Round Mirrors over the Mantel? I'm in!

Yesterday I was scanning through Elizabeth Dinkel's Portfolio, which I highly recommend, I'm going to have to add her to my inspirational designers folder, and I came across the picture above. I absolutely loved the round convex mirror over the fireplace mantel. It is over-scaled, and has amazing depth. I got curious about this idea of round mirrors over fireplaces; so many people put flat screens which makes me shudder. Take a look at all the different styles.

Todd Romano uses a round mirror in this large and elegant dining room. I like how it is a faded white color and blends into the wallpaper.

This mirror is quite traditional, as are many round mirrors. It is small but clearly the attention should be paid to the large chandelier in the room by Shiela Bridges.

Isn't the wallpaper in here stunning? The flat mirror and the flat fireplace look so pretty on the wallpaper. Just STUNNING. Designed by Nathan Egan.

That's right, there's a mirror there! Leta Austin Foster used a sunburst mirror. I love the dark reds in this room, it's actually calming feeling. And the apple green ceramic stools really balance it out.

This is from Eddie Ross's portfolio. This entire wall is basically mirrors and actually the traditional mirror breaks it up a bit.

I think I love everything about this room, from my dear Domino. This looks like an over-sized pocket mirror, and is hanging on a chain (from Ballard Designs).

Also from Domino, a pair of round mirror with a pair of scones next to it. I love the asymmetrical look to this with pairs.

What a gorgeous scene from Living etc. A pretty and neutral living room livened up with a fabulous mantle display and a Venetian mirror--leaning.

I'm a traditional kind of girl and love to have a gorgeous painting over the mantle, but I think that a round mirror or regular mirror as well is a fun alternative. A mirror adds the illusion of space to a room and a round mirror in particular can add a focal point to the room. Too bad for me I don't have a fireplace in my little apartment but I will be putting a mirror in my foyer to make it look bigger!

PS-ONE DAY LEFT to enter the floor lamp give-away contest! CLICK HERE if you can't be bothered to scroll down.

Also, thank you to My Design Secrets for the guest blog yesterday!

Alicia B.

Guest Blogging at My Design Secrets!

Missing me today? Earn back my love by going to My Design Secrets where I'll be guest blogging! Find out who my design inspirations are! Also you MUST enter the free give-away contest, one post beyond this.

I love the punches of bright green in this room designed by Jamie Drake.

Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!
ME

Alicia B.

Amazing Giveaway: Shades of Light Fleurette Floor Lamp!

Want to win something? Of course you do! This week I'll be doing a give away for one of my favorite stores: Shades of Light. They specialize in one of my fave things: lighting; but they also have a gorgeous selection of home accessories, furniture, rugs, and more! Remember when I blogged about them for my selection of great and affordable floor lamps? See it HERE if you missed out. Well ever since then, I've been in love with their line--check out their website HERE for more great things. They have a blog as well--Inspired Spaces.



Enough gushing--back to the giveaway! The item we're giving away today is the Fleurette Floor lamp above (shade not included). This lamp is perfect for right now as it reminds me of spring. It's also fun, organic and very beautiful. These are the rules: To enter the contest you must comment to this post by Thursday March 19th 8 PM EST. Type the name of the lamp (Fleurette) and what you're looking forward to most for spring, besides the possibility of winning this great floor lamp. Winners must be in the lower 48 states only, and of course, only one entry per person. I'm not allowed to win, so give it your all!

Since the shade is not included, let me suggest these:THIS one is great for spring! Bright and happy. The Cotton Duck shade.

I love this pattern of the Modern Damask Drum Shade.

I'll announce the winner as chosen by random.org on Friday March 20th. Good luck everyone! PLEASE NO ANONYMOUS COMMENTS

If you like this lamp and want to see more of Shades of Light's products, please visit their website AND their blog! Be careful though--everything they have is something you're going to want!


Alicia B.

Who wants cake?

Too bad. You have to have had a birthday for me to make it! I ended up making THIS classic Yellow butter cake with Chocolate frosting yesterday (above). It was SUPER good although I had some issues with the frosting which were quickly remedied and the cake part wasn't as sweet as I would have hoped. Oh well, these things happen. This too shall pass. Try not to be so dramatic about it.

I really love photographing food!

Anyway, I'm not going to lie when I say that I completely nailed it and the birthday was a hit! Next stop: my surprise giveaway THIS WEEK!!!

Alicia B.

Design Lesson: Ikat

Ikat pillow from Sheherazade.

A few weeks ago, a reader asked me what ikat is. I realized that some people, who are not design nerds, actually read my blog! I was just whisking you through some fabric and didn't even bother to explain what it was. My apologies. And now you're all subject to a little lesson in design. Ikat is "a style of weaving that uses a resist dyeing process similar to tie dye on either the warp or weft before the threads are woven to create a pattern or design." Huh. Anyway, ikat comes from southeast Asia; Thailand, Malaysia, India, Indonesia and that area. It's a very beautiful style of fabric and seems to be quite popular right now.

Micheal Smith uses ikat here in this beautiful red and white throw pillow. This is actually one of my favorite images of a room. I love the yellow contrasted with the red.

Suzanne Tucker used ikat fabric to cover this entire sofa. The color palette works well with the reds she's used here in the carpet and pillows. It also works well with the handmade baskets on the coffee table.

A large piece of ikat can be used to simply cover the seat and back of a sofa like this one designed by Moises Esquenazi.

Madeline Weinrib has an amazing line of ikat pillows, as well as many other items which I almost bought (this rug). This is her house and she uses one of her gorgeous chocolate brown pillows on the chair.

I've always loved this little sitting room by Hal Williamson. The pair of chairs flanking the fireplace are in ikat fabric and they work so well with the antique rug!

David Easton (swoon) has his own line at Lee Jofa including this ikat fabric called Westmount Wall.

Fabric this beautiful certainly deserves to be framed. I have a piece of fabric framed hanging over my bed now! From Elle Decor designed by Anne Becker.

Besides using this fabric for throw pillows, and upholstery, it can of course be used as a wall covering like here in Bob Bob Ricard Restaurant in London c/o La Dolce Vita.

Truth be told, I really love ikat but I'm going to be a total snob and say that it's on its way out as a trend because I recently saw it at Pottery Barn. I know what you're thinking: "Oh Alicia, get over it," but I must be at the CUTTING EDGE, okay?! I like it in small doses, but when it becomes a trend, I tend to back out. Thoughts? Want to get some of it for yourself? HERE is a pillow from Pottery Barn and a cute BAG from Target, or for more home accessories, Sheherazade! Another great place for affordable ikat pillows is Fabricadabra--my fave is the pink "M" shape.

REMINDER: A surprise give-away contest will be happening sometime next week! Check back for more deets.


Alicia B.

Let Me Eat Cake

How cute is this one? Very spring looking. No Bake Marshmallow Cake!

Let's take a break from design for a hot second, yes? I've been looking at some cakes lately for a special someone's upcoming birthday this Saturday. My assumed parameters are the following:

1) Cannot be healthy or a pie.
2) Must have chocolate in it
3)Cannot forget important ingredients like eggs or baking soda. This has NEVER happened before, I swear! (It's happened twice, WHATEVER.)


As any good Martha Stewart-ite, obviously I will be making this cake from scratch; that's not even a question. Here are my choices so far:

Okay I know this doesn't have chocolate but it DOES have ice cream so perhaps I could slip that one by him. Muah ah ah. This is a Martha Stewart Inside Out Strawberry Ice cream cake. It looks so fresh and yum.

This one looks INCREDIBLY rich. The Mexican Chocolate Cake is from Real Simple. And apparently this cake is "kid friendly."

This one is fighting for first place in my mind. Its just simple and beautiful and not too much work for me! Moist Devil's Food Cake. YARMMMMM.

There's truly no way that I'll be making this cake but I just thought it was funny. Burgers are somewhat of an addiction for SOME PEOPLE. HA. I found it at good ol' Betty Crocker.

From Cooking Light (love you!), this decadent Dark Chocolate Orange cake doesn't look "light" at all.

Hopefully in this endeavor, I don't end up eating all the dough and/or frosting myself before I put it in the oven! Does anybody have any other suggestions? I also looked at my secret love, Paula Deen's recipes but there are no pictures! Hmm.

PS: Possibly could be doing a surprise give-away next week. TRUST ME, it's really good! Look out for it!


Alicia B.