Thanks for the Feature!

My Showhouse room was featured on the blog, Love Where You Live, written by Susan Fox. It was so nice to meet Susan and to have my space featured. She has a lovely blog, please check it out!

I'm planning a giveaway coming up in a week or so. It will be something from my showhouse room. Stay tuned!

Pillows - Which Design is Right for You?

Pillows are a wonderful accessory for fine tuning a style in a room and adding comfort and luxury. Neutral upholstery and bedding can be punched up with color and pattern with pillows. They only take a yard or so of fabric and can easily be changed out when styles change or you tire of the look.

The pillows above in my Showhouse bedroom on the ivory bedding make a graphic, colorful statement in the space. I chose a simple knife edge design to keep the focus on the patterns and variation of size and color, rather than the detail of the pillow construction.

Large scale graphic patterns provide a big visual impact and are very popular now. These large designs look great with minimal fuss or trimming. Pillows below are from Ryan Studio.

Solid colors look great with special details. Trim, edging, special added details like buttons all work well with solid color pillows.


I love applied tape trim on pillows.

The tape trim here gives a dimensional quality and pattern to this pillow.


Sometimes a pillow just needs a contrasting edge to make it stand out on the background. I love this flat pipe. The smaller and neater the better.


Tape trim and a flat pipe....nice statement pillow.


I love mini-flanges too. Trim and neat, this mini-flange uses some pleats at the corners to dress it up a bit.





More applied tape trim with a small piping to bring some contrast and interest. Carol at Sofas and Sage has a great tutorial on how to mitre tape trim on pillows.

Monograms are a classic touch, especially in a bedroom.



I'm definitely going bigger with pillows now, 22" square minimum, 24" and 26" sometimes. I always do down unless someone is allergic. They just sit so well on upholstery. I love custom sized pillows too. This large rectangular pillow above was 24" x 46". By contrast, the small velvet pillow is 9" x 14".

If you have pillows like these below, tapestries with tassles, it's time to update. Don't worry, things all come back around so don't toss them out. Just delete a few and throw in some simple textural linen pillows for a cleaner, 2011 look. (BTW, these two are not from Ryan Studio.)
These above are a little heavy and ornate for how we are decorating today.



I love these custom patterned linen pillows that Donna Jarnigan used in our Showouse on the sofa in the game room. The long linear shape accentuates the high back of the sofa and provides just the right amount of contrast.




These raw silk pillows on the guest room bed, done by Pamela Hoffer, benefit from some detail with the edging and buttons. Love these.

Lastly, I sometimes like statement pillows. That one unique pillow that really stands out, a little piece of art. Sukan Handmade Design pillows on Etsy has some beautiful handmade pillows that would be perfect on a bed or upholstered chair.

What is it about owls right now? They are such a popular motif. Love them!

Love this hand stitched design.

These would be so cute in a child's room!

If you're thinking of updating your decor just a little bit, pillows are the perfect place to start!

Need some advice on pillows for your home? Contact Aston Design Studio for a consult today!

Shopping for Showhouse Accessories

I've been shopping for accessories for my Showhouse bedroom for a teenaged girl. It's so much fun! Since I have a 20 year old daughter, I just imagined what she would like and went with that. I found the book above at Anthropologie. It's a collection of stories from famous creative people, who recount their first moves to NYC....actors, journalists, artists, writers, etc. from the last 50 years. It's perfect for my teenaged client who envisions herself living there someday! I found the bronze Empire State Bldg statue at a local antique mall.

I raided my daughter's bookshelf for her old Gossip Girl books and picked up some current fashion magazines.
The jewelry tree is a decorative metal tree from Aidan Gray. It's nice for jewelry, crystals, and the odd things my client wishes to adorn it with. Sort of a whimsical artistic display.

I found this colorful assortment of bowls at Anthropologie for jewelry and such to sit under the tree.

Rectangular frame is from Marshall's, round one is from Anthropologie.

Turquoise vase is from Target. Platter is from Marshall's. All the jewelry was a real deal at Forever 21.

Love the bright punches of color in these prints from Unique Arts of Houston. I hung them in frames painted to match the wall.

Love this corded trim below, from Robert Allen for the leading edge of my sheers. Great contrast with the dark French doors.

Come and visit the Showhouse in Sienna Plantation. It starts this weekend! I'll be there all three upcoming weekends.

Mixing Old and New Furnishings - at the Showhouse

I love eclectic mixes of furnishings. After all, we don't always acquire every bit of new furniture at one time in our lives. Tastes, budgets, and needs change over the years and making the old work with the new can be a challenge. Eclectic doesn't mean jumbled or crazy or anything goes. There has to be purpose to the mix in order for it all to come together. It's really kind of an art.

In my upcoming Showhouse bedroom for an older teen girl, I've used some vintage pieces and some new ones to create a unique space that speaks to the unique personality of my imaginary client. Just like most of us, "Phoebe" likes lots of different styles and finds the art of the mix fun and expressive.

I found this old chair frame in Bryan, TX in a dusty antique shop. I loved the simple lines of the legs, arms, and wings.

I put a Thom Felicia fabric on it and painted the legs in a vibrant turquoise. I love the way the stripes sort of exaggerate the wings. It's a bit whimsical, don't you think?




Here's my grandmother's old 1950's dresser I found in my mother's garage. It was sanded and refinished.

Love the lucite knobs and serpentine base. It has such a nice retro vibe.

I found these old French fashion magazine ads from the 50's in a local antique mall. Great drawings with a hint of color. I framed them in some Target do-it-yourself metallic frames and some new dark turquoise mats to give them a stronger presence on the white walls.

A consignment store find. Doesn't this scream "grandmother" to you? Doilies? Really? It had such curvy, graceful legs though and a simple design. I thought it would make a great base for my jewelry tree. Phoebe could store bowls of her jewelry around the base.

At the finishing shop. It was mahogany with lots of red in the finish and a little veneer damage. I wanted to take the red out and make it more brown colored. My refinisher had to stain it with a green tinted stain to get about 90% of the red out.

Doesn't it look totally different in a more modern space?

This nightstand had some nice detail, but that red!!!

Painted white to match the walls it takes on a more modern look. Love the brass hardware.

I was looking for a really tall 60's look vintage lamp for the dresser. Perfect!

Primed, painted, rewired, and a new shade later......

Love the color.

Now for some of my new pieces.

Love these mirrors in patterns that repeat my pillow fabric patterns. They will be hung over the head of the bed to reflect the light from the balcony doors. I think they add some glamour to the space.

My ghost chair. It goes anywhere!

The custom queen daybed I had made looks great in the space. I wanted to give my client more floor space for a lounge area in the room and a clear path to the balcony, so I pushed the bed up in the corner of the room. The white vinyl has no grain, it's not pretending to be leather. The bed is designed to be sold as a queen bed with headboard. The side headboard is actually king size and can be removed and used separately. This makes such a great backdrop for my beautiful, graphic pillows.

Just a few of my many pillows that will be tossed on the bed.

I love the new 8' round wool flokati I found online. With my gray sisal on the floor, the white flokati provides a wonderful textural contrast and brings the white color down to the floor.

My new bulletin board I had made to hang over the dresser. White linen with some great tape trim. The pattern repeats the pattern in one of the pillow fabrics.

New ottoman that will sit on the flokati. The Brentano velvet is so rich and plush.

If you are in the Houston area, drop in to the Showhouse in Sienna Plantation! It opens next weekend and runs until April 17th. Open Tuesday through Sunday. Come see the mix!

If you like an eclectic mix of furnishings but are unsure of how to put it all together, contact Aston Design Studio for a consultation to begin the design of your creative, eclectic interior.