Designer Spotlight: Ashley Whitaker

Ashley Whitaker's designs have been popping up on Pinterest and I have been drooling over all of them. Some of my all-time favorite pins are her designs and I didn't even know it! Her website describes her as a "neo-traditionalist" designer and says she is "characterized by tailored rooms that incorporate charming detail and engaging play on color and pattern." The New York City designer has got mixing color and patterns down to a tee while still knowing how to keep a room from looking busy. Below are a few of her designs that are my favorite. P.S. Have a great weekend everyone! I'm off to Canada tomorrow (yes, I know, how un-American to go to Canada for the 4th) to see Riley and am so excited for my week off! 

Images via House Beautiful and Ashley Whitaker Designs

Artist of the Day: Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basqiat was an American artist that was heavily influenced by graffiti and mixed abstract with figures to create collaged paintings. Basquiat was inspired by social issues and liked to paint contrasting themes like wealth vs. poverty. He came to fame in the early 80's and was big on the New York art scene until he died. When I was in high school, Basquiat was a huge inspiration of mine and I even did my whole senior year art portfolio using graffiti/mixed media a la Basquiat.  He died in 1986 of an overdose but his legacy lives on in his paintings.I'm sort of obsessed with his color choices and combos and his use of layering is pretty incredible. Below are some of my favorite pieces of his. I adore the fifth one down but how can you really pick a favorite??

*All art created by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Grasscloth Walls

When my family and I moved into our house in Greenwich almost 8 years ago, I was determined to get the best bedroom. This, in my opinion was the one with it's own bathroom and spiral staircase up to a loft. What wasn't so great about it was the grasscloth walls. They seemed dated and were the wrong color. We decided to paint over them a beautiful seafoamy/light blue color and had to do multiple coats to ensure none of the original color was showing. The finished result was gorgeous especially once we put in a fun shag rug, new headboard and fun ballard design bookcase and desk. Some of my favorite grasscloth walls are not the neutral color that they come in but rather in navy and charcoal and, yes, light blue. Below are some of my favorite uses.

*Images via Pinterest and ElementsofStyleBlog.com

Emerald

Green is the new black for 2013. Pantone has announced the 2013's color of the year is emerald and I'm excited to add a bit more of the jewel tone into my wardrobe and home decor. I absolutely adored the emerald colored dress Keira Knightley donned in Atonement and Kate Middleton is known to be a big fan of the color. 

Images from pinterest.com