Gallery Walls......*the more is better version.

Recently, I have been asked about the {ever growing} gallery

walls in my own home so I thought I would show

you my FEARLESS walls and what they look

like currently {as of an hour ago}.

Everything on these walls is meaningful to our family.  My 

children are 15 and 11 years old so the photos of them

go back that long - some of the prints pre-date my

children and were collected long ago - the tulip print

in the foreground came from an art museum where I

worked when I was 28 years young.  Many of

the items were found at flea markets all over the 

country and could tell stories about where I lived

at the time and who was with me when I purchased it.

Other pieces are from Anthropologie, Ballard Designs

and local boutiques too.

Patience pays when creating gallery walls - I always tell clients

to include meaningful things to them, photos, art, objects, mixed frames

 - there are no rules, and if you think there are, break them!  

I doubt the gallery wall police

will be showing up at your door!

I know this look isn't for everyone but it suits us

and brings me tremendous happiness to look at

all those pretty memories.....

My home.......{the day I went all trendy}

While visiting a new antiques mall in Portland recently, I spied

a great antler mount for a really decent price.  I scooped them

up before I could really think what I wanted to do with them.

Seems antler mounts are all the rage these days - but for

me, it seemed the perfect winter accessory for above my fireplace.

{my family may, or may not, have other opinions}

I can't wait to dress it up with a wreath for Christmas - or maybe 

some pom pom garland!  I added a vintage frame for effect!

{don't even get me started on my granite tile surround - it's going

to be changed - SOON!}

So what do you think?  Taxidermy in design, a trend or here to stay?

I'm not even kiddding....

Confession time:

We have lived in our current home for THREE years and I have

painted our front door THREE different colors.....

I totally have better things to do with my time, but it

is a simple project and the just 'right' color to go with

our SW 'Sea Salt' house has been elusive.

Last week, I trusted my gut, went to my comfort zone - that 

'works for me' place that a woman with my 'experience' {ahem}

knows she should have done in the first frickin' place!

I decided to get all fancy and demonstrate my theory and reasoning with photos.

You see, if my house were an outfit {with it's previous red door}, it would look

like this cute red head on the left.  It's a perfectly fine outfit but one you 

would just never catch me wearing, too much going on

 - especially the red pants....It's, umm, a bit

too flashy for moi!

I am more of a classic white shirt and jeans kind of gal - so I went with

that look for my newly painted front door {and only WISH I was that skinny}!  

I look forward to letting the paint cure another 

week so I can put a wreath on the door {I was just

too impatient and wanted to announce to the world my crazy ADD when 

it comes to front door colors}.  

In all seriousness - I LOVE accessories, when

it comes to dressing myself and dressing my home - the neutral door color 

allows for more flexibility when it come to accessorizing my front porch.

If I could I would....

Emerald green has come back into design favor.....

Recently, when looking for a sofa for a design client I came

across the sofa pictured above at Crate & Barrel - isn't she lovely?

So I whipped up a little design board  featuring the sofa

along with some companion pieces...in a room that is 

so unlike the spaces I live in and have designed lately,

but nonetheless.....a girl can dream, right?