when a girl has some questions.

I get straight giddy over interior design. It is a field that I am actively attempting to understand. It intrigues me because learning design is like getting to know someone. You have to feel it out and learn the quirks and traits that make it come together. There is no formula you can learn that “works”, like math or science. You have train your eyes and season your gut. As a lover of good design, well crafted furniture and small shops, I have been seeking out designers and shop owners in Houston to get some insight on their take of aesthetics.

Over the last week, I have gone to several different antique/interior design shops and spoken to their owners and designers about what it is that drove them to get their own creative space, what inspires them, and what the steps are to becoming a well known designer. Most of the men and women who worked in these places were very generous with their time and knowledge- excited to have found someone who was interested in their craft. I was thankful for this, as all I did was waltz in, slinging my Nikon around my neck, and request a meeting.

The shops were so inspiring to me. I wish I could pretend that I was cool about the whole thing, but I was almost keeled over with butterflies that these designers were taking the time to talk to me and letting me photograph.

One of the shops I went to even produces it’s own magazine with history of furniture and design from around the world. They let me have a copy and that occupied my afternoon as I was coming down from my interior design high.

Other exciting ideas are coming in the works soon and I can hardly wait to share.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week, and thanks for stopping by!

xoxo, k.

 

 

a new face.

Hello there.

As you can tell, the blog got a bit of a face lift overnight. And by overnight, I mean that I am still up at 3am trying to figure out how in the hades to get this whole code situation sorted out. Word Press is making it increasingly difficult for me to pretend that I am a blogger who knows what she’s doing. So be distracted by my words and pictures until I figure out the art of getting an Instagram icon into the side bar and/or a decent header. Hats off to all of you code artists out there.

Now on to something I can conquer: Gift wrapping.

I am not going to pretend that I am good at giving gifts. I’m absolutely not. I am not the friend who is going to remember your birthday. And I feel bad about that… I do. Butttttt I am trying to get better. With so many weddings, graduations, and other summery celebratory situations, I have been exercising my gift giving muscle. As I get older, I am beginning to realize that a well thought out gift can be the water that keeps a friendship from drying up. When life gets busy and you don’t have time to catch dinner or call more than once a week (if you’re lucky), a well thought out present can be a tangible token of loyalty and love until things calm down a bit.

 

For any of you gift givers out there, here are a few of my gifting favorites that are sure to please: {pictured above}

Rifle Paper Company anything. They have wonderful vintage inspired paper goods that are all so cute and useful.

Donna Hay cookbook. This is coffee table material, folks. Beyond the mouth watering recipes, the layouts and photography are gorgeous. She also divides the dishes by what ingredients are in season so that you have the freshest meals (and impressed guests).

Ravens Wood Wine: My parents actually gave me this Zinfandel as part of a Christmas gift, and I loved it so much that I decided to spread the wealth. Definitely a good wine for your buck.

In other news: Today was one of the most wonderful days I’ve had in a while (!!!). I’ll update you more on that tomorrow. This coding mess has got me all kinds of sleep deprived tonight.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

xoxo, k.

work perks.

My first week of work isn’t over and I’m already reaping the benefits of working at an ever changing brand that happens to have my taste.

We are currently breaking down one of the stores to be able to restyle everything on Sunday. Because of this, everything has to go. Lucky for me, this means free home decoration.

These trees were a winter design. They broke apart into the individual branches so I was able to fit it in my car, but the downside was it took forever to gem them untangled and put back together. But I am excited to have them in my office.

I also got this jewelry holder. This would be pretty simple to make yourself, but it’s always nice to get a finished project.

I was up at 4:45am for work this morning, so I’m hitting the sack. Thanks for reading!!

xo, k.

four great things.

Here are a few things that made the month of January special, that I happened to catch with my camera.

One: My best friend, Corie, came to visit me for a weekend. We never stopped laughing… or eating. Corie is one of those gems of a friend that is always down for a new experience- no matter what it entails. This quality we share never fails to get us in trouble and, consequently, provides the best stories. This particular weekend had us galavanting through Houston, singing at random Karaoke establishments, making friends with strangers, and making sure we ate everything the city had to offer.

Two: Clint and I went to visit my family for my younger brother’s birthday. I can’t believe how old they are getting. And they both tower at least 6 inches over me.

I was also able to visit my grandmother, Mimi. We had lunch and talked about anything and everything. I always feel so blessed to have her cheerful encouragement in my life. She always tells me that I give her hope in the current state of the world, but in reality, she gives me hope in myself.

Three: This last time Clint was home, we were able to experience lots of peaches. (Clint and I describe the good things in life as peaches and the bad as pits.)

1. After months and months of searching, we found a church that we both love. This is a hugely exciting thing to us, since we have been craving a Christian community- and between me going to church on my own when he was gone, and us not “clicking” with a church when he was here, it was a frustrating roller coaster.

2. I applied for my dream job. I honestly believed I had no chance at getting it, but after several rounds of interviews, I got a call offering me the position! I am still completely blown away and insanely excited. Starting tomorrow (ah!) I will be helping with the design of Free People stores. I will help plan events, pick what goes on manequins, style customers, and help design the inside of the store… the perfect collision of everything I love into one job description.

Above: Me in my favorite little nook of the house. The coffee table is an old war trunk and we found that killer wingback chair at an estate sale when we first moved to Houston.

And below: Clint and I went to several different museums over the two weeks he was home. It was so funny to see my grown husband get all giddy for the dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Science- and then he completely geeked out over the natural gas exhibit like the engineer he is. I love him.

Home: I went to Canton last weekend, and found this awesome iron canopy. I decided to attach it to an old window frame (that came from a barn in Austin), to keep from having to drill any huge holes in the wall. Then I went to World Market and got some sheer curtains that I could tie on. Then I put a chandelier inside, and voila!

For the vase, I took a mason jar and sprayed mercury paint (you can find it at Hobby Lobby) inside so that it looks silver/a mirror finish.

Four: I have a thing for instant cameras. My most recent addition to the collection is Fujifilm’s instax 210. This guy is a wide shot camera, producing pictures about 3 times as large as the popular 7s. Definitely too large to casually carry around, but the pictures are easier to see and the camera provides alot more control over your results than the 7s (lightening/darkening options, different zoom lengths, ect)

I am also excited about this year’s planner from Kate Spade. Each month is sectioned off by beautiful pictures and fun quotes.

Off to my first day of my new job tomorrow. Wish me luck.

xoxo, k.

iphone pictures into polaroids.

Okay. You guys already know about my love for polariods, so you can imagine my excitement for a machine that weds old school photography with new age technology.

New york-based company, impossible, has developed a device capable of turning digital iPhone photography
into analog imagery using ‘impossible film’. Their newest creation, ‘the instant lab’ features a cradle to hold the smart-phone with a highly specialized lens designed to focus the image from the screen onto film. a high precision film processing unit (FPU) processes and develops specific instant film when the phone is placed within its designated base alongside specially calibrated app. Users can select and crop images accordingly from their image libraries, where they become developed in a polaroid-styled manner. Nifty, eh?

Granted, you could always buy a polaroid camera. Or just use instagram. But for the techie lusters out there, this machine looks pretty cool. Now, too bad I don’t have an iphone…

xoxo, k.

sneak peek into my home office.

Moving pretty much just sucks. And as much as I love interior decoration, it can definitely be a struggle to find time to decorate and redesign with the normal everyday responsibilities keeping you busy (and having an everyday budget to work with!). When Clint and I moved into our new home, we were thrilled. Mainly because it had a reliable hot water source and ceiling fans in every room… luxuries that we didn’t have at our old place. But along with warm showers also came more space. Over DOUBLE the space. While this has been more wonderful than I can say, it also posed the problem of filling the space. I like my house to be nice and homey (read: knick-knacky and crowded), so with a small budget and a big home, I was up for a challenge. But if deal hunting were an Olympic sport, I sure would have won a gold for America.

One of my favorite things about our home is that I get to have my own office. I work from home alot. From graphic design, to the blogging world, to my endless list of art projects I am working on, it’s an absolute blessing to have my own space to create and… well.. completely mess up with acrylic paint.

First step: get rid of the beige walls. Carpet and beige walls are the death of me, and so I did what any girl on a low budget could do in this situation: PAINT EVERYTHING.

I painted the walls first in a very light blue. This was an adventure that I (the ADD child) stupidly brilliantly decided was a good project to begin at 1am one night and didn’t sleep until it was completely finished… the next day at 6pm. I also gave my dresser, that was formerly lime green (don’t judge my 7th grade taste), a face lift with a new coat of coral paint and new pulls.

I am far from done, but here is a sneak peak into my creative space.

This is a picture of my office before: a week after we had moved in.

And now:

I bought these old spools from a flea market stand that was selling various industrial supplies from an old factory.

I frame various things. My favorite thing to do is frame things that are typically not framed.

The top left picture is a print on top of a piece of tapestry that I received as a wedding present.

Top right is something I tore out of a book.

Bottom left is a piece of tissue paper that was wrapped around some stationary I bought from Kate Spade. I fell in love with the pattern and the color matched perfectly with the dresser it’s hanging over!

Tip: Even when you have a small gallery of pictures that are framed, don’t be afraid to just tape something that you love with them. It adds some character! I took the polaroid of Clint at a Star Wars watching party we had, and wanted to hang it somewhere. I used some patterned washi tape to hold it up. I use patterned tape on EVERYTHING. You can find all kinds on Etsy and Amazon, if you’re interested.

I like finding little places in our home to inspire me. I taped this picture on the inside of my office door so it’s the last thing I see before I walk out of my creative space and into the world.

I needed to find a way to keep my obsession with stationary organized. I bought this wooden box from Hobby Lobby, and painted “cards” on it with some stencils. I keep my favorite letters from people, cards that I have made, and random stationary/post cards that I have picked up over time.

This bookshelf is made from some vintage folding crates. It’s the perfect size to hold some of my design favorites and keep my sketch books, journals, and work notebooks together.

I get a lot of questions about where I bought my lamp from and they are always surprised at my answer: target. I bought it as a empty glass and filled it with painted driftwood. I put a burlap lamp shade on it to give it a warm glow, and it lights up the wood beautifully!

This vase single handedly inspired the color scheme of my office. I loved the coral and light blue together: hence my blue walls and coral dresser. The vase is from Anthropologie and then I took some branches from outside and wound them with yarn. For the tutorial I did over this: check here.

I love having a big empty frame to hang up little bits of what is currently inspiring me. I bought it from a boutique. It was actually used to display some hanging clothes, and I asked the owner if I could buy the frame from her since I loved it so much. I finally convinced her into letting me buy it and now it’s one of my favorite pieces in my office!

I am now moving on to the living room, but will keep you posted with more before and afters.

I’m off to Mexico tomorrow for the next week with my man, so it’s off to my to-do list that is a mile long. Including getting waxed for the first time. Ouch.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Leave me love. <3

XOXO, k.

shameless friend promotion.

Meet Mark. Dear friend, fluent in ebonics, and dangerously clever behind a lens.

The first time we fluidly exchanged Nicki Minaj lyrics in an everyday conversation, I decided we would be best friends. Other than our late night phone calls where he recites the day’s happenings, with a cigarette dangling from his lip James Dean style, he spends his time inviting the world into his creative brain one snapshot at a time.

Here are a few of my recent favorites:

Mark (or Queen Mark as I refer to him as) inhabits the streets of the DFW, if you’re wanting someone to take of a picture of you being fabulous.

Here is his tumblr. Check it.

xoxo, k.

cuteness for your computer

I love finding cute calendars to make as the background of my computer. Beautiful and logical. Thought I’d share the wealth for your computer background pleasure.

Happy Wednesday.

xoxo, k.

lover of quirks and stories.

You know me. Lover of anything that is quirky or houses a story. I love that worn, earthy feel of a house that just begs you to come in and feel at home. I love beaten up furniture and crisp walls. I love a home that looks like a million bucks, but doesn’t strive to impress with grandeur. I love things that have the perfect amount of mismatch and imperfection. I love the playfulness and self expression in a home that is there for the inhabitants, not the guests. And I love these pictures of these absolutely lovely homes. Sigh.

 

 

Happy monday.

xoxo, k.

Free arrow photoshop brush download.

I am currently working on a design project for work that requires different kinds of arrows. Well, this just got me on an arrow kick, checking out all the different styles of hand-drawn pointers. In my quest, I found this Photoshop brush set which allows you to simply drop these cute little arrows into any project you’re working on.

Here are some videos to show you how to use these:

The first clip shows tips on loading the brushes in Photoshop (if you’re unfamiliar with the process), and the second one shares a couple ideas on how to use the brush set. If you’re already comfortable with Photoshop, then feel free to just scroll on down for the download and dive right in.

VIDEOS:

How To Load Photoshop Brushes

Tips On Using Photoshop Arrow Brushes

Tip: I suggest using the fill screen button (at the bottom of the page) to view the videos, so that it is sized correctly for the computer that you are using.

If you’re new to Photoshop brushes, I’ve have a few simple pointers on using them to pass on. Please let me know if you need me to clear up any steps. Again, I’m not very savvy when it comes to the technical side of Photoshop, but I should at least be able to get you going with this brush set.

LOADING PHOTOSHOP BRUSHES:

1. Scroll to the bottom of this post and click on the download button
2. Double click on the file once it has downloaded onto your computer. This should automatically load the brushes into your brush library.
3. If that doesn’t work, open photoshop > Window > Brushes
4. When the Brushes palette opens click on the tiny triangle in the upper right-hand corner of the palette
5. Select load brushes from the menu box that opens > select the arrow brush file from your computer (file name cc_arrow_brushes.abr) > click ‘load’
6. Your brushes will now appear in the brush palette library

Now that you have your brushes, here area a few ideas on how to use them:Arrows are great for highlighting details on a post or image.

You can also use them to create a decorative pattern like this.

BRUSH USING TIPS:

• You will need to use a new layer to get started using your brushes.
• I recommend using a new layer for each brush that you want to use on your page, that way they will be easy to edit individually.
• You can change the opacity of your arrows (allowing more or less of the background to show through them). To do this make sure you have selected the brush tool, toggle the opacity and flow percentages in the very top menu bar before stamping down your chosen arrow. Once you have the opacity looking how you like, apply your brush anywhere you’d like on your page.

Download your brushes here!

Happy arrowing.

xoxo, k.