Sarah Richardson

I am crushing hard right now on Sarah Richardson. If you are not familiar with her, she is a Canadian Interior Designer who has a few shows on HGTV in Canada. I've been watching the episodes of Sarah's House and Sarah 101 online. She and her sidekick/design partner Tommy are so fun to watch and create some beautiful rooms. Evidence: 

I couldn't find before stills online but, trust me, the transformations are huge. Sarah loves to use a mix of fabrics in her spaces. She said in one episode that she usually ends up with 10-12 different patterns in each room. Sounds scary but looks great. Inspiring. 

The Perfect Towel

I was just flipping through the new Serena and Lily catalog and found this towel:

It is a Turkish towel on one side but then (get this!) has terry cloth on the other side. I love it. I want to design our master bath around it. Maybe someday...

Outdoor Pot Refresh

With the weather heating up my thoughts have turned (as they do every year at this time) towards fixing up our backyard. Every year we try to do a few things to make it more inviting and we've come a long way since the state it was in when we moved in:

One of the main problems is that the back of our house is flat with a lot of unattractive but functional elements - a/c condenser, electrical panel, dryer vent, water shut off valve, etc. My plan all along has been to push out the back bedroom to create a master suite which, in addition to creating a great inside space, would address many of the issues with our backyard and allow us to move some of the unsightly elements. Because of this plan, I have also been hesitant to spend much money on the yard because I want to save money for the bigger project and don't want to do anything that would then get torn up or redone when we do the addition. Make sense? At the same time, I have yearned for an outdoor living space in addition to the outdoor dining table and chairs we've had. So, this year we are planning to extend the patio (using the old brick we dug up from the bizarre circle shown above) and hopefully add an arbor for some shade. The patio work is supposed to start tomorrow - hurray! In the meantime, I decided to fix up our fiberglass pots which had taken a beating over the years. Enter Rustoleum! 

Before: 

And after:

Now all they need are some plants!

I'm (Finally) Back

I apologize for my very looong absence. I got out of any blogging habit I had formed while on the trip and then became consumed with all the day-to-day stuff upon my return. It feels like we're in a race towards the end of the school year at both of my kids' schools and the activities and events are coming fast and furious. So all those little things I signed up to help out with seemed to hit at the same time. I've had, "Blog!" written on my sticky note to-do list on my desk for weeks now. Ack! I am going to try to do much better. 

That said, here are a few images form the trip:

Sac-Anaheim-Tucson-LA-Sac

My sweet family and I are on our crazy road trip for the next week. I will be focused on having fun - and trying to keep two young kids sane while strapped in the car for long stretches. You can follow the fun on my instagram account, username: sarahbmichaels.

Fabric Mix

I've noticed a lot of advice around the design blog world lately on how to mix-and-match patterns. I'm soaking it up like a sponge. Here are some I've run across...


From Jamie Meares, owner of Furbish: "When combining prints, use a floral, geometric, and striped pattern. Also, be sure to mix scales — including one large scale print and one of a smaller scale. She recommends that at least one pair of pillows match exactly. Another pair can be different, as long as the scale of their pattern is the same. For example, if you have a large geometric print on one side, balance it out with another geometric that is similar in size."

(via)

Jenny Komenda posted an awesome guide that included these pearls of wisdom: "one big pattern, one small, one stripe, one geometric, one floral/organic, plus or minus one animal print. But, rules are made to be broken, so just have fun with it and stick with what really speaks to you."

(via)

Ashley at the Handmade Home has this advice:

1. Play it smart 

2. It's all about contrast

3. They just need to "go"

4. Carry it through

5. Reinvent the obvious

(via)

Roman Shade DIY

Sometimes new neighbors move in and suddenly there is a need for window coverings where none were needed before. Such was the case for my mom. She consulted her decorator (lucky me!) and I decided to use the opportunity to try out a DIY project I had run across online. I used the directions on Little Green Notebook as my guide. She is amazing. Here is the before shot:

And after a bit of measuring and gluing - and my wonderful husband's installation skills:

I am planning to add a lining to the back. I purchased the lining at the fabric but then wanted to hang the shade first and see if we needed it. Also, I added a valance which isn't covered in the LGN tutorial. I just cut some extra material, glued cording to the bottom and then attached it to the back of the shade so it would flip over the top and hang in front. My mom and I are both pleased with how it turned out.