It has been almost 10 months that you have not heard from me. Well I am back, and a lot has changed. I bought myself a condo! My very own space. It was a blank canvas! In a matter of 5 months it is coming along. I am still in need of a dining table and tons of art work, but it will get there in time. As I started with my blank walls and blank space, I got to thinking what type of feel did I want my condo to have? I have two huge loft like windows and with the vibe of the condo I wanted it to be minimalist, clean and contemporary, with that said and having 10 ft ceilings you could image the endless possibilities. Here is the before photo:
Before
As you can see the possibilities are endless. As I said before I wanted to keep with the theme of minimalist clean and simple, just how I like to live my life. I started a pinterest board of “condo vibes” and my vibe became something like this:
After
As you can see, it is coming along. I am really proud of how it has turned out so far. More to come soon as I continue to add to my blank canvas.
Its a new year, 2018! Out with the old in the new! This year I have decided to blog about “how to” as well as still sticking with adding Fashion Design to the mix.
Accessories, can either make or break a space, an outfit or in this case your cocktail table. In this blog I am going to show you “how to” design a simple table top.
First thing, decide what you want to feature. Is it flowers, books, candles? What is your focal point? In my option fresh flowers make me happy, so for me fresh flowers are a must on my table. I want to display them in a small vase. I have chosen this one from Michael’s . You want nothing too tall unless you are going to have long stem flowers. Of course my favorite flower are Sunflowers, but in this case I have chosen Peonies! (most girls favorite flower). Then pick a favorite candle, mine is Brentwood by Hudson Grace. I always like add a decorative box, one of my favorite type is Faux Shagreen from William Sonoma. I just love how simple and the texture is. Now you can put these items on a tray or you can just have them just sitting on the table. I like to have everything simple and clean so of course I would have a tray. I have chosen this tray by West Elm is because I love how simple and having a mirror bottom can bring light to your space especially if you have the candle burn. Of course I could not leave these books out of my space. I love fashion and why not have some fashion books such as Chanel, Prada, and Louis Vutton. You can choose whatever book you would like, it could be art, travel, photography. You want to create this space that is to you, to your taste. Pretty soon, when you start to put all these together this is what you have created.
William Sonoma
Michaels
West Elm
Hudson Grace
Peonies
Etsy
Created by Julia Cavallaro Designs
This creates a simple yet clean accessories for your table. Make sure that when designing your accessories, that it does not get to cluttery. My motto is create simple, live grand.
So far in my 30’s I have hosted maybe 4-5 dinner parties. Dinner are one of my favorite things to host, gathering my friends around the table. Now that is something I have grown up with…table…food…friends,family and stories. Also something that Italians love…Food, wine, and family (friends are considered family). Growing up my parents would always throw dinner parties for their friends putting out their best china or sometime causal. I remember when I was a kid I wanted to throw parties just like my parents. Now that I am older I have taken their tradition of dinner parties and adding my own funky twist to it.
The last dinner party that I hosted was about a month ago, gathered my closest friends and of course we made pizza, with wine and a bunch of laughter. This is how I decided to set the table.
@juilacavallarodesigns
Table cloth- custom made with Gaston Y Daniela fabric * napkins- Madeline Weinrib @ San Francisco Design Center * Plate- Dandelion ( San Francisco location closed) * Charger- Pier One * Glasses- Waterford wine and water * Fork/Spoon/Knife- Grandmothers collection
Now that the weather is starting to get nicer, people actually want to be outdoors, days are longer, sunny days with some hot summer nights(if you live outside of the city) I thought what better way to blog about how to dress your table and yourself for a dinner party. See some of my favorite photos of dressing your table ( all images are from pinterest)
girly
sophisticated
garden fresh ( my favorite flower)
Fresh flowers
Elegant
summer love
what you can do with a wine glass
Most of the time you learn how to set a dinner table properly by your grandmother or your parents, but this day and age we tend to forget the traditions. Seems like everyone is in a hurry to go somewhere . In case someone has not taught you how to set a table don’t worry pinterest is here to save the day.
Pinterest
Now what would a hostess proper attire would be. I think dressing up yourself is a lot more rewarding than dressing your table. Don’t get me wrong both are fun, but showing off your outfit is a lot more fun. One of my favorite dress that I wore to a wedding but heck why not wear it to my elegant, sophisticated dinner party.
Me 2016
Now if that is too formal here are some fashion dinner party attire taken from
Tweed fabricIt has been awhile since I wrote my last post about lace. In September I took a trip to Italy and Portugal. Portugal- a must visit I say. The people, the culture and the food it’s a hidden gem. As I express so many times in conversation with people my love is Italy. Their culture, the food, the fashion, changing every 6 months and the way of life. Now I know I am bias because I grew up in a very Italian household and going to grandma house was not a hop skip or a jump, it required a 14 hour plane ride not a direct flight from San Francisco and 9 hours difference, but I would not change that for the world. As I got older, going to the beach was always fun but learning about different cities within Italy made my love for the arts even stronger. Which lead to my love for fashion and Interior / architecture design. When I am touring around I am always looking into clothing stores, and observing what people on the streets are wearing and take that back to San Francisco. On my many trips downtown I did notice that the main key fashion statement was Tweed..its back so bring out your Chanel #5 tweed, black and white, even grey and white. I even bought a black and white turtle neck poncho that is tweed from Zara. It keeps me so warm
Miu Miu 2016
Joseph Abbou
Tweed can be used almost anywhere. A sofa, a chair, a pillow, an ottoman even drapery. What is a tweed – are an icon of traditional Irish and British country clothing, being desirable for informal outerwear, due to the material being moisture-resistant and durable. Tweeds are made to withstand harsh climate (tweed) . Ralph Lauren home is by far the most iconic for tweed and menswear suiting fabric for the Interior Design world. See below ( google image)
As well as another idea on how to use “menswear” tweed as drapery. Christina who is a sales associate at The Shade Store in San Francisco was kind enough to email me a photo from The Shade Store facebook page. An installation that makes the room put together, by adding accent pillows to match the drapery.
The Shade Store facebook pageSome inspirational interiors that have used tweed some way shape or form (google image)
Maybe everyone can find their Watson to their Sherlock Homes
Charis are the most important element of design. When you think about a chair there are so many types of chairs…Transitional, Traditional, Contemporary. There are so many styles…Italian, French, Art Deco, Quaker, Shakers, Craftsman. It does not matter what style of design you trying to achieve a chair can make the room look amazing. Here are a few of my favorite chairs: images:google
