It seems like this time of year is just right for this palette- a hint of spring, but with grey or black it can remain moody enough for this in-between weather. Why not embrace your inner Lakers fan- wait, we can’t pretend to care about the NBA… but if it gets this color story past the man in your life…we say spin it however you must!

If nothing else, take this from us- a lavender range or bathtub can go a long way to add style & statement, and a yellow high gloss door can never be wrong!

Thanks to Julie @ Shelter for bringing those heels to our attention, and also for featuring our Rue piece last week!

We’ve taken our break and we’re ready to go. Is everyone excited about 2012 or is it just us?

Here’s to all of you who stop by our little blog and keep up with the happenings at LSI- we appreciate you and are excited to share our latest install, coming this week, so stay tuned for that.

Happy New Year, everyone. Let’s make it the best year yet!

Never mind that it’s 60F and raining…we’re getting ready to sink into the nostalgia and magic of the holiday season.

And unicorns. We’re going to say it now, unicorns are the new stag heads. Spec’ing them for all future clients…

We’ve Succumbed. Here’s to embracing apples, extra carbs, and sunset at 6pm sharp.

Bottoms Up!

 Have a great weekend everyone!

images via Matchbook Mag, and unknown via tumblr

We’re not sure you’ve noticed, but LSI has been out of pocket for the last week or so, blog-world wise. We had a client install that went amazingly, and a show room design for our dear friends at Red Egg for Market week which went so well that we were awarded best showroom design by none other than Margaret Russel & David Easton, who judged this year’s competition- talk about something to smile about! Here’s the photo that got us “the cup”:

Shopping market, meeting up with friends new and old… we’ve been distracted. We’ll be back in full force next week with all of our pics from High Point Market.

 As part-time bloggers we sometimes struggle to find the right phrase to express our minds.

Maybe it’s not that we’re unpracticed or undisciplined writers? Maybe it’s just that the words don’t exist for us?

Via Avanza Press, a little lesson in what we’re missing here in the USA, we thought we’d share some of these lovely notions:

 And because we’re all about the visual, too, a pretty little picture for your weekend-

vintage Kate, looking like a school girl herself:

Have a great one!

Our installation at the March of Dimes Designer Show House went as smoothly as we had hoped, thanks to our fantastic team!

And now it’s your turn… Come out and support this wonderful cause while viewing the work of Charlotte’s best of the best. If you’ve entertained the idea of hiring an interior designer, you need some inspiration, or you’re looking for the perfect piece to add to your home, this is a great venue to get your design fix. Here’s a little sneak peek at our bedroom in this beautiful Eastover home:

Want to see more?

**UPDATE**

A complete list of the designers supporting the March of Dimes Show House is as follows:

We’re thrilled to be in such great company. Just a reminder to come out to support this great cause- doors open tomorrow!

The October House Beautiful hit the stands….

So. Newell going bold in this one. The article written by stylist Craig Schumacher in the Oct. issue is unlike any we’ve read in the interiors world. It’s unusual, and frankly we think it’s brilliantly brave to address the ideas of living beyond your means in a world where image is often everything.

No one relishes the idea of scaling back their living space due to necessity. What we love about this article is the idea that you can still live with what you love, sacrificing nothing, as the title suggests, and with great style to boot.

Craig’s style, as he admits, is majorly Anglophilian (possibly not an actual word, but you get the point). It’s not what we do usually, but we love that he loves it and he’s become a master of layering in his downscaled space. Even if this isn’t to your taste, the images paired with the article made a great piece. Seriously, you should all read it.

Layer layer layer. It’s what we always say to ourselves when we discuss designs for client’s spaces. It’s inspirational that Craig refuses to lose his “things” even though his home is now a smaller rental. The effect is so cozy.

Thank You, HB, for such an interesting, honest, and different kind of article. We enjoyed it.

Also, if someone can explain this whole digital watermarking thing… how DOES this work? Crazy!

 Prada. McQueen. MeowMiu?

It appears that the folks over at Fashionista had a little fun with Photoshop & kitty pics.

We guess when it’s your job to scour the Fall ad campaigns, they can all start to run together.

We know what it’s like to get a little silly working long hours, but they’ve taken it to the next level. 

It really is hard to pick a favorite.

Fashionista via The Terrier & Lobster

…after Labor Day.

Already planning to pair black leggings and tights with white dresses, white denim tucked into boots we’ve had since high school, and if you’re lucky we’ll break out the vest like RR in the Great Gatsby!

images via Fashion Gone Rogue, House and Home, unknown, pinterest, Mr. Redford via Esquire article on men wearing white after LD.

This past week we worked on design concepts and ideas for one of our new Charlotte clients. Normally we like to keep the specifics of our work in progress under wraps, saving the details and the design lovelies for our client’s eyes only- at least until AFTER the installation… otherwise known as “the wow moment”.

We thought it might be fun, however, to show you a little more about how we work. For this particular job, we’re straddling the lines of our Luxe/Mini Luxe services. We jokingly call these tear sheets our “Lisa Sherry Playing Cards”.  Conveniently grouped by room, we’ve gathered inspiration & mood images along with paint swatches, wall & window treatments, accessories & specified product ideas.

 The cards come with detailed floor plans that relate back to the items we’ve selected for our client. What makes this kind of project plan great is that it’s so versatile. From here we can do the leg work, or our client can shop at his leisure, taking it room by room as he pleases. And we mean that literally- the cards are so much more portable than a large scale design board, you can take them with you as a guide when you shop.

If you are at a point where you need that little bit of guidance in your home, our MiniLuxe service might be perfect for you. Read more about it here.

How do we feel about this?

by Gray Concrete, out of the UK.

Those smarties cast a Chesterfield out of concrete, made to plunk (that’s a big plunk…) out in the yard. So what do we think? In a better setting could we see this making sense? Maybe here:

or down a garden path, stashed amidst the iris:

or here, on the lawn of the Lime Wood, tucked under one of their huge evergreens:

So what do we think? Are we taking it or leaving it?

One thing we are definitely into- their custom stamped concrete walls for this Manolo outpost in Dublin:

Let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into this weekend.

What does everyone have planned? Hope it’s on the decadent end of the spectrum!

image via the life of Polarn Per

A few months ago we got a visit from the incomparable Ron Fiore, Creative Director of Hickory Chair. Ron is a sort of superstar in the furniture industry, a creative genius quietly living outside of High Point, NC. It was just after this past Spring market when he came by our studio with our friend and photographer, Kenton Robertson. We were chatting about Hickory Chair and how the Suzanne Kasler line came to be and the story he told us was so interesting, we thought we’d share.

Prior to Suzanne’s line for HC, there weren’t many furniture lines rep’d by large companies that had great feminine appeal. Ron and Jay had been talking about the future of HC, and how they needed to tap into the female buyer- what did she want, what did she need, what was she looking for? Women still spend 85% of a household’s income, and while we personally see more husband-involvement in client purchasing now than ever before, it’s true that women hold the purse strings.

One night Ron had a dream, and woke up thinking “POWDER BLUE”. Powder blue, powder blue- it was just stuck in his head, this color, some kind of significance was attached to it in the dream -but he didn’t know it’s meaning.

The next day he was standing in the reception area at Hickory Chair. The door opened, and in walked this woman- precisely dressed in powder blue Prada drivers, a powder blue Prada bag, wrapped in a powder blue pashmina.

POWDER BLUE! It was Suzanne Kasler.

Suzanne had come to Hickory Chair to present a line based on her personal collection of antiques and a few custom designs she had completed for clients. Ron told us that they were so impressed with her vision, which tapped right into the need they were seeing in the marketplace at that time. Since then the Kasler line has been a complete success, starting the move toward designer lines produced and sold by Hickory Chair. We have to admit, there’s hardly a piece of her line that we couldn’t use in any of our current projects.

Here’s a pic we shot that day of Lisa & Ron (who, we’ve heard, is rarely seen sans Yankees cap). Thanks, Ron, for sharing that little bit of serendipity with us. Even in the world of design it seems there are sometimes greater forces at work!

Elle Decor, Tiny Horses, Big Plans & Kelly Wearstler

Just a regular day at the studio.