A Weekend Away

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French Bench

There are so many places in my home for one of these little beauties - the living room, the foyer, or drawn up alongside a dining table instead of chairs. 

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Dreamy Desks

I've been spending a lot of time at my desk lately.  My desk is a thin IKEA Malm table, which has worked very well for our small spaces over the past 6 years.  But these days,  I'm longing for something with a little more heft.  Aren't the office spaces below dreamy?

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My desk is pictured below.  See what I mean?  

Its time for something with a little more style and room to maneuver.

Here it is in my office. 

(Don't mind the pull out bed - I had guests this weekend.)

Gallery Wall in the Guest Room

I finally got tired of the blank wall above the bed in our guest room.  In a quick fit of frenzied decorating, I nailed up a quick gallery of photos and art I had lying around.  What do you think?  Yea or nay?

Hearst Castle

At the end of this week, I'm traveling to California's central coast for my son's blessing.  We'll be staying in Cayucos, CA just south of Hearst Castle, the famous home of William Randolf Hearst.  I grew up in Paso Robles, 40 miles east of the Hearst property and always enjoyed living so close to the castle.  Since my very first visit as a child, I have been in awe of the indoor pool.  The astonishing tile work is awesome to behold in person. Its like a Classical Roman dream-scape. 

Here is the man himself.

He began building the castle in 1919 and never finished construction.  You can see the castle below, perched atop the coastal mountain range.  At one time, the property included 240,000 acres of property surrounding the castle.  This included 60 miles of the California coast line. 

Here is Hearst with his architect, Julia Morgan.

If you have a chance to meet Hearst Castle in person, I highly recommend it.  I probably won't have an opportunity to see it during my visit this weekend, but I love that this amazing castle in the clouds has always been in the back yard of my home town of Paso Robles.  I'll make sure to wave as I drive by.

Sarah Saw Something

Time for another weekly installment of Sarah Saw Something, where I share little bits and bobs that I found interesting in the blogosphere this week. Enjoy!

This doily bowl tutorial is awesome.  I'm going to try it out!

I knew something was fishy when the posts at Design Refuge became very infrequent.  On Monday, we finally got an answer when Dagny, the mind behind Design Refuge, finally resurfaced.  Looks like Dagny is ready to hand over the reigns. But who will take over?  I don't know anything about organizing a real online resource, otherwise I might give it a stab. Read more HERE.

Also on Monday, Tobe of Two Tall Blondes explained that she would no longer blog as part of the Two Tall Blondes partnership.  She is striking out on her own.  Toby writes, "I have come to realize that it's time to break away and start fresh from a truly individual point of view."  But do not fear - Toby has already started a new blog called Because Its Awesome. Check it out ya'll.

...and finally, I love three year old Jonathan conducting Beethoven's Fifth.




Oh, and P.S. I got a little shout out at Elle Decor.com yesterday in their "Insider's Weekly Finds" section. Read it HERE.  Fun!

Have a beautiful weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday!

XO

Vintage Royal "Arrow" Typewriter

First: a funny story.  Funny and in hind sight, dangerous.  I was standing at my stove prepping veggies to go into a pot that was on a burner.  I stood there day dreaming about possible design ideas for my living room when I smelled something odd and felt heat on my belly.  I look down and my shirt - my favorite J.Jill pullover - was on fire. On freaking FIRE!  I beat the flames out with my vegetables and assess the damage.  No burns.  Good.  No stove damage. Good.  But my poor shirt is a goner.  So, to memorialize my favorite shirt, I made her into a throw pillow for the bed in the guest room, which I am trying to spruce up for a family visit this weekend.

Ta da!  I backed the pillow with fake leather.

 

This was the original shirt... but mine, of course, was navy blue.

And now to the title of my post... I scored this amazing vintage Royal "Arrow" Typewriter for my Etsy shop.  Its a portable and comes happily situated in its own case.  The original ad in the Sears Catalog is below. 

Isn't she pretty?

Interested?  

More information can be found HERE.

House Tour: Michael Piero

I just found this beautiful home designed by Michael Piero.  The style is not what I'm usually drawn to, but I love the monochromatic scheme and the simplicity of the furnishings.  You can see the full tour HERE.

Fine Art Construction

Like most little boys, My three-year-old is obsessed - O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D. - with construction in all its many forms.  I just ran across the work of Michael Clement, and thought ,"Now this is fine art my son can really get into."  Take a look:

Micheal Clement via The Ape