… to my imaginary birthday party! Come on in!

Today is the big 33 for this gal. Among the fun things we have planned over the next few days is an imaginary party I’ve been having in my head since I woke up. It’s just a little soiree with all of my favorite people… sipping cucumber vodka out of these cute grey glasses and kicking it to Lionel Richie. A few of us gals are all squeezed onto the navy blue leather tufted sofa and the fellas are kneeling on the magic carpet rug giving us foot rubs. The snow is coming down outside and we’ve got tons of pretty-smelling candles lit all around the room. Fern and Rosy are laying under the dining room table telling secrets as they tend to do and the delivery guy just showed up with 10 pounds cheese curds so I gotta run. Ta!

(1) Tom Dixon Etch Light (2) Magic Carpet Rug (3) Marimekko Sukat Makkaralla Grey Glasses  (4) Wooden Log Stool Side Table (5) Anise Patchouli Candle (6) Thomas Paul Zebra Pillow (7) Milo Sofa  

PEOPLE OF THE EARTH! After much back and forth between Miss Anal Retentive (me) and a kick-ass developer who probably wants to dip my head in poo, my happy place is all shiny and new! We have taken weeks to perfect it, so I hope you enjoy the new look.

A couple months ago I was sipping cocktails with my mum and sis at Barbette and saw Terrence Payne’s work. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. Isn’t it bright and powerful? And how ’bout that shaggy stool? I wanna kick up my tootsies on that furry thing stat.

Happy Monday!

Oil Pastel on Paper, Mid Century Steel Ottoman, Hudson Console

Hi, hi my pretties. I have been a bit MIA lately but there’s a reason… Color Me Carla is getting a complete design/website overhaul! So while you haven’t seen posts for the past couple days and probably won’t for another week or so, I am, in fact, werkin’ away on the ol’ bloggeroo. Please sit tight, it’ll be worth it!

I wanted to get back to one loyal reader who had a questch regarding a sweet salmon table she found on One Kings Lane. She didn’t purchase the table, but rather pinned the shit outta it and now wants to paint her existing table a similar color. She asked for me to find some salmon paint swatches to try, ikat fabric for window treatments and some snazzy chairs too.

Below is a little mix I came up with for Lisa. With such a bold hued table, it’s best to go easy on the chairs. And while pattern is OK for the window treatments, I’d stick with a more neutral color. Of course I had to throw in a rug, piece of art and a throw pillow for good measure. “Who puts a throw pillow on a dining chair?” asks Jack. COOL PEOPLE. Duh.

(1) Tobias Chair, (2) Robert Allen Ikat Geo Fabric, (3) Snow Leopard Pillow, (4) Peacock By Shelley Hesse (JUST A MERE $8,500), (5) Hand-tufted Rev Burgundy Geometric Wool Rug, (6) Paint Options (All Sherwin Williams): Peachy Keen, Tangy Orange, Calypso Orange

Sometimes I wonder how many images my peepers see a day. Starting around 5:30/6am every day (I can’t believe that after 32 years I’m actually a morning person now), I start scrolling through oodles of interior inspiration. Then, for the majority of my work day I am engrossed in either fashion imagery, print + pattern or other design. And THEN I usually end my night looking at my favorite blogs on the ol’ iPad before zonking out. So yeah, that’s a shit-ton of imagery. You’d think my dreams would be about pretty bathrooms and fashiony gals… but they usually consist of something like… uh… me birthing a cat-baby (much more normal).

Anyhoo, I’ve got sooo many inspiring spaces saved in my Evernote that I just don’t know what to do with. Here are a few of my favoritos…

via french by design

Whitewashed floors do something to me. I get all jittery and sweaty. This particular flooring is immaculate. I love pendants suspended by a long cord and those green chairs are the tops.

via design for mankind

I’m pretty sure we’ve got another batch of whitewashed floors (even thought they look a little grey in this pic). Since I also love hardwood floors, I think it’s the tits that this space has them ON THE CEILING – best of both worlds! That L bench looks like the perfect place for a group of pals to plop down and drink stiff cocktails and play chess (or Bananagrams).

via fish food

Ha. I didn’t even realize I had three spaces with whitewashed floors in this mix until now. So I am really pitting out as I write this. Loving the flood of natural light, the quirky old lamp and the retro school desk. Reminds me of being in grade school and the cute little esprit pencil case I kept stashed in my desk.

via glam lamb

Just gorgeous. This shows what an impact wallpaper can have. If these walls were white, the mirror, sink and sconces wouldn’t look so spesh. But with that glorious ikat wallpaper, each element in this space looks like fine art.

via lena corwin

Um. Have I mentioned I like tribal rugs? Enough said.

In case you live under a rock, I should let you know that I LOVE tribal rugs and pillows. I’m a sucker for an all white room with pops-o-tribal texitles throughout. Tribal pieces are the perfect way to add texture, color and an earthy, lived-in feel to any room. Yuner is a shop on etsy that sells oodles and oodles of vintage handcrafted pillows in a great variety of colors. Check it out and add a little tribal to yo’ life!

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six

Every so often I come across a space that I become totally-absolutely-utterly-positively obsessed with. Dabito’s pad is one of those spaces. I don’t know how I found this photo last week, but I saved it to my Evernote (Evernote = Pinterest on steroids) and have been coming back to it multiple times a day.

I love how modern and clean yet cozy and lived in this room feels. I also love the use of the little stools/poufs to provide extra seating. I always stress over how to fit more seating into our living room since it’s so stinkin’ small, so I love the idea of using mini stools that could be tucked away when not in use.

Here are some goodies to get Dabito’s look. (I tried to track down an authentic mustard Eames rocker but could only find neon yellow. I think the cute powder blue knock-off does the trick.)

via old brand new

(1) Ceramic Cylinder Planter, (2) Zig Zag Red Pillow, (3) Snow Leopard Pillow, (4) Alseda Stool, (5) Weramin Rug, (6) Vinnie Cradle Chair, (7) Sheepskin Throw

I’m getting back into my old groove after being away for ten days. One thing that I greatly missed is spending time in my home office/studio. A couple of months ago Jack and I decided that we would turn one of the bedrooms on the first floor into a space where I could do my thang (this includes pinning up inspiration, werking on my huge-ass iMac, organizing the shit outta my art supplies and taking breaks to cuddle on the floor with Fern). And since Jack needs his space too, we converted a little halfy-room upstairs into an office space for him. He’s bigger so he gets the smaller office. Makes perfect sense.

So here I am, perched in my white leather swivel chair, coffee in hand, space heater blasting, back in my happy place. I thought I’d share some photos of where I spend my oh-so-precious blogging time. Happy Hump Day!

custom bed from Bow Wow Beds (great gift!)

desk from Nadeau in Minneapolis
swivel chair from Overstock

pouf from Urban Outfitters

chair, table, cow head + plant from Hunt & Gather (my other happy place)

vintage stapler and tape dispenser from Etsy

Happy New Year! We are back from our Christmas vacay in Wisconsin and I’m avoiding the boxes, bags and piles of laundry that we unloaded from the car last night. Of the many lazy, self indulgent activities I partook in over the past week (parking my bum in front of the roaring fire for hours on end, sleeping as late as I wanted, eating my weight in my mom’s home cooked meals), probably the most “productive” was burying my nose in an endless stack of decorating books.

All of the books I poured over (Undecorate, Design*Sponge at Home, Decorate) mentioned an online source for vintage furniture and finds from across the world, V and M. I am always looking for good vintage sources (especially ones that don’t require me to leave my home to spend some coin) so I pulled out my fabulous new iPad (THANK YOU JACK!!!) and looked up the site. While most items are out of my price range, I was still delighted to ogle all of the pretty pieces and put together some imaginary vignettes in my head.

Below are some faves from House of Honey, sold by the talented Tamara Kaye-Honey (who is coincidentally featured in Design*Sponge at Home). Now it’s time to get my arse in gear and get unpacking.

(1) Vintage 1960s Pendant Light, (2) End Table Pair, (3) Green Corduroy X Bench, (4) Set of Doodle Portraits, (5) Dramatic Wingback Pair, (6) 1970s Lamb Wool Cupped Cushion Stools