I heart wallpaper

Image of grasscloth courtesy of www.sourcesandesign.com, room designed by Jeffrey Elliot




One of Inhabit's favorite materials of choice is wallcovering - better known as wallpaper. In the biz we call it wallcovering but yes, it is the same thing. There are so many things that one can accomplish with wallcovering - it can add texture, warmth and of course, fabulousness.

www.orangebeautiful.com

Thibaut wallcovering

Alessandra Branca dining room

We do have to talk some of our clients into the concept of using wallcovering. Usually these are the clients that were around when wallcovering meant gold foil and terrible florals, such as:

Just put that image out of your mind. Move on to these beauties:

Gorgeous dining room, courtesy of material girls blog

Wallcovering can also be a bit masculine

Even if you are leery of using wallcovering, try it in a small powder room. The powder room is a great place to get crazy or to do something daring. It's such a small room that you can make a big impact with small costs.

One of our favorite wallcovering companies is Phillip Jeffries. They have great grasscloths, lacquer and all-around blingy wallcoverings. See for yourself:

This one is actually a grasscloth with a cute, contemporary pattern on top

Black Lacquer. Isn't it sexy?


So since we're now officially in the "over the top" category, look at the papers below. They come from a company called Flavor Paper. They make THE most fantastic, wild and funky wallcoverings around right now.


Tutti Frutti. Would you believe this paper is scratch and sniff? WHAT?????????????

Look closely, the wallcovering below has large scale gold chains all over it. This paper may be my darling Italian husband's dream come true. An homage to his giant gold chain!

What we've shown you today is just a teeny tiny piece of what's out there in the world of wallcovering. Whether you are working on a commercial interior design project, a residential interior design project or even just looking at sprucing up your powder room - we say

GO FOR IT!

A New Year, A New You...and other ridiculous New Year's slogans

This is the time of year that the Inhabit Design Studio closes up shop, takes inventory and reorganizes for the year ahead. Heather and I are both fans of organization and office supplies in general. It's weird, but we both get pretty excited when we HAVE to go to Office Depot to stock up on pens, pencils, sticky notes and the like.
One of our favorite websites for office supplies is See Jane Work. They carry the loveliest selection of just about anything one would need to get organized. Take a look-see.

Maybe if we inject a little humor, it won't be such a daunting task. Hee hee.

A fancy tape dispenser! Think of all of the taping you will want to start, um... taping.

Eco-friendly options are available, such as these notebooks. Each one is handmade.

Look at these smart little paperclips!

Pencils that coordinate with the color of your hanging files and other office supplies.

Cute monogrammed paperweights

Oh, if only there were 8 days....

I've had my eye on this lovely little expandable desktop organizer for a while. Dang, should have asked Santa.

Who doesn't love a rubber band ball?

Hopefully these juicy photos will inspire you to get up and get organized. I know I feel much better now knowing that someone will even make my rubber band ball for me. Cross that one off the list!

Much Love

The lovely ladies of Inhabit Design would like to wish all of you a fabulous, prosperous and peaceful new year. We are so grateful to have you in our lives and look forward to more fantastical interior design in the year to come. What better way to usher in a new year than with our Most Favorite Favorite Thing: Veuve Clicquot champagne. Yum.

and den...

aahhhhh. They don't make 'em like they used to. Sputnik Chandelier courtesy of 1stdibs.com

Day 2 of our favorite things is....(drumroll puhlease)......

LIGHTING

While not all of these fixtures were introduced in 2008, these are some of what we're loving this year.

West Elm makes this great fixture. I would like to see it used as a bedside sconce. It's such a great option, at a great price and it's pretty unique as a choice from a retail store.

I know that we've gushed over Shine Home numerous times, but you really can't beat their table lamps. They're funky and somewhat offbeat and can add that much-needed pop of color.

And their chandeliers ain't half bad either.....

For the glam look that is so hot this year, you can't go wrong with shiny chrome fixtures. One of our favorite lighting manufacturers is Robert Abbey Lighting.

It's really difficult to only pick a few of their light fixtures, there are so many great ones.

The Porter nickel pendant light

Look at this funky sconce and the great pattern it throws on the wall. Brilliant!

The anemone ceiling fixture, can also be used as a sconce.

This is my absolute favorite, though I am partial to filament light bulbs. It's so simple and industrial, but could really make a statement in the right space. Like over my kitchen nook table. Hmm.....

The fixture is made by Roost - an incredible accessory and lighting company. We'll write more on them in the future.

While that is only a smattering of the lighting that we're adoring this year, we could be here forever showing you pictures of gorgeous fixtures. So we leave you with another holiday picture of Vegas and the most famous light fixture in town.

We're so proud of our Vegas snow today!

These are a few of my favorite things....

Oh dear, where does the time go? This time of year is notoriously busy for the interior design trade. Everyone wants their projects completed prior to Thanksgiving or Christmas. Heather and I have been so caught up in designing, negotiating and pleading with vendors that we have completely neglected our poor little blog. We're sorry to have kept you waiting, but wait no more my lovelies, we have a new post! Yippee!!

So we thought since it is gift giving time as well as (my favorite) gift receiving time, we wanted to show you a few of our favorite things that we have discovered this year. Each day we will feature some of our exciting discoveries. So while you may have been lost without your bimonthly blog from Inhabit Design, worry no more. WE'RE BAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!

This is what Heather and I will look like, blogging like MAD!!!

First on the favorites list:

Art

We love discovering new artists and while not everyone can afford original art, everyone can appreciate it.

One of our dearest homies, John Barry of Kevin Barry Fine Art introduced us to the following photographer. This is the best photography that I have seen this year, hands down. His name is Kristoffersen and his website showcases some beautiful, moving photography. A-ma-zing. See for yourselves:

And speaking of affordability, check this website out for emerging artists. There are so many great pieces and the prices are just right. I heart U gallery.

Clare Graham is another exceptionally talented artist. He is someone that I just discovered this year and I could waste many productive work hours gazing at the photos on his website. At a time when eco-friendly products are all the rage and in high demand, Clare's pieces are at once both timely and timeless.

Gaze and adore, gaze and adore....

Button art

Bottlecap art

Style de Vie has some great options for art - vintage prints and photos galore.

Vintage American/Foreign movie posters

Vintage roller rink signs

Vintage Fortune magazine covers

That's it in a nutshell, a few of our favorite sources and artists. We leave you with a gorgeous photo of Christmas time, Las Vegas style.

Autumn Blues

It's so difficult this time of year for us to get motivated to do just about anything. The weather is beautiful in Las Vegas, we can even open our windows! In honor of October's lazy days, we're posting a mix tape of what we're currently listening to at the Inhabit Design studio. Enjoy.

special thanks to Beach Bungalow 8 for the inspiration

Good Eeeeeeveeening.........

In my opinion, Halloween is one of THE most fabulous holidays of the year. I am not ashamed to admit that I even took a Halloween craft class and made some super-sweet tombstones for our yard. Don't judge, we all have our weird things, right?

courtesy of curioussofa.blogspot.com

I'm not really a fan of cutesy Halloween decor, I kind of go for the Victorian/Gothic/Alfred Hitchcock/creepy Halloween decorations. Nothing bloody or gory, but more science-lab-gone wrong and 59 year old spider webs and spider egg sacs and ravens perched in precarious locations.

Let's take a look at what some of our favorite catalog retailers have to offer in the way of Halloween decor.

Here's what I'm loving from Pottery Barn:

This is a wall-size poster of a haunted house. Brilliant!

Grandin Road has a wonderful selection of Halloween goods for a retail shop, especially for the exterior.

A bubble/fog machine? What?????????

Z Gallerie

Now let's visit the goddess of all things Halloween - Ms. Martha Stewart.

Martha has a really cool section on her website that is entirely devoted to Halloween. Her crafts are the best - she has numerous tutorials and you can even sign up for a daily email that teaches a new Halloween craft EVERY DAY! Look at these gems:

I could post picture after picture, but it's best for you to check out her website. Get inspired and happy haunting!