I love this chandelier. So much. I decked it out this morning, and here’s how it went:
Last weekend I decided my back patio looked less than stellar (gross, run-down and wintered-out). So I went out and got some new cushions for the furniture, added a cool white coffee table that I already had, put up some big white market umbrellas and cleaned out the fountain. It all looked very lounge-like and sophisticated. (Although, I used bleach in the fountain which for some reason turned into the biggest mess of bubbles…so we had a bubble bath-looking fountain). That gave us the idea to run champagne through a fountain for a party, but that’s another story.
Anyway. After I was finished with my little project, something was missing: lighting. Since I have closets full of decorating stuff, I went and found a really pretty white paper japanese style lantern from ikea, and a string of white Christmas lights. I filled the lantern with lights and hung it from the lath cover over the patio and it looked great. So great in fact, that I took lots of pictures (before and after) and showed all my friends that night at a party. They were impressed.
Enter fog and drizzle. I woke up the next morning to a very sad and saggy paper lantern that was falling apart. I was not happy. I went out to my garage (the decorating graveyard) and found this chandelier that used to hang in the entrance of the restaurant I had with my husband. Hmm. Maybe we could do something with this. It’s metal so it won’t wilt in the fog. I gathered up my 5 year old and headed to the craft store. On the way there she decided we should paint it pink. Perfect. Let’s expand on that.
Fruit, flowers, birds, crystals and pink and green paint. A little oil cloth will cover the candle-thingies (right now that’s just origami paper), so the whole thing will be completely waterproof – not to mention crazy, kitschy and over-the top. It’s a masterpiece I tell ya.
Me + the 5 year old had a blast decorating it, (although I admit not letting her do much). We’ll have to give the bird a name, so if you have any ideas, let us know.
* update 04/29/12: we’ve decided on the name Paris. It was a toss up between that and Louis.
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April makes me think of…well my birthday really. Cupcakes, champagne, flowers blooming, rainy showers.
 Dear Miss Modern | Deluxemodern April Color Palette
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When it comes to design trends, I try to pay attention (it’s kind of my job) and then take them with a grain of salt. Trends can come into style like a hurricane and are sometimes so overdone that it’s painful (damask, anyone)? You know what I’m talking about.
What I’m wondering is, how does it happen? One day we see neon and think “eighties, yuck”, and the next day we want to cover everything in neon washi tape. Kate Spade and Ann Taylor have windows full of the stuff. Neon handbags, fingernails and shoes are everywhere, and as I mentioned before, it seems to be here to stay – at least for a while. I’m guilty of going from yuck to yay (and then back to yuck again) overnight. The tricky part is that it’s SO easy to get caught up in the trend du jour when it’s comes to your branding. I mean, you’re ready to brand your business, and you start looking around at what’s out there for ideas, and there they are. Everywhere. SO MANY OPTIONS, so many trends. I am all too familiar with this for myself and my clients. And then there’s Pinterest. Making it extra easy to stay current on what’s hot, and contributing to our design envy / excitement / overload.
Where am I going with this? I’m not sure exactly. It’s just that a few months back I could have cared less about triangle patterns, and now I love them, and I wonder when exactly that shift in thinking takes place. Triangles will go away, just like damask, so I guess what I’m saying is this: be careful. If your brand is too trendy, you will be sick of it in a year if not sooner. There are so many things that play into design trends: fashion, color, travel, people, television, books, food, movies, art, magazines – everything.
Want my advice? Keep it clean, keep it current, keep it classic. Add some fun, but make sure that your main branding (logo, tag line, fonts and colors) are solid and have staying power. Then change up a few elements or patterns here and there when you get bored. Making a decision and sticking with it is THE. HARDEST. PART. of branding, and hey – you’re creative; you have to keep it fresh to stay competitive and feel good about your business. Don’t fall behind on the trends, but don’t go crazy over them either. My 2 cents, as usual.
oh, and stripes and dots will NEVER go out of style. ever. Here’s a little collage of what I’m loving right now:.jpg "post")
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We’ll get right to the point. Dear Miss Modern has new goods in the shop, and we want to tell you all about it. First up: today, March 30, is the “official” day that everybody and their brother will be switching over to the new Facebook Timeline format, like it or not. So it’s only fitting that we wait til today to bring you Facebook Timeline Headers, Miss Modern style! These glamorous little banners are sold in sets of 5, and are fully layered and customizable in Photoshop. You can add your photos, logo, name, colors, etc. Rock and roll.
OH. And, they can be used as blog banners too. Secondly, we have new blog buttons. Cute, fun little blog buttons that can be used to dress up your blahg. {blah + blog = blahg}. We’re excited about these fun additions to the Dear Miss Modern Shop. We heart spring!
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It’s been about 2 weeks since we’ve started our Logo-A-Day Project, and wanted to give you an update.
First of all, when I say ‘our” and “we”, it hasn’t been true. I have been running Deluxemodern and the Dear Miss Modern shop on my own since the beginning of February. That might not seem like a big deal, especially since really, I have only had actual help for the past 6 months. {and had been doing everything on my own for the past 5 years}.
But the last 6 months -well, the last year actually- have been, to put it mildly HUGE for us. {There I go again, with the “us”}. We have tripled our client base, opened the Dear Miss Modern shop , and have quite a lengthy client wait list. So to be suddenly faced with doing everything myself again was quite a shock. So many emails and questions to answer, all the social media stuff {have you noticed a lack of blog posts}? All the client projects and design, managing the wait list, bookkeeping, etc.
Let me be clear: I’m not complaining. It’s just that sometimes it’s hard to feel creative when faced with massive stacks of “office” work that is truly enough for 3 people. The reason I’m telling you this: I decided to start the Logo-A-Day project right in the middle of way-to-much-going-on-already. There are several explanations as to why I decided this would be a good idea: A). I’m crazy, or B). to make darn sure I didn’t start to slack creatively. I’m going with both. I knew that doing this would keep me creative while juggling everything else. And it has. Some logos have been more exciting that others, but they completely depend on my mood. I usually get up, get my kids ready for school, and while my husband is dropping them off, create the logo of the day in my pajamas, before even one sip of coffee. Sometimes (like today) I knew what I wanted to do before I got out of bed. Antlers. It had to be antlers. Yesterday I messed around with something I didn’t like for a good half hour, then did something completely different at the last minute and it sold within the hour. It’s fun, and I think some of you even look forward to it. I know I do. So if you sent an email and it took a while for “us” to get back to you, now you know why. Thank you for your patience. And oh yeah, we will be a we again starting this Tuesday March 20th. {the first day of spring} and I’m looking forward to a very sunny future!
Here are a few of my favorites, all of which can be found in the Dear Miss Modern Shop:
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~Caryl
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