Zinke Swimwear

 

(All images via Zinke)

 

I'm not sure if it is the warmer temperatures here in Houston, or the fact that at the school where I teach both the students and teachers seem antsy for Spring Break (8 days away!) but I have swimsuits on the brain.

Zinke, which is known for its romantic lingerie, has a new (to me) line of swimwear, and has me ready to make my first swimsuit purchase of the year. Meant to be mixed-and-matched, the combinations of suits are endless. The punchy pastel colors and clean lines would look great on any gal as well!

I'm thinking I will add the Kristen bandeau in ocean blue and Katie bikini bottom in orchid chevron to my ever-growing collection of swimsuits.

Don't forget about their cover-ups as well. This would be my favorite pick.

Layered Rugs

 Sally Wheat

 Trad Home

 Lonny

Lonny

In designing a room, I think choosing a rug is one of the hardest decisions to make. Do you go bold? Neutral? What material should you choose? When all is said and done, I think that a jute rug is the ultimate foundation to a room. One of my favorite jute rugs is the heather chenille jute rug from Pottery Barn. Not only is it super soft (I own it!) but it has held up very well in a high traffic area of my house.

Now while I think a jute rug by itself is wonderful, I think layering another rug (or hide) on top of it totally takes a room to the next level. The options really are limitless as to what you can layer on top.

In the first picture above, Sally Wheat has layered a white hide on top of a jute rug in her own home. This is the route I have taken in my house; I really like the cozy look it gives. I found mine here and absolutely love it. Another option is a Moroccan-inspired rug. I am loving the new Kasbah Rug from West Elm. How bananas would it be to have a Beni Ourain!? This would be my pick. The Stockholm Rand from Ikea is a budget free buy and who doesn't love stripes? As I have said before, I love Persian rugs. eBay and ESaleRugs are my two of my favorite sites to source them. A few I would be happy to add to my abode: this, this and this.

Tell me friends, which is your favorite?

Fresco Towels

 

 

 

(all images via Fresco Towels)

As I have gotten older, I have developed an appreciation for high quality bath towels. As frivolous as that might sound, there is nothing better than stepping out of the shower into a thick, plush, and absorbent bath towel. On the flip side, there is nothing worse than stepping into a thin and scratchy one.

I purchased these a few months ago, and although they are wonderful towels they lack a bit in the color and fun category.

Enter Fresco Towels. I came across these a few weeks ago and absolutely fell in love. Made in the United States, Fresco Towels are made out of Turkish cotton and resemble ethnic rugs. I have a new obsession with collecting kilim and Persian rugs so these towels are a perfect (and pretty!) addition to my bathroom.

Fresco Towels also carries bathmats, beach towels, pillows and bags. I can defintely see myself using this aztec blue beach towel at the beach or pool this summer.

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Wallpaper Help

You guys were such great help with my bed skirt situation, (I will show you a reveal of what I chose very, very soon) I am now looking for some powder bathroom help.

This bathroom has been a long time in the making. I am embarrassed to say that it has been in its current state since March 2011. To give you some background, it previously had grass cloth that I was just not feeling. I wanted to paint some type of stencil, so my boyfriend  kindly stripped the walls and I primed and painted them to get them ready to stencil but it has yet to happen. I finally came to grips with the fact that I have the attention span of a 5 year old and stenciling something over and over was not going to work for me. So it has sat..for almost two years. It is a terrible, ugly taupe color and I have yet to even put the electrical covers back on the walls. Bad..I know.

I thought about painting stripes for awhile but have recently fallen in love with the idea of wallpaper. It is a small space so I am wanting to do something pretty bold.

Here are a few options I have my eye on.

Albert Hadley Firworks

House Beautiful

 

Lush by Mary Kysar

Glitter Guide

 

Farrow & Ball Lotus

deco et compagnie

 

Island Ikat by Thibaut

Jamie Meares

 

 

It is so hard to pick my favorite of the four. They are each different and unique in their own way. So friends, what do you think? Help me pick!

Spring/Summer 2013 Wish List

So one of my favorite things to wear is a shift dress. Not too tight, not too loose and great for work or play. You can imagine my excitement when I was doing my daily internet browsing and came across an INSANELY beautiful Tory Burch shift dress. Now y'all, this dress is way out of my price range but check it out...

The Tory Burch website says, "A mod masterpiece, the mini Luna Dress was one of the stars of our runway show. This limited-edition style is made of a base layer of fluid navy silk crepe de chine covered in an intricate, hand-applied sequin-and-bead mosaic tile-print. To craft just one of these gems, it takes a single artisan between six and seven days to complete. With that in mind, it's no surprise that we only made a handful (six, to be exact). But for those lucky few, this work of art is more than worth the wait."

Only six dresses made. Those are going to be 6 lucky ladies.

 Something that is much more budget friendly is this beaded sweater from J. Crew. How cute would this be with white shorts/jeans this spring and summer? Definitely adding this one to my closet.

 Have you seen any must have items for your closet for the Spring and Summer? 
 

Book, Books, Books

One of my favorite things to give and receive as gifts are coffee table books. I am constantly rearranging the ones I have in my house and love to flip through them when I need inspiration.

Recently, a friend told me she wanted to start a collection and asked for some of my favorite titles. I thought it would be fun to share a few each week that are in my collection and some that are on my wish list.

   The Sartorialist: Closer by Scott Schuman

 Tom Ford by Bridget Foley

Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People by Hamish Bowles

Bedskirt Help

If you talk to any of my close family and friends, they would probably tell you that I always have some sort of "project" going on. One of my "projects" I have been working on for some time now is my bedroom.

I had been lusting over this DIY from Grace at DesignSponge for quite some time and knew I wanted to incorporate a navy otomi fabric somehow. I purchased an amazing piece of navy otomi fabric from Jacaranda Home. After receiving the fabric a few months later, I had it made into two euro size pillows. Add those with my headboard from Pulp Design Studio and voila, well on my way to being in love.

However, now I have a little issue. A bed skirt issue. I really, really, really don't want to settle with a plain white bed skirt. I want something that pops and is fun and exciting.

The current situation...

   Navy, white and a pop of pink.

  You can kind of see the sadness down below.

After looking at fabrics on Spoonflower, I think I have found a few that I like...

mumbai

 fuschia dots

nicolette day

summer mums

What do y'all think? Do you have a favorite? Or maybe know of a fabric you think would look great?