Lovelies from Bella Notte

 

One of the best things about living in California, aside from the weather, is having access to so many wonderful resources.  One of which is the Bella Notte Outlet in Novato.  Like most warehouse sales, you have to go in with an open mind and a lot of creative energy, because items are not in complete “sets” or even pairs sometimes. 

 

 

But the offerings are gorgeous.  Textile heaven.  While the prices are good by retail standards, they still reflect the quality of the items.  

 

Seriously, I could just crawl up on the shelves and get cozy.

 

Some photos of their products from the website….

 

 

 

 

 

 

   http://www.bellanottelinens.com/

 

The quality of the textiles is impeccable and the designs are charming.  It was very difficult to resist going overboard, but I did pretty well at controlling myself and still managed to bring home a few goodies.

The warehouse is open regularly on Fridays and Saturdays from 10-2 and has deeper discount sales from time to time.

They are located at :  61  Galli Drive ste. E   Novato, Ca 94949

For more info, be sure to check out their beautiful website at:

http://www.bellanottelinens.com/

I have the sweetest friends….

  Me and Christina 

This weekend, my boys’ school was hosting a benefit garage sale.  As I am a self-professed magpie who can’t seem to leave anything behind, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some of the goodies out of the garage and help the school out a little bit.   So, I recruited my very dear friend and partner in crime err…design, Christina, who brought some of her treasures as well. 

 

We brought only decorative items (trust me, I have plenty of straight-up junk that I need to get rid of too).  And, to try to drum up a little design biz, we put up easels with portfolio photos and had business cards handy for anybody that asked.  The sale went great and we had a blast talking to people.

 

 

 

As we were getting ready to pack up, a friend who had been by earlier in the day came walking up with this ADORABLE little footstool in her hand.  She started to ask me a question about if I’d seen someone and I was so distracted by what she was carrying, I could barely focus on what she was saying (this is a bad habit I have—I get totally visually distracted).  I told her that “no, I hadn’t seen her, but that footstool is darling.”  She replied that  “…(she) had had it for a long time and she thought it was right up my alley and that she wanted me to have it.”

Do I have the sweetest friends or what?!  Thanks a bunch Gale, I love it!

 

And thank you to Christina for all your help—it is so much fun to do things together!

Adopt and Adapt

 

More sage advise from Dorothy Draper….

Shortcut #12:

“There are two words in the English language that you should try to remember when you are looking for new ideas.  Strangely enough they both begin with the very first letter of the alphabet.  The words are “adopt” and “adapt”.

So many people get discouraged when they look through the pages of the opulent so-called service magazines or try to glean some ideas from the room set-ups in the stores.  “The rooms were all much larger than mine,” or “I could never afford such big pieces of furniture,” are the laments of the majority.

The idea is to “adopt” the concept and “adapt” it to your own room and your own way of living.  You may not be able to afford or have room for such a large breakfront, but how about a small secretary or hutch? 

You like that swag idea for the window in your living room, but the heavy damask and tassels is much too heavy a treatment for the size of your room.  Adopt the idea, but modify it to suit your space, taste and pocketbook. 

You admire the bamboo fretwork on the wall behind that bed, but it looks expensive, so why not use a regular wooden garden trellis for practically the same effect?

Did you see that picture of the patio with a riot of petunias in planters?  Take that idea and plant some inexpensive petunia seeds or small petunia plants in wooden salad bowls and have three bowls brimming with color on your kitchen ledge.  Learn to adopt an idea and adapt it to your own special needs!”

Inspiration is everywhere when you are open to seeing it.