Good morning and welcome to a new week on decor8! I had such a nice weekend, did you? I spent Saturday out and about, hitting a flea market (my loot), eating at an organic cafe outdoors, grabbing a cone of ice cream and wondering a bit aimlessly… And then yesterday chillin’ at a gorgeous beer garden on the edge of the forest near my house watching the FIFA games and couldn’t believe how many people showed up – over 1,000 at a beer garden! It was a fun time and the weather was gorgeous – and of course, because Germany won, the crowds were going crazy screaming and chanting ole, ole, ole, ole! It really feels fun to be a part of the soccer craze, it’s such a major event and so fun for me, as an American, to get into a sport that doesn’t have such a major following back home. I also don’t mind the whole beer garden setting while watching the games… that of course, makes the sport so much more enjoyable! How about you, what did you do?
I have a busy week ahead of me since I leave on Saturday for New York and have lots to do to prep for that. It will be fun to spend the 4th in NYC and to hit some of my favorite parks, museums and shops for a few days until Debi meets up with me and we get to work! Part of my work for this week involves grabbing another space or two to shoot while we’re there since we have some more days added to our schedule. If you would like to have your home photographed by Debi Treloar (she shot the Emily Chalmers books and those for Mark & Sally Bailey, along with lots of other Ryland Peters & Small/CICO books) and if you’d like for it to appear in the Decorate book that I’m working on for Chronicle Books and Jacqui Small Publishing (it will be published in the USA and in the UK simultaneously, early next year), please email me with some pics ASAP (decor8blog{at}yahoo.com)! We are looking for homes that are inspiring, preferably in NYC or within an hour by train, and that have a personal, creative touch — homes with sweet details, interesting furniture, etc. — styles can range from eclectic to mid century, flea market, bohemian, ethnic, modern… We are trying to represent many styles in this book but they do need to be beautiful and book worthy!
We also could use 1-2 in Paris for later in July since we’ll be shooting there — and we need one more in Amsterdam. Also if you know of any locations in Germany – I’m open to ideas and submissions, especially in Berlin. We have already completed shoots in London, Denmark and Sweden so those are all set.
Not all submissions will be accepted, obviously, but all will be considered so please don’t be shy!
If used in the book, your home will be fully credited with your name and link to your website and of course, I will style the space and interview you as well so that we can grab some of your decorating advice!
I can’t wait to hear from you!
(image: leslie shewring)
I’m signing off for the weekend but I’d like to thank you first for visiting me here on decor8 this week and for your comments, tweets, retweets and general lovey dovey stuff that you extend to me — you are so kind! I hope that in turn, I am a generous friend to you as you have been to me. I’ll be in the states for most of July — first I fly to New York to stay in the city for July 4th weekend on holiday and then I’ll be on shoots the following week, taking the red eye to LA and then staying there until the 18th of July. Once I’m back at home in Germany, I’ll then be in Belgium, the Netherlands and finally France and then the photographs for the book project will be a wrap! And then I will officially crack under the pressure and have a nervous breakdown. Ha. No. Kidding. Then I will throw a very big party for my friends and my husband who has had to put up with my insane business hours and nearly empty fridge for weeks now. And popular to contrary belief, you don’t lose weight living on stress, sugar-free Red Bull and fruit salad. Darn.
I can’t believe all we’ve shot so far, between Scandinavia and London we have completed 12 homes so we’re nearly halfway and I’m so pleased with the work I’ve done so far. Meeting homeowners and being a part of creating a book is exciting. I’ve always wondered what goes into the creation of one as I own hundreds of them and write about decorating and craft books so often on decor8… so it’s fun to be behind-the-scenes and to be involved in styling these homes and directing the shoots, but also the process of finding the right homes that haven’t been published yet online has been a really taxing process. Of course, many of the homeowners have had their homes shot and shown elsewhere online and in books/magazines, but for the homes we are shooting, the angles and lighting and overall outcome is just different – and of course I style it in a way that I think makes the space shine without giving it that “you cannot touch” inaccessible look.
It’s moving to be able to use my creativity offline and to work with a team, but most importantly, to give photos a piece of my own vision and sensibility so that there is a connection between me and the finished product. I kind of felt for awhile like I was no longer a creative person because I wasn’t doing much with my hands. It bothered me. I sit for so many hours, online, writing articles + blog posts about beautiful homes but have truly missed having consultations and clients to work with more hands-on and this has opened up many ideas and doors for me.
To any of the homeowners reading, who I’ve already visited, thank you for letting me into your home to play with your beautiful things and thank you for being a part of this project. It’s a really fresh beginning for me in a direction that feels really good and I hope to move on and to more books despite how some say it’s a dying market. I don’t believe that to be the case, and though I may be a rainbow chaser, I still believe in the power of the typed page, hearing that crack as you first open a fresh title, the glossy photo, and the book in hand on a Sunday morning along with fresh coffee and a sweet roll. :)
Have a lovely weekend you gorgeous people, you! :) Please tell me what you will do, I have a lot of packing to get started on and million errands to run so I’d really enjoying living through you for a few days. Please, indulge me.
(images: tinker street via the wonderful victoria)
Color Me Pretty now has a page dedicated solely to lovely Leslie’s column for all of you to enjoy without having to search and search AND search through the archives. Simply click here, or on the image below, and you can see all of Leslie’s color stories over the past year.
Lots of lovely inspiration for you to click through today in case you are new to decor8 — have fun! You’ll love them all and want to run out and photograph everything in your home. :)
Hello friends and happy Friday to you! I have some exciting news to share with you today! I will be leading a workshop in Morocco from October 16-23, 2010 for an intimate, private group of 10 at the brand new and ultra exclusive Peacock Pavilions owned by Maryam Montague who authors the My Marrakesh blog and who is a professional shopper and soon-to-be book author.
Here is a tiny glimpse of one of the ensuite guest rooms where you may want to rest your head after a dip in the pool, a henna party, rooftop dinner at sunset, drinks on the terrace, creative workshops focused on decorating and also blogging and creativity, or a shopping adventure in the souks of Marrakesh with Maryam and I (Maryam will take us to hidden gems, where she sources her finds).
“There are 5 ensuite bedrooms at Peacock Pavilions. Each has an entirely different personality. This one is called The Room of the Golden Gazelles. Although you see it with a double bed here, all the rooms can have 2 single beds, too.”
“The inspiration for the room was a screen that was in Lanvin’s apartment in Paris. I saw it in an auction catalogue my parents sent me (they are auction addicts) and I sent it to Melanie Royals at Modello Designs as inspiration for the wall that she would be painting with a group of painters. She then redesigned it — adapting it to Peacock Pavilions, swapping out the tree for an olive tree, adding a dado at the bottom to act as the headboard backdrop, adding stars and flowers that she designed herself.”
“My goal was to create a room with a glamorous feel and as you can see I have decorated it all in shades of gold/brass, black and white. The room is filled with some antique and vintage treasures from Morocco and further afield.”
Now would you like a peek in on one of the bathrooms?
“This sunny yellow bathroom is all about yellow and white with a splash of pink. It’s a bathroom that is designed to lift your spirits and was designed on a budget. We made the vanity ourselves using a Moroccan yellow tile I found locally with a modern floral pattern. I found a little porcelain sink with a flower shape and a faucet that looked like a flower stem. I then put together a small Norman Copenhagen flower pendant lamp. The floor tile is from Popham House Design. I picked up the pattern from the tile, enlarged it with a stencil and had it sandblasted on the glass shower door. Besides the yellow walls, the rest of the walls are done in a glossy, burnished ivory tadelakt (like Venetian plaster) that makes the whole room glow and bounces the light around. ”
And this is just a glimpse of the magical pavilions where we will be staying… It will be a most enchanting + lovely time… I hope that you will enroll and join us on this exciting adventure. I can’t wait to join Maryam — we’ve been friends since I started this blog as she was one of my first readers so to meet her will wonderful for me.
Her is the full schedule and trip details, cost, etc. There is a special offer to those who can pay with a check for a discount until June 30. They will receive $147.00 off the total price.
Registration is extremely limited — only 10 can enroll — I wish I could enroll all of you though, imagine that!!
Let’s meet in Marrakesh!
(photos: maryam montague)
Ah, Molly Hatch. This lady makes me smile big. What gorgeous work she has produced lately. I remember the first time I spotted her work on Etsy because I fell in love with her finch cups. Her body of work is forever evolving but her unique style is still carried throughout her collections so you can always tell they are authentically Molly.
I wrote about her today on Real Simple, you can see more of her work here if you’d like.
(image: molly hatch)
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