I began following Redraven Studios several years before moving back to Pittsburgh, in fact I didn’t even know they were from my hometown at that point. Founder Amy Hamley and her husband Ryan create the prettiest porcelain pieces – I had their Good Luck Porcelain Horseshoe hanging above my front door for several years and it was always complimented. This holiday season I’m eyeballing the Porcelain & Gold Leaf Feather Ornament for my tree (and maybe a few lucky recipients) along with the Canyon Series Dinnerware that is forever on my Wish List.
Drake General Store is a traditional hotel gift shop, a classic general store, a flea market stand, and a museum shop all rolled into one. They have the biggest and best Canadian pride and love supporting homegrown artists and designers, making them a perfect match for Design Crush and our sensibilities.
Please tell me you took 1.5 seconds to read that graphic, because we’re giving away a $1,000 prize pack!Drake General Store is my favorite shop north of the U.S. border and I’m pumped to be partnering with them for the second December in a row to give you all a HUGE something awesome. I’ve cherry picked my favorite pieces from their classic, modern goods that are a mix of sensible (socks, throws, kitchen pieces) and not so sensible (tarot cards, incense, wind chime) and everything in between.
I KNOW! So many well designed pieces and so many little luxuries to help get you through winter. You could either go the Happy Holidays to Me! route and keep it all for yourself or the My Shopping is Done! route and dive up your winnings as gifts for everyone on your list. Either way it’s a win. (But if you do spy something you’d like to gift know that Drake General Store has worldwide flat rate shipping!)
You guys, IT’S TIME! For the third year in a row 24 Merry Days is here to rock your socks right across the room. Maybe even clear out the front door.
Mastermind Audrey has once again matched up 24 bloggers and 24 prizes. Every day from December 1st through the 14th a different giveaway will be announced on a different blog and revealed on the 24 Merry Days site. I’ll be tweeting the latest one each day (@designcrush) along with hosting one that you’re definitely going to want to enter.
You’ve seen the living room, now it’s time to get a little more formal.
But first you’ll have to excuse me while I go absolutely ape over my dining room. I love this room more than any other space in any place I’ve ever called home. Everything about it. The huge windows, the stunning light, the floor to ceiling built-in… I could go on.
There are pocket doors between the living and dining rooms (seen here), but they’re blocked off for some unknown reason. I’ve done some investigating (and removing of pieces of frame), but can’t figure out where the problem lies. Looks like it’s a job for the professionals.
I’ve never had a dining room before, and I’ve longed to be the kind of girl who had dinner parties and holiday get togethers at her house without the room to do so. The dining room turned out to be more than I could have hoped for with a mix of old vintage pieces that have followed me around a bit and some new.
I was worried the built-in was too busy with my treasures, but a friend reassured me it was a-okay since I stuck to black and white. In the cabinet underneath I store about half of what I refer to as my “entertaining ware” – or the things that only come out a few times a year. I’m thinking I’d maybe someday like to paint the back of the built-in a color like deep turquoise or goldenrod to add a pop, but I’m fantastic as is for the time being.
In my last house this vintage mid-century credenza was in my living room, holding my television, records, DVDs, etc. Here it’s serving its rightful purpose as a buffet and hiding the other half of that “entertaining ware.” (Fist pump.) I’m bound and determined to cover it from edge to edge in plants to take full advantage of all that glorious light I mentioned. In fact I’ve added an aloe plant and a Christmas cactus since these photos were snapped a few weeks ago.
Another piece that’s followed me a few times is this Depression-era kitchen cabinet that I use as my bar. It’s been one of my favorite possessions for a long time now and it feels so right in this house that’s full of character since it has plenty as well.
The original bath (the first of two) is off of the dining room, which is definitely strange. But it’s been renovated and now features a killer glass bowl sink and vanity that you can just see in this shot. I can’t really imagine making overnight guests use it as theirs, so for the time being I mainly use it to bathe the dogs. Since I plan on staying here for some time I can see maybe eventually tearing out the tub and making the pantry that butts up against it on the kitchen side larger. Time will tell.
That floor rug just makes the space, don’t you think? I love how it adds a hit of pattern to my otherwise minimal dining room. The mid-century table and chairs set the tone for many dinners to come and the light fixture might as well be a piece of art in itself. (A huge, massive thank you to West Elm for reaching out for a collaboration!) I gave it all a test run last weekend for a birthday party and people gravitated towards the room like a magnet, I don’t think I’ve ever received so many compliments on decorating before. Like I said, OBSESSED.
Happy Thanksgiving, Americans! I’m busy hosting my first Thanksgiving today so wish me luck – I’m going for the above vibe in my tablescape, but with simple white plates. (Hopefully the bird doesn’t burn ala Christmas Vacation…)
As always I think that this is the perfect time to tell you just how thankful I am that you continue to read Design Crush and look to it for inspiration. You’re helping me live my dream and there just aren’t enough words to say thank you for that.
Now go enjoy all of that turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce! We’ll be back with regularly scheduled posts tomorrow.
This coat rack? It’s seen a lot. I’ve had it since graduating high school, before that it held robes and belts in my parents’ room, and before that who knows. It was my Dad’s and I have no idea how long he had it in his possession. The bottom line – it sorely needed an update if there was going to be any place for it in my home.
Case in point.
It had seen better days and was showing some serious wear and tear in the form of several deep nicks and a loss of stability. (I’d already repaired that part here with a bit of wood filler, toothpicks, and elbow grease.)
So when ScotchBlue™ Painters Tape and The Home Depot reached out about doing a project with Behr® and Wooster® I knew which piece was begging for my attention. I’d hoped to use the coat rack in the nook of my staircase which has white walls and light wood floors, so I also knew that I wanted it to be an interesting piece to look at with at least a little bit of color.
I started out by deciding I wanted to leave the top ten inches or so naked before taping it off with ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape at that spot and sanding everything south of that mark. I made sure to smooth the edges of the tape really well to avoid any paint bleed.
Then I sort of eyeballed how large of an area I wanted the semi-gloss Dawn Gray to cover in my colorblocked scheme – about a foot. I left the bottom edge ragged knowing that I’d be taping it off for my second color.
After taping off, I painted the rest of the rack with semi-gloss Manhattan Blue. After it dried (the Behr® Marquee™ covered in one beautiful coat) I flipped it over and painted the underside as well.
See that clean straight line? That’s the stuff painting dreams are made of. It’s always best to remove painter’s tape when the paint itself isn’t completely dry, and to pull at an angle. This helps keep that line super straight.
I’m so happy with the end result! My once ragged hand-me-down coat rack has fresh life just in time for being hung full of winter coats, hats, and scarves.
I am proud to be a 3M, Behr®, and Wooster® – sponsored blogger, and, as part of my responsibilities, I get the opportunity to evaluate products. Opinions are my own and additional product used in the project were selected by me. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep Design Crush going!
I’ve always been fascinated by single-serve coffee systems, but vastly underwhelmed by what’s on the market. The ability to cater to your family’s or guests’ preferences, especially during all of those holiday get togethers, can be such a lovely touch when entertaining. But when the coffee itself tastes unimpressive and the machine has a working life of maybe a year… well, what’s the point?
When Nespresso reached out about trying out their new VertuoLine I was hesitant, but what changed my mind was that Nespresso works in coffee. They aren’t just some brand who’s decided to create a new machine and outsource the main ingredient. VertuoLine is an intuitive system that uses Centrifusion technology and barcode reading (cup size, rotation, temperature, flow rate, and brew time) to brew 8 oz cups of coffee and 1.35 oz espressos.
The VertuoLine’s hallmark is the incredible crema – the foam formed on each espresso top – it creates with every cup. And honestly it really is impressive. Once I got my hands on the machine itself I couldn’t believe that this was a cup of coffee that I’d made in around a minute in my own kitchen.
I also got to play around with an automatic milk frother, the Aeroccino+. With the push of a button I had perfect hot milk and froth (it can also warm milk without the froth or froth cold milk). It’s basically my favorite new kitchen gadget of 2014.
The VertuoLine comes with a sample box of their eight coffee and four espresso blends. And after trying nearly all of them I decided to create a few coffee drinks and put it all to the test.
Ingredients:
• Melozio capsule
• 2 oz skim milk
• 1 Tbsp honey, plus more for drizzling
Place Melozio capsule into the VertuoLine and brew into mug. While brewing, pour 2 oz skim milk into Aeroccino+ along with one tablespoon of honey. Press button to froth. When finished, gently pour milk into coffee, then spoon froth on top. Drizzle with honey. Drink up.
Place Odacio capsule into the VertuoLine and brew into mug or heat-safe glass. While brewing, pour 2 oz eggnog into Aeroccino+. Press button to froth. Pour eggnog slowly into coffee to achieve that great separation. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I received product and compensation for this collaboration with Nespresso. As always all words and opinions are my own. Thank you for continuing to support the brands that help keep Design Crush going!
