C, I love you.  Your friendship and unique nature has made an immense difference in my life.  Please know how much I love you and am praying for your complete recovery and return to the life that you love. Words can’t describe how very much you mean to me and to my family.  Prayers, support, and complete appreciation for you, my dear friend.

Peace

images via flickr: please click on individual images for credit.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me………..was lost……was blind, but now I see…….

I wish:   to maintain an awareness of my blessings…..the sweet and the salty, the smooth and the rough….those that understand me and those that perplex me still…..each and every twist and turn teaches me….teaches me what I wish for and what I push against; all worthwhile lessons.  When the day is done, I continue to strive for acceptance….this song, it’s one of my favorites.

I wish: I could tell you that perspective came easy for me—I was a slow learner in matters of the heart and still am at times; some things might always confuse me.  I forget.

I wish:  to savor the joys of my world….to instill in my family a sense of their worth, their importance and my acceptance of their individual natures….this is easier some days that others.  I forget.

I wish: for peace, patience and  for graceful responses to all of life’s presentations.

Peace.

G is turning 3 this Saturday.  I love this song, it’s amazing how my heart lives outside of my body now.  I heard this before becoming a mommy myself, but I never knew the love I would feel for our children—it’s a new, fresh, all encompassing, beautiful, painful and strength inducing kind of a love.

Guthrie has asked for more items in celebration of his birthday.  In case you had forgotten or are new here, I shared his list initially here.  Since then, he has added sand, boots, water and candy.  This is bound to be a colorful birthday party.

Arlise enlightened me this morning that all animals have to go to the doctor of their animal type, so only crabs can be doctors for crabs, lions to lions, etc.  She went on to say, ‘wait, mommy, fish can’t walk so how do they go to the doctor?’ I love their take on life; it makes me smile and warms my heart; it really is the little things that feed my soul.

I know this is a design blog, yet I love to also share my journey……these babies, they color it amazingly well :)

Peace

I’ve been working on lighting for a few projects…these clients are on the contemporary end of the design spectrum.  Their spaces, however, are not architecturally modern per se, so it’s a balance to infuse clean contemporary lighting in the home while respecting its structural bones.

At first glance, these fixtures might appear overly sleek for many interiors, yet they work brilliantly in so many interior design venues as illustrated below.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and preferences.

These fixtures are not for the faint at heart; they are investment pieces, works of art if you will. I look forward to sharing a bit more lighting as the week progresses, with a feature on sconces of the modern variety.

Until then, smile and thank you for being here.  We are experiencing a bit of fall weather today and I absolutely love it; boyfriend and I prefer this time of year over any other season; for some reason, it energizes me.  I love the actual change of season and all that comes with it.  G turns 3 years old this Saturday….He’s turning into such a magical, colorful, richly playful boy.  I can barely believe how lightning fast time has flown by since he blessed our lives and our home.

I’ll leave you with this thought for today, which I had in my inbox this morning and found particularly fitting.

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all
the others.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero
106 BC – 43 BC, Politician, Orator and Philosopher

Lighting designers: foscarini, alturo alvarez, axo, terzani, brand van egmond.

I thought I’d end this week on a colorful note. It’s been an exciting week.  A few new design projects are starting in both commercial and residential venues, and all are allowing me to play with color…..thoughtfully and with my eye on style longevity.  Color is definitely been on my mind this week. Here’s a few inspiring photos to share as an offset to the neutral toned visuals I shared earlier this week.

It’s a long weekend, and we’re looking forward to relaxing at home, having friends and family over, grilling and eating outdoors…..giggling with the lil ones.  Life just seems to sweep us up during the week…I feel like I barely get a chance to sit still and soak in the joy of my precious family.  Arlise has school projects to share, G boy is forever amazing me with his humor and perspective.  Tay will be joining us this weekend, which is always a treat.

Wishing each of you a lovely weekend.  Soak in what you most enjoy !!

Peace

All visuals via Mood, Villa Collection, a product line out of Denmark; just love their stylized online presence.

I have been so remiss in sharing here; life, changes, babes in school land, babes in sick land, work, work, and more work have kept me from carving out time.  Here is a bit of visual inspiration….style can be so well accomplished with or without color—lack of color lends itself to tone on tone beauty and a play on finishes, a mix of underlying elements…all done so well in these examples.  These speak very literally to my innate aesthetic, in look, feel and layout.

All visuals via Mood, Villa Collection, a product line out of Denmark; just love their stylized online presence.  I do not recall where I found this collection.  If you recall seeing it recently, please remind me so I can give due credit.

Featuring a bit of fashion, for it’s style, it’s lines, of shape, shade and shadow…all things I find so lovely. Wishing you a warmly rewarding weekend and sending smiles, creative energy and support to each and a to all.  

My baby girl starts pre-k in a week with her big sis in the 8th grade at the same school….time is flying and our hearts are full.

her talent, her eye, her take on it; quite refreshing and alluring…is there one that draws you attention?

images all via prop / set designer Chelsea Maruskin.

A quiet, quaint and cozy fort…time to connect with friends old and new…these are things I am wishing for. Gone are the days where personal freedom was simple, a colorful growing family does that….creativity is important in my work and in my personal life, in carving out opportunities to rejuvenate my soul…doesn’t this space seem so perfect for a lil respite…an overnight stay…it would be lovely to hear you knock and stop in for iced tea and shared laughter.

Peace.

image via eclectic gipseyland on flickr.

Working on tile selections and layouts for a a couple of new clients.  There is a lot of product on the market now that is absolutely gorgeous, contemporary, sleek and smacks of good style.  The idea of travertine and limestone used so predominantly a few years ago seems to have given way to other options, many of which are porcelain—I am having fun working with the variety of options available within the last few years. I’ll show you just a few.

I love this tile design…it comes in a few color combinations—I used the black/blue aluminum version for my bath flooring in the studio—love love love it !!  

Random, large scale patterned layout on a fairly monochromatic, matte finish body tile…this works well; it does get expensive to coat and entire wall in the material, but doing a focal point wall also results in a lovely dramatic effect.

Love how large scale rectangular tiles positioned in a parallel orientation create interest but don’t distract the eye or add too much patterned stimulation in a space.  Smart :)

large scale square tiles, laid straight, but with alternating pattern positioning adds just enough pop to quietly soothe your eye.  This particular tile has very small scale pin stripes, so alternating the direction in a layout creates a slightly different and impressive look.

Another example of rectangular tiles, a staggered joint installation, warmer base color, with tone on tone small pin stripes…in this case, the pattern is maintained directionally, which is smart and subtle.

Large tiles, installed, on the straight with thin joints (grout lines), no border design and no baseboards; perfect for this application, with the exposed rock and concrete wall and rich simple color palette.  I like the subtle color distinction of the walls to the flooring—definitely complement, but more tonal in nature.

All images are via Tile City website.

Have a lovely weekend; I may return before the weekend is over to post some additional interior inspirational images.  I have several small projects going on in tandem…it’s fun, refreshing, a challenge and keeps my interest peaked for inspiring ideas to spark my creativity.

I hope you find something here that makes you smile or soothes you somehow.  

Peace.

I’m sorry my postings has been scarce; it’s been busy on all fronts of my life.  Finding time for all the things I love escapes me sometimes.  I used to be better at managing my time…not sure what happened?  

I do love my time here and the relationships I’ve built since I started this blog.  Rooted is close to having 100 posts—that’s kinda cool and I’m feeling grateful.  I feel some sort of give away is in order…hmmm. 

Here is the second half to the outdoor post that I promised. 

a self confessed sucker for succulents clean lines and the view of water for days….