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.

Black & white & round. Bold lettering wrapped around dozens of simple stems.

That unexpected color on the sole of a classic shoe.

Sometimes keeping it uncomplicated is best (remember the KISS principle?)… but we gotta say, we love it with an added wink.

images via Imaginations & Revelations & STREETFSN

***UPDATE- Just found out through super talent Bonnie Tsang that the top right image is from tokketok.

Thanks for the info Bonnie!

So it’s true we’ve neglected our twitter account. But we’re gearing up again to give you little sneak peaks of what we’re working on. Won’t you join us? Constance and Ginta will be there, when they’re not busy backstage at D&G, of course.

Speaking of what’s coming up, High Point Market is just a month away, and we’ve added a couple of showrooms to the “to do” list. More on that next week- for now here’s a quick pic of one of our fact finding missions. This Spring we’d be crazy to consider anything but COLOR COLOR COLOR.

Be sure to click over to twitter and hit “FOLLOW” if you want the inside scoop. We promise to follow you right back.

Have a FAB weekend!

top image via Crush Cul de Sac tumblr/ backstage at D&G Fall11 RTW runway

Icon Elsa Peretti’s elegant designs look as modern today as they did when first created for Tiffany & Co. Rooted in nature, the deceptively simplistic forms acquire a sophisticated twist, be it a crystal Thumbprint Bowl or a sterling Bone Candlestick.

They call to mind our own philosophies for design & life. What is Principe No. 3? Live in Reality (but dress it up)!

image via House Beautiful

~Have a Thankful (and cozy) Weekend~

“Love of beauty is Taste. The creation of beauty is Art.”  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have a beautiful weekend~