Just stopping by with some design inspiration for you today… I am working on a client’s home that is being infused with color right now.  Color is one of the biggest changes you can make to your home and color speaks deep to us, so the changes are very inspirational.  The change from dark to light or warm to cool is very transformative. 

Here are some colorful transformations that might just inspire you to make a colorful move….

So….

What room in your home is begging for a color update?

(Images from House Beautiful, House of Turquoise and HGTV)

After you all have waited so patiently…

I finally have a few moments to show you a bit around the new studio space!

I have been blessed with so many wonderful clients these last 6 weeks, I have had to focus on them and not the blog.

I do have some fun things planned to share with you over this summer, so I will try to post those more timely

!

Without more ado… here is our new little creative workshop!

In this space we will host creative events, workshops, shopping events (our first one is being planned right now!), meet with clients and create unique finds for home and life!  It is a small space, but we will use it very efficiently.

This shot is looking out into our entry vestibule and our changing inspiration board.

Here are our desks… this area will have some color added to it soon, (some creative painting techniques from Alicia), along with a place to hang fabric swatches.

One of my favorite fabrics…. reinventing a dated chair.  (I also have this fabric in my other office!)

The place were creative projects get done….

Some of Lulu & Lilly’s merchandise that is for sale.  Custom pillows, vintage pieces, artwork, frames, and little treasures.  There is even more coming…. wait until you see what we have planned for fall!

Maybe the perfect thing is waiting to go home with you?

Our past projects board in the vestibule of our entryway.  Alicia and the Studio were featured in the Twin Cities Metro Mag during the month of April… a delightful article about my artistic partner and her business… written by the uber talented Cy Winship!

Thanks Cy for the wonderful kudos…

Lastly… when you come to visit us… this is your view into our space. 

So… welcome!

Please come by to visit us soon… we are by appointment only, so please call first to make sure we will be at the Studio.   We’d love to show you around our little space and introduce you to all of the current Lulu & Lilly projects!

Thanks for stopping by and thank you even more to our fabulous clients, friends, and associates who has helped make this new creative playhouse a reality.  We couldn’t have done it without you.  We are blessed!

Erica

Just wanted to send a quick note off to all of you… our studio opening is upon us!  As I write, the finishing touches are being made and the final lists being crossed off… for tomorrow is our Grand Opening.  Alicia Danzig of Lulu Painting and I will officially be studio mates! 

There have been a ton of set-backs….one step forward and two behind in some cases, but we have perservered and made it to this day.  Our special color and design playhouse is almost ready!  Of course as time goes on, we will keep evolving it, but for now…. we invite you to put on your party shoes and join us tomorrow (Thursday, April 28th) at the Semple Mansion from 7-9 pm, for the event.

Please grab a friend (or someone who is really fun) and head on over for some delicious drinks and happy desserts.  We’ll be looking for you.  Oh, and don’t forget… we’re even giving away some wonderful prizes too!  See you then!

Progress has been slower than we desire in the remodel and construction of our new studio space, but none-the-less, it is finally moving along!   We are a bit further than these photos will show now, but I will give another update soon, as things are changing every day around here.

To start off with…  this space was awful when we signed the lease…. a dark, dirty storage room in the lower level of the mansion that had not been rented out before.  We knew it had potential for our first joint studio space… so we plunged ahead anyway!

Here is what we found….

Just to let you know… none of the stuff in the space was ours at this point, so it the cleaning staff had to remove all the items stored there before we could even get to the next step.

Oh, these pipes… they have been quite the challenge.  We have chosen to ignore the ones on the ceiling (as most other tenants on our level have) but the ones coming down the wall are being encased in a wall for the most part.

The joy of old buildings!

Okay… this is a small hint as to what is to come for the space.  We used some inspiration from this House Beautiful issue to add some design and style to our space.   To transform this space we will definitely be pulling all of our design tricks out.  Decorating with paint and color will be the most transforming elements.  In the next post… I will let you in a bit more on what that inspiration direction is!

That’s all for today… thanks for stopping by!

I am so excited to review this next book!   Decorate by Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick is hot off the presses.  Just released in the UK, soon to be released in Australia, and not being released in the US until late April… I have my hands on a gorgeous copy!

Thanks to Anthropologie…(they being the only venue in the US to be able to sell advanced copies of Decorate)  I received my beautifully wrapped book, as only Anthropologie can do, last Friday.  I was so excited; you would think it was my book that was being delivered!  I have anticipated the book’s debut for a couple of months now, and as a current student of Holly’s (her latest Blogging Your Way class) I am thrilled to be able to review her and Joanna’s co-efforts in the form of Decorate.

Holly Becker is the founder and author of the extremely popular Decor8 blog and columnist at Real Simple online and has contributed to many design publications over the years.  Joanna Copestick is a writer and editor with more than 10 books to her credit.  Both women have combined their talents, resources in the design world and experience, to put together a fresh design book like no other.

First off… the book’s photography is simply gorgeous!  The attention to detail, lighting and composition is rare and fresh.  Debi Treloar has set the tone for the book with her talented photography, creating more than 400 stunning photos to delight in.

Decorate is a different kind of decorating book as the cover suggests…. It focuses on decorating and lifestyle ideas to transform your home, rather than just one trademark look or design aesthetic.  It absolutely lives up to that promise.  It is packed with more than 1000 professional ideas and solutions for every area of the home.  There is page after page of designer contributions- each stylist, designer, shop owner or creative, lending their expertise and style wisdom for everything from floor plans and space planning, to defining one’s style through every room of one’s home.  Some featured talents include:  Kelly Wearstler, Celerie Kemble, Amy Butler, Vincent Wolf and Amy Neunsinger.

The rooms are not just spaces that are creatively decorated, but really lived in homes that have become highly personal spaces that allow for real-life to happen there.  This is the kind of book that speaks to my design heart.  These homes reflect the families or artists who live there and how their home really compliments and enhances their day-to-day life.   The spaces are not showcase experiments by designers just looking to stretch the “wow” factor, but homes that really have evolved in most cases to what the home-owners really desired to surround themselves with.

One of my favorite quotes from the book by Nate Berkus is “Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love brought together under one roof.”  Surprisingly, it is very reflective of the words on my website about telling the story of who you are and how that past, present and future story should be reflected within the walls of your home.

The book features four categories:

Space Matters

Setting Your Style

Room by Room

Attention to Detail

The overall design aesthetic of the book is simply fresh, usable ideas that can translate to any style of decorating and almost any home.  It is refreshing to see this direction in a decorating book.  The pages are jam-packed with tips, hints and decorating guidelines to allow the reader to really pull the ideas that strike them the most and to be able to put them into action.

I believe Holly, Joanna and Debi have created a book that will live on as a design classic to be turned to for years to come.  My congratulations and thanks to Holly and her partners for this lovely new book.