Quote of the Week

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'Five Things' Friday

It's been a long while since I've posted my 'Five Things' Friday series! And I haven't been blogging as much as usual, mostly because life is hectic and I just don't have the time like I used to. I've been working for a firm designing model homes, which I absolutely love, and below are a few Instagram snaps of a recent project. Enjoy and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

One. A glimpse of a dining room I just finished. I wallpapered the ceiling with a green grasscloth and did a beautiful textured stacked stone wall inside the built-in. More photos to come soon!

Two. A nursery for twins (for a model home). The baby on the left is my son from when he was one week old :) The wallpaper totally made this space!

Three. A peek of a master suite I designed for the same model home. Lots of texture and warmth going on here. More pics to come soon!

Four. My son Luke, 19 mos., showing a fake reindeer his coloring book page of Rudolph. It was too precious!

Five. Going for a ride on our horse and monkey. We have so much fun together!

xo,

Merry Christmas!

Wishing each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas! Our son is 19-months old and starting to get the concept of Christmas, Santa and presents, which is making this year that much sweeter! And of course, today we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. May your day be blessed and filled with peace, love and joy.  xoxo - Julie

Eclectic Living Room by Little Rock Interior Designers & Decorators Tobi Fairley Interior Design

BM Archives :: Personal Project - Entry Photo Wall

Happy Friday! I'm wrapping up the week with an archived post from earlier in 2013 that many of you really enjoyed. It's fun reflecting back on the last year and I really enjoyed tackling this personal project. Of course by now, I'm ready for a change and will be re-vamping this wall in the new year... 
Good luck with those of you who are doing last minute Christmas shopping (myself included)!

[Repost] Last weekend was one of those weekends where I was super productive and tackled a bunch of little projects on my never-ending to-do list around the apartment. I re-organized the kitchen cabinets, donated bags of things we never use but were taking up precious space and finally finished our entry photo wall! I painted this wall about a year ago and hung a few frames but it never looked right to me. For months I've been staring at this wall, chomping at the bit to really do it right. Here are a few notes on how I created this photo wall. I plan on switching out the photos every 6 months to keep things fresh and interesting. Let me know what you think! Do you have any plans for updating your entryway this year?

I painted the main entry wall this amazing shade of gray from Benjamin Moore (which I can't find the name of at the moment but will update this post as soon as I do!) I didn't really have a layout in mind on how to hang each piece, but I started with this larger piece first and worked around it. I had all of the frames laid out on the floor and hung them sort of like pieces of a puzzle as I went along - holding up different sizes to see what worked before mounting them with a nail and picture frame wire (although there are quite a few extra holes in this wall with my "eyeball" method!).

I wanted to mix it up and have more than just frames, so I incorporated a few pieces of art (from Homegoods) and small round gold mirrors, which breaks up all of the photos.  Most of the frames are from Ikea and are in all different finishes, which gives the wall an eclectic feel. Tip: don't fill the frames until after you've hung the entire wall so you have more flexibility on the direction to hang the frame (horizontal or vertical). It's extra work but worth it!

A shot of our front door - as you can see, our entryway is very small and the kitchen is just to the right. Even though it's just an apartment, I really wanted to make our entry dramatic and fun. I hung the frames high on the wall to give the illusion of higher ceilings.

Details of frames in all different finishes, which works well.

I know it's very "Friends" from the 90's, but the glass broke in this gold frame so I decided to make use of it by mounting it to the door (I used these awesome Hanging Strips from the Command).

Now that the wall is complete, I'm realizing that we need a floor runner in a fun pattern, maybe with some color, to complete the look. I'll add that to the list!

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BM 2013 Archives: Going Bold with Graphic Rugs

Today I'm continuing to share posts that were popular with my fabulous group of readers in 2013, while I'm away on business in Arizona for the week. Enjoy and please feel free to comment - I love hearing your thoughts!

[Repost] When it comes to area rugs, do you prefer a bold print on the floor or something a more subtle? I tend to gravitate toward rugs with large patterns for the floor...I think because they often "anchor" a space and make such a statement. Don't get me wrong, solid and textured rugs definitely have their place and can look beautiful in the right interior, but there's just something about a graphic rug that really does it for me! Here are a few fantastic examples of interiors centered around a bold rug. The key is to balance all that pattern with the right upholstery, pillows and accents. I have a large gray and white chevron rug in my living room and I love it! What are your thoughts on this? Do you have a graphic patterned rug in your home?

[A fabulous pattern in muted colors against a soft gray wall keeps this space from feeling too busy]

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[I feel like this Greek key rug really "makes" the entire space! Because of the white walls, a plain rug probably would've made the space a little on the boring side]

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[This herringbone print spices up an otherwise neutral / plain jane space]

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[The bold print on the floor gives this traditional interior a modern feel]

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[This rug works really well alongside the sofa pattern because it's much larger in scale. That's the trick - mix it up with large, medium and small patterns!]

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[I feel like you can never go wrong with a bold stripe, especially if it's black and white! This classic pattern really adds a fun pop to this cute living room]

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[Sometimes "more is more"! The graphic rug ties the entire space together and looks amazing]

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BM Archives :: Tabletop Style - Dramatic Runners

I'm heading out to Arizona to install a job and have had very little time to blog, let alone Christmas shop and all the rest that comes during this crazy time of year! As we approach 2014, I thought I'd share some of the more popular posts I published on Belle Maison throughout the week. Enjoy!

[Repost] I loved Adore Home's editor Loni Parker's 30th birthday party theme, which was featured in the online magazine last April.  The decor and color scheme is simple, elegant, fresh and feminine.  The best part is that the gold chevron table runner is actually wallpaper! I never would of thought to use wallpaper to decorate a tabletop, but what an incredible idea. Most wallpaper rolls are about 21" wide, making it the perfect size to run down the center of a dining table - no cutting, gluing or sewing necessary. There are thousands of beautiful wallpapers out there to choose from in all different price ranges - the sky really is the limit with the design of your next party! As I looked around Pinterest, I found a couple other dramatic tabletops (both fabric) that give even more inspiration on what a pop of bold pattern can do for a table setting. What do you think about this idea?

[IMAGE SOURCE: ADORE HOME MAGAZINE]

 [IMAGE SOURCE VIA PINTEREST]

 [IMAGE SOURCE: STYLE ME PRETTY]

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GET THE LOOK

1. VIA STEVES WALLPAPER // 2. VIA STEVES WALLPAPER // 3. VIA GRAHAM & BROWN // 4. VIA AMERICAN BLINDS // 5. VIA PURE HOME // 6. VIA GRAHAM & BROWN

 

Quote of the Week

“Kitchens should be designed around what’s truly
important — fun, food, and life.”

— Chef/Restaurateur Daniel Boulud

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Wrap in Style :: DIY Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas

Have you completed your Christmas shopping or are you like me, who will be scrambling at the 11th hour to get it all finished? I do love wrapping gifts and always try to leave enough time to wrap things with creativity and thoughtfulness. There are a gazillion ideas on Pinterest for DIY gift wrap and these were some of my favorites!

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Polyvore Project Decorate + Win $500 to Zinc Door!

Happy Monday my lovely readers! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Today I'm excited to introduce you to Polyvore and their new Project Decorate Campaign! If you're not already familiar with Polyvore, it's a fantastic tool to create design style boards and layouts for your blog, clients and/or personal projects. You can read my recent post with details on it here.

Now for the exciting part! I've partnered with Polyvore, along with several other amazing bloggers, to help launch their home decor category (they've been known mostly for fashion, until now). Today their kicking off a contest that I'm honored to be hosting here on belle maison, where TWO people have the chance to win $500 to Zinc Door, one of my favorite online home decor shops! Yes, that's right...$500! Read on for the details...

Project Decorate Profile by juliethigpen on Polyvore

How to Enter: Create a set on Polyvore that incorporates the theme I chose, which is California Glamour. Being a California girl, born and raised, I thought it would be a fun challenge for the contest entrants! This can be interpreted however you choose and I've created a set of featured items that you can pull from of decorative items I consider to be very "California Glamour" to get you off on the right start.You can find all of the details here on Polyvore.

Here's a style set I created to reflect my vision of California Glamour, along with a few interior photos that are great examples of this design style. Best of luck to you on this contest! I can't wait to see what you come up with!!!

California Glamour by juliethigpen featuring Jonathan Adler

 [Kelly Wearstler]

[Kelly Wearstler]

 [David Jimenez]

  [David Jimenez]

 [Jonathan Adler]

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