Serengeti Style

Living room by Dan Carithers

I've noticed the attention my Creature Comforts post has been getting recently, so I thought I'd give you guys a little more of what you want! (And, as I said in that post, a little animal print goes a long way!)

Study by Elaine Griffin

Bedroom by Bradley Thiergarten - Photo courtesy of Habitually Chic

Library by Schuyler Samperton

Bedroom by Stephen Shubel

Half way through the week!

Let the sun shine

Living room by Schuyler Samperton

The sun is finally beginning to reemerge after days of gloom here, and, in order to honor its reappearance, I thought I would showcase a few rooms that are flooded with light.


Bedroom by Michelle Workman

Sparkling with glass and lucite and glowing with soft peach walls, this room invites its inhabitants (Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony) in to relax.


Bedroom by Michelle Workman



Bedroom by Katie Ridder

This bedroom is a more energetic space, buzzing from the combination of patterns, textures, and colors.


Design by Amanda Nisbet

Blush and fuchsia in the same space? Pink perfection!


Home of Sarah Jessica Parker by Eric Hughes


As this bedroom is part of a Hamptons beach house, Hughes used a good dose of white to create a clean and simple retreat.

Bedroom by Eric Hughes



Design by Molly Luetkemeyer of M. Design Interiors

I absolutely love this bedroom by Miss Molly Luetkemeyer. The warmth from the pink on the textured walls is further augmented by the wood accent furniture, kilim-style rug, and tones from the chevron-striped curtains.

Bedroom by M. Design Interiors


I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and enjoy a little sunshine wherever you are!


Global Warming

Living area by Molly Luetkemeyer of M. Design Interiors

Don't you just love a home that has that far-away flair? There is something so energizing about interiors that can create a fantasy, making you feel like you are a world away from everyday life.

Molly Luetkemeyer does just that in the living room above with a carefully selected mixture of modern, traditional, and exotic furniture and accessories. I love that rug and the fabrics on the sofa pillows!

Bedroom by Greek designer Tetty Stefanou

From the suzani on the wall to the antique curtain fragments that make up the bed cover, this room's design is sure to carry you away to distant lands. (It's location in the Greek isles doesn't hurt either!)


Bedroom by Peter Dunham

Designer Peter Dunham has been a world traveler since he was a child, and his sense of the exotic is certainly reflected in his interiors and fabric collections.

Bedroom by Kemble Interiors

How great are these vintage suitcases? The pairing of chocolate brown and blue is quite classic, but the pattern of the fabric and texture of the wall gives the room a more modern allure.

Jacques Grange gets playful in his own home, displaying a wild assortment of art and objects.

Could you work a feathered headdress into your interiors?


Bedroom by John Robshaw

I originally came across the bedroom above when I was looking for inspiration for a friend's bedroom, but I fell in love with the room's combination of patterns and wall color (and green is not something I would normally gravitate to). Travelling to places such as China, India, and Thailand, Robshaw has perfected the art of creating exotic, block-printed textiles.

Bedroom by Lisa Fine

Here is a bedroom by yet another textile designer, Lisa Fine. Aren't those green bed posts intriguing?

Vignette by Schuyler Samperton

Love the bone-inlaid chest, love the blue and white vases, and love the fiddle-leaf fig tree peeking in the side of the photo!

Living area by Sara Gilbane Interiors

I think this last room of the day perfectly illustrates what exotic accents in interior design can achieve in a room: interest and warmth. Combining a rich wall color, an unexpected light fixture, a zebra rug, and some striking textiles gives this room a cozy, yet worldly look, and creates quite the romantic reverie!

Inspiration Interpretation

And so it begins....

Artwork by Artman757 on Etsy

Again, this is just an example, but here is how it all started... My friend, "K" we'll call her, saw a painting while we were out and wondered if I could design interiors based on that painting. The painting was not exactly like, but not totally unlike, the painting above. It had horses in it, textural, chunky paint, and maybe an American flag in there somewhere (although K was quick to point out that she doesn't necessarily like Americana kitsch).

So I thought.... and thought.... and thought, then I started looking. I had seen designs (of which style I am unaware) that looked kind of Spanish, kind of California, kind of western, but kind of traditional. So, I set out to find pics that could help me pin down the ideas swirling around in my brain.

Home of Diane Keaton featured in Architectural Digest

It all started coming together when I saw a picture from Diane Keaton's book, California Romantica, that was part of an editorial in a magazine. It displayed (coincidentally enough) a beautiful painting of horses over a heavy wood console. (The photo above is from an older layout in AD.)


Bedroom by Michael S. Smith


I immediately thought of Michael Smith, too. He did a house in Arizona that was featured in last September's Veranda where he employed oriental rugs and heavy wood furnishings to create a eclectic, worldly sort of look.

Vignette by Richard Hallberg and Barbara Wiseley

Vignette by Schuyler Samperton

K is a very fun and colorful person so, when I saw this photo of a stylish but playful room by Miss Samperton, I knew it had to be considered as well.

Design by Joe Minton

And you can never really go wrong with bright, blue-and-white pottery (especially when paired with heavy, wood furnishings).

So, with all of these photos as inspiration, I created the following living room....

These are just a few of the items I put together for K's future living room. (The layout of the room would obviously depend on her future apartment's design.) The background would be the wall color, Cape May Cobblestone by Benjamin Moore. The plein aire-style painting is by Tom Brown, the Karlstad sofa is by IKEA, the linen ikat curtains are West Elm, and the rug is World Market. The blue-and-white ginger jar and French altar candlestick lamp images were found in random online searches, while the metal scrollwork bench and English barley-twist cabinet are antiques found at a local antiques gallery.

K said she wanted interiors she could grow into and layer onto, and I think these pieces would give her home a sense of style, while still allowing her the freedom to build her own collections of artwork and accessories over time.

So.... what d'ya think? (Please be kind! I am a beginner after all!)

Have a great weekend, everyone!