A NOTRE DAME LIVING ROOM

I've been literally dying to do a Notre Dame living room. Navy and Gold are BAE. Thats the second time I've used BAE on this blog - and funny enough, the second time I've used BAE ever. You know that it means "before anyone else" or something like that? It's an aconym, not a short form of babe, and that makes it marginally less obnoxious. But I digress. We're gonna get a little crazy with this room. I think a lot of people think of Notre Dame as a very traditional school - and since I'm all about contrast, funky and contemporary seemed like the way to go. This is the perfect room from which to listen to a chortling Lou Holtz predict another Notre Dame win.

1 | I always have to address the bar y'all. This set of glasses and decanter are from Anthropologie and right off the bat get you thinking about the Fighting Irish. Whiskey? Irish. Drinking? Irish. Impossibly shiney gold helmets? Irish. Someone give me the tiniest reason to style this set on a bar. *insert heart-eye emojii*.

2 | Surviving those South Bend winters is no easy feat but a cozy living room can make it a little bit better. And a cozy living room isn't complete without pillows! You can snuggle up with your significant other and watch Rudy for the 939,485th time. I've been drooling over The Citizenry's amazing collection of worldly textural pieces and Lulu & Georgia is always a good source...and H&M Home is without a doubt my go-to for solid pillows in any color I need!

3 | Always gotta have a rug - it ties the room together, visually organizes the space, and keeps things soft underfoot for all those little ones running around (because everyone you went to college with has long since gotten married - you know thats how those Irish roll.) I tried this scheme with two different rugs from Lulu & Georgia this one and the one I chose.

4 | This couch is from Bryght Furniture. I love the golden burnished leather on this beauty. It looks so warm and masculine but also inviting - and I can tell you from first hand experience that they make super comfortable furniture. I think this would please men and women alike - and a great piece for couples decorating together.

5 | This coffee table might be the craziest, most incredible thing I've ever seen. Not to mention it's the perfect coffee table for a house full of little rug-rats - they might put their eye out on those side chairs, but this big ol' guy would softly caress them as they fell. If this coffee table doesn't scream GOLDEN DOME you're clearly not listening - it might even become a family tradition to rub it's shining form after every touchdown. I know how you Irish love your traditions.

6 | Referencing the dome again is this Milo Baughman Style shelving unit from Charish. A great place to keep all your books and momentos and if you could get your hands on one of those shiney gold helmets it would look so good styled on these shelves. 

7 | Finally this custom upholstered chair from West Elm (that is actually very Baughman-esque too) brings in that navy punch. I would get two and have them on either side of that couch facing each other. Below is another layout I was working with that pulls a bunch of the pieces together so you can get a feel for what I'm thinking with the furniture. Floating in the middle of a generous living room....

As always I'd love to know what you think about the room and I would love if you have some Fighting Irish friends and family if you'd share with them as well. Look for a post in the coming weeks about Bryght too, if you're in the market for some furniture you should probably check it out. I just received my first order from them and I'm completely smitten. 

ROUND UP: KATE SPADE NEW YORK HOME

Stop the presses! Ring the bells and call the president and shout it from the rooftops! Kate Spade has officially entered the furniture design arena! I love me some Kate. From her stationary to her handbags to her cute as a button dresses, I’ve always loved her tailored, feminine, sassy aesthetic. I even have one of her very early, just-starting-stationary mailers from forever ago. Last week I attended a panel discussion with David Peck (Houston fashion designer extraordinaire) and he said his dream was to be a cross between Oprah, Martha Stewart, and Ralph Lauren – me? I think I’d go with a mix ofBeyonce (duh), Emily Henderson, and Kate Spade. I want to share some of my favorite pieces from her new home collection – pieces you definitely need if you want to bring home a little sassy (classy) New York flair. The collection is full of understated bows and clean lines and flashes of gold. The hardware is flawless and the upholstery is perfect – with moments that make you remember this is all coming from a designer who excels in the littlest details. View the entire collection here and keep reading for my favorites.

1 | Lets start big. She introduced two sofas but take a real close look at the Downing Sofa. At first glance it seems like any other mid-century inspired sofa, so much so that I honestly glanced right past it, but the best parts are in the details and I’m pretty much head over heels for the piping panel that wraps around the back. I honestly can’t get over it. If you had a situation where you needed to float your sofa in your room, this sofa is it. It would almost be a crime to put a console behind it.

2 | Probably my favorite piece in the entire furniture collection is the Georgia Bench. It looks like an entire black-tie event got turned into a bench by a fairy god mother. Benches are fantasic, flexible pieces: in entry ways, at the foot of your bed, as a window seat, or if youre lucky enough to have a closet that can fit furniture – in your closet.  The legs recall Kate’s favorite bow-tie motif and while Navy and Gold will always be BAE, I’ve been really feeling Black and Gold recently.

3 | This Ellery Sconce is adorable. And classic. And glam. And tailored. Use it in an entry way to flank a mirror in a thin gold frame (over that bench?), use them over a vanity, in a moody dark powder room...use them everywhere. 

4 | A little while back I posted a Best Of: White Desks. I was 110% sure I wanted a white desk. But then this beauty came along in all it's hand-painted glory and suddenly I have always needed a polka dot desk and didn't even know it. Click the link and check out the hardware details. OH MY.

5 | These accent chairs make my little heart sing – they come in two beautiful colors – teal and a charcoal gray. They could be mixed into any décor and would make wonderful dining chairs as well. And would you look at that: the back looks like a bow. Not so much that they scream “LITTLE GIRL” but enough that Kate’s signature quirk shines through.

Maybe you're not ready to commit to a whole couch, Kate's got plenty of little accents for you to drool over. That black, white, and gold motif still dominating:

You can never go wrong with a bold graphic statement pillow, a warm, white willow scented candle, and this Hampton Street Rosebowl vase is so perfect - I would need a constant supply of garden roses.

As if all of this wasn't enough, Kate Spade announced an athleisure collection with Beyond Yoga to be available this coming January. Y'all what a dream. So what are your favorite pieces? What do you think of the bolder colored pieces? Whats on your wishlist?

THE MOST DIFFICULT ROOM YET

It’s no secret that as a life-long Longhorn fan, Aggies may not be my favorite subject. As a mature adult though I can put aside my differences long enough to design them a beautiful, classic, quirky dining room #adulting. Just please, I beg of you, don’t WHOOP at me, I can’t think of a more awful sound. When I first started considering doing an Aggie room I was nervous about finding anything in Maroon – heaven forbid a maroon sofa, but then I remembered – those lucky Ags – the Pantone 2015 color of the year is Marsala. For those who don’t venture out of the ROY-G-BIV color world: Marsala is a beautiful, rich, maroon color. And it just so happens that Marsala goes beautifully with copper – the design world's new metal darling-du-jour. If I’m being honest, these are two color trends I haven’t been too keen on, but through the process of pulling this all together, they’ve grown on me. Not will this classy dining room will make my Aggie friends happy but it’s also a room full of warm tones that all of us fall-lovers can get behind.

1. The Place Setting - I love the look of these mixed white plates, a little bit country but the mismatching and the sleek copper flatware gives it a modern flair. The maroon linen napkins from Crate and Barrel will pop against the white farm table (and some maroon candles in copper candles sticks and I could go on forever - table styling is so so fun). You can achieve the mixed look by either scouring your local resale shops for a variety of white plates, or by visiting several different stores and buying 1-2 sets of several types of plates.

2. Artwork is so personal and nothing is more personal than the century tree on the Aggie campus. This Ansel Adams print will hopefully always remind you and your love of the first time you walked under the big old oak. I think this is my favorite Aggie tradition. If you don't know about it you can read about it here, and if you do know about it, you can buy a seedling from the Century Tree at the same website - so cool.

3. These Tom Dixon pendants may be a little over the top, but hey, so are those gigantic Aggie rings. Always be reminded of your favorite huge round jewelry when you stare at these floating orbs. But on a more serious note, these chandeliers and the rug are the real players in this room - and I would be over the moon if I were presented with an opportunity to use these pendants in a project. They really draw your eye up and keep the light bouncing in fantastic ways. Imagine a candle-lit dinner party (post-midnight yell?) with the flames reflecting in the surface - I'm not sure I can think of anything more dreamy.

4. This rug definitely becomes a show piece in the room. This is where the maroon really comes out to play! Soft underfoot and super rich in color, you could layer it over a darker wood floor for a more subtle look but I could also see it over a floor of beautiful oversize white Moroccan inspired tiles for a really eclectic impact. What I think is fantastic is that all the beautiful detailing is on the edge of the rug, so when a dining table is on top you don't miss out on any of the pretty.

5. This linen upholstered dining chair is fit for a 12th man. I love mixing dining chairs or at least making the head of the table special. Linen is a perfect rustic/chic fabric for this Aggie dining room - again, a little bit traditional, a little bit modern, and a little bit country.

6. Aggies are one big family. That means when they get together they get together in force, so you've got to have plenty of seating, meaning one big long farm table fits the bill. This table from Pottery Barn is great because it expands to seat even more when the occasion calls for it - and in white it pops against that rug and keeps the room from feeling too hectic. 

7. While those pendants scream their presence like a quarterback who will remain nameless, sideboards and buffets are the unsung workhorse of the dining room - typically topped with flashier bar pieces - and what everyone came to see: the food. This buffet brings us back to the country look but it has really clean lines as well so I think it could play nicely with the more modern elements in the room too. Most importantly there is plenty of room to store all that booze.

8. Modernize that rustic sideboard with some copper barware from Crate and Barrel. None of these college football rooms are complete without a bar - alcohol goes just as much hand-in-hand with tailgating as it does entertaining. And since we're all adults here: at home lets aim to be just a pinch classier than Northgate.

One thing I know for sure about Aggies is that they have a whole lot of Aggie pride, so just in case a room full of maroon isn't quite enough here are some items I found while looking around the web for this post that might just be your cup of tea:

Even I can appreciate this coffee mug, this slate tray from College Artisan is a pretty classy addition, and if you want to get really extreme you can replace ALL the doorknobs in your house with these doorknobs from Collegiate Specialties

Whew! Aggie room: complete! As always I would love to hear from the Aggies and non-aggies alike. What do you think of the copper? This may be one of the more "on trend" rooms I've done - a fact that this Longhorn finds a little ironic. ;)