Interior Design Sense

Things have been very busy around BID headquarters!  We have several fab additions to our team, Jessica-previous assistant to the hugely talented artist Francine Turk, Brenna-mostly recently from the Bradley Hughes Showroom (one of my favorite resources) at the Mart, and Caroline-newly handling the BID Showroom and our 1stdibs foray. We also have our hands full with a variety of amazing new projects both here and around the country. I am secretly loving the travel until tonight-as am stranded at the New Orleans Airport indefinitely. The upside is that I scored some one of a kind treasures from this town of special haunts and secret antique venues.

 One of my most recently completed projects is a North Shore home for a family transplanted to Chicago from Michigan-outside of Detroit.  This lovely family of 6 wanted to completely change the look and feel of this old home to reflect their sophisticated, chic- yet comfortable and family friendly aesthetic.  We did a complete overhaul throughout the entire house, including new paint colors both inside and outside, all new light fixtures, modifying the kitchen finishes and providing furnishings throughout the whole house with custom pieces and spectacular fabrics and materials-for both furniture, wall coverings and window treatments. Special art for each room, accessories,rugs and spectacular artifacts add  to the finishing touches.

We are in the process of finishing up and photographing many more projects, so stay tuned for upcoming info and photos from all things B I+D! There is nothing like the feeling of sharing a new project…..Thanks go out all the way around for those people who have helped me create some design magic.

All photography courtesy of Buckingham Interiors + Design and shot by Eric Hausman.  All floral design by Julia Buckingham Edelmann.

While attending High Point Market last month, I also had the opportunity to visit both the Drexel Heritage and Thomasville Showrooms located in the International Home Furnishings Center (IHFC).  If you happen to be in High Point be sure to check out the IHFC and visit both showrooms which are located directly across from each other. Until then here’s a preview of what you might see!

The entrance to the Drexel Heritage showroom.

Cassandra from Coco + Kelley tests out a fun chair in a bright yellow fabric.

One of my favorites, this tie-dyed nail-head console.

Another spectacular piece, this statement headboard upholstered in a fun bug fabric!

The fabric room at Drexel Heritage so well stocked and organized, with an inventory of just about anything you could possibly be looking for!

There’s also an abundance of finish assortments to choose from, including many options in wood tones and paint colors.

An entire section is dedicated to dining room furnishings, including bar stools, counter stools, and a counter stool banquette as modeled by Cassie.

For the more traditional, an upholstered headboard and foot bench make for great classics.

Among the room vignettes are lots of great accent pieces, such as this Moroccan inspired nail-head upsholstered side table.

(Be sure to check out the Drexel Heritage blog which features us on our tour during High Point Market!)

The entrance to the two story Thomasville showroom at IHFC.

There are some fabulous headboards in their collection, like this tufted scalloped version.

All shapes & sizes, and can be customized in many fabric options.

Cute little chair, in equally cute fabric! (I saw a picture of this chair go by on Twitter as the perfect chair for “tweeting” true!)

My infamous “Chair model Cassie” testing out a glam chair she eyed.

All photos by Jill Seidner Interior Design

Thank you to Drexel Heritage and Thomasville for the extensive tours and inviting us to come visit the showrooms during High Point Market! Thank you to Lisa Hanly for coordinating our showroom tours for High Point Market!

Mark your calendars for the mad rush to Target stores on October 21 — Nate Berkus has recently announced his new line specifically made for Target which means it will be affordable and ultra chic.  The assortment will include stylish and relatable pieces that feel like they were collected over time and can be easily layered into existing decor.

Nate  Berkus

In his own words: “I created this collection for Target with my philosophy that homes should evoke a feeling, not a theme.  There is something for everyone in this line so I’m thrilled to offer Target guests’ patterns, colors and objects that represent what I love most for the home”  Visit the following link to view his interview: Dine and Design: Nate Berkus Reveals His New Home Collection at Target

Some of the pillows and throws in his new line

Adorable faux snake skin box

I can’t wait to get a hold of a few things for my own home

Prima is the sleek modern bathroom collection by Bluform, and it’s brand new. We are impressed with the harmony this collection exudes. Curved elegant lines mixed with modern innovative designs, it’s the perfect collection for a calm contemporary bathroom space. The bath seems to envelop, the sink is simple and functional, and the shower base is perfectly designed to drain water while maintaining its slim, unique look. Prima is a collaboration with Pininfarina Design Studio. Find out more at Bluform.

Exposed bulb pendant lighting has been popping up everywhere, but this Crystal Bulb lighting by Lee Broom is something quite special. Cutting crystal is a craft and an art. These hand blown bulbs are expertly created and carved for a truly unique kind of lighting. Lee Broom teamed up with the only producer of full lead crystal left in the UK, Cumbria Crystal, to create this minimal, yet ultra luxurious lighting solution. Hang a solitary bulb or group them in a bunch, these bulbs will play with light to create a magical ambiance in any interior space. Crystal Bulb will be availably early July 2012. Visit Lee Broom for full details.

If you like the look of knotty pine in interior spaces, then the Natural Skin kitchen by Minacciolo may be calling your name. The harmonious blend of metal and knotty pine wood is simply spectacular – a solid, technologically innovative, metal structure wearing a beautiful, “natural skin”. The interaction and contrast feels almost poetic. This kitchen is elegant and strong, perfect for a contemporary home looking to make that statement. I can imagine myself spending many hours in this modern kitchen … and I don’t even like cooking, ha! Learn more about the Natural Skin kitchen at Minacciolo.

The Goccia three dimensional tiles by Lea Ceramiche are actually born out of a collaboration with Kravitz Design – yes, Kravitz as in Lenny Kravitz, the musician. In 2003 Kravitz put together a creative team and set up a design studio. Goccia wall tiles is one of their newest ventures and we are happy to be sharing them with you here. As with all Lea Ceramiche products you can expect the highest quality from Goccia tiles. Inspired by how light interacts with water (“Goccia” means “drop” in Italian), the concave and convex quality of these tiles also plays with reflected light and generates movement within a space. Pattern, texture, dimension, expression – these tiles offer a lot more than just a way to cover a surface. Goccia three dimensional tiles are available strictly in black or white and in a glossy or matte finish. Learn more at Lea Ceramiche.

Satisfying our love of industrial accents in modern spaces, we had to share with you the Ziqq satin stainless steel faucet by Cea Design. How sleek and strong is this faucet? Stripped down to a basic form, the minimalist design allows us to appreciate the elementary beauty of the essential faucet/tap duo. With different mount and spread options, Ziqq is great for the kitchen or bathroom and will add a simple yet strong finishing touch to the space. Cea Design is all about innovation when it comes to style, form and environmentally conscious technologies. That makes us like Ziqq even more. Get more information at Cea Design.

This week, I was so honored to be included in iVillage’s article, “What My Mom Taught me: Celebrity Home Designers” in celebration of Mother’s Day.

It got me thinking about how much my mom has influenced my career path and how much she means to me.

My mom has been interested in interior design as long as I can remember. Growing up, things were always changing around our house.  Whether she was re-painting a room or a piece of furniture, putting up wallpaper, or making drapes, she was the woman who did it all (and all by hand).  Most of my friends assumed she was a decorator and did that for a living.  My husband loves to tell the story of how when he first met my parents and came to their house, he sat down on the couch and realized he was sitting on mounds of fabric swatches.  Little did he know, the same thing would continuing happening a few years later at our own house

 {My childhood home, in which my parents still live in today}

I have such fond memories of my mom and decorating.  I think it was at some point during highschool, when I caught the design bug from her.  My bedroom’s color scheme went from pink to purple to blue to turquoise.  The artwork in my bedroom (AKA, the Mark Paul Gosselar poster) was strategically placed at eye level and the Laura Ashley bedding was always fully coordinated to a matching valance.

My mom has always been there for me through every move- dorm, apartment, rental house, office and now, our new house.  These moves always bring a fun new decorating adventure for us.

 {My oh so stylish college apartment}

Most weekends we spend at the consignment stores hunting for treasures for one of our houses and telling eachother “you so need that!” (when we clearly don’t)…like this bar cart I got last weekend for $45!

My phone usually rings within hours of receiving the newest House Beautiful in the mail with my mom asking, “did you see that gorgeous spread?” or “did you read the blog post today on Colour Me Happy or Cote de Texas?”  We pour over magazines and blogs together, analyzing each and every room.

 {House Beautiful}

We’ve also recently started going to Roundtop to further feed our obsession with antiques.  We also hit up all the warehouse sales in the design district, go on local home tours, and stalk our favorite streets in Dallas (hello, Tokalon).

 {Some of our china from Roundtop}

We can’t help it- Interior design is just what we do! (and it always has been)  We couldn’t care less about shopping for clothes- in fact, that’s usually considered a nightmare to us.  We will take Riverfront Boulevard over Northpark any day of the week!

So in honor of my mom on this Mother’s Day, I thought I would share with you her thirty year transformation of the house she has lived in since the 80′s (and boy could you tell it was the 80′s when she first moved in!)

Entry in the 80′s-

We are SO excited to announce that we are partnering with the very luxurious Vero Linens for this month’s giveaway!! Vero’s luxury cotton bedding has been produced for over 150 years by a family of craftsmen in Northern Italy so they know how to make some quality bedding! Vero Linens utilizes old-world finishing techniques including the classic hem-stitch finish on their sheets, pillowcases, shams, and duvet colors. Vero Linens uses only the finest grades of Egyptian cotton produced to make some of the finest cotton goods in the world. PLUS, they sell their linens directly to the consumer so there is never a retail mark-up! How great is that?! This means that Vero Linens doesn’t sell their linens through retailers and there is no retail mark-up, and with luxury linens this typically means a mark-up of 225% to 250%! So you really can’t beat a deal like that!

Enter here now!!

Now one lucky MG reader has the chance to win a complete set of 100% Egyptian cotton sheets in the color, pattern and size of your choice! Vero Linens’ sheet sets are available in two patterns, solid and tone-on-tone stripes, in three neutral colors:

Diamante Pillowcases

Righetta Pillowcases

A set like this would normally retail for well over $1000, so enter HERE now for your chance to win fabulous sheets (and a great night’s sleep) for free!! 

This giveaway will end May 27th and the winner will be announced on MG Monday, May 28th!