If you are local to the Central Coast check out the latest edition of Living Lavishly Magazine. I had fun writing and illustrating my thoughts on Pantone's Color of the Year - Greenery as well as my Design Tips on how to style your bookshelves. If you're not local, you can read the magazine on-line. Happy designing!
Introducing The Princess!
The Princess
The Princess
The New Year has kicked off rather slowly for me, absolutely not the usual, but my family and I had some challenges to go through with the loss of someone very special in our lives. When I would normally be multitasking on several projects I felt I needed time to go within a bit and re-evaluate everything in my life. So I gave myself some Time...which was really hard because I'm always going a million miles a minute. Then recently the California storms hit and our power went out for five days. Now I had no choice but to unplug and live "off the grid". As challenging as it was to not have power and internet and TV for five days, I actually secretly enjoyed having an excuse to do what I needed to do; be still and in the moment. I had great conversations with my daughters and my husband, read a terrific book, and painted. It allowed me the time to finish this painting; The Princess. The Lioness represents quiet strength. She is majestic and magical. She is also a fierce protector of her family. I think a lot of us women love so deeply that we would do anything for our families and this painting represents that strength.
The power is back on and the sun is shining once again. I feel like I had a good nights sleep and I'm ready to get back to work but in a much more mindful way. I have some exciting ventures on the horizon which I will be looking forward to sharing with all of you but until then, I wish you quiet strength, grace, and beauty in all that you do...like The Princess. May you live a life that is Majestic & Magical & Full of Color!
xoxo Mari
My Heart Thanks You! - Upcoming Events!
Happy December! Boy-Oh-Boy! This month kicked off with a bang! It's been so busy at the studio that I'm finally taking a moment to post a few updates. First of all, WOW! Thank you so much for the amazing support I've received from so many of you about my New Book, Charming & Pretty - The Art Of Home! It's been a little nerve racking putting my "baby" out into the world so my heart thanks you for all your kind words!! Last week I had two really fun events with a book signing in Camarillo at my friends gorgeous home boutique and then a super fun book launch party last Friday at Shell Beach Floral!
Photo By: Justin Stoner - Shell Beach Floral Book Signing
So what's next?? For those of you in the Santa Barbara area, I will be signing my books at the Santa Barbara Makers Boutique Dec 11th, 1:00-5:00pm. I will also have my 2017 Calendars, prints & stationary available! The event is held at the home of K-Nine Solutions and 10% of the sales will go to Train Me Home, a non-profit dog rescue program providing training and placement for hard case pups who have been in and out of shelters. Come help a puppy out and finish your holiday shopping!! 126 East Haley Street!
Also I will be signing books with our new shop partner Contessa S in downtown, San Luis Obispo on Saturday, Dec 17th from 1:00-3:00! Who knows I may even whip up a fun little design workshop to share with you too!
Thank you for popping by! Happiest of Holidays to you and yours! xoxo Mari
Introducing My New Book! Charming & Pretty - The Art Of Home
This is a big moment for me and I so appreciate you popping over to read about my latest project, my new book! I’ve been working on this book off and on for the past few years and it’s now in it’s final stages of editing. It will go to print October 1st! Pre-orders are happening now!
So what’s it about? Here goes.
If you don’t know this about me, I am a designer (interiors & home decor) but I am also the mother of three beautiful daughters who are growing up quicker than I was prepared for. It feels like a minute ago they were twirling in little dresses and playing with Barbie dolls. They are now 16, 17, and 21. This summer when my oldest daughter told me she was moving out it triggered a mountain of emotions in my heart. Why had no one prepared me for this? I wasn’t ready for her to go. I’m still so deeply sad about it but I’m also incredibly proud of her. It’s darn confusing. She is self sustaining, working, in college and made a beautiful life for herself…but I miss her so much.
You see, it goes like this all day long…happy for her, sad because I miss her.
This is when I realized it was time to finish the book. I wanted to hand her a pretty little book filled with pages of advice on how to make a beautiful home and live a meaningful life. I wanted her to know about family traditions and etiquette, history and design. It felt as if time snuck up on me and I hadn’t had a chance to teach her everything. So I put it in a book and I illustrated every page of it so my girls would know about the special little things we do in our home to build a strong family and how they will be able to create their own charming and pretty nest when it’s time for them to fly.
Then one day I was speaking with one of my design clients. She was excited to share with me some things she had done to her home on her own. I was impressed. She was kind enough to tell me, “See Mari, look how much you’ve taught me.” That was a wonderful moment for me and I realized all these things I’ve written about are helpful for anyone who loves their home.
So yes, there is design advice in the book because that’s what I do for a living but there is quite a bit of mom advice in there too, anywhere from how to iron a shirt to how to throw a party. These are things that were taught to me from my mother, my grandmother, my mentors and my friends. It’s broken down in months and by rooms, not that it needs to be read that way, it’s just that we do different things in our homes during the different months of the year.
I LOVE to illustrate. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I love to create rooms and paint them with sometimes not very realistic color palettes. (I’ve yet to meet a design client that would let me paint their living room walls pink but if you’re out there, call me!) I use illustration as a way to communicate to my clients what I am envisioning their space to look like. The renderings in the book are more whimsical because there I can make-up who the client is and that client happens to love pink. So the book is also a collection of paintings I’ve done over the past two years. If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen many of them but there are quite a few new ones in the book as well.
I also speak about my sweet parents in the book. We built a guest-house for them almost nine years ago. It’s called Peppertree Cottage. You’ll have to read about it to know why. My parents gave me a beautiful childhood and we have traveled this life together through all the ups and downs. They are important figures in my life and they have taught me so much.
I find myself in an interesting time of my life. I am a mother caring for daughters, a daughter caring for parents, a wife caring for my husband and a business woman caring for clients. Truth is, they all care for me too. Life hasn’t been perfect by any means but it has been full of love and I know that I am very blessed. I’ve poured my heart into this book. I hope it will give you some fun ideas that you can use and I hope that my art brings you joy and makes you happy.
That is my intention behind the book, to make you happy.
I will be posting the printing progress & updates here on my blog. I’m offering some fun bonuses for those of you who pre-oder and I sincerely appreciate those of you who do. I’ve chosen to go with a US printer because I believe in supporting US companies. The book will be hard cover and printed on beautiful 80lb paper. This is a perfect gift for anyone who loves their home, design, decor and art.
Pre-orders receive: 4 ready to use bookplates for your own book collection as well as Free shipping & your book signed by me!
Pre-orders also receive this sweet 5" x 7" print.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. This has been quite a journey for me and I can’t really put my finger on why I’m so nervous about it but I think it’s like having a baby, terrifying and wonderful at the same time about bringing something new into the world.
xoxo Mari
The New Living Lavishly Magazine Is Out!
Happy Friday everyone! Have you seen it yet? The New Living Lavishly magazine is out. I have some fun articles in there to show you how simple it is to design and decorate your home. If your not local, you can read the issue online here.
I'm sharing with you simple and easy tricks on how to make your coffee table look amazing!
This was fun! I was able to show off my good friend and fellow designer, Abbe Fenimore, and this Gorgeous Powder Room she designed as well as share with you some tips on putting the POW! in your Powder Room. Check out Abbe's online shop too! She has A-Mazing taste.
And here I'm sharing with you a colorful and inexpensive Thrift Store make-over. Piece of cake!
These are just a few of the fun articles in the latest magazine! Pick one up today! They're FREE. Also, if you like learning these fun decor tips, come see me speak at the Home Expo on Saturday, September 17th at 1:30, Madonna Expo Center! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Master Bath Before & After - Glam Make Over
To say 2016 has been a busy year is an understatement. I'm so fortunate to have had many, many design projects to work on. The down side is I haven't had time to even think about taking pictures or posting them anywhere. So I finally set aside some time this morning to share with you a small part of one of my favorite projects with one of my favorite clients. This house has been in my life since 2011 if you can believe that. I remodeled it back then, then a few years later due to change of ownership I did a few more updates and now this past year it finally became complete with every room in the house, including the yard getting an entirely new look. There are many rooms involved (including a fabulous media room with hidden passages and all!) but for today I'm sharing the before and after of the master bath.
This was after a new coat of paint and styling it for resale when my client decided not to sell the house but to completely remodel it instead.
And this is the after.
I loved the lacey feel of the handmade tile and used it as wainscoting throughout the room.
Every detail is so pretty right down to the crystal hardware.
And Yes my friends that IS the chandy in the water closet.
There are so many exciting things happening this Fall. I'll be sharing a project that has been very near to my heart Next Week! I'm also speaking at the SLO Home Expo on Saturday, Sept 17th. I'd love to see you there!
My Collaboration With Pottery Barn!
The early part of this year through a chain of fortunate events, I was introduced to the VP of Product Development for Pottery Barn. We became fast friends with so many things in common it was as if I had met my long, lost sister! She invited me to their headquarters, where I seriously had a moment when I thought I had just entered heaven! The fast pace environment with artists and artwork everywhere, simply took my breath away. I signed on with them that day as a freelance designer and have had the great fortune to work off and on with them since then. They have many incredibly talented in-house designers too. Did you know they create all their own designs? Simply spectacular. I also want to tell you that these are some of the nicest people I have ever met!! It has truly been a pleasure to work with them. Although I've created many designs, not all of them made the final cut but these sweet travel bags did! Yay! They are my first designs that I did for them. You can see the original paintings here. They did change the colors a bit but I'm thrilled with how cute they came out! They are now available here for purchase and would make a super holiday gift for the travel lover on your list! So that's really exciting! I feel really blessed to have had the opportunity to work with them!
Something else that's really exciting is a fun Give Away I'm doing over on Instagram! You can find me there @MariRDesign where I'm giving away a free room rendering watercolor. Just follow me there as well as @InteriorDesignCommunity and comment to me on the picture on your feed you would like painted! We will be picking a winner this Wednesday!
My Recent Rendering For Designer, Lisa Mende & Traditional Home Magazine's Napa Showhouse
I am really enjoying all the wonderful people I am meeting on social media and it gets even better when incredibly talented bloggers, designers, artists, & writers ask to collaborate!!! I'm so excited about all the fun, new projects happening with several of them! I was recently asked by the incredibly talented Interior Designer, Lisa Mende, if I could create a quick room rendering for her of her room design for Traditional Home Magazine's Napa Showhouse. Literally, I had about 2 hours to figure it out but I didn't want to miss this great opportunity to work with such a nice person! You can read more about Lisa on her blog! I can't wait to see the showhouse!!
It's Live! Living Lavishly Magazine!!!
It's Live! LivingLavishlyMag !!! WooHoo! Pop The Champagne!
There's a New Home Decor Magazine in town & I'm honored to have been able to contribute to it! Check out my Design Trends and let me know what you think! If you are local to the Central Coast, you will be able to pick it up around town this weekend -or- read it online! Follow Living Lavishly on FB & @LivingLavishlyMag on Instagram! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!
A Painting A Day For 100 Days!
The painting a day series continues over on my Instagram. For the most part I am really enjoying the entire experience. I have to say, that some days when I am super busy, it's hard to feel very creative at 10pm, but it's been a great lesson in discipline. I know that when I can't think of anything to paint I always seem to fall back on my favorites; rooms renderings, flowers, and dancers.
Yesterday I painted this dancer. I call it "Just Breathe" because that was how I was feeling yesterday. I went for a long hike to the top of the mountains of Avila Beach with one of my dear friends and came back to the studio refreshed. The past few days I painted this dancer, these flowers (which I'm loving for fabric and wall paper) and then I put them all into this room together. I call it "The Salon". The beautiful Eloquence Versailles Sofa is from LaylaGrayce (although I reupholstered it in stripes! - you can do that easily in a painting - haha) and the lovely Molly Red Sconces are from ShopTen25.
Tomorrow I hope to share some very exciting news, so stay tuned!!
Rosa's Boutique's Colorful Dressing Room Make Over!
Today I want to share with you a very fun interior design project I recently completed. I had the wonderful opportunity to give this women’s clothing boutique a dressing room make-over.
What made this project so fun for me (other than the fact that it’s women’s fashion!!) was the ability to really design how I like to, colorfully!!! Of course we had a limited budget, every project does, but it’s what you do with the dollars you have and relatively speaking this project had a lot of bang for our buck.
One of the least expensive ways to create drama and atmosphere is with paint. I’m so grateful that my clients had full trust in me when I showed them the bold color choices I had selected. The dark pink is Sherwin Williams 6854 Impatient Pink and the light pink SW 6581 Verbena Pink.
We all fell in love with the Petal Pusher wallpaper from Hygge and West but because the wallpaper is a little on the pricey side we only used it on the two largest focal walls and as a wainscot down the hall. In the other dressing rooms, there are a total of six, I painted the back wall with our dark pink and added artwork.
I’m so excited when I get an opportunity to also create the wall art for my interior design projects. In this case I wanted each room to have it’s own identity so I painted six different designer Purses with Peonies. (In my Shop soon!) That way the customers could choose if they wanted the “Kate” (Kate Spade) or the “Co Co” (Chanel) room, the “Louis” (Vuitton) or the “Stalla” (McCartney) room. I was told today that the customers really liked the idea.
One of the owners had requested a solid door so I replaced the existing saloon doors with a light-weight solid door and added MyOverlays in white to dress it up! I would like to add that the people at MyOverlays were incredibly wonderful to work with! I highly recommend their products. They customized these panels for me and I couldn't have been happier with the result.
Another one of my favorite tricks to dress up a plain mirror is to frame it out with a small crown molding. Just remember you will need to paint your molding on the front AND the back when you do this because the back will reflect in your mirror. My painter also painted the picture frames I found at Aaron Brothers in the same gold metallic paint so everything tied in together perfectly.
The hooks, knobs, trim, base and molding are from Home Depot. The light fixtures are from Lighting Universe and the accessories, including the fabulous pink chairs, are from Home Goods. That was definitely a Home Goods Happy Day!
It was a lot of fun! I hope it brought a little color into your day and maybe a few resources and ideas you can use for yourself. Thank you for stopping bye and letting me share it with you!
Bar Cart Essentials
Bar carts seem to be all the rage these days and it’s no wonder why. They are perfect for small spaces and apartment living, plus they are quite pretty. Nothing says Party like a well dressed bar cart!
With the holiday weekend ahead of us and long, hot summer nights, it's always fun to be party prepared!
What you'll need!
Alcohol would be a bit of an essential for making drinks. There are many types of alcohol but the basics would include: vodka, gin, rum, tequila, vermouth, triple sec & whiskey. With the right mixers, you can literally create dozens of different drinks from these basic staples.
Some people may not care for a mixed drink so you may want to consider stocking a few other options. A good bottle of champagne is always fun to have on hand for that surprise celebration! You may also want to consider having a couple bottles of wine available too.
Mixers are important to have on hand as well. You may want to consider these basic ones: soda, tonic water, club soda, grenadine & bitters. Different juices are fun to play with too. Some good choices are tomato, lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit, pineapple, and cranberry.
Simple syrups are used in many different mixed drinks. You can get creative and make your own simple syrups. 1:2 parts sugar and water boiled. Add any spice you want or just use as a substitute for raw sugar. It can last for up to 6 months stored in your refrigerator.
Garnishes are the jewelry to your drink! A twist of lemon, a Maraschino cherry, will make any cocktail just a bit more festive. Garnishes to have on hand pre-party time could be cherries, olives, lemon and lime wedges, as well as fresh herbs like mint. Any seasonal fruit or vegetable, depending on the type of drink you are mixing, adds the finishing touch!
Pretty glasses! Here are the basics. Wine, champagne flute, highball, shot, rocks & a stemmed cocktail glass.
Last but not least you’ll want to collect these utensils over time. A cocktail shaker, a long bar spoon, a jigger to measure exact shots, a muddler to crush fruit and herbs, and an ice cube bucket with prongs.
Create the atmosphere. Flowers, candles, bar art, tea towel, garnishes, stemware, ice bucket, cocktail napkins & fun mixing utensils.
The main thing is to create is a welcoming environment so that your guests feel free to help themselves throughout the evening and you’re not stuck behind a bar making cocktails. Have fun, drink responsibly & be safe! Cheers!
A Very Interesting Day...
I started the day with a run on the beautiful Bob Jones trail in Avila Beach. Little did I know how the day would twist and turn just like the path I ran on. When I got home I was going through my Instagram feed when I saw to my delight that one of my favorite Real Housewives of New York had reposted my photo! That lasted all of 2 seconds when I realized that she had not given me any credit for my image. My friends were quick to point out that she had posted on her Facebook page as well, also with no credit. I always thought that when reposting someone's photo you gave them a shout out! Pottery Barn, Wicknest, Rosenberry Rooms, Layla Grayce and many others have been so gracious to me. Oh well, I suppose it's a lesson in watermarking my photos! After a few hours and enough comments from my friends, I did get a tag on her Instagram feed but so far not on her Facebook feed.
My Pineapple Tea Towel is part of my Cabana Collection & available here! It also comes in prints & note cards.
But enough of that. I just have to let it go! Towards the end of the day a packaged arrived and my mood quickly shifted! This Adorable Llama traveled a Very Long Distance via Royal Mail no less, too meet his new friend! Check out Jessica Kathryn Art on ETSY!!! I seriously LOVE everything she creates and because my husband is from Peru, I just had to have this little guy! I adore him! So on that note, let's just say I'm happy this Monday is coming to an end!
A Glamorous Collaboration With The Very Talented Abbe Fenimore!
If you don't already follow her, you absolutely should! Abbe Fenimore is owner of Studio Ten 25 and one of the most charming Interior Designers of our time. I have always Loved Abbe's style and have been incredibly fortunate to work with her on a few projects. Our latest collaboration consisted of my illustrating some of her incredible room designs that she could later use for notecards and social media.
Interior Designer: Abbe Fenimore Photo Credit: Studio Ten 25
This bedroom took my breath away! I love how she pulls everything together! It's feminine glamorous! Watch her video on how to glam up your own bedroom!
This illustration is from another one of her projects Lash Maxx-Travis. You can watch the video here. I mean what girl would want to spend some time in this gorgeous salon!
It's been such a pleasure working with Abbe, I know you will love following her too!
My Collaboration With Lola Home!
We live in such an amazing time! I for one, am a fan of social media. Although it's time consuming, I feel I have met so many wonderful people who inspire me on a daily basis! Towards the end of last year the talented people of Lola Home contacted me (all the way from Brazil via my Instagram) to see if I would be interested in creating art for them to apply to their home decor products. Do you know, it was the easiest job ever because these are the nicest people!!! I'm so excited to see how they applied my watercolors to their collections. You can see all there gorgeous goods in their on-line shop! You can view he entire collection on their blog!
I have to say I was pretty floored when I saw my art on the front door of their site!
A Little Green Decor In Honor Of St. Patty's Day!
A little while back I had the honor to design a room for a young lady who was very into fashion. In fact, she inspired me to create these accent Pillows and Wall Art! If you look closely at my Glam Damask Pillow you will see that it is silhouettes of some of every girls favorite perfumes & make-up. Of course one of my favorites is my Lipstick Pillow front and center. The headboard is a fairly inexpensive Wall Decal. My favorite wall decals are from a company called Glam-A-Peel. Karen has so many options to choose from! They are perfect for someone who is renting, a dorm room, or someone who changes their mind a lot! The bedding is from PB Teen and it's still one of my favorites. Pretty simple! And Green! Happy St. Pat's!!
Shop The Love!
I'm so excited to have teamed up with the amazing ShopTen25 for a very fun Valentine's Pop Up Shop! I've created a limited edition of Original Watercolors now available at ShopTen25.com! Once they're sold, they're gone! Give the gift of Original Art to the one you Love or buy one for yourself! Many colors to choose from, 8" x 10", sale ends February 10th! xoxoxo
Can You Guess Which Color Won By A Landslide?
I recently completed a commission for LoLa Home, a beautiful home decor company in Brazil! They were lovely to work with! They had asked for several watercolors of flowers in their specified colors. It was so much fun to paint flowers! So it got me going on an entire flower kick! If you follow me on Instagram (@MariRDesign) I post quite a bit on what I'm working on.
This was one of my latest posts. I created this pattern from a Peony watercolor painting I did. When I started playing with different background colors, I couldn't decide! So I asked the question, which color? Blue, White, or Black??? I was actually a little surprised that one color was clearly the winner!
Blue! So interesting!
Nautical Boy's Room
OK I have to admit it, I'm really not very good at taking pictures of my interior design projects. I literally create dozens of projects in a year and I'm constantly moving on to the next as soon as I can finish the last. There's also the fact that my clients actually Live there. So as soon as I'm done I almost feel like I don't want to disturb them to take pictures. They've been waiting and want to obviously enjoy their space! I also just use my iphone to take pictures but this year I'm actually going to invest in a Real camera! Until then, I'm going to do my best to be a little more consistent on my blog & pop in a few pictures of some recent projects as best as I can, iphone and all.
I'll start with this Nautical Room I designed for a young boy. I love the accent wall and how it all came together. One of the best things you can do if your budget is tight, is use paint for impact. he Paddles are from Potter Barn & the mural from Land Of Nod. The bedding is Serena & Lily.
Peruvian New Year's Eve Traditions!
It all started with a conversation over a glass of wine at Christmas. I was speaking with my mother-in-law who is from Peru. We were talking about New Year's Eve and what we had planned. She then says to me, in her rather heavy accent, "Make sure you wear your yellow panties." With a glass of wine already consumed and her accent, I had to think to myself if I had actually heard her correctly? But I was right. She told me I need to wear yellow panties on New Years Eve! Um, OK, why? She then told me it was a Peruvian Tradition. Yellow Panties means you will have happiness in the year to come! Well Ok then, getting me a pair of yellow panties & green & red! We then talked about several other traditions that were so fun to learn about. I decided to paint a little watercolor to share with you the meaning of these Peruvian Traditions!
I had to chuckle a bit more when my husband chimed in and recalled this memory from his childhood. "Remember Mom, when you'd make me stay up until midnight when I was a little kid to walk to the corner of the house with an empty suitcase? I never even knew why?" ha ha According to the tradition, if you do this you will have great travels in the year ahead! I'm planning on doing this tonight!
Well, there you have it. Thank you for stopping bye. I'd love to hear what your family traditions are! May you have Very Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year! xoxo