New Fabric Collection from Dwell Studio

Dwell Studio just designed a collection for Robert Allen that we thought was fantastic.  The patterns are simple and modern. The colors muted but unique.

Here are some vignettes using Dwell Studio fabrics and coordinating paint colors...

To see the complete Dwell fabric book, click here.  You can find pricing and product information on our Robert Allen fabric section.

Read more »

Win a $25K Home Make Over from TLC

Something came in our mail box today that we thought you might be interested in.  TLC is looking for home makeover candidates for their new show, Our House. Here are the details:

-----------------------------------------------
TLC NOW SEEKING COUPLES FOR $25,000 HOME MAKEOVER

The TLC network is looking for fun, outgoing couples who live together in the Los Angeles area for their new home makeover show “Our House.”

The concept:

We give you $25,000 and three weeks to do whatever you want to your homeʼs interior. You can re-floor, refurnish, break down walls, install extreme fixtures and make it your dream house. And you have to do it all YOURSELF! (with a little help from your friends and the occasional plumber).

We're looking for married couples, dating couples, new home owners, long-time residents, couples who are strapped for cash and couples who just need a change. Whatever your story -- as long as you own your house and want TLC to pay you to re-invent it -- we want to hear from you!

Please send an email to OurHouseCasting@gmail.com with:

1) Your names and ages

2)Your best phone number(s)

3) Your houseʼs location

4) Photos of you both

5) A brief explanation of why you want to make over your home.

Good luck everybody!

Read more »

Sleek Design from Fu Tung Chen

We stumbled accross Fu Tung Chen's work a few years back and we're still in love. Known for exquisite concrete design, his work has such an elegance and refined quality to it.

Here are some samples of his portfolio...

Photos: Fu Tung Cheng

Read more »

Ralph Lauren's Decor Style

Did you see the spread in last month Elle Decor on Ralph Lauren?  His place is to die for, seriously.

Ralph Lauren has been around for so long. We remember saving up for a set of his paisley bedsheets in the 80S! His style evolves a bit, but not much. We suppose that's why they call it classic, right?

Here are some pictures from Elle Decor in case you haven't seen them.

All photos from Elle Decor

We've just added Ralph Lauren fabrics and Ralph Laruen wallpapers to our fabric store.  You can check them out here .

Read more »

La Fiorentina Fabric

We get a lot of inquiries on the fabric used on this sofa, and we finally found it!

The fabric is called La Fiorentina and it is designed by Ashley Hicks for Lee Jofa.  It's made of 100% linen and comes in several colorways.  The pattern number is 2430-GWF and you can find it in our Lee Jofa fabric section.  The color code shown here  is 97. 

Read more »

Inspirational Decorating Photos

We would like to make a little announcement today. A few months back we announced the launch of Digging Decor, which originally was conceived as a design blog.

As the months went by, we decided the better approach was to re-design it as a  decorating community site, with the focus on decorating photos.

If you're anything like us, you rather look at the pictures than read the text, right?  The goal for the site is to be the largest library of decorating photos, all well-indexed and well-categorized for easy searching with proper credit given to the original source.

We hate to toot our own horn, but the site is quite lovely and quite sleek.  In addition to having tons of pictures, you can also join the community to ask fellow members questions like-- how to do this, where to find what etc.  You can also post your own blog, upload picture of your favorite room, and get updated on deals and designed-related events.

We would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it if you come visit the site, and better yet, be a part of our community and submit your favorite decorating photos.  Thanks in advance!

                                                          Interior Design Photos

Read more »

New Online Design Magazines

Online decorating magazines seem to be a growing sector, starting with the success of Lonny. 

There are a couple of new ones that you might want to check out.  The first one is Adore Home, which is an Australian online magazine.  The content is a bit thin for the first issue, but it looks like it has potential.

The second one is Rue Magazine.  This one is huge (over 200 pages). The first issue has a large section devoted to design blogs.  This one seems really exciting if they can keep up the content.

Read more »

More Mediterranean Decorating...

They say McMansions are dead, but if you happen to already have one , this is a nice way to decorate it.

We like how the scale is done.  The rooms seem enormous, but the furnishings are scaled accordingly ....They look tasteful, don't they? 

Photo credit:  Matthew Nichols Group

To see more pictures, click here.

Read more »

Decorating in Chocolate...

Just a few pretty things in chocolate/brown/silver color scheme...

You can find them all at our home accessories site...

Read more »

Turquoise Chandelier

We often get inquiries about this striking chandelier:

Photo Credit: Atlanta Homes Magazine

The chandelier is made by Marjories Kouras Design. It comes in several colorways (but turquoise is by far the most popular one).  It retails for $6900 with a lead time of 12 weeks.  You can buy it directly at the vendor site...

Read more »

Time for Christmas...great gift ideas

All images from Mooza Designs

Already the shops have Christmas decorations and since I love shopping and Christmas, I am always on the lookout for wonderful gift ideas. Yesterday, the Herald Sun featured a company called Mooza Designs who create gorgeous hand crafted resin and acrylic letters, words and symbols. Imagine receiving a gift like the word BLISS personalised for you in all your favourite colours. I have 6 nieces and forever racking my brain as to what I can get them for Christmas...always something special just for them. I think this will be one my Christmas list.

Mrs B

Read more »

Modern Mediterranean Decorating

Mediterranean houses are big here in California.  The problem is many of them are done terribly.  Quite often you see these large, sometime huge, faux Mediterranean tract homes with matching furniture set, heavy draping, granite counter tops--and once you see one house you see them all. They all look the same!

You only have to watch Real Housewives of Orange County to know what we're talking about.

So we were so happy to stumble upon a beautiful house in Santa Monica while browsing for real estate (just for fun, mind you).  Here is a great Mediteranean home that's done right.  See how the furniture is light, nothing is matchy matchy, and the colors are so fun and bright?

Photo credit:  DavidOffer.com

PS And just in case you are curious, the house is for sale for $3.795M.  That's California for you!

Read more »

What the hell was Gap thinking?

Did you see Gap's new logo? Isn't it a monstrosity? 

What the hell was Gap thinking?  This looks like one of those fonts you download from the web for free because you're too cheap to pay the $39 or whatever to get a decent one.

Read more »

The Beach House...Completed for now!

Front View

Finally the beach house is finished. Months of hard work by Mr B...plumbing, painting, rubbish removal (never ending trips to the tip) scraping, floor sanding, lighting and landscaping , it is now finally available as a normal rental. The photos don't do any justice as to how nice it looks compared to the before shots. I now have this great desire to start another project I have wanted to do for many years...to rent it out as a holiday cottage, fully furnished and of course decorated in the Sarah Richardson way.



The kitchen...well, not much we could do at this stage. Just a good scrub, a new oven given to use by our best friends, painted the underneath the bench white and put on some new taps. Eventually, I will get an IKEA kitchen like on this fabulous blog A Beach Cottage

I think give 4 years and we may be in a position to set it up as a Holiday House. I still need to do some research and see if its a viable option for the area. At the moment, we need a steady income flow from a long term renter. Already, we have had a number of people just knock at the door wanting to rent it but not go through an agent. This is just not going to happen as an agent checks references and deals with issues that may arise. I will always use an agent as its my peace of mind. Now its finished (to a tidy up standard) I can see the potential that this little 1960's beach shack has to offer. No longer have we any desire to knock it down but keep the house the way it is just add 2 major outdoor areas with decking, barbecue area and of course beautiful seating so guests can enjoy the views. So many of these type of houses are being knocked down and replaced with big double story contemporary homes that are capable of sleeping up to 12-15 people. I think this narrows your market as these houses rent only to the family market in Summer time. My idea is to appeal to couples as a weekend retreat throughout the year. It will only sleep 6 and I think this is a good way to advertise it.

The curtains are from IKEA and although the photos do not do them any justice, they look fantastic in real life. I wanted to get the big ringlets (not sure of the correct name) so they are easy to open and shut. These windows took 6 large panels with 2 panels worth $50. I got them all taken up professional so the end result looks like they were custom made for these windows. The floors Mr B and his friend did theme selves. almost killed both of them. They are also the most beautiful feature of the house. Not sure if the pics show (Mr b took the pictures of course LOL) but they are red gum parquetry and very expensive in today's dollars. So for a cheap 1960's beach holiday home, it now starting to show its beautiful features.... I just had to look past all the other stuff.

Mrs B

Read more »