24Feb

Favorite and Latest Rattan Pieces Round-Up

rattan daybed, suzanne kasler, kips bay decorators showhouse — A Rattan daybed by Atelier Vime used by Suzanne Kasler for this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Palm Beach. Photo by Douglas Friedman

We can all appreciate the natural and organic texture of rattan. Rattan pieces are more available than ever before. From lighting fixtures to fashionable summer bags made of the natural material. Catching up with its popularity, companies are coming up with more and more rattan products and due to the nature and simplicity of the material, it facilitates for reasonably priced decorative pieces. Although I mostly prefer the charm of vintage rattan pieces instead of new ones, I appreciate the variety and abundance of rattan products available today.

03Apr

From The Archive: A Modern Classic Home Designed by Pablo Paniagua

Today is a very exciting and busy day. We are starting to set up the room for the Showcase. As I mentioned before here, I’m participating in the Designer Showcase at the Columbus Museum of Art. You can read all about it and buy your tickets here. Since I don’t have much time, I’m reposting this yummy home originally posted in 2012. Yes, that’s how old this blog is.

Pablo Paniagua and his Studio team designed this beautiful home in Malaga, Spain. They were in charge of almost everything from the architecture to the design and designing of furniture. All done with the very important goal of reaching a harmonious result. I love how the dark colors stand out on the white background. Enjoy!

09Jan

Biscuit Bedding: Things We Love

I would say that the ultimate luxury is to have a full night sleep, furthermore, to sleep in a bed with soft, luxurious, and beautiful bedding. I first learned about Biscuit bedding when I saw the chic bedding at AD just recently. I couldn’t help but love the brand’s modern take on the traditional. In 2012 Bailey McCarthy realized through her design work that there was a lack of heirloom quality bedding for her generation. She created Biscuit as a brand that would fill this space by designing and selling luxury bedding with fun designer prints, keeping the process rooted in the tradition of the south and manufactured in the USA.

Above, one of the bedrooms at Bailey McCarthy’s home, outfitted with Biscuit bedding. The home was designed by Miles Redd. Photo by Trevor Tondro via AD.

Two of Biscuit bedding print collection

17Oct

8 Chic Spaces Show Us What Makes A Home Chic

I’ve been studying Interior Design and chic spaces on my own and school, for years. On my own I love to try to understand the spaces I’m interested in and talk about most of them in this blog. As good design has historically proven, design style is pretty much adjusted by region or state. Even though in some cases this traditional thinking doesn’t apply. Take the proximity between New York City and New Jersey for example. Two states one cotton ball throw away from each other, yet they could not be further apart in design aesthetics. Chic spaces for me are spaces where things juxtapose with tension and friction, where according to conventional thoughts, things are not supposed to work, but they do. A Luis XVI chair upholstered in black liquid leather and placed next to a Jacques Adnet side table would create that ambiance. Add an abstract painting on top, and the whole feeling will get stretched out a bit more. Like someone once said, It’s like having a tension cord about to pop. A classic architectural home with modern art and edgy modern furniture pieces would also create a very chic outlook. New York, in my opinion, is the City that best codifies chic spaces. Maybe it’s because of New York’s own diversity, and dynamism comes seeping into its interiors? Of course, chic spaces are all around us. Below are images with distinctive styles that give us a glimpse into what makes a space chic and most importantly how to make a home chic.

The use of a modern sculpture suspending from the traditional ceiling in this library is simply outrageous. By Robert Couturier.

chic spaces, home chic, Lynn Nesbit's home

Lynn Nesbit’s home

30Jul

Myrtle Topiaries: The Artistic Elegance of Topiaries

Myrtle topiaries, topiaries, Julie Paulino Design

Myrtle and boxwood topiaries inside our fireplace at our home. Julie Paulino Design

Last week I had a photoshoot at our house for a local publication. I wanted to photograph the area around our fireplace, but alas, it’s summer so turning on the fire was out of the question. After a couple of days brainstorming about how to make a black hole, a big one, in this case, look good enough for a photoshoot, a lightbulb went on, and a picture of myrtle potted topiaries and boxwood topiaries inside the fireplace came spinning into my head. The result was more than satisfying, transforming an empty rather cold space into a warm and charming one. Myrtle topiaries can add that understated elegance to any area adding that soothing character to a home or garden.

Initially, I thought of using a few flower arrangements, but they would have gotten lost or distracted the entire ensemble. I was lucky to find what I was looking for, two tall double topiaries and two small rounded boxwoods to create different heights. The two double balls are Myrtle topiaries that can live inside and hopefully last year round if we take good care of them. The smaller rounded boxwoods are evergreen that later on, we’ll transplant outside. The dense evergreen leaves are meant to withstand cold weather, and they are a favorite for shaping into different shapes of topiaries since ancient times. Below, a few options of potted topiaries to bring a bit of garden inside your home.

13Feb

Neutral Decor: Special Deals of the Week for Reassuring Drama

I love a good sale, who doesn’t… As a matter of fact I enjoy buying my clothes on sale more than on regular price. I think that I’m becoming very frugal, curiously enough this new practice of mine doesn’t always cross over to home decor purchases. However I’m always in the look-out for beautiful accessories on sale, also for furniture or for fabrics or anything in between. For the special deals of the week I found these beautiful and elegant neutral-tone home accessories on sale that I couldn’t help sharing them. It’s true that you can’t go wrong with a neutral tone decor. There is something so special and remarkable about the mixture of browns with blacks, brass and beige contrasting with textures of rattan, plaster, sisal and hemp fabrics… The overall effect often found in a neutral decor is dramatic to the eyes yet soothing to the senses. The first one in the list being an Eagle Convex mirror. In case you didn’t notice, we love a Convex mirror.

neutral decor special deals of the week via belle vivir interior design blog

Alabaster Pillar holders in two different sizes. This rattan basket also comes in two different sizes. The strong and abstract lines in this black and white Skyscraper photograph is pretty modern and classic at the same time. Regency Eagle convex mirror is always a good idea for when you are looking for a way to incorporate a classic elegant object in your home. And of course the clean modern sconces to contrast with any other strong traditional element. Recessed wall mirror in antique brass finish for a touch of glam that never fails to impress. A shell lamp in case you have beach house or you just want to bring the beach feeling inside instead. This chandelier has been in too many a dressing room, but perhaps it would go well in a hallway… And finally a Moroccan hemp pillow in graphic black and white stripes.

Tag: home decor

Favorite and Latest Rattan Pieces Round-Up

From The Archive: A Modern Classic Home Designed by Pablo Paniagua

Biscuit Bedding: Things We Love

8 Chic Spaces Show Us What Makes A Home Chic

Myrtle Topiaries: The Artistic Elegance of Topiaries

Neutral Decor: Special Deals of the Week for Reassuring Drama

juliepaulinodesign