WEST STREET GALLERY

This past Christmas my family surprised me with my long coveted Hazy Beach Art Print by Lisa Golightly. I was blown away unwrapping the large mysterious gift that morning, as you can imagine. The feeling of receiving something unexpected is both unique and exciting, but also emotional. I was taken aback and ended up getting teary. The thoughtfulness and surprise caught me off guard. I am so grateful that they took note of something I really wanted and presented me with something that I could cherish forever.

We immediately mounted the print in our dining room and since then I have been dreaming of creating a collection surrounded by our own images.

DINING ROOM FLORALS & ARTWORK

I want the space and art to be a representation of our family, our story.

My husband and I met while he was lifeguarding on the beach I had grown up on. We were engaged there, and now live on the same street raising our family and following our dreams.

When I thought about where I could put the art that would represent our story, I knew it would be in the dining room. The room where we sit and share a meal and stories. Not to mention, the dining room has the most wall space in the house with the exception of our entryway. Otherwise, everything else is windows. Normally, that wouldn’t be an issue for me. However, if you are looking for a wall full of art, you need the space.

With limited options, I thought I would spread the artwork over both walls in the corner and use the height of the room.

WEST-GALLERY-WALL-LAYOUT

I put together a mock gallery layout that once we have collected all of the art work we can space it out to fit the walls.

I picked out some of our favorite photographs and art pieces for an illustration board.

WEST-GALLERY-WALL by EMILY ALDER

It will take some tweaking and shopping for the right frames and art work. But I look forward to spending time picking the items out as a family and adding to the collection.

GALLERY ARTWORK LISA GOLIGHTLY HAZY BEACH

GALLERY ARTWORK MINTED WHITE WASHED WOOD FRAME

GALLERY ARTWORK MINTED WHITE WASHED HERRINGBONE FRAME DISTANT ISLAND PIER

GALLERY ARTWORK MINTED FOR WEST ELM WINTER SCENE

GALLERY ARTWORK MINTEDNATURAL PREMIUM WOOD FRAME

Click on images for sources. Otherwise all photographs belong to emily alder

If you have a piece you think would work send it my way! I am always looking for more sources for art work.

MAR VISTA LIVING ROOM DESIGN

When I began studying interior design my first project was to work with a friend or family member to recreate a room design for them. Immediately I knew I wanted to work with my mom. For years we have talked about what we could do with my parent’s amazing 1930’s South Laguna cottage. I jumped at the opportunity to grab my mom and chat about her vision, gather inspiration, and start piecing things together.

The house they own, the homey beach cottage I was lucky enough to grow up in, is a small three-bedroom, one-bath cottage built in 1937 featuring hardwood floors, white walls, and lots of windows. It’s also full of family heirloom pieces that are treasured by all of us. I wanted to mix their antique farmhouse pieces with a fresh coastal California style.

I sat down and started working with some images my mom collected for inspiration.

Once we had a mood to draw upon, we developed a potential budget, design focus, and scope of items my mom would be willing to change. She opted for the same floor plan and really just wanted to update and gravitate away from what she described was their “old folk’s home” style. I knew I wanted to keep the space open and communal because my parents, like us, are constantly entertaining. Dad has an amazing collection of Navajo rugs and between he and Mom they have several antique pieces of furniture that, with some TLC (and new throw pillows), would work perfectly in a mediterranean motif.

I combined a collection of warmer wood tones with the cooler blues, throwing in some brighter accents as well as featuring their existing plein air painting collection on a gallery wall.

It was so great to see how excited my mom was once she saw the e-design and could visualize how the old and new elements would work together. I hope one of these days we can make it a reality.

As my first E-Design this was definitely a learning experience. Focusing in on my style and putting my thoughts to paper is an exciting concept, but I know there is a lot more to learn and understand. I look forward to creating and growing.

SOURCES //

CB2 FALL 2015

CB2, Crate and Barrel’s newer and modern counterpart, recently released their Fall 2015 collection. Furniture and home decor inspired by the deeper colors of Fall. While my taste isn’t necessarily modern, I enjoy mixing styles and combining pieces that bring a space together in a unique way. Over the years, I have only purchased a few things from CB2, usually smaller items, so I was stoked browsing through their catalogue and tagging some wish list items.

To look through their Fall 2015 Collection you can go HERE.

These were a few of the items that caught my eye. click pictures to shop