URBAN FARMHOUSE STYLE

MELLENCAMP'S VACATION HOME...

You may remember him as John "Cougar" Mellencamp, although he dropped the nickname and got serious about rock and roll.  Apparently he got serious about his home design as well - or at least hired a decorator who knew their stuff.

A little austere in places, his South Carolina Daufuskie Island retreat still has charm and tons of style, and still speaks to the heartland of America.

Rustic materials for the modern bed, shiplap walls and golden floors keep this room from feeling too severe.  It has rustic, masculine appeal.  The dark painted ceiling adds a layer of coziness.

OBSESSING ABOUT: HERRINGBONE

I've been working on a client's formal living room and this pattern kept cropping up in the fabrics

and rugs we chose.  I remembered how much I enjoy a little menswear pattern in a room

I wrote about it here first, but today I'm focusing on just one pattern...

via

Herringbone

BEACH HOUSE NEUTRALS

Sometimes I feel that we are overdone here in the OC.  We have the ocean close by, the warm sand between our toes, ocean breezes to cool our summers, palm trees punctuating our neighborhoods and a surf board in every garage - but our homes look like carbon copy Spanish villas with red tile roofs and stucco walls and our interiors bear no resemblance to the coastal region we pay so dearly to be near.  

CHOOSING A COLOR PALETTE

MEOWWW 

I've always loved the color palette of a Siamese Cat.  Creamy beiges,

deep browns, dark charcoal, and those calm blue eyes.

There is a reason they are so beautiful.  Nature knows the perfect

color palette!