Emerald Chairs

Spanish Architecture

Growing up in Southern California I've been surrounded by colonial Spanish architecture my whole life. Missions and pueblos abound. White and off-white stucco walls, dark wood exposed beams, rust-red tiles roofs, and brightly painted tiles. Beautiful. It feels like home.

A perfect room

I love the furry rug. I love the framed picture wall. I love the color of the couch. I love the gigantic trunk and it's companion cube. I love the cow-hide pillow. I love the baby in the middle of the couch.

{Image from Eden Lang}

Signature Stairs

I love this idea of decorating the front of your stairs with different designs. I first saw it done at Paseo Nuevo in Santa Barbara, but they did it with brigthly colored Spanish tiles. Beautiful.

Alexandra Ferguson Pillows

Remember this cheeky pillow from last week? The maker of said pillow, Alexandra Ferguson, has a whole entire Etsy shop full of fluffy felt pillows that will make you grin. I know I did. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Black, white and glamour all over

I'm noticing a trend here... I keep catching my eye on rooms that are black and white based with bright accents. I love everything going on here...

House Rules

I love this idea of writing the house rules on a bright wall somewhere. What a way to keep focused on the things that matter and the people we want to be.

{Thanks Carina!}

Indoor Swing

I love indoor swings! And giant paper lanterns! And exposed rafters! And big wide open rooms! And dark wood floors! But mostly I love indoor swings.

Blue Hallway

This shot is making me re-think my original position on insanely bright wall paint. I'm kind of loving it. Although... I think what makes it work is that the color is balanced by all of the photos on the walls.

Blue wall. Photo gallery. I can see this in my future.

Alphabet Drawers

I think this is my favorite alphabet furniture that I've found yet... Each letter is a different drawer, plus I love the rustic-looking wood, and the old type-setting feel.

The next time I'm in England with an extra $6,000 to spend (grumble grumble exchange rate grumble) I'll just have to pick one up.

Nest Rest

Ok, this is the coolest thing EVER. It's like a grown up tree house/book nook/Sara's secret hideaway.

{via Black*Eiffel}

Globes and a chalk board

Someday one of my decorating schemes is going to have to revolve around globes and a chalk board.

Have to.

If I had three boys

So, I'm 27. And due to the circumstances of my married life, my husband and I won't be ready to have kids for another... Oh... 3 to 6 years. That makes me between 30 and 33 when I start having kids. So when I think about having children, which only happens once in a while, I think that I will probably have a whole pack of them very close together. Which is why when I see rooms like this amazing 1945 Boys Bedroom by Armstrong, I start getting lots of inspiration...

I love that there is a little bed and a little desk for each boy, and their names are in the rug on the floor. And how genius is it to have the beds stack up? A little more space and the room becomes a play room.

Plus, I always thought it would be cool to have ladders and little cubbies in my room as a kid.

Although I don't think I'll be naming my children Tom, Dick and Larry.

Just a hint of wallpaper

I love the idea of wall paper, but in practice, I often find that it overwhelms the room. Give the choice I'd usually go for clean, light colored walls to make the space feel airy and bright.

However, I love this idea of doing one small wall in wallpaper, particulary at the end of the hallway.... Enough to give it character, but not so much that the space feels closed in.

This especially works because the background color of the wallpaper matches the paint of the hallway.

{via Abbey Goes Design Scouting}

Interior Barn Doors

IKF and I both agree that we want just a little bit of country in our lives.

I think these barn doors are genius - a little bit rustic, a little bit chic, a suprising design detail AND a space saver.

{Photos via you are my fave}

Paper Lanterns

The giant paper lanterns in the front room of our apartment are one of my favorite design details. Ours are just the plain white spherical ones, although they come in three different sizes.

I love this collection with all of the different shapes of paper laterns. Note to self: Try this when I someday have a house with a staircase.

Butterflies are worth framing

Glam Rock Chadelier

Jewelry Armour -or- Why didn't I think of this?

Since I moved into my apartment in...**ahem**... November...  I haven't been able to figure out what to do with my jewelry. It currently sits in a muddled mess on top of or in the top shelf of my dresser. It's a disgrace and I can never find what I'm looking for.

This genius piece of furniture, however, would be the PERFECT solution to my problem... If only I had an extra $350 laying around and that gorgeous mirror to put above it. Oi. The romance of being young, married and poor is often lost on me.

{via Little Green Notebook}

Wall Flowers

{via Black*Eiffel}