Fa La Latte...

Compliments of my awesome girl: Full-time art student, part-time barista.

Thank You, Apartment Therapy; Book Giveaway Winner (And More I.T. Madness...)

My Stencilled Wall

Just when you thought it was safe to view this blog without seeing more Imperial Trellis, Apartment Therapy digs up the I. T. stencil project from the recesses of the H. G. archives. Thanks for the link and mention, A. T.!

I'm also sorry to tell you that the madness has spread to several intrepid readers who've taken on the insane stencil project with great success. A gold star to all of you for your efforts. Here are a few photos of their work:

First up is Amy. She stencilled onto panels so she can take them with her when she moves (if she isn't sick of I. T. by then!).

Next up is Molly of the blog Molly's Musings. She took a kitchen in a plain white wrapper and trellised it up:

And, last, is Erin's dining room. She started with the long wall and decided it would be too busy, so she STARTED OVER on the smaller wall with beautiful results. Here's the first attempt:

And the final result:

And, last, congratulations to Stefan of Architect Design. You're the winner of the Kelly Wearstler book, Domicilium Decoratus. Please send me your mailing information so we can get the book out to you. Thanks to Boxwood Home for sponsoring the giveaway. And remember: 20% off their new online store for HG readers until Christmas Day.

Book Giveaway!! Plus Home Tour Porn.

The awesome folks at Boxwood Home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, had such a great time with our last giveaway that they're doing another giveaway.

An oldie but a goodie...no, not Kelly Wearstler, but her fab book, Domicilium Decoratus. It's over the top with style and Kells Bells is a'posing in all manner of fabulous frock - it's a must-have for decor libraries.

Leave a comment below and I'll randomly select a winner on Friday. And don't forget to visit Boxwood Home's store here to get 20% off* beautiful merchandise like the Isabella chest from Bungalow 5 (use code BLGD):

(it's covered in lacquered moss green grasscloth, y'all)

And now for the home tour porn part: John, the beauty brains behind Boxwood Home, lives in a perfect little historic home in Lewes, Delaware, which was on the Christmas House Tour on Saturday. He was kind enough to share photos of his gorgeous house from the tour.

The perfect little kitchen. Wait, it gets better:

Look up. That's the kitchen ceiling.

This photo is not from the tour but earlier in the fall.

It's the eating area off the kitchen.

How perfect is that? House Beautiful was right when they asked "Is Small the New Big?" So, go visit his shop here, his blog here and leave a comment below to be entered in the book giveaway. I'll meet you back here on Friday.

*From now through Christmas Day

Prints Charming.

I stumbled across this website by accident while I was searching for pictures of Brett Favre's penis (okay, not really, but tell me you didn't look...and weren't disappointed :).

Vintage Printables is a very cool website that offers free, mostly public domain vintage images. And while they offer primarily botanical, scientific and naturalist prints, there's a pretty wide variety of images. Some frames from Target (or nice, antique frames) and good printing paper and you've got a nice gift for a friend or for yourself (you know, one for you, one for me).

I would like to see a sweet set of botanicals like this:

A great little number from Art & Design:

The one that got away...

Kitteh cocktail party!

You can just hear the sound of the crashing surf.

Happy printing.

And The Winner Is...

Sarah of the blog Just Getting Started. Congratulations! Just send me your mailing information and we'll get that Stag candle out to you right away.

I'd also like to thank those who stopped by the Boxwood Home website and made a purchase. Don't forget, the savings for blog readers continues until Christmas Day. Just use the code BLGD to get your 20% off.

A Gorgeous Giveaway! And 20% Off! And Free Shipping!

To get you in the mood for the holiday season, my good friends at Boxwood Home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, are offering a nice little giveaway: Patch NYC's festive holiday scented Stag candle - a beautiful combination of siberian fir, cilantro, citrus, raspberry, it smells like a lovely walk in the woods on a winter day (after having just overflown Florida!). Seriously, it's my favorite holiday scent and I have one burning as we speak. It's 100% soy with a 72-hour burn time.

If that weren't enough, Boxwood Home just opened its online shop and Hello Gorgeous readers will receive 20% off your entire purchase through Christmas and get free shipping for a limited time! Just punch in the coupon code BLGD and get 20% off your entire purchase through Christmas Day (while supplies last).

Here are some of the fine (my favorite!) things you'll find in (virtual) store:

The Iron Beaded Chandelier is so unique and makes quite an impressive statement at 46 inches high.

The Burlap X Screen, made of whitewashed mahogany, is great for hiding a mess or dividing space in a large room or small apartment. Here's a shot of it in the store:

The Isabelle chairs (also shown above in a gray wash with burlap fabric) fit in with so many styles of decor. Here's another shot of one in the store (taken with my phone):

If you look closely at the chair, you will see this Thomas Paul alpaca throw in gray. It's super soft - perfect for cuddling in front of the fire.

And a new favorite, the acid-washed cowhide in brown and white with gold. Looks great over a seagrass rug.

The Octavio Octopus print from Natural Curiosities has the appearance of an antique, hand-colored etching.

Here it is in the entryway of my beach house (again with the lamps stolen from my bedroom - still on the lookout for lamps!):

Those are just a few of my favorites. There's so much more from John Derian to Barbara Cosgrove. Just go to the Boxwood Home virtual store and tell me what your favorite thing is. Leave a comment below and I'll randomly select a winner on Cyber Monday (Nov. 29).

Happy Shopping! And have a great Thanksgiving.

Please Note: Some large items have limited delivery to the mid-Atlantic area.

Mo' Faux.

I saw this GORGEOUS faux fox throw on Laura Day Living (and thank you Laura Day for listing Hello Gorgeous as one of your favorite blogs!). I immediately went to Barney's to order it, held it in my shopping cart until the next morning and bam! It was out of stock, just like that.

I ended up ordering it directly from the company in the U.K. and while the order appeared to go through, I haven't received any other information about it and it's been about a week now. If that falls through, here's my backup:

It's from FabulousFurs.com and even more affordable than usual - there's a Buy One, Get One at 50% Off sale going on right now. If you have an even better resource, please let me know.

It's images like this that send me over into the land of make-believe fur (I just can't buy a real coyote or fox product but I don't have as much of a problem buying printed cow rugs; go figure):

The super lovely home of Derrick Miller and Jennifer Vaughn Miller on Long Island from this book:

I know, I am such a hipster.

Faux-Boo Deux.

A few more photos so you can see the finish more closely and the hardware and the rest of the room - and my man, double E. Any lamp advice for the dresser would make me so happy.

P.S. Nice job, Delaware! You had me worried there for a minute...

Faux-Boo!

Remember this?

Remember the faux-boo* Henry Link Bali Hai furniture set I scored from Craigslist to go with this?

(And, yes, I still have the skirted table - deal with it). Well, I painted it right before summer but I never completed the task of finding hardware so I just swiped some from a chest in the other room. I also grabbed the lamps from the dining room just so I could see what it would look like with lamps. And while I think it looks better painted black, it's just so...blah.

And so small! Compared with today's furniture, it looks child-sized. And with the mirror, there's TOO MUCH BOO!! (I guess you'd call that a faux-boo-boo.)

For those who asked, I did use a small Mikita power sander for the formica top and flat surfaces and I just used several coats of satin spray paint (beginning with primer) to coat it. The surface is super smooth and lovely. But if you're looking for a lacquer finish like this, I received an excellent tip from 1st Dibs shop owner Lewis Trimble (his chest is still for sale here):

"...the first tip I have for you is there's stuff called liquid sander... two coats of this and then there's an oil based paint called fine paints of europe brilliant. Use 2-3 thin coats as it runs easily with some light sanding in between... great stuff, not lacquer but for a diy'er it's almost better...
thanks for posting my chest!
Lewis Trimble"

Thanks, Lewis, for the tip! If anyone tries this lacquer technique, please let me know.

*faux-boo coined by David of Midwestern Malaise.