Appareled Abode

It's been a while since I last posted. I have been working on a lot of design projects and life has gotten very busy. I took a break from Linen & Gold to start working on a new site launching this month called Appareled Abode.

It has been something I have been working on for quite some time now and decided to just finally start the new site. It's a blog all about fashion inspired decor. I have some other great lifestyle topics on the blog like Currently Coveting, Beauty, and Cocktail of the Month and as the site grows you will also be able to Shop the Looks featured on the blog posts.

The site is active now, I have a few posts in the works and am adding more daily this week. We will have so many great fashion and home decor products featured along with some amazing guests you will be excited to see!

This is going to be quite a journey for me and I hope you all decide to come along for the ride!

Dreaming In Indigo

I am smitten with Indigo right now. I love the color and to me it is the new Emerald.  Mark my words....Indigo is going to be the new trending color. I can't tell you how often I find myself choosing items in this color, it's seriously like a magnet.  Indigo is easy to pair both complimentary colors as well as contrasting and I love all the combinations.

In home decorating and styling you can either choose to use indigo as the accent color or as the main focal color. I tend to like the latter.  Pair indigo with accents or coral, orange, yellow, white, emerald, or a combo of two of the mentioned colors. Here is some inspiration!

Here are some of my favorite indigo pieces to style your home.

1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. | 8.

XO,

Perfect Pairing - Appareled Abode

Happy Happy Friday! Can you believe it's almost mid July? Where has this summer gone? After the 4th I always feel like it just flies by so quickly. There is still enough time to rock all your fun summer clothes.  I have said it before and I will say it again and again...I love the color combo of indigo and tangerine. I love it so much I decided to make this weeks installment of Appareled Abode about just that! 

Abode: Sofa | Chair | Chandelier | Side Table | Throw | Coffee Table | Basket | Blue Throw Pillow | Floor Ottomans | Starfish & Coral Art Work | Table Lamps | Coral Maze Pillows

Apparel: Top | Jeans | Sandals | Bag | Coral Bracelet | Earrings | Anchor Bracelet | Necklace | Belt | Monogram Ring

XO,

Summer Cocktail - Peach Sangria

A few weeks back my husband, myself, my brother in laws, future sister in law and friends went out on our boat for a relaxing Saturday out on the water. The sun was shining, the weather was hot and we cooled off with some dips in the ocean but also with some ice cold beers and a nice batch of peach sangria.

I made the concoction the night before to get the fruit juices simmering. I personally tripled the recipe (yes I know that is a little much) but it was the perfect amount for the 7 guests we had with us on a boat for 8 hours.

A lot of people have asked for the recipe and although I am a few weeks late sharing it, here it is!

Peach Sangria

Ingredients

• 2 ripe peaches cut into wedges
• 4 peaches diced, peeled and puree
• 1 pint strawberries, cut into quarters
• ½ cup peach schnapps
• 2 bottles white wine
• 1 cup granulated sugar

We used Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc for the white wine. It has just the right amount of sweet. Plus the double bottle was only $11.99.

We cut up all the peaches and added strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, lime and orange to the mix.

The fruit all cut up before we added the alcohol and pureed peaches

Letting it all soak in!

Directions
1 Combine the peaches, strawberries and any other fruit you choose to add into the container or pitcher. In a separate pitcher combine the schnapps, wine and sugar in a large pitcher and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the liquid to the fruit. 

2 Let stand 1 hour or overnight.

3 Add some ice &  serve.

CHEERS!

XO,

Coffee Table Styling

Who doesn't love a well styled coffee table? I do! Shocker? Not just because I am a designer but because they can be so personal to each individual. You place what you love on the coffee table, for every guest to see. It's not just a place to lay your remote.

I am currently styling a coffee table for a client that has very modern home but wants to bring in a side of shabby chic! What a combo and I think it's going to be a perfect mix. The table is going to be so fun to style. I already have so many ideas and can't wait to put it together.   Here are some of  my favorite table styling for you all to drool over, oh and get a little inspired too!

Lucite, Zebra & Magenta = Amazing styling

I love how soft and serene this room is. The table is a bit modern but the black legs and right angles work perfect. The elements selected really soften the hard lines.

This mirrored tray is everything. I love it mixed with the pop of yellow fabric on the ottoman below.

Books & Hydrangeas. Nothing else needed.

Sexy set. I love the small vase. The table mixed with the vase brings a lot of texture.

GLAM. gold, white & pink. What kind of candies are those?

I love this porcupine book topper. Fun. It would keep my dogs off the table too!

Normally I would say to take an item away but in this case the mix of all the books works. I love the white candles in the mixed levels of hurricane vases.

This is some of the items I would put on my coffee table if I were to style it....Again.

Jewelry Dish | Lucite Monogram Tray | Tom Ford Book

Back to work....I am definitely inspired!

XO,

Dinner Date ~ Appareled Abode

This week's Appareled Abode is one I found a lot of fun.  I find designing fun all the time but this was especially fun because I was thinking I wanted to do a dinner date ensemble and decor, even if the dinner date is a fancy one in your own home. Those are sometimes the best ones!

I love the mixture of creams and golds with a pop of yellow. Very calm with a little unexpected of happy!  Of course you have to mix in a little texture.

This color scheme compliments all skin tones and with just a little candlelight the room would be radiant. Who doesn't look good in candle light? Even Jerry Seinfeld's "two faced" girlfriend could pull it off well! (Seinfeld fans will understand).


Dinner Date Apparel:

Dinner Date Abode:

Where to get the look:

Apparel: DRESS | SHOES | CLUTCH | BRACELETS | WATCH | EARRINGS

Abode: BRASS CENTER PIECES | RUG | CHAIR | DINING TABLE | FLOOR LAMP | CHANDELIER | BENCH | DRIFTWOOD BOWL

First off I must state that I am obsessed with the shoes and they are on my wish list. Read that D? I would accept them for my birthday, Christmas (bday & Christmas combined) just because.  I digress....

In apparel design I mixed a bit  of high end and low end pieces. The room is a little more high end than low with all the pieces from Arteriors but their pieces never disappoint. (Little designer secret....Home Goods will randomly have some of their last season items so there is another excuse for you to make your weekly visit.) This room can easily be recreated with less expensive furniture and still get the same look. I have seen a table very similar to this at Jordan's furniture just last week. 

Every Friday I have a new Appareled Abode segment so make sure to check back! 

If you have a suggestion for an outfit or room you would like to see my create feel free to send me a message! 

Have a great weekend everyone!

XO,

Outdoor Living

Spring and summertime go by too quickly around New England and with only 4 full months to really enjoy the outdoors, we take advantage in every way possible. Derek and I try to eat outside at least 2 times a week (weather permitting of course). We have done quite a bit of work to our backyard as you may have seen on my previous post My (Not So Green) Thumb and we really want to enjoy it as much as we can.

I was working on a design board for one of my clients for a future construction project for their new pool that will be installed in the fall and I thought I would share one of the mock ups with you. I just love the table, rug and bar cart. All items in this board are listed below.
The pool is not the pool or the home but I wanted to give it that poolside feel so I added it into the design.  *Frenchie Not included.

RUG | DINING SET | FIRE PIT | BAR CART | STEEL BASKET | NAVY PILLOW | LOBSTER PILLOW | 

XO,

Curly Hair Don't Care

We always want what we don't have, right. I don't mean in a materialistic way I mean in a, "what our mama gave us", kinda way. For example girls with a larger behind may wish it was smaller when girls with a smaller behind wish they had a little more "junk in the trunk", right?  Well the same rule applies to hair. The girls that have straight silky hair wish it were curly and full of volume when the opposite is true for girls like me. Curly hair can be unruly. That is why the straightening iron was invented and it is seriously one of the best beauty tools us girls have these days! My hair has been curly since the day I came out of the womb. Curly curly. My mother used to use an entire bottle of No More Tears on my hair just to brush it out and the only way she could style it was in pigtails or braids. Even then you would see the curls bing out like a slinky from the hair line.

Yes...this is me. Such a hot outfit for 1982.

So throughout my life this was a struggle. My hair wasn't just curly it was thick and very full so it was very hard to tame growing up. I used to use so much mousse and hairspray my hair was like a helmet it was so hard. 

As I got older, I learned through trial and error what products worked to help me have straight hair. It was a temporary fix.  Keratin never worked well for me (maybe it was the salon I went to but I lost interest) so I straighten my hair every other day. I blow it out and use a straightener with a protecting spray so that the damage is minimal.  It lasts for 3 days if I push it but all that heat dries out my hair so I have to wash and deep condition it. I still have a lot of breaking at the ends but that is a small price to pay for me to have smooth straight hair. I truly have it down to a science. So much so that a lot of people don't know my hair is naturally curly. 

Here it is straight. I swear I gain so much length with is straight.

The whole reason I am doing this post is because over this last week we had Derek's family in town Charleston and Paige (our cousin) has curly hair. It's beautiful. We discussed how hard it is for her to straighten it and that it is just easier for her to wear it curly. I was intrigued because I find it easier to wear it straight. So I asked her what she used because her curls were not frizzy and they were very defined. She said she used Cat Walk Curls Rock like this.

I thought that I should try that again. I thought I had tried it in the past because I feel I have tried every curl defining product on the market. My hair stylist had given me every product line he has for curly hair too.  Then looking it up to see what ingredients were.  I found it was very similar to a product I use every day..... Body Lotion. Yes. The lotion you slather onto your skin to help moisturize it. HELLO... that is perfect for course curly hair. So I grabbed my favorite body lotion and gave it a shot.

This stuff is the best. This happens to be Philosophies' Amazing Grace firming body emulsion version which I would not  recommend using all the time because it's a lot more money that the regular but it smells sooooo good and I already had it in my house so I decided to try this. I will be using  my CVS brand COCO butter moisturizer from now on.

I digress, so I tried it out and VOILA¡ It worked!

My curly frizzy hair was less curly and not frizzy plus it was oh so soft and smelt so good.  Us curly hair gals know we need a heavy conditioner or product to help weight the hair, this weighs it down but is still feels light and airy. Now this photo was taken at the end of a long day wearing it curly and half up but you can see the curls are still shaped (minus that strand hanging beside my face, that was up also).

I seriously can't believe after 30-ahem something years I finally found something to help tame my hair! My husband is thrilled because he LOVES when I wear my hair natural and I love that it's so easy. I will wear my hair straight most of the time because that is how I prefer it but I will say this is easy on a summer day or if I am rushing. 

So try it out! If you have curly hair and don't have a product you love try your body lotion and let me know what you think! I would love your feedback. Also if you have any other products you like for curly hair share those too! 

XO,

Happy Chic

I love great home decor finds on the cheap and I especially love when the decor finds are by some of the designers I love. The Happy Chic line Jonathan Adler created for JC Penney is exactly one of those fabulous finds.

JC Penney is revamping their look bringing fresh, new and modern designs to their store in the home decor end. I have always liked their off the shelf window treatments but they have really hit the mark by bringing in Jonathan Adler.  His bright and cheery designs fill the pages of some very prestigious design magazines but those designs also come with a price tag to match. Now you can get the same look for a lot less. It's like being a baller on a budget!

Here are just some the items I am loving from his line.

Charlotte Duvet Cover

Tufted Sofa

Lacquer Pedestal

Gray Desk

black & white vase

Elephant Stool

Fabric Frame

Blue Pillow

Alexa Curtains

Glass Globe

I recommend perusing the site. You'll be inspired by the bold colors and patterns of Jonathan Adler's design. 

"A chic home makes you happy and a happy home makes you chic" Jonathan Adler

XO,

This Past Week In Review...

This past week has been a busy one. It hadn't left much time for me to blog but it was nice to have a little vacation. The southerner's came to visit us from South Carolina and ya'll did we have a good time!

When I say "the southerners" I am referring to Derek's cousins. They live just outside Charleston South Carolina and boy did they bring a lot of fun up to Boston this week!  The weather hadn't panned out as we had hoped but we did get a few good 80 degree weather days.  Wednesday was the perfect day to spend in Boston. Derek and I took in the fun of being tourists, even in our own city. 

We had some lunch on Newbury Street and once we had our bellies full, we had our energy for the next 3 hours of shopping. We walked Newbury Street for a few hours and then the guys ditched us to go enjoy some sangria (there is only so much shopping Derek will do) as we continued onto Copley. Once our shopping excursion was over we hit the original and famous Boston Duck Tour. 

Boston from the Charles River on our Duck Tour.

 Then on Friday we had a Baran / Robinson Family Lobster Bake at our house. Derek went diving for lobsters during the day (we did a little more shopping) and when we returned they had just arrived home ready to start cooking.

George investigating a lobster for the first time. 

We mixed corn, mussels, little neck clams, sausage, potatoes, oranges, lemons and of course lobster into the 6 gallon pot and let it cook. There was one other recipe but it's a Baran family secret so I can divulge ;)

This the the Lobster Bake when it was done and ready to eat!

A photo of the ladies. L to R. Melissa, Margaret, Dawn, Page, Julie & I enjoying a glass of wine before the feast ( thanks for sharing the photo Paige!)

 Saturday was our day out on Day's Off.  We piled 11 of us onto Frank and Margaret's boat and hit the water. We went to Gloucester, down the Annisquam river, back out into the ocean into Salem to pick up some more family that were in from Florida and then to Marblehead for dinner.

So beautiful out on the water.

Sailboats sailing around Baker's Island

George passed out in my arms.

The Baran/Robinson Clan all together in Marblehead Harbor after a delicious dinner! Photo courtesy of Melissa :)

We had such a wonderful week ya'll!

XO,