The four photos above are Michelle Nussbaumer

The four above are Jan Showers

 Susan Palma

These five are Martensen-Jones

 Cathy Kincaid

A couple of weeks ago I happened upon an HGTV show that I'd heard about, but hadn't seen.  Since the show has "Dallas" in its title, I was curious and watched.  I was very surprised to learn (Google) that the designer the show features is really not based in Dallas, and the homes she decorates aren't either.  She's actually in Bedford, which is 40 miles away.  The home she was working on in the episode I saw was somewhere far outside of the city.  There was even footage from that episode that I recognized from Fort Worth.  I looked at HGTV's site for the show and saw that it talks about Dallas homeowners pimping out their homes and bringing on the bling. I'm not sure what I think about HGTV being so blatantly misleading with the title and premise of this show.  

Dallas has so many amazingly talented interior designers.  I posted the photos above to show examples of some of their lovely work.  There are so many more incredible Dallas designers that this post could go on and on.  

The three photos above are all from Horchow.com and are toned-down examples of what this HGTV show portrays as Dallas design.  I'm sure that this misrepresentation creates ratings, and there are those who are watching as fans of the ostentation, and those who are watching to laugh.  Regardless, it's not in any way an accurate representation of the talented interior designers who call Dallas home.

Blue and White Monday with Canton, Double Happiness and Hawthorne

Canton from Antiques and Fine Art

Canton from Kenneth Van Blarcom Auctioneers

Double Happiness from Horchow

Double Happiness from 1st Dibs

Double Happiness from Wisteria

Hawthorne from Les cahiers d'Alain Truong

Hawthorne from Red School House

Hawthorne from Petrie-Rogers Gallery

As you know, I'm a huge fan of blue and white porcelain.  That does not make me an expert though, by any means.  I would like to learn more about patterns and their sequence, and have been reading and learning online some recently.  I need to find a good book on the subject to have on hand.  The three patterns above are easily recognizable and I love them all.  Canton and Blue Willow are very closely related, and I think that's my favorite.  Double Happiness is growing on me, though.  Below are some iPhone photos I took around my house.  Everything is Canton with the exception of the last photo.  I'm seeing that pattern referred to by several different names.  Does anyone know what it's called?  What is your favorite pattern?

Mottahedeh Platter

Mottahedeh Lamp

Framed Needlepoint

I found plates, platters and bowls of the above and below at an antique mall here in Dallas about 15 years ago for around $2 each.  I used them for a big wall display in my kitchen after I purchased them, but now they're in the family room in bookcases.  

This beautiful photograph is from marksikes.com, and is on the amazing Pinterest board of Debbie McEntire.  It's called Blue and White and you can see it here.

One Room Challenge Week Two

After my first post on The One Room Challenge, Beth, at Chinoiserie Chic, had fabulous suggestions for my room.  How I wish I could just copy her ideas!  What a lovely laundry room I'd have!  I should have explained some parameters in my first post.  First, we have a crazily large (20 pound) cat that has the run of the room and jumps all over the washing machine and dryer to get away from the 5 pound dog.  So, obviously I can't have anything breakable.  Also, the ceilings in that room are only 8.6 feet high.  With my husband being 6.2 and me at 5.10, that eliminates cute lantern options.  And, I'm in the middle of the more important project of my daughter's bedroom.  The laundry room is going to have to be more of a "Design on a Dime" project.  However, with those limitations, I'm determined to have a finished room that we'll enjoy in just a few weeks.  

The built-in ironing board that we never used is gone, so that's some progress!  I'll have more for you to see next week.  Please be sure to check out the other ladies who have lots of interesting things to report.  Their links are all at the end of the post.

Yea!  It's gone!  The paint's still wet.

Saved By Suzy

Dutch. British. Love.

Trapped in North Jersey

Nicole Scott Designs

Kim Macumber Interiors

Rue de Emily

The Pink Pagoda

refresheddesigns

Nana Moon Shop

Taylor Morgan Design

insideways

My Crafty Home Life

House Four

Living Savvy

A Lifestyle Thing

Happy Blue and White Monday

Rodarte

via Habitually Chic

Roberto Cavalli

BHG

Manolo 

via Mrs. Howard Personal Shopper

Porcelain inspired gown

via VT Interiors

Porcelain Dress

New from TPP

This is from Pam Callahan's Pinterest board Blue and White.  She's clearly quite the blue and white fan. You won't want to miss all the lovely images she's collected.  See it here.

Happy Monday!

Loving Mitered Stripes

Etsy store InMaterial

Etsy store InMaterial

Kari Fisher Designs

Kari Fisher Designs

What do you think about mitering stripes for pillows?  There's something about the graphic geometry that I really like.  When I was getting new things together for my family room 4 years ago, I showed my designer a photo of a Jonathan Adler Bargello pillow as an example of what I wanted.  The Adler pillows didn't come in colors that worked for me, so we walked through every showroom in Dallas trying to find fabric that would work.  It would be so easy to find now, but four years ago it just wasn't out there.  I ended up finding a stripe in great colors for my room and having the fabric mitered to create the punch I was looking for.  

To have this done, you have to have a very experienced seamstress.  To get the stripes to line up nicely is not easy.  I think these Etsy sellers have done a lovely job on their mitered pillows. 

I know I'm talking pillows today, but in my perusing of mitered fabric I ran across this mid-century ottoman.  How could I not share?  

This photo comes from Paige Ward's Pinterest Board Fabulous Fabrics.  See it here.

Happy Weekend!