And her name is Erinn, no less. A multi-faceted lifestyle ninja, of sorts, Erinn Valencich is a complete rock star in my eyes. And her logo is even a flower, just like mine. Meant to be?

Thanks for posting about her Desire to Inspire.

Update!! Guess who I got an e-mail from (thanks to Jen)?? Erinn Valencich! Talk about a thrill- especially after my less than eloquent gushing about her work!

I trekked back up into my quite chilly parents' barn Tuesday afternoon to photograph all the antique wallpapers I posted about when I first started this blog . The two I show on that post are my ultimate favorites of this insane lot of papers that my dad inherited with the passing of the pattern designer, Louis W. Bowen. I used cuts of the blue one above my bed in frames, as you've seen previously, and an exact copy of the green lattice pattern was on the wall of Hudson this past winter! See, everything comes back! Here are photos the rest. We are thinking of taking an inventory and selling some of it. My dad is pondering using some in a new commericial project he's doing (do it, Dad!!) and I'm thinking of just hoarding some until I can figure out just what to do with it!
I googled Mr. Bowen to see if I could find out more about him, other than he obviously did work for Schumacher and Brunschwig & Fils in the 50's and 60's, because that is where and when these papers are from. Beyond simple information stating that he owned the Louis W. Bowen Wallpaper company, all I could find was this bio and a mention of his bequest of a piece of modern art to the Met.
Businessman, interior designer, long associated with the Winter Antiques Show. Born in Los Angeles in 1914, he attended UCLA until 1936 when he was hired by Dorothy Hammerstein as her interior design assistant. When Mrs. Hammerstein reopened her business in NYC in 1939, he came to New York as her partner. A World War II Navy veteran, trained as a medical assistant, he was always pleased that his ward was chosen to be shown to Eleanor Roosevelt when she visited wounded servicemen in the South Pacific. He returned from active duty to open his own business, Louis W. Bowen, Inc., to manufacture specialty wall coverings. He operated this business for 40 years while continuing to create interior designs for many clients. He served as Chair of The Winter Antiques Show in 1970-71 and 1976; as co-chair, in 1995; and as a Board member of East Side House Settlement, the Show's beneficiary, since 1968.


This one above is absolutely STUNNING. I want to frame a very long section of it. Amazing.

I love this one too. I can see cutting shapes out of it and pasting to the wall in a "wall decal" type fashion for a baby girls room.

I love the cursive title. I don't know why.

An ikat-y floral print.

Newsprint pattern- love it.

Yellow and lime flowers and butterflies.

This looks like Royal Copenhagen china to me.

This one is interesting. The small blocks of pattern hold prints that are SO modern today. I've seen this "T" pattern everywhere lately- and here are some of it's origins! There's even a square with a foo dog in it. Yay.


This one is vinyl and there is something very fresh and lovely about it.

Yesterday I was in Putnam, CT doing some browsing in the antique stores there and came across some gems.

A mirror with great inlaid wood detail.

Lots of vintage X-mas ornaments and a superb collection of Jadeite. (But sadly no opaline for me!)

Beautiful old chandelier and a ceramic whippet (Kelly Wearstler much? Totally should have bought it- $85- and painted it glossy white.)

Beautiful Indain-esque birdcage and ceramic decorative ball (which my mom snagged!)

Chests with gorgeous wavy fronts and crackled obelisks.

Sadly, I was feeling poor and got nothing- but it was an interesting trip!

As previously mentioned, Target has finally released it's nursery line by DwellStudio. Of course, it a fabulously affordable take on Dwell's richer, coveted baby line and I love it. Here are some of my favorites:



And thanks to my very clever reader Gina, who alerted me to Walmarts BabyMod line, there are even MORE choices in crafting a budget friendly nursery. And I dare say, this line is just as good as the Dwell line- if not surpasses it in some ways.



(I love the above far left bedding for a girl!)

I'm off to go antique hunting for a client and see my Mom, so I'm offline until tomorrow afternoon! Have a great day!

This lamp at Walmart: $34.96
This EXACT SAME LAMP at Target: $89.99

You've GOT to be kidding me.

I know you are thinking "This girl calls herself an interior designer and she's shopping at Walmart?" First of all, I call myself an interior stylist, (i.e no design school here, folks :) ) and secondly, as much as I would love to lounge around in custom designed furniture clad is $250 a yard fabric, that is not my reality. (Cue sad violin music in the back round).
Therefore, I go in search of things in lesser known, lesser wallet-emptying places- and hence the mission of my company. And trust me, I was not expecting to find what I did at Walmart!! Target, yes. It is after all the designer's discount store. But these products at Walmart have no designer name attached to them. The prices are truly ridiculous and so I cannot vouch for the quality- but kind of like a Target purse, you probably won't be devastated when it falls apart in a few months. And it may not! These things would be great for guest rooms, bedrooms and places where expensive accessories may be lost on the viewer (or lack of viewers). Enjoy!