And now...the new BLOG! (It's a rolling launch, peeps)

Sometimes, I feel clever.  Most of the time I don't. But when I do, I enjoy the Snoopy Dance - and possibly a martini, but I digress....

I figured out the problem with my new blog!!  I won't bore you with the details other than to say a) Next time, I'll just make the leap to Wordpress and b) It all flippin' works - site, blog, links, etc.

 So

You should now consider THIS your new place to get a piece of me!

Cheers to new beginnings, and the mini-meals at the bottom of maaaah-tinis!

Now, go on....head to alison giese interiors {the blog}

Website is for REALZ!

So, here's the deal:  Last week, I felt like a big, fat loser when my new website/blog failed to launch.  In a nutshell, Blogger is having issues with its custom domain setting, and is wrecking havoc with my blog and life.

BUT

The website is now live.

And it is lovely (if I do say so myself)

And I'm doing the freaking-out-but-excited dance because it's all now very real.

And I really want you wonderful and inspiring peeps to dance with me - you pick the song, so long as the beat is funky.

Shall we?
(click on image)

site beautifully customized by Mira Belleza

Labors of Love

About a year ago, I decided to find some direction with my interest in Interior Design. I've been blogging here since August 2008, yet still felt driven to do more than talk about all things interiors. I started working with an amazing Life Coach, and found out that not only is design my true passion - it's what I want to do.  Unfortunately, I also had a lot of internal gremlins lurking in my heart, saying things like, "Are you talented enough?" "Will anyone actually pay you to help them decorate their home?" "Is now even a good time to start this kind of venture?"

Confidence isn't exactly my strong suit - especially when it comes to comparing myself with all the other amazing and talented bloggers and designers out there. 

 If you've followed me long enough, you know I dabbled with posts saying I was more or less putting myself out there for design work, and I did begin to work with some clients. Then, in November, I lost my baby at 27 weeks, and for obvious reasons, any thoughts of starting an actual business took a back seat. 

Funny how time and your passions drive you, though, and in my case, someone who kept reminding me that I was working towards something I cared greatly about. 

 It's taken a lot of mental flexing to get to this place. To wrap my brain around the idea that I DO in fact have what it takes. I DO have a unique style and perspective on design, and that dammit, I LOVE IT and want to share! 

 And so...on Wednesday** {heart beating ridiculously as I type} alison giese Interiors will be revealed. I can't. wait. for you to see it, and hope you'll join me for a little virtual toast - to Labors of Love.

**Update - Having a LOT of technical difficulties with the new site/blog, so what was supposed to be launch day turned out to be a big, fat fizzle, but hopefully, it will all be resolved very soon.  So, sit tight, peeps!

We interrupt this blogcation...

For a little glimpse...

 

I know, the chairs are lame, but we kinda blew our wallet out with the table purchase.  Hopefully, a chair upgrade will happen some time later.

Still.

I'm enamored.

I also feel pretty much like an ass, posting about something as trivial as a table, when there are families who, because of some mindless freak in Colorado, will never again sit down for a meal with their mother/father/sister/child.

A movie.

Going to see a freakin' MOVIE! 

Seems safe enough.

No longer.

That's no longer where we are.

Don't think I need to remind you to hug yours an extra time or two, but I will anyway.

Join me after the Jump

Many of you who read this little blog are bloggers yourselves, so I imagine you'll probably get where I'm coming from when I say:

I. just. gotta. turn. it. off.

I've been blogging nearly four years.  When I started, it was just my little journal to express excitement about whatever, but mostly design stuff.  I didn't care about stats or comments, I just had fun with it. 

These days, the need to post regularly, then Tweet, FB, Pin and Instagram about it all has made me question my existence as a blogger.
Maybe that's a tad melodramatic, but what I'm getting at is:  When did it become a job to be a blogger?  I just want to be fun, inspiring, engaging.  To connect with others who want the same.

I'm in the middle of a career reinvention, if you will.  The blog is being redesigned to coincide with my budding business.  So, it seems like a good time to start delineating the "old blogger me" from the "new designer me" by taking a little summer hiatus. 

I'm not exactly sure how I will resurface - a rebranded blog, a website, or both, but I'll keep you all in the loop when it happens, and hope you'll join me again when I'm so fresh and so clean, clean!

always,

alison

P.S. - This concludes my participation in the One Room Challenge.  I feel like a total flake, but really - we just moved to Rio - what was I thinking?  Don't worry, though, when it's done, you'll have front-row seats!

Lovely Paperstuffs

Before we left Brasilia, a good friend, and amazing photographer snapped some family photos to commemorate our almost-four-years in Brazil's capital city.  

I wanted to have change of address cards made using one of the photos, but actually found the kind of aesthetic I wanted (clean, contemporary) a little tough to find until I found Mink via Etsy.

 photo by Elise Hanna

The designers at Mink were amazing to work with.  The font, color, and pattern selections were enough to make my head spin (we went with a solid color back panel).  Their expertise and customer service guided me to the exact product I had hoped for.  Without spending a small fortune, too.

If you have any need for a paper product (stationary lovers, unite!), I highly recommend Mink!

Cold Feet

I spent a good part of yesterday in a funk, having cold feet over painting my desk lavender..purple...Barney - whatever color you want to call it.  

As someone suggested, "It's only paint," but I planned to use the high gloss, oil-based paint available here in Brazil that gives amazing coverage and gloss, but is a hag to dethrone.

Plus, it's actually Ben's desk - or was his grandparents'.  He's not all that keen that I'm painting it, but is even less keen to hear me bitch about everything being brown, and not being able to get this, that, or the other perfect desk I saw online (like I could if we were Stateside).  I've worn him down, and he's allowed me to paint it, so long as I paint around the vintage leather top.  Anyway, I'm (at least a little) sensitive to his aesthetics. ;)

And he about passed out when he saw Barney.

The thing is, I'm one the verge of desperation - trying to break out of our apartment's brown/beige/cream coma.

And I think it's making me make irrational decisions.

Not a good place to be.

Anyway, needing more than a little reassurance on this decision, I went to the boards to see spaces that originally made me think lavender in the first place....

Really can't get over this oldie-but-goodie.  'Spesh with that interplay of red.  Ironically, this color reminds me of my Barney.

House Beautiful

So does this one...

Am I crazy? 

 Don't answer that.

More of what I want...

Elle Decor

Totally different, but this would work, too.

Original source??

Guess I'm going back to the paint store...

Dammit.

Weekend Recap brought to you by (mostly) by Instagram

July is a very celebratory month for us. We cram in two birthdays and our anniversary, so the month always (sadly) goes by very quickly.  This year is proving no different.

Friday was Avery's 5th birthday.  She'll begin Kindergarten in a few weeks, and I'm downright weepy over it.  She's growing up to be such a little lady - a tender heart who wants to be the pink Power Ranger.  Perfect combo, if I might say.

 Also.  This was purchased.

 

 Not from the store in this pic, but.  Let's pause to reflect.

Saturday, went a paint shoppin'.  Alone.  On foot.  In Copacabana (read: can be shady).  Proceeding with rusty Portuguese.  Just want you to know I should get an A for Effort.

I'm wanting a grown-up lavender that plays nice with others.   Something a little smokey.  This is what I bought.  I think it was called "Angeline," or something promising like that.

For the desk.

 Ben almost croaked. Is it more Purple People Eater than Lovely Lavender Goddess?

Talk to me, Goose.

A little later, Ben and I celebrated our 8th anniversary.  Just a little dinner date at a pizzeria a few blocks' walk from our place.  Nice atmosphere. Good wine.

Sunday, I was ready to get my desk painting on, but Rio decided to hand me a rain delay.

I think it was 2 pm before we changed out of our PJs.

Gotta do that sometimes.

Also, gotta make giant cupcakes for Birthday Girls, and have floor picnics until awesome table makes a fashionably-late appearance.

atexski on Instagram

Are you back, yet? ORC Week Two

Hello? Hellooooo out thaaayeeerrr?!!!

Well. At least I don't feel too guilty being tardy on getting this post up, since no one - not even my mom are reading this week, certainly not on the 4th of July.

For those of you around, though...I'm up against week 2 of the One Room Challenge - where I'm joining 19 other bloggers as we try to get a grip on one room in our house, and have it photo-ready in six weeks.

I'm already running behind.  Duh. I feel like I have a good excuse, though: being overseas, having moved a mere five weeks ago to a new city.  Resourcing is a bit, shall we say, challenging.

Be that as it may, I'm doing my best to get a bit done while my kids run banshee around our apartment.  August 1 can't come soon enough, right? ;)

Here's where I'm at right now:  late-night design board.  Impressive, right?

I'm hemming on a few things, and need your thoughts:

• My walls are cream.  Don't have anything against cream per se, but it's not part of my vision, either.  I was thinking of painting them a soft pink, or maybe even grayish-violet.  However, any walls I paint, I must return to original color (G-provided housing).  And we might move in a year.  Hmmmph.  
• My desk is brown.  See a pattern here?  I originally thought I'd get a new desk, but that's looking less and less likely.  I'm way over all the How Now Brown Cow of this room, and need some injection of life.  Should I paint the desk, instead?

TOTES TELL ME WHAT TO DO!

...and I will listen.

....and, hopefully be back next week with something akin to progress.

In the meantime, do check out the other lovely ladies of the Challenge to see if they've gotten on a roll.

Chinoiserie Chic              Nana Moon

The Cottage Mix              Nicole Scott Designs

Design Indulgence            Pawleys Island Posh

Everything LEB               The Pink Pagoda

Hodge-Podge                  Powell Brower Home

Kim Macumber Design      The Pursuit of Style

Lisa Mende Design           Rue de Emily

Living Savvy                   Sadie + Stella

Mix and Chic                  Trapped in North Jersey

My Crafty Home Life     

Hide Hangover

Do you feel about hides the way you will tomorrow after one too many spiked lemonades?  I admit to falling victim to the occasional trend, quickly tiring of seeing it er'where, but I'm still loving on my natural, fawn-colored hide.  Wish my new, really bad laminate floors weren't so close in color, but I digress.

This weekend at the local artisan fair, I spied the Brazilian's take on the metallic-flecked designs.  Diggin' on those pillows.

  via my Instagram: atexski (follow me on my Brazilian adventures)

I believe hides are still relevant to our design discussion, but I'm also excited to see them move in variations on the theme.  I've blogged about him before, but I'll again tout the creative and luxurious styles Kyle Bunting offers. Laser cutting and irreverent patterns mean lots of lots of room to play.

I recently received a heads-up that he's added pillows to the repertoire of hide products.  Blazing colors or high-texture neutrals (think beach house or mountain getaway) are lovely enough, but get a LOAD of the patterns!  Monograms and super on-trend skull silhouettes.  I'm luvin' it.

Monday Musings: Getting a Look

Someone recently suggested my taste has grown a tad high-end.  Au contrair, mon frere!  I think the more likely explanation is I've learned to pay more attention to the details that differentiate a higher-end item from its lower-priced counterpart.   I'm always amazed when I see silly-high prices on items that could easily be obtained at a lower price point, without sacrificing the stylish look.

For example, Saturday, I was checking out the offerings on OKL, and noted a pair of nice, large brass lamps.  Then, I noted the price:  $1,199. Whaaaa?  Why would someone pay that kind of money for a set of lamps, the look of which could be easily duplicated?

I know, because I recently bought a very similar set on Ebay for $140, that's what (I'm no math whiz), nearly one tenth as much?

Now, do my lamps have a pedigree?  

No.

Do I care?

No.

Do I get the same look, minus some of the cost-inducing details (lucite base and finials)?

Yes.

Overall, I consider it a win-win.

There's a fine line to this mentality, though, and apparently, it's the impetus behind a lot of the DIY we see all over Pinterest, etc.  Someone sees a look they like in a glossy or professional designer's site, and decides they can save a boat-load of cash trying to reproduce it.

Is it a good idea?

Maybe.

If you're talented, and patient, and can make it look deceivingly close to the real deal.

There's been some backlash recently to all the DIYers, and perhaps it's nothing more than snobbery on the part of the design world.  But there is something to be said for...getting it right.  Whether that means being patient until you can snag an original, or honing your deception-inducing skills, I'm not sure.

Where do you fall on the Look for Less spectrum?

One Room Challenge - Week One

A few weeks ago, I agreed to participate in on a multi-blog design fest.  The One Room Challenge consists of 15 illustrious designers and bloggers (see list and links below) taking one room in their house, and transforming it in a mere six weeks. Each week, we blogstresses will post on the progress of our room, wrapping it all up with a Finale at week six.

I knew the "ORC" would commence shortly after our move to Rio, so I figured it would be a good way to kick myself into getting at least one room in our new apartment more or less photo-ready. What the freak was I thinking?

Anyway, here we are...Week One of the One Room Challenge.  If you are new here, and linking over from the other bloggers, Welcome to Rio de Janeiro!

Truth be told, I could've chosen any room in our apartment, as they're all in a state of confusion as to form and function, but I'm choosing my our office. 

I've pretty much told my husband I'm commandeering this room, as I have this notion of a feminine-but-tailored, womb-like space where my creative juice cup will runneth over. Where I will flex my decorator muscles, becoming the love child of Windsor Smith and Tom Scheerer.

I want it to feel a little like this:

room by cheryl tague

 With a dose of this

 SF Girl by Bay

I was already tossing around thoughts prior to our move, so I recovered a chaise lounge....

So, here's the Before in all its glory.

Along with commentary of my plans.

Try not to judge. 

 Six weeks to ship this into shape.  The order will be as much a surprise to me as you, soooo...

Wish me luck.  

Come back often.  Or at least next Wednesday.

And do check out the other lovely ladies of the Challenge.

Chinoiserie Chic              Nana Moon

The Cottage Mix              Nicole Scott Designs

Design Indulgence            Pawleys Island Posh

Everything LEB               The Pink Pagoda

Hodge-Podge                  Powell Brower Home

Kim Macumber Design      The Pursuit of Style

Lisa Mende Design           Rue de Emily

Living Savvy                   Sadie + Stella

Mix and Chic                  Trapped in North Jersey

My Crafty Home Life     

Need your input

They say "Shrinks need Shrinks."  I think it's probably true to say "Decorators need Decorators," too.  At least that's true of me.  It seems so much easier to make decorating decisions for other people than for myself.  So, I need your take on my dining room issue....

I've mentioned I plan to purchase an oval tulip table for our small dining room in Rio.  The classic but contemporary lines are exactly what our place needs to balance our otherwise Trad-ish mix of furniture.

 The thing is, I cannot decide what kind of chair to pair it with.

I don't want to match tulip chairs with the table, but don't know just how much to mix it up, either.

We need the smaller table to accommodate our space, so we might be looking at two host chairs, and only two side chairs.  I have a pair of these sort of Asian-lined chairs.  I know they aren't armchairs, but I was thinking of recovering them, and using them as host chairs.  Maybe an easy-to-clean, roughed up leather a la Isaac Mizrahi's bergeres.

 

 Something like that might pair nicely with bentwoods, right?

 Or, is that too matchy-matchy?  Should I go totally fun and colorful with something like these...

 

Need your input, puh-leeze!

Regroup & Recharge

Was really hoping to get in a quick DIY idea I've had brewing, but it'll have to wait. I have a date with my two girls, and a big 'ol jet airliner tonight. Heading north for some R&R, Texas style. Wish me luck on the solo-parent, 10 hour flight. I'll check in sometime next week!

Progress

Yesterday, during naptime, we emptied all the boxes containing "livros," and dived into a much-needed library-scaping session.

 

 Our previous home had a study adequate enough to house our book collection, but the rooms in our apartment here in Rio will need to do more multi-tasking.  So, I was more conscious of how we'd arrange the shelves - balancing books (obvs) with art and tchotchkes.  Knick-knacks offer a fine line, you know.  I hope I didn't cross it.

 I have a little project in mind to jazz up the bookshelves, but for the time being...
One 'scape:  Done!

Not bad, as far as views go

Before you all dive into your long weekend, take a gander at the view from our new digs in Rio de Janeiro.  Way up on that peak is the famous Christ the Redeemer statue - aka the Corcovado. 

via Instagram  Follow me: atexski

 

Keeping an eye on us.

We're still up to our ears in boxes, but I hope to have a progress shot or two for you next week.  Have a great holiday weekend!

Leaving a Home

Friday, Ben and I said goodbye to our home in Brasilia.  He and I have always become very attached to the places we live, which is probably an occupational hazard considering the overseas life we live tends to move families frequently.  

We've lived in our "BSB home" not quite four years, but a lot of life has been lived there in that short amount of time.  It's the first place we settled after joining this somewhat disjointed, Diplomatic life.  

In that house, we learned to cook new foods, and toast with drinks of exotic flair.  Where we celebrated birthdays and anniversaries - sometimes not always together.  Where we brought home one child.  And didn't bring home another.

It's where we hosted friends who shared stories of where they were from, where they had been, and where they were going.  Places all around the world.

They say Home is Where the Heart is, and our house in BSB will forever be one of our Homes.

S&M Artist

Ah HA! Caught your attention with that one, didn't I?

Sorry, no kinkiness to be had here.

Unless you consider vintage furniture finds oddly sexual.

It's just that sometimes, late, when I've had a couple Maaaahtinis (Friday), I like to look at furniture and things I'll never be able to ship down to the wiles o' South 'Merica.

First, I get all giddy at the coolness of something, and how I'd reconfigure it in my space.

Then, I get pissed and resentful that I'm so freaking far from the love of Craig, Etsy, and Ebay.

Then,

I just get another maaahtini.

BUT

There's no reason you can't possibly benefit from my perusings, so here, have at 'em.  Just be sure to tell them Alison in Brazil sent you.

Velvet and chrome sofa HERE 

Work it like this

 This lamp would work nicely to add color interest to just about anywhere.  Lose the shade, though.

Good price on this one, too.

Think like this 

I'm dying to work with some chairs like this to put around an oval tulip table.  See if the seller will sell them apart from the table.  Here

And while we're on the subject of dining sets, check out the hotness (well, the potential hotness) of this one.  Cushy-bouncy chairs beg for drawn-out dinners and wine.  No, that doesn't happen at our casa, but it might at yours!

And, last but not least... I sold my large, wood desk, and am looking for a leaner/cleaner replacement.  This one's a budget-buster, but can't you just imagine?

Oh, yes.  Yes, I could.

 Inspired by