Move over, Von Trapp Family.

Men. Prada. Patterned pants. We love it.

If ever there were a time we’d be tempted to dig into his side of the closet, this would be it. We love printed pants ourselves but it takes a special guy to pull these off:

Very “Lilly goes to Italy”.

Let’s not stop there. Tommy Ton was shooting in Milan last week, too. One more detail, for the boys, love the contrast of the glacier colored laces & sky blue with chocolate:

And if you’re going to do the neon trend, maybe you spin it like this?:

images via Sartorialist, Cool e Chic, & Style.com

About a week ago we had a shoot in Charlotte at friend/client turned member of the LSI team Michel’s house. Whew, that was a mouthful- but it’s true. We met Michel & fell in love, and now she’s one of us. See why below!

A little last minute style & prep, and then the team from Charlotte Home & Garden arrived!

First things first- coffee! Then the ladies headed to the living room to talk story while Chris scouted out his shots:

This shoot was really a dream. So easy-going! Here Michel tells the story of how she went from licensed therapist to interior decorator for LSI. Lisa helped Michel take her home (which houses 3 rambunctious boys + husband) to that next level, pulling everything together- & in the process saw Michel’s innate talent firsthand.

Want to see just how the day went? We took a little video- this is basically Million Dollar Decorators… or not. But you get the idea. For those who haven’t been through a photo shoot, it kinda goes like this.all.day.long. You’ll have to click the link to watch our little peek behind the curtain, so to speak:

almost Bravo worthy

Don’t want to spoil the surprise and show you too much of the interior- you can see this home on our portfolio page but we know Chris will put his own photographer’s take on it- we can barely wait to see what shot he got while squeezed into this corner.

Blake & Lisa have a chat on a vintage yellow suzani:

Getting a look at the shot:

And then we moved upstairs to shoot the bedrooms, where we had a little extra entertainement…

Sadly we’ll all have to wait until October to see this issue hit the stands. Thanks to Lindsay, Blake & Chris, from Charlotte Home & Garden for making this such a great experience!

Beautiful photography by Brian W. Ferry, from his “Notes on Italy” photo diary. We can’t be there in person but we’ll let his pics transport us and remind us of visits in years past. Hope you all find a way to take a mental trip this weekend!

We had a hard time picking our favorites, so go to his blog “the blue hour” & see more of his work- there are eight installments of Italy alone! Happy Travels!

Sorry guys, just for the ladies this time. We couldn’t resist sharing some of our current favorites.

We wanted to share some of our summer finds. All tried & tested by the ladies of LSI!

1,2,3,4,5,6

We’ve been doing our research, and not just for the patio. We have a client who, at the moment, is looking to reupholster a vintage french sofa in an outdoor velvet- when you have kids but you still want white, this isn’t a bad option. Both Perennials and Sunbrella are making outdoor velvets… but we can’t stop at a solid. Here are some of our current favorites:

Pair these gorgeous Louis Soleil chairs with a beautiful textured neutral from Perennials, or go a little wild with their Crazy Cat:

Perennials also has very “of the moment” hand-painted looks. Swizzle, Swish & Swoop:

Osborne & Little’s Zancudo Line could work nicely with this Cloud Lounge Chair from our friends at Snug Furniture. The textures give it that slightly global vibe:

And of course if bohemian modern is your thing, look no further than Trina Turk for Schumacher which has captured everyone’s attention since its launch:

The bright colors are hard to resist, much like our other outdoor furniture fave, designer Patricia Urquiola, who’s W Vieques  was the destination of choice for this year’s post holiday getaway. Who wouldn’t want these in any color?

We first made note of illustrator Jenny Bowers when we saw her work for Kate Spade. After a quick look at her site, we also recall her illustrations for Elle Decoration. They feel so fun & just right for the lead in to a bright & cheery weekend.

Hope your Saturday & Sunday are equally as colorful!

images via Jenny Bowers & Kate Spade

When we want glamour, elegance, personality, point of view & lived in luxury, (not to mention some of the most beautiful interiors of our time), we pull this one out of the stacks. Not new, but we want to make sure you all have it- Vogue Living: Houses Gardens People. It inspires every time- a true “must have”.

Sometimes we wonder if we post too much fashion on our blog. After all, we are not fashion designers- we’re interior designers. BUT. There are so many ways in which we are inspired by something from a fashion spread- from colors to textures to composition, we believe inspiration comes from everywhere & anywhere. After running across this tumblr last week, we’ve amassed quite a collection of new inspiration. So we thought maybe you’d like to see how we dissect & reapply all of this visual stimuli. For example:

Any of these references could get worked into an interior. Our eyes are always open for that new idea or a reminder to think in unexpected ways.

As often as possible this summer, we’re Bald Head bound.

Kathryn found this image via Olivet; her birthday dinner in the sand is our kind of casual.

Have a great weekend!

Clean, simple, add flowers and candles. Get out the sea fan, your collection of sea glass, or gather veggies from the farmers market on the table. We are inspired by subtle summer style.

image 1, 2, 4 & 7 via aesthetically thinking, 3 from design darling, 5 via Trad Home, 6&7 via From the Right Bank