Loving this new shop and website Red Velvet Art. Prints by Elsie Flannigan and Frank Chimero and such adorable accessories! Their blog is just as cute. Anyone want to drive to Missouri to check out the shop in person?! :)

I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that Orla Kiely is having a collection at Target. Orla Kiely is my all time favorite designer. Especially the bags and home accessories. I love the mixture of vintage and modern details. Plus if you have seen the inside of my house, you can see now where I got a lot of my inspiration from. That's right Orla Kiely! So you better believe I will be waiting outside my local Target like that crazy Mervyns lady yelling "OPEN!, OPEN!, OPEN!". See more of the collection on Apartment Therapy

*found via Capree

What I *heart*: Urban Outfitters furniture edition



I am totally crushin on Urban Outfitters new (to me) furniture line. I love the feminine details that are mixed with a more masculine shape. As usual I am a huge fan of the mid century modern looking furniture but it is usually pretty expensive (I am looking at you Copenhagen/Denmarket). It is nice to have another option besides Ikea.

1. Tufted Chaise: Oh how perfect would this be in my bedroom!

2. Jet Set Storage Bench - Sea Glass: I am really loving this "Sea Glass" color.

3. Mid-Century Sofa - Pistachio: When I see this sofa, I totally want to take a nap on it. I also love the dark wood mixed with the "Pistachio" color of the cushions.

4. Midcentury Chair: Perfect! The lines, the color, the dark wood.

5. L7 Low Bookcase: I love this solely because I think it would be perfect to display some of out favorite records on and then put the record player on top. I have been looking for a while for something like this. Also would look awesome as a sofa table.

6. Haruki Slat Bench: When I saw this I immediately thought of my brother Mike. It has a Japanese influence (my bro went to Japan on his mission, he is not Japanese :) ) that I think my brother would like. I also love that you can put cushions on top and it can be used as extra seating.

I am not embarrassed (well maybe a little) to admit that I went to the midnight showing of Twilight with Rae. I am a nerd, there I said it. So while every teenager girl (myself included) was swooning over Edward and his crooked smile. I was also falling fast for the Cullens beautiful modern home.







It is pretty much my dream house. The open floor plan, the floor to ceiling windows, the location (can you imagine opening up those windows every morning and seeing that view, breathtaking! And I can't even imagine the glorious smell!), the mixture of modern and contemporary details. Everything about it is amazing. Almost makes me want to go and see the movie again, just to get a second look at my future home.


Found pics via seesaw designs via Apartment Therapy LA

My friend Mary asked me a question a couple of weeks ago about hiring a decorator. It's a question that I often get so I thought I would answer it here. Here is her question,

...maybe you could point me in the right direction... you see I am saving up money to redo parts of my condo/future house when I get one. I am on a budget and have quite a bit saved and hope to get quite a bit more before the year is over and than shop!! The only thing is I lack that special eye for coordination and am willing to hire someone for help... I am pretty frugal and don't know how much interior designer people are,etc. Do you have any insights on this and how whole hiring people and costs works?

Hiring a decorator/designer is always a good idea. It allow someone elses' eyes to come in and access the situations that you might have in your home. It also gives you more resources that normal people can not get, such as buying at wholesale prices. Another reason why it is a good idea is because for some people it is stressful when you think about decorating a whole house. You want your home to flow and cordinate and feel welcoming and cosy. A decorator can come in and help you accomplish these goals.

First the differences between a decorator and a designer. Here is a good article that explains the differences and similarities of designers and decorators. Pretty much the biggest difference is licensing. In the state of Arizona though you do not need a license to call yourself an Interior Designer. Most people are just looking for a decorator since they are usually not planning on changing the interior of the house and are really just looking for someone to help them pick out materials. If you are looking to do some major construction, make sure you find a Interior Designer that has the NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification is the licensing exam).

After you decided what it is that you need, I would start looking at your local universities. Students are always looking for a way to build their portfolio. When I was in school, I was always begging for someone to let me help them. Most of the requests that I got where just simply to walk around a persons house with them and give any suggestions that I had. I would also get a lot a requests for helping with paint colors. Anyways most univesities or colleges have a job book or board where you can request someone to help you out. Explain what you are looking for, whether it be just a certain room or a whole house. If you don't want to go the student route, I would just start asking around. We have all been in beautifully decorated houses, maybe for a baby shower or a church party or just our friends house. Ask the owner who helped them decorate or if they did it themselves ask them if they are willing to help you.



Next I would start going through decorating magazines and collecting ideas that you like. This will help you define your style, whether it be Modern, Traditional, or Mormon Chic :). I have many accordian folders full of pictures from magazines that inspire me in some way. I organized them by room so when I am trying to think of something to do for my bathroom I can go through that part of the binder. If you don't like magazines, there are so many interior design websites and blogs. I have a folder in the computer that is full of pictures of rooms or vignettes that I copied from blogs. My favorite design blogs are on my sidebar. I love looking at those daily for inspiration.

Once you have a collection of pictures, that will help move decorator in the right direction of your style. They will always ask you and whoever else lives in your house a bunch of questions. Like if you are redoing your bedroom, they could ask you questions like:

Do you like to read in your bed?
Will the bedroom be used for studying?
Is an area for seating needed?
Are you use to watching TV in your bedroom?
What kind of storage are you use to?

Most of the time this is called programming. They are accessing the situation and thinking of solutions.

It matters what exactly you are looking for a decorator to do to tell you how much it will cost. The initial first meeting will probably be a flat fee and then they will probably charge by hour. If you are hiring a student, I would tell them the price you are willing to pay them and then they can tell you how much they are willing to do for that price. If you are looking for someone to do it all, like find the furniture, order it, make sure it gets shipped right, then you will probably pay hourly. If you are looking for someone to just put together a binder of ideas, swatches, paint chips, then that is most likly a flat fee.

Here are two more articles that I liked that talk about hiring a decorator. This one is from my favorite magazine Domino and this one is from one of my favorite design bloggers Oh Happy Day who recently just hired a student decorator. So hopefully this has helped you out.



UPDATE: One of the major reasons I got into Interior Design is that I love helping people make there houses, homes. Right now I work full time for a Commercial Architecture firm just drafting, so anyway I can get my creative juices flowing makes me happy. The only reason that I didn't offer my services initially, is that I do work full time so my services would only be available at night and on Saturdays. If that works for you contact me through my email beka.lowe@gmail.com and we can work something out.

May 30th marks 5 years of Brandon and I being together. I can't believe we have been together for 5 years. 5 years ago I would have never guess we would be here. We have grown so much as people and has a couple. I have learned so much from B-dawg and love him so much. For our dating anniversary Brandon surprised me and rented a room last weekend at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale. I have been wanting to stay their forever and it was beyond belief cool! We stayed in one of their Cabana rooms that has a private porch facing the pool. I can't wait to stay their again! :) If you want to read more about our courtship and getting married, click here. Here are some pictures of our weekend at the "Ho".



Our Cabana Suite! Brandon ran into the room and jumped onto the bed before I could take a picture, hence why the bed is all wrinkly.



View from our private porch



I am usually not a huge fan of pictures of me, I would rather be behind the camera but I thought this one turned out ok. Behind me is the bathroom that has glass walls that light up in different colors. It was freaking rad!



We watched a LOT of MTV since we don't have it at home, actually we stayed up until 3:30 in the morning watching the entire season of Bam's Unholy Union. Yes, I know, good quality TV.

I am in love with Drew Barrymore's bathroom, featured in last months Domino. Our downstairs bathroom is in need of a makeover and I am taking a lot of inspiration from her bathroom. I want something bright and clean since it is kind of like a dungeon right now. Here is what I came up with so far:



Paint: I want to paint the walls a light vibrant yellow. The dark gray and pale green would be the accent colors.

Mirror: From CB2

Light: From Lamps Plus

Mat: From CB2

Shower Curtain: From Anthropologie (Brandon already veto'd this because of the price, but I can dream!)

Canisters: From Pottery Barn

I am always looking for artwork to display in my home. Since I change my mind a lot, I don't want to make any big investments yet. So of course the place to look for amazing and affordible prints is Etsy. Here are some of my favorites right now.

1. Matte Art Owl Large Print

2. Orange Beautiful Laugh Dream Love Print (I actually already purchased this since I love it so much.)

3. Lisa Congdon See the Birds Print

4. Dazey Chic My Love Print

5. sf girl by the bay Keep Calm and Carry On Print

6. The Black Apple Scarf for Two Print

I want this doll house from the MOMA store so bad!

I saw this set of outdoor furniture at Eurway last weekend. Although it might not exactly what I would use in my own backyard, I love the idea of have two purposes for one thing. Actually I am fond of a lot of two for one things;

One of my favorite Etsy shops is The Black Apple. Emily's art pieces are really charming and pretty in their own unique way. I love that I can sometimes see myself or others I love in some of her work, especially the one above. Go check out her blog.

I am really loving the Smart Technology Collection that Pottery Barn has came out with. They have taken office furniture and incorporated technology, such as outlets or speakers. I love that it is not only functional but practical too. Especially now, when we all have cellphones, ipods, computers, and cameras that need to charge. I am really loving this, this, and this.

I love checking out Modern Phoenix: Neighborhood Network. One of my favorite things to do is when we are bored (or low on cash) is driving to Phoenix or Tempe to look at all the historic modern houses. It's so great living in an area that has such a rich history in the post war era. One day hopefully we can buy a post war ranch house and fix it up to exactly how we imagined it. Something like this.

I am sure most of you Target lover's have seen this picture. Well being the bird lover that I am, I had to have it. Being on a budget, I was not willing to spend the $16.99 and waiting for it to go on cleareance was out of the question (I wanted it NOW!) so I took the matter into my own hands.



The piece of wood I bought at Micheals for $4 and I already had the paint. I like how it turned out plus it was 1/4 of the price. I will probably still buy the one at Target but at least this will hold me over until it goes on sale.

I am really loving Dwell's baby stuff and with all the babies (Maverick, Ava, and X, Liz's little boy) arriving soon, I thought I would show you my favorites for each.



I could totally see this in little Maverick's room. I love that it is a modern twist on a traditional theme.



Little Ava's nursery would be lovely with this crib set. I love the girly detail of the blossom and would continue the Asian theme that Amy has in her house.



I especially love this one for baby X. We all know Mike & Liz's kids will be the smartest in the family so they might as well get him started early. Plus the brown and light blue is adorible.





A couple more of my favorites from Dwell are these soft toys. I love that they are simple but beautiful.

I usually do not watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but I did last night. I was really thrown back when Ty showed the room he "designed" for the mother. I love the combination of the green and yellow. And I of course love the painted trees. It is really a stunning room.

Since my schooling is coming to a close, I am starting to make a list of things I want to do with all my free time.

1.

Print out pictures from computer, put in frames, and hang on walls.

2.

Figure out a cute way to display all my poloriods. Any suggestions?

3.

I am really behind in my magazine reading. I also want to start an inspiration board to put in my "craft walk-in-closet".

4.

Start painting again. I am most excited to get back to painting. I feel the most creative when I am sketching or painting. Plus it relaxes me.

I am sure there is tons more, including organizing bills, but who wants to do that.


p.s. Did anyone watch the office last night? I almost died when Andy started to float away in the sumo outfit!

"I just want to lie on the beach and eat hot dogs. That's all I've ever wanted."

"Architects are pretty much high-class whores. We can turn down projects the way they can turn down some clients, but we've both got to say yes to someone if we want to stay in business."

Philip Johnson

I love the way that these books are displayed! It makes the books seem more like art pieces instead of just books. It has such a dramatic effect and is a unique way to display a collection.

No you are not seeing a mirage, I really am posting again. Things have been crazy busy at the Lowe's but lets begin.

Our Home:

is pretty close to being done. I want it to be all done and empty of boxes before I attempt to take full room pictures. One thing I have learned in my PRESENTATIONS CLASS is that you wait until your final project is done before showing work. Meaning you never want to show a work in progress. But I am to dang excited about the things we are doing so here is a preview!






Pretty much the theme is "green", the color and the concept. I know, suprise.

WORK:

I have realized a couple of things.

1. I do not want to be a drafter, its boring and I feel like all my creative juices are going to waste.

2. I do not want to be a commercial designer for the same reasons.

Number 2 suprised me more then number 1. I thought I always wanted to be a commercial designer. Eventually, I want to be able to work from home and I finally realized residental was the way to go if I want to achieve that goal. I already have my first paying client. Her family has been a friend of mine for a long time. She needs help picking out flooring and kitchen materials and all the furniture. I am beyond excited!

LIFE:

Since everyone on both sides (Lowes and Fullers) decided that this was the year to have a baby, I decided this was the year I am going to travel. We are starting to make plans to go to Virginia (to visit Brandons sister and go to Falling Water & Hersey Town), New York (to visit all of my favorite places in the world), and San Francisco (to visit my favorite family in California) by the end of this year.

Until I figure out how to take care of this one,



we will NOT be having kids any time soon.

Other then that, my life is pretty normal. Brandon is awesome. We have been extremely blessed and we are so thankful everyday. I can't believe it has almost been a year.

I have a ton of good posts coming up. So please start checking again!!