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At Heather Scott Home & Design we love abstract oil paintings. They can go a long way to making a traditional space look more updated. You can take an antique sideboard and put a large scale abstract above it with some great lamps and then you have instant glamour!
Scott and I were really excited to discover an artist company out of California which hand paints large scale abstracts which are very affordable. We just received our first shipment and have sold several pieces already. Here are few pictures of the pieces we currently have hanging:
Each painting is unique. They are about 40”x40” in size. The art pieces are only $339.99 without a frame (first picture) and $399.99 with a gallery frame. The quality is incredible. You have to come by and see for yourself!
Are you familiar with Lilly Pulitzer? Unless you grew up going to the beach for spring break you might have missed this fashion icon of the coastal communities.
My grandparents would rent a house on Marco Island, FL every spring and make the trek from Ohio to Florida for a good 3 months. We always visited over our spring/Easter break. I have great memories of my grandmother in hot pink and turquoise shift dresses with fabulous prints and matching sandals. When she was at the beach, she always wore ‘Lilly’, and so did we.
Lilly Pulitzer (a socialite) and her husband left New York and settled in Palm Beach, FL. They owned several citrus groves in Florida and Lilly opened a juice stand just off the famous Worth Ave. to sell their juice.
Lilly found that squeezing the juice made a mess of her clothes and she began making shift dresses of bright, colorful printed fabric to hide the stains. As time went on, she began selling more dresses than juice and once her friend, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, was photographed wearing one of Lilly’s dresses while on vacation the ‘Lilly Look’ was born.
Lilly has recently had a revival in popularity and has added a number of clothing stores across the US, including Austin, TX (at the Domain). While most popular in Florida and the North East Coast, Lilly has a cult like following and those who love the brand are huge advocates.
Fans were thrilled to learn recently that Lee Jofa has just launched their Lilly Pulitzer Fabric collection with some amazing prints and color ways. Some are more expensive (especially the embroidered ones), but several cotton prints are very reasonable and would make fabulous pillows and window treatments!
Here are some of my favorites:
This light blue linen fabric is hand embroidered in green thread and sells for $397 a yard
Linen/cotton embroidery for $216 a yard
These prints are all either cotton or linen and only $98 a yard. As I said, the patterns all come in multiple colors, here are a few examples:
I have a project I am working on now with a client who loves Lilly. Her home is new construction and we are working on her great room.
The room is quite large, with space for multiple seating areas. The TV is planned to go above the fireplace and can be seen from the open kitchen and breakfast area.
The color palette was inspired by this Lilly fabric:
It will be used as a cushion on the existing bench in the breakfast area and as pillows on the chairs under the windows.
This amazing abstract art work was also an inspiration for the color palette:
It is so much fun to be able to incorporate original art work into a design concept. This piece is by Jane Booth (http://www.janebooth.com/artist.html).
Here are some of the key pieces we are planning on using:
A pink and white striped traditional sofa, ottoman cubes in blue and navy coral pattern, drapes in the white and blue fabric, toss pillows in hot pink and white, an upholstered ottoman in a neutral beige, side chairs in white with hot pink piping (and those blue and white throw pillows), a white lacquered console table and some traditional gourd lamps.
What a fun room! Can you imagine? So many people are afraid of color and won’t take this leap. That being said, the walls are beige, the floors hardwood with a beige rug and we have 2 more chairs in a light linen color. It seems like a lot of color, but it will be tempered by the neutral envelope it sits in.
If you would like help designing a fun room like this, or just want to see the Lilly Pulitzer fabrics in person, contact us at Heather Scott Home & Design:
We would love to help you plan a fun, decorating project like this one!
And, to learn more about the Lilly Pulitzer custom upholstery, furniture or casegoods…stay tuned to some ‘VERY’ exciting news in our next blog!!
Our What’s New Wednesday this week is not a product, but an upcoming event!
We are very excited to be hosting Austin HOME Magazine’s Winter Issue Release Party at Heather Scott Home & Design.
The event will be held the evening of Thursday, December 8th between 5 and 8 pm. Everyone is invited to attend, but you do need to RSVP (see email address below). We will be celebrating and spreading some holiday cheer with drinks, snacks, giveaways and some holiday decorating ‘how-to’s’ when it comes to making a beautiful and festive tablescape!
We would love to see all our friends there, so mark your calendars now and we will see you on the 8th!
I mentioned on the last “What’s New Wednesday” post about our latest collection for the store, the Barclay Butera Lifestyle Collection. Scott and I have appreciated Barclay Butera’s style for some time. His look is classic and chic, clean and comfortable. Barclay Butera’s look often reminds me of Ralph Lauren, but he grew up in Southern California and infuses a slightly more casual, approachable feel.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen this image from a design client as an inspiration room. It is by Barclay Butera from the Belaire Show house. All images from the Barclay Butera website, unless noted.
When I worked for Jaguar Cars, one of our marketing activities was to sponsor the Hamptons Showhome with the magazine Home & Gardens. Barclay did the entry and it was very impactful when you walked into the home and saw this amazing shell chandelier he custom created.
Barclay Butera’s style is very recognizable, although he breaks his ‘look’ into specific lifestyles: style, beach, desert, etc. His color palette and formality change with the environment and style of the home, yet he still manages a consistent look.
This home is one of my favorites from Corona del Mar, CA. It features prominently in his book. In beach cottage fashion, this home is very small, 2 bed, 2 bath and about 1300 square feet. Often we think if we have a small space, not much can be done with it. Not true! This open living area is basically the whole ground floor with ‘living room’, ‘sitting room’ and dining area next to the kitchen.
I love a beachy look and Barclay Butera does this really well without a ‘themed’ look. His beach style is more plantation/british colonial than seashells and bright colors. I feel this gives a more sophisticated and chic take on an inviting and comfortable atmosphere.
I love this image which shows a great way to place a TV in your bedroom without making the TV the dominant focus on the wall. You barely know it is there as it disappears above the sideboard. As armoires have gone by the wayside, TVs are getting prominent placement in many rooms. I don’t have an issue with that as it relates to how we live our daily lives. However, it is nice to notice a put together room and the décor as opposed to the giant TV on the main wall of the room.
I really like his use of symmetry. Anyone that knows me, knows I hate furniture and rugs on angles or a ‘messy’ feeling in a room. Symmetry is defined as: imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance. This is often achieved through pairs. Notice (above as one example throughout) Barclay Butera’s use of a pair of lamps with a pair of vases or hurricanes or vases on his table tops.
Barclay Butera has gone from decorating homes to creating lifestyle collections of the items he needs to create the spaces he envisions. For a couple of years at Heather Scott Home & Design we have carried his artwork:
His fabric, available through Kravet:
and his rugs from Merida, a company most known for their natural fiber rugs (custom sisal and jute):
We are now really excited to be the exclusive dealer in Austin for the Barclay Butera Lifestyle Collection. This is a comprehensive offering of casegoods (tables, buffets) as well as upholstery (dining chairs, sofas, ottomans). We now have a large selection from many of his collections available in the store.
Here are some pictures from the High Point market representing several of these collections:
These are some of our favorite pieces we now have in stock:
This mirror would look fabulous over a buffet, flanked by a pair of awesome lamps and hurricanes.
This nighstand/chest has so much character we couldn’t resist it. The piece looks aged and rich and has incredible detail.
This dining table is about 72” without the leaves, and has great detail on the legs. The table is also on casters for additional style.
We love these chairs and the banquette to go with any dining table. Yes, you can scotch-guard the fabric if you are worried about maintenance. Sometimes something looks so good you just have to have it!
As you can see from the length of this blog post we are extremely passionate about this new line for our store. You may recall from earlier in the post, we focused on a home that only had 1,300 square feet and yet looked larger and ‘put-together’ with a lot of furniture and accessories. No matter the size or current style of your space, this furniture line can open up your home and enhance enjoyment in your favorite environment! We are confident you will love the product as much as we do, and will find a place for many of these pieces in your homes. Be sure to put us on your shopping agenda over the next few weeks to see all of the new product.
Scott and I are very excited to now be carrying the Barclay Butera Lifestyle Collection. When we lived in California, we loved the Barclay Butera shop in Newport Beach. I think I’ve read his book about 50 times. In High Point, NC, just last month, we decided to order several of his items and they have already started to arrive!
Many pieces came yesterday during the first rain storm (complete with thunder and lighting) that Austin has seen in about 9 months. It was a little crazy, but definitely worth it!
One of our favorite things were this pair of dark, blue velvet head dining chairs, complete with arms and casters. Stephanie, one of our employees, first words were ‘those are gor-geous’ and she says it with the long g-o-r-g-eous when something is really special!
The chairs are $787.99 a piece. They would look really special during a holiday celebration!
We hope you’ll come by and see all the other new pieces we received as well!
I’m just back from “Design Camp”, a 3 day course of design from A-Z (i.e. A is for Art, B is for Budget). It was a fun, refresher course on the basics of design. About 36 women from across the country (and Canada) headed to this course taught by Tobi Fairley.
Allison Nease, our Business Operations Manager, and I went to learn from Tobi’s group the key elements of their design process. Anyone can attend, no design experience necessary. There is another camp coming up in January and space is still available. You can get more information here:
The event was also a great ‘girls trip’ which included all inclusive transportation, in these lovely limos (yes, the pink hummer was for our group):
as well as meals (served Southern style, which means no one ever went hungry) and lodging.
We brought our own project floor plans to work on. I brought Scott’s office, which he has been asking me to design for two years and I just haven’t made the time.
We were reminded of the importance of taking the time to develop a thorough inspiration board for each project, whether digital (online/PowerPoint) or physical ones such as these:
One night we had a reception at a local store, Cobblestone & Vine. I really enjoyed looking through and seeing all their lovely displays. It is interesting the style differences from the South compared to Texas (slightly more tailored and traditional).
Business entrepreneur Annie Selke, founder of Dash & Albert and Pine Cone Hill was at the reception signing copies of her new book, Fresh American Spaces. We have a few of Annie’s pieces from Vanguard Furniture for sale in our store now. They have great lines and a fresh look.
Her website is here if you would like to explore more of the fun companies Annie Selke has started: Annie Selke Website
I think that for many of us, once we leave school, we get busy with life and forget how important it is to continue to challenge ourselves mentally. Continuing education in our field, or even new areas of interest, is a good way to improve your skills and stay on top of new techniques and technologies. I am really glad Allison and I took the time and opportunity to brush up on our design knowledge and skills, and were able to do so in such a fun environment. I encourage you to check out the Design Camp program and consider it for yourself! I can promise I’ll be implementing a lot of new tools and techniques I learned in the coming months!
We love Mary Lake Thompson holiday décor. We just received these fun gift items which include flour sack towels, hot chocolate mix, brownie and sugar cookie mix and wine bags.
If you know a dog lover, these are perfect! Look at those faces!
Who doesn’t love a hot chocolate this time of year!
Ranging from $9.99 to $29.95 these are perfect hostess and teacher gifts! And, if you’re like me, it is going to be hard to resist picking up a few things for yourself as well!
As I mentioned the other week, we just had our trip to the Amalfi Coast in Italy. While we stayed in Positano, we did a couple of side trips and I wanted to share some of our favorite places.
Scott and I hired a car and drove to Ravello, a beautiful town in the hills overlooking the Amalfi coast. The town is said to be ‘closer to the sky than the seashore’ and the views are amazing. Lucky for me, Scott is a great photographer and took all these photos:
We toured the Villa Rufolo which had some beautiful gardens. It felt a lot like California with the lush landscaping and ocean views.
We also managed to get to Pompeii, which I have wanted to go to since I was in college and studied art history. It is hard to believe how well preserved everything is, even to this day. Mosaic tile work is still in place, and looks great! Check out these two mosaics- one in a Greek key pattern and the other at a front door entry.
This mosaic reads “Beware of Dog”- what a fun idea! I think when we install tile these days, we plan for it to last about 10 years, then be updated. This tile work is thousands of years old and is still in style.
This is an old fresco, which is actually outside, but look at their use of perspective to make the corridors look deeper. Really impressive considering the time when it was created.
The attention to detail was great. This was an old bath and every inch of the building is covered with art and sculpture. Look at the row of sculpted men holding up the supportive brace all around the edges of the building.
Going from ‘Old World’ to modern living, we left the Amalfi Coast and went to Naples for our last night. We stayed at the coolest hotel, the Hotel Romeo. It was right on the water and was fantastic. We ventured outside for a few of the sites and Naple’s famous pizza, but were all too happy to head back to the hotel for a relaxing evening by their pool top deck and bar.
The lobby area has several sections, including a lounge area, a game area and a library.
Here is the pool table and fuse ball game in the background.
This technically savvy water feature in the lobby changed it’s graphics all day.
The hotel had the feel of a more Zen ‘W’. We were very excited when we headed down the dark hallway corridor, found our hotel room by locating the number in the gray circle on the floor and opened the door to see…
A really cool room:
The bed pillows were enormous. I think the back pillows were at least 36” square.
The nightstands were made of some kind of cracked glass which was backlit. The glass wall hides the shower.
Here is the nightstand up close:
The sink was very cool with no visible drain.
Naples itself left a bit to be desired, so after some basic exploring, we decided to head up to the bar and watch the moon rise over Vesuvius.
It was a great way to cap off the trip to Italy. Scott and I had the best time on our trip and can’t wait to plan the next adventure. The hotel was so cool, it really inspired me to take a second look at the elements that make up a more modern design, but keep it from feeling cold or unwelcoming. I am looking forward to incorporating all these different influences in our purchases for the store and for interior design!
The holidays have arrived at Heather Scott Home & Design and we are all excited for the festivities of the next two months!
This year we have some amazing ribbon and runners/tableskirts. The materials are just beautiful! Several have elegant embroidery on a hopsack (burlap look) background. We also stocked up on burlap rolls this year, too!
We opened our Thymes Frasier Fir Diffuser tester and everyone that walks in the door exclaims “It smells so great in here!”
The holidays go by so fast, so be sure to stop by and see us before you get too busy and before all the holiday décor is gone!
