entertaining outdoors all the time! How perfect does the teak furniture look!!?? You can't beat the mild Mediterranean weather complete with the smell of fruit trees and beachy breezes that comes with living on the West Side. It even comes with a guest house that would be perfect for a little design studio! Sigh...a girl can dream!

Aquamarine + Pink

There's nothing more calming or pleasing to the eye than (my favorite colors) aquamarine and pink. I feel inspired to re-style my vanity with these colors, which isn't a hard task to do considering I own so many pieces of aquamarine jewelry. On my vanity re-style checklist: fresh pink peonies, lots of perfume bottles, a graphic print scarf, colorful bangles stashed in a pretty antique dish, a candle, and of course beautiful thank you notes easily accessible for writing a quick little love note.

Weekend Wardrobe Update

I'm feeing kinda beachy today. The sun is shining, I got my hair highlighted, I'm working on a fake tan (no skin cancer or wrinkles for me!), and I've got my coconut candles burning and the cocktail music playing. AND it's time to edit and revamp my wardrobe in preparation for my favorite time of year - SUMMER! Gold watch with gold bangles, check, cut off denim shorts, check, turquoise ring, check. On my list of things to buy: coral sandals, a hot one piece bathing suit in a bright color, gray and white tanks, a fun graphic print scarf, a blue clutch, and although I'm not a big hat person, I'm digging this straw hat pictured above to shade out under when I'm having a bad hair day.

What will you be sporting this Summer?

Happy Sunny Weekend

I don't know about you, but I plan on kicking back and relaxing poolside this weekend. I just wish I had a Mid-Century ranch style pad nestled in the hills of LA to really enjoy the sun. One day, one day....

Images courtesy of the brilliant David Hockney

Thirsty Thursdays: Tea Time

Whether it's English Breakfast (I'll take mine with milk please), Earl Grey, Green (my fave), White, Chamomile, Ginger, or Lemon, it signifies relaxation and taking the time to relax, even it it's a minute or two.

What's your cup of tea?

Bedroom Inspiration

This is it. I love it. Period. Right now, as you know, I'm on a gray kick. So, next weekend I'm painting my bedroom a lovely sophisticated and serene shade of pale gray. I already own a big gold mirror that hangs over my vanity (I just bought clear glass knobs for the drawers), I own a lucite ball lamp (purchased from Target) that will soon get a black lamp shade to go with it. Next is a white tufted headboard and a plush white down comforter to top it off! My antique dresser (that I've owned since birth is the same color as the one above.) I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

Weekend Living Room Re-Style

For the past 2 weeks I've been obsessing over how to re-style my apartment that I rent in a building that is full of condominiums. Given the fact that I do not own the place hasn't deterred me from making it my temporary home that I love coming home to! Just because I'm renting doesn't mean it has to look like every other beat down rental I've seen in Brentwood.

Here are some pics before I painted and moved some things around....notice the cream walls?? They were nice, but I didn't like how my dark chocolate sofa, bookcase (from IKEA) and black and gold desk stood out against it. (the before pics were taken at Christmas time - hence the silver ball ornaments!)

I feel fortunate to have found a huge 1 bedroom (1100 sq ft.) that my husband I rent from a really cool guy, that has a huge galley kitchen in white (more pics to come - still deciding whether to paint in gray), double sinks in the master bathroom (also going gray soon), and tons and tons of closets!

See how the dark furniture stands out against the cream walls? Yuck!

Now, the furniture blends in and the brown and gray complement each other nicely.

Since I constantly love change, and get bored easily, I found the cheapest way to redecorate is with a can of paint - instead of constantly moving (which I also like to do). A big Thanks for the design inspiration goes to Cassandra LaValle over at Coco+Kelley she sure was spot on for the perfect shade of gray that I love - Valspar's Lava Stone.

My current inspiration board that hangs above my desk - you can't read it, but I have a quote on a pink Post-It in the lower left corner that says "When you do something you love, you do it well" - words to live by.

Now my mirrored buffet (purchased at Z Gallerie and given to us as a wedding gift from my in-laws) subtly stands out with the gray walls and my pink and yellow roses pop!

My new Louis chair was $50 bucks on Craigslist! I actually bought a set of 4 for $200, one went to my mom's and I'm having 2 painted bright white and recovered in red for my brother's apartment re-style (more on that later!) I'm thinking of painting mine white and recovering it a hot pink, but for now the blonde wood and cream fabric works just fine (my mom had this little lumbar pillow at her house that she gave to me and it's now my favorite accent against the gray walls!)

Ok, so the wall my TV is on and my dining room are this pink color that I used to love, but now I'm thinking I want to paint over it gray! I can't get enough of the neutrals! Thoughts anyone?? (The pillow above is actually an 18"x18" sample of Donghia's Suzani that I ordered through the showroom at the PDC - I couldn't care less that the design is cut-off, the colors add so much punch to this room and it was free!)

Love, love, love the photo wall and the Beatles hanging out in the dining room! Paul is wearing a pink suit which inspired me to paint the room pink!

Not sure if I want to put the time into changing the dining room too, I swear once you start with one room, pretty soon the whole place is getting re-done!

My girl Christine...

...Does it again, and again, and again! Christine Centenera, Fashion Editor and Stylist for Harper's Bazaar Australia can do no wrong in my book! She's my current girl crush - and every time I see her new ensembles I can't help but sing "Who's That Lady??"

Sunday fabulous Sunday...

Nothing makes me happier then a little sunshine and dining al fresco with my lovey!!! So grab a bottle of vino, a thin crust pizza (straight outta the brick oven - make mine Margherita please!!), and enjoy a lazy Sunday! Here's to la dolce vita in Los Angeles and Spring - let the sunshine!

Eclectic, but cool

Something is really speaking to me in this room! I don't know if it's the zig zag rug, the plush faux fur throw, or the pink tufted bed and hot pink bench, but I love it all! Reminds me of my room in high school. It was all over the place with every style I liked - I had traditional Waverly bedding (remember the yellow and blue floral that everyone had?), my modern art that I painted in Art Class decked out every angle of my walls, antique furniture, and lots of girly stuff mixed with just enough masculine pieces to balance it. The person that lives in this room seems just plain cool.

Simply Smashing Kate

We should all take a fashion note from the great Kate and sport a pair of smashing orange leather boots with black jeans, black sweater, black blazer, and orange tinted Sun G's. I'm gonna give her a new name, I'm 'a call her "Bootsie!"

Thirsty Thursdays: Cheers!

Grab a cocktail pronto and let's celebrate! It's 5 o'clock somewhere....

Because they're peonies...

Sometimes there are no other words left to describe something, but just plain pretty!

(source unknown)

Here's to spring that's on it's way and the peonies sure to be in bloom!

Can I get an Amen? Right on!

Please Mr. Monday be kind to me...