Friday, September 11, 2009

Turn Paperbacks Backwards & Other Great Tips from Pure Style Home

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of hearing Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home give a design seminar at Pear Tree Cottage, a terrific home decor store in Vienna, VA. It was great fun to meet Lauren in person - she is charming, full of fresh ideas and may I add, a great public speaker! Starting from a blank slate at 3 different vignettes, Lauren moved through the store and demonstrated design principles of visual weight, informal and formal balance and personalizing with the unexpected and spontaneous Check out the second shelf in this armoire - they're paperbacks turned with their spines to the back. LOVE, love this creative idea!

Lauren brought in a mantel from her own home. She added the mirror to ground the mantel and to add interest. Notice the 3 mushrooms on stands to the left - everyone remarked how they never would have thought to group these but it is so successful!

Sedum and an unknown bush from her yard makes for a relaxed and pretty arrangement. The white is picked up by the fig candles on the tray to the right and the urn on the far left (pic above).
Here Lauren mixed modern and vintage for a unique entry table full of personality. This was a great demonstration of using differing heights and making the arrangement practical as well - a tray for keys, etc. sits on top of the magazines. In some houses (like mine) it could be on the stack of mail yet to be dealt with. If you haven't already seen Lauren's post for step-by-step suggestions, click here.

Here's a few pics from Pear Tree Cottage - this store is a definite place to put on your list to visit as it's full of unique pieces arranged in inspiring vignettes. I came away with a terrific metal bowl which I think is going to end up on my entry table. Click here to see a listing of upcoming design seminars (and did I mention they serve champagne & strawberries...)

20 comments:

Lauren said...

oh thanks so much for your sweet words Michele!!! Was so glad to see you there & see you soon!!!
xoxo

ps- your camera is AMAZING!!!!! (although i'm sure it's your photography too!!! :)

Windlost said...

Oh, sounds wonderful - wish I could have attended. Was talking to Lauren recently and sounds like I will be meeting her soon too - you know where!

xo Terri

Jennifer said...

love Lauren, and wish I could have been there to meet you both! thanks for the great pics of Pear Tree Cottage -- it looks like a place I could enjoy! I'm now dying to paint the inside of something charcoal gray ...

Rebecca Corvese said...

It's so nice to see a post on how to group objects. I always struggle with that. Thanks for sharing!

Tara Dillard said...

Unknown plant? Use, U. plantiata, instead.

Works everytime ! !

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

Hill Country House Girl said...

How much fun for you two to meet - looks like Lauren is very talented, too!

Yansy said...

This sounds like so much fun! I wish I could attend.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. I would like to invite you to come and participate in my giveaway.

Greet Lefèvre said...

Lauren must be an amazing woman!
It's nice to see how she puts things together in a sort of "still life"!

Greet

Scott Fazzini said...

Did you say champagne and strawberries?! The shop looks adorable; I'd love to go to one of the design seminars. Thanks for sharing the tips!

Abby said...

What a great shop, thanks for sharing. I'm definitely going to check out one of the seminars.

Matters of Style said...

What a great find in Northern Virginia- I'll have to check out the store sometime! It looks lovely!

Lylah Ledner said...

I love this post - all the vintage display - almost as if I was following you around enjoying these delights first hand. Loved the tour! Have a great weekend! Lylah

pve design said...

Now that Lauren is glowing and her accessory tips are purely full of style for any home!
pve

BALLET NEWS said...

Hello, I just had to leave you a note because I've so enjoyed reading your posts today. You have the most gorgeously beautiful site - best wishes & thank you ..

J.Covington said...

Looking good....like the displays. Someday on my next roadtrip I'll have to attend - anyone going to the Hartford, CT antique show in October?

Renée Finberg said...

this really sounds like it was a super experience.
i would have loved to attended it.
thank you for sharing it with us.
xx

Anonymous said...

We love Lauren! And now we can't wait to meet you Michele!

xo
Eddie + Jaithan

Unknown said...

Seminars are great refresher courses and so much fun. Thanks for the outline on what we could not attend.

Bette

Maria Killam said...

I wish I could have been there! Great post you wrote on Lauren! love it!

Unknown said...

The "mushrooms" on the mantel are tree roots. They explode as shown when invaded by a fungus which eventually kills the tree. In Spanish they are called "mata palos" which means tree-killer.

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