My Picks for Pickie's Spring Style Makeover

For its Spring Style Makeover Guide Pickie, an IPAD app,  asked me to select home decorating items that would reflect seasonal changes inside the home.    Take a look here for this week's selection and be sure to check out Pickie’s newIPAD app and Facebook Page for more Spring Style Makeover ideas.

The Way We Live: From The Back Bay To The East Bay (Part 2)

When my husband and I decided on the move to California, it was a given that his Mom would make that journey with us.  After spending several months with us, she found  a place of her own and created a space that we all call home.  By repurposing most of her belongings (from Boston and other places she lived in), she was able to capture a sense of familiarity and nostalgia, while at the same time she embraced a less formal West Coast style with lots of botanicals, brighter colors and a mix of interesting textures.  Take a look at shots of her California home below and click here to see her space in the Back Bay.

My mother-in-law's approach to decorating is very different from mine, but together we offer a unique balance of beauty and practicality.  We have worked together professionally for many years creating spaces for our design clients that both reflect their aesthetic preferences and our own individual styles.

'Til Monday: 5 Friday Favorites

Images: 1./2./3./4./5.

Vertical Gardening On A Folding Screen

Staying true to her love for botanicals inside the home, my mother-in-law transformed an Art Nouveau screen that she found many years ago into a vertical garden.  By using several Woollypocket's living wall planters she created a garden that's not only vertical but 3-dimensional and artsy.  Take a look:

This is the first stage of Natalia's vertical garden, and she would like to thank Alex for its installation.  As the plants thrive and grow, the planters will become invisible and a lush wall of shade loving plants will grace her bedroom.  This project inspired future ones, so stay posted for more of Cocoon Home's botanical designs.

Soon I will reveal more of Natalia's California home on The Way We Live.  Stay tuned for that as well.

Before And After: Painted Ceiling

For a recent Cocoon Home Design project we painted the ceiling and walls in Benjamin Moore's Dove White.   We decided to leave the beams stained dark to ground the space and blend it with the stone fireplace.  Painting is the first phase for this home's transformation.  Area rugs, lighting, botanicals and carefully selected accessories will complete our clients' desired aesthetic.   Take a look the ceiling 'before and after' and the Pinboard that inspired it all.