House Envy

All photos via Rue Magazine & Coco+Kelley

This chic Seattle apartment belongs to none other than Cassandra LaValle of the style blog Coco+Kelley. I love keeping up with her happenings via her blog, on Pinterest as well as Instagram. Cassandra's design sense exudes classicism and glamour and she just seems like one of those girls who has got it together, if you know what I mean. I adore her home where she did an amazing job mixing both high end and low end pieces for a look that is sooooo sophisticated yet cozy and comfortable. Her living and dining areas feature fun pops of color (via accessories and artwork SHE created!) while the bedroom is more calming with a mostly black and white color palette. The brass and gold accents throughout seem to take the apartment to a whole new level, don't you think?  I love how she packs so much style into such a small space!!

House Envy: Lakeside Bungalow

This stunning lake side home in Toronto was featured in House & Home magazine this month and really captured my attention! Home owner and realtor Emily Norris maximized the views and cut costs while remodeling this bungalow for herself and three young children, but didn't sacrifice on style. The result is a cheerful and bright beachy home with touches of luxury and sophistication. The house was designed to take advantage of the gorgeous lake views and to bring elements of the outdoors in. I am literally obsessed with this kitchen (especially that gorgeous island!) and the folding doors that open up to the outside patio. This is a home I can totally see myself living in!

If you would like to get a better feel for how the house is laid out, or to hear all about the details that went into the design process, you can view a video tour here!

House Envy

I've been a long time fan of Naomi Stein from the blog Design Manifest. Her style is just so unique and I love her sense of humor and writing style. (If you aren't familiar with it, you should definitely go check it out!) I've been following her current project of redecorating her loft since the beginning and was ecstatic to see it featured on Design Sponge earlier this week! She has done an incredible job creating a home that is stylish and unique, all while being thrifty and budget-conscious. She's done so by shopping at auctions, refinishing pieces she already has and scoring great finds on Craigslist. Take a peak at Naomi's awesome Philadelphia loft;

Recognize those stools? Naomi did a guest post here earlier this year and showed us how she painted and recovered them to make them look so stunning. In case you missed it, you can check it out here!

So what do you think of her eclectic and bohemian inspired loft? I love all of her bold color and pattern choices and think that she has done an amazing job pulling it all together! Congrats Naomi, your loft looks fabulous!

House Envy

I spotted the picture of this dining space above, on Pinterest earlier today and had to see more! Turns out it's the home of Erica from Design Blahg and guess what? It's a 690 sq. ft. apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Yes, you heard me right, 690! This small space is just proof that you don't need thousands and thousands of square feet to create a stylish, sophisticated home. Here's a peak at the floor plan so you can see how the home is laid out:

Erica's place was featured in Apartment Therapy's Small Cool 2010 series and you can read more about all of her space saving ideas here. Can you believe she actually has upper kitchen cabinets that are empty?! The smallest space I ever lived in was a studio apartment in Los Angeles and I recall having to store my extra sheets and blankets in my upper kitchen cabinets. Have you ever lived in a home so small you had to get majorly creative when it came to storage solutions?!

House Envy

This Nantucket beach house was featured in Elle Decor recently and I just can't get it out of my head! To me, it is the perfect balance of contemporary and casual beach style living.

 I love the built in desk flanking the fireplace and the sense of balance that this library achieves.

 The family room features a low, sleek sectional sofa with throw pillows that add pops of playful color. I'm all about keeping the big ticket items (like upholstery) neutral and adding touches of color by means of accessories!!!

The breakfast area features my favorite tulip chairs. Love those white wood planked walls!

This home is located just a walkway through the dunes away from the ocean. Sigh!

Can't you just see yourself cooking in this kitchen?! I sure can.

Again, we see nuetral furnishings and pops of color in the pillows and accessories. This master bedroom is light, bright and airy.

Lucite desk. What more can I say?!

How fun is this children's space?! Loves the strips and pops of blue and turquoise.

Gorgeous, luxurious, minimalist bathroom. Again, sighhhhh!

So what did you think of this beautiful beach home? Not too shabby, eh?!

J-Lo's Home in Veranda Magazine

I don't know about you guys, but I am a huge American Idol fan! This year has to be one of the best seasons in a long time. The talent is top notch and the new judges are doing a fantastic job! If you didn't already know, Jennifer Lopez joined the panel this year and she continually offers the competitors valuable and useful advise. Jennifer is not only pretty to look at, super talented on screen and vocally, but is also intelligent, kind and generous to boot. She's just an all around great gal and I love getting to see her on TV every week! Anyhow, J-Lo's home designed by Michelle Workman was featured in Veranda and I thought I would share a little bit here today.

Instead of being opulent over the top like one might suspect J-Lo's pad to be, I love the way the home has a subtle sense of glamor. The blue-gray and silver color palette in the main living spaces are breathtaking and I love the Art Deco touches throughout. Also, I think the mix of silver and gold tones creates a well balanced space. 

Design Jennifer Workman proclaims that "Jennifer and I wanted elegance, but we didn't want it to look stuffy or conservative or serious. We wanted it to be graceful, with just enough sparkle." I think they accomplished just that!

So, if you are a American Idol watcher, who are you routing for?! My money is on Santa Cruz, California  native James Durbin!