Oh Baby, Baby

We are so excited we cant stand it...
My son text messaged us that his wife started having contractions in the morning.

We than got a message that she was in labor... 

The mid wives are there and yes, they are having her at home.

We started to text message our family and friends.

Every centimeter we got a text....
We continued to pray that her delivery would be easy and our Scarlett would come in to this world with ease.
We are waiting.....
The anticipation is killing us.
So excited...

And.........
Can't explain the feeling, but total joy!
She has been born. 


 Picture from Pinterest

Emily Followill Photography & Styling

(Meridy King Interiors)


Emily Followill is a photographer that I have admired for sometime now.
 Emily has been a photographer for 18 years. 

She has photographed many designs for some of the top designers and has had her images adorn the covers of many popular magazines.

Emily feels that every room tells a story about the home owner.
 She tries to capture the essence and soul of the room she is photographing.
 

(Meridy King Interiors) 

I have had my work photographed many times and know how important it is to style it for the camera.

 What looks good for every day does not always look good in a photograph.

(Betty Burgess)

I asked her if she could give us some tips on styling for photographing our designs and our homes. 

Here are some general rules, but Emily said, sometimes rules are made to be broken.


   1) Fewer fabulous  accessories are better than a lot of smaller ones.

   2)Simple flower arrangement's, one type of flower in a vase makes a bigger statement than an arrangement of six different ones.

3) Focus on parts of the room, vignettes and details. They can be more powerful than the over all room shot.

(James Farmer)

Here is an example where Emily has focused on the little details in a room.
 

(C. Weaks interior)
She has an eye for balance in a room. She knows how to capture the perfect image.

John Howard Landscaping Design Studio

(John Howard Landscape Design Studio)

Emily has a gift of conveying the message behind the vision of the photograph.
 I hope you enjoyed Emily's work and some of her styling tips. 

You can visit her web-site here.

 Remember, rules can be broken!

Thanks for visiting...

Santa Barbara Design House....

(Mary McDonald, Traditional Home)

The Santa Barbara design House event was a blast.
 It was so much fun to meet the designers and reps from different companies.
Not all the designers were there, but we met some wonderful, creative people.
The home was beautiful, the architect, Peter Becker and builder, Phillip Pennestri did an amazing job.

Mary McDonald, Traditional Home

(Traditional Home,California home, photo by Mark Lohman)
The family room and eating area were designed by Mary McDonald. 

Traditional Home 

T.H.
Pendents, Circa Lighting.

T.H. 

Charlie Rutledge from Showcase Kitchens and Baths designed the kitchen layout and cabinetry. 

 

 

This is the image in Traditional Home that Mary decorated, but the kitchen for the design house the day we attended, was styled  a little differently. 

 

The Office

(California Home, photo by Mark Lohman)
Interior designers, Caroline and Steve Thompson of Cabana Home designed the study. They are located in Santa Barbara. 


 

 

Lighting from Visual comfort.







The Office Suite

The Thompsons from Cabana Home also designed this bedroom.


 

T.H.

T.H.





Office Bathroom

T.H.

Danni and I both loved the gray grass-cloth paper and the antique bamboo shelving.

Guest Bedroom

T.H.
We liked the contemporary feel of the room that Ryan Brown  designed. It had a light, fun feel to it. 

T.H. 

T.H.

 T.H.
 I loved the wood details in this seating area and shelving. 

 

The Guest Bathroom Suite

The chandelier was a dark colored glass (trevi/black) from ironies.com. Light fixtures by Visual Comfort. Paint color, Manor House gray by Farrow and Ball- # 265.  

T.H.





The Master Bedroom

 
 The Master bedroom was designed by David Phoenix, who is such a talented man! 
House Beautiful recognized him as one of Americas top young designers.

 He has designed homes for the Kennedy family, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rob Lowe, among others.

 He has a calm manor about himself and he is very humble.
 I have admired his work for sometime and now. 

The walls were covered with a fabric, Calicut Mineral by Schumacher. 
David had the walls padded with a welt around the doors and the crown molding.
 It was beautiful!

  Danni is on the right and I'm on the left of David.

There are beautiful french doors in the Master bedroom with sunlight flooding through out the room.
It was so pretty to look out the door from the bed, but due to the afternoon sun I couldn't get a good picture.

The Nursery

T.H.
This was the cutest nursery designed by Carla Lane. 
The wallpaper and fabric is from Lulu DK. 

Carla designed the bed. 

Guest Suite Bedroom.

The guest bedroom was designed by Linda Chase.
 Linda has a bubbly outgoing personality which  reflects in her work. She is located in Summerland.  

The bed is a Louis XVI gilt day bed from Dennis and Leen. 

Chairs are from Restoration Hardware.

The  Living Room

 (California Home, photo by Mark Lohman)
 Michelle Workman designed a sophisticated, but casual living room. The color palette was beautiful.

The  tables are from Global View and the sofa is from Baker furniture.

T.H.

T.H. 

It was fun to meet Michelle.
 She is a very sweet lady and so talented. Some of her clients are Jennifer Lopez, John Travolta& Kelly Preston, Kristie Alley and Leah Remini.

The entry
 

Designed by Steve Weinstock

 



The Back Patio

Mary McDonald, T.H. 

 Pool Pavilion

Linda Chase

The Cabana Bedroom

Designed by Katerina Tana, T.H.

T.H.

The backyard is gorgeous!

We want to thank Susan Mcfadden for inviting us to this special event. 
It is a beautiful Home.
 It was so much fun to meet the designers and to have a special viewing. 
This is Santa Barbara's first design house and I'm sure there will be many more. The home will be open until Oct 7th 2012. You can get tickets here.
Hope you enjoyed looking at this beautiful home. 
Thanks for stopping by, 
Julie and Danni