you’ve got to love a city whose motto is “keep austin weird.” full of flavor (i’m talking amazing tex mex), color and character, austin is a city that seriously has it all. it also has one of the best vintage/design scenes full of incredible shops like uncommon objects and room service vintage - and these places keep popping up all over the roundup for austin inspiration (check out the d*s austin guide here for more great shopping). so without further ado, today’s talented roundup: joel mozersky (the designer behind the real world: austin house!), d’ette cole {etta industry}, melissa gable {one creative girl}, jennifer braham {brink design} and jaime jo fisher {jewelry}. in case you missed it don’t forget to check out the regional roundup: austin- part 1, and stay tuned next week for our third and final installment! [thanks, designers!] -anne

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One.Eleven.Design

1. Where are you from? Where do you live now?
I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, but Austin has been my home for 22 years.

2. Describe your work.
I design residential and commercial spaces, such as restaurants, bars, retail stores, and hair salons. I also designed tour busses for the Dixie Chicks and the house for “The Real World-Austin.” I would describe my work as modern interpretations of classic design influences and eras. I’m much more interested with the history of decoration, and the relevance it has today, than what is happening “right now.” I think overtly contemporary design tends to look dated quickly and takes itself too seriously. I like my spaces to have a wink- a sense of humor and, most importantly, a soul.

3. How is your work influenced by where you live?
Austin has become very cosmopolitan in the past 10 years, but what is great about it’s growth is pretension is frowned upon. Austinites see right through it. It is an exciting place to be creatively- how can you move design forward, but maintain a foothold on what makes our city unique?

4. Where do you go in Austin when you want to feel inspired?
Uncommon Objects, Mercury Design Studio, Uptown Modern, and Room Service Vintage- I always find something I love at these stores, and they inspire my work tremendously.

5. How would you describe the Austin design scene?
We have an incredible creative community- architects, interior designers, artists, and craftsmen- who are a pretty tightly knit group. We also have clients who understand what makes a city great and unique is its culture of small businesses, and who support local talent.

6. If you could go anywhere where would you go?
There are so many places I haven’t been, but I would love to go to Thailand.

Click here for more of Joel’s work.

Etta Industry

1.  Where are you from? Where do you live now?
[From] Houston, Texas. [Now]  Austin ~ deep in the heart of Texas.

2.   Describe your work.
Working as an art director/designer/artist in a variety of mediums and arenas, my work combines a never ending love of color, a strong design sense, an eclectic aesthetic with a driving spirit of curiosity and wonder.

3.  How is your work influenced by where you live?
I think Texas is a really interesting combination of bold frontier independence, rich
cultural influences of Mexico and a vast landscape.  This region of Texas seems a
creative wellspring because Austin is an overgrown college town that embraces/
encourages diversity and individuality.

4.  Where do you go in Austin when you want to feel inspired?
Outside, it’s lovely here, sometimes kinda hot, but a lovely heat.

5.  How would you describe the Austin design scene?
I think it’s in its ‘tween’ stage, it’s just starting to stretch and grow and come into it’s own identity.

6.  If you could go anywhere where would you go?
Excluding time travel, if we’re talking places that I’ve never experienced, I’d like to see, eat and smell Cinque Terre.  If we’re talking favorite places, hands down that’d be Uzes, France.

Click here for more of D’Ette’s work.

One Creative Girl

1. Where are you from? Where do you live now?
I grew up in a big, old house in Columbus, New Jersey - surrounded by trees and fields and dairy farms, a mile from the “world famous” Columbus Farmer’s Market (and flea market). After graduating from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I moved to Austin looking to be “wowed” by a new city (and I was).

2. Describe your work
A colorful, quirky, mish-mash of vintage images, found objects and stuff I like, dissected and arranged One Creative Girl style.

3. How is your work influenced by where you live?
Austin is a very colorful and off-beat place with lots of art and design and plenty of places to hike and swim and stay grounded  - it’s a pretty great place to live and play, dream and create.

4. Where do you go in Austin when you want to feel inspired?
I love to roam my favorite shop -  Uncommon Objects - it is cram packed with vintage goodness and always gives my brain a good jump start. In addition to that, a long creekside hike to connect with my froggy friends also works.

5. How would you describe the Austin design scene?
Encouraging and supportive - i have lots of friends who find Austin to be a great place for a creative lifestyle. There are yearly studio tours in several different neighborhoods and it always amazes me when i see just how many artists are here creating fabulous stuff!

6. If you could go anywhere where would you go?
I would love to live and create in Mexico. It is such a colorful and dynamic culture, I think it would be a perfect environment for me. Whenever I visit, it is so hard to leave. I have been searching for a way to live between Austin and Mexico for a while now and am sure it won’t be long before I find it!

Click for Melissa’s website, blog and etsy shop.

Brink Creative

1. Where are you from? Where do you live now?
Until age 13: Pennsylvania. Ages 13-18 Los Angeles. Age 21: Santa Fe. Ages 13-30: The Bay Area: Santa Clara, San Francisco, Berkeley. I live in Austin now. South Austin.

2. Describe your work.
A product of intuition and channeling my clients. Assemblage of everything I absorb. Reflections of when, where, why…either the solution, posing the question, regardless, always a combination of as many emotions evocable. Japanese : retro : contemporary : interactive 2d : hand made pixels…lush, love : life : contemporary : familiar : redefined : color that shifts energy. As much as possible by hand and then the fascinating life the artwork takes on as it’s digitized and moves throughout it’s many applications.

I stay open to the discoveries in “mistakes”.

I still measure equidistant areas from left to right and top to bottom when treating typography…respecting my traditional design education, but hand made patterns may have a loop or twirly thing out of whack. Don’t stop the press! Instead, magnify and celebrate. Keeping craft alive. Attention to detail and allowing the process to allow the product to develop. Pushing and pulling these poles while staying committed to the task. Inspirational design that serves it’s function, has a strong foundation and expansive possibilities.

3. How is your work influenced by where you live? 4. Where do you go in Austin when you want to feel inspired? 5. How would you describe the Austin design scene?
Austin is a city in flux…more so than most. Just when I’ve seen the major transformations in the town in just a year and the resulting dichotomies are tense: Fluidity and resistance; sloooow and fast paced; limited with a whole world of possibilities…hence a culture that attracts and continually stimulates artists of many a genre. Here’s a way in which allowing the ever evolving process to flow while keeping a standard and integrity. The work comes from the constant combination of this tension. It’s exciting, sometimes painful, but always rewarding in an amazing end design, lesson and developed relationship with all the players involved (me, the client, printers, writer, programmers, sign vendors…all the people it takes to get the job done well).

In Austin, we’ve had a poor rap about our art/design scene and I feel that’s quickly changing. I push push push to help set a higher standard. Many push to keep the original Texan/Mexican spirit alive. That combined with an influx of people from everywhere is dynamic and keeps me designing around the clock. I lived in San Francisco and LA…I love both places, but I feel as though the gold (for me) has been found. Here, there are new discoveries abound!

A city undefined, although I hear many trying. The subjectivity of it all spurs interesting conversation and certainly influences my work as I push push push myself to levels beyond what I thought possible. I think I do the same to my clients. Much to some of their dismay…it’s never easy giving birth!

Physically, my word is influenced by found materials and I do my best sketching at my favorite restaurant. Now I prefer to go alone…hmm, I can’t believe I just admitted that. To feel inspired, I go to beautiful stores (preferably second-hand), my full flat files, my growing library and I hang out with my brilliant artist friends.

6. If you could go anywhere where would you go?

If I could anywhere: 1. I’d go back to my mom’s garden. A penny for every beetle I picked off the green beans. I’d make $3 a day sometimes! 2. In a hammock during the fall at dusk. My lifestyle doesn’t allow much sleep. 3. Camping with my significant other with nothing but a t-shirt, jeans, my toothbrush, water and my dogs.

Click here for more of Jennifer’s work.

Jaime Jo Fisher

1. Where are you from? Where do you live now?
I grew up in a small town in southern Illinois just east of St. Louis.  I currently live with my husband, Chris Campbell and our dog and cat, Brinkley and Tula in Austin, Texas. I work full time in my home studio making jewelry that I sell thru my website, galleries and a few juried art festivals.

2. Describe your work.
I make jewelry and sculptural boxes with sterling silver, mineral stones and a wide array of found, vintage or repurposed materials.  These commonly overlooked and typically discarded materials can be a piece of broken windshield glass, a fragment of plastic from a doll shoe, a found pebble or shell, or even a tiny stuffed pillow sewn from the plastic of a thrifted rain poncho. Many people who see my work for the first time assume the stones are all resin, enamel or beach glass and seem pleasantly surprised when I tell them it’s plastic from a bundle of rubber grapes or the sculptural box they see actually houses and displays a wearable ring.

3. How is your work influenced by where you live?
I have been living in Austin for over 2.5 years. Living in this progressive city directly influences my work.  Austin is about nostalgia, the DIY approach and green living including recycling and conservation. This is evident in the design, fashion and craft of local artists.  This idea is very much in keeping with my work as well.

4. Where do you go in Austin when you want to feel inspired?
Austin has a plethora of great thrift stores, from the high-end vintage stores to the more hardcore, not for the faint of heart, to scavenge about digging for potential new goods to incorporate in my work.  I am always looking on the ground, in thrift stores & flea markets as well as online. I enjoy finding things that will seem slightly bizarre when used in my jewelry, some of the more unexpected being bristles from a toothbrush and dryer lint from my lint trap. There is also a really great bead store in Austin, called Bead It, where I get some amazing vintage plastic and glass pieces that appear in my work as well.

5. How would you describe the Austin design scene?
I am part of an organization made up of an amazing group of women that live and work in Austin called Handmade Austin Women. The weekend show is a fun filled family event that offers some exquisitely designed and handmade items including paintings, pottery, jewelry, handmade clothing, hats & bags as well as some 2d & 3d collage work.   Another event on the art scene is the East Austin Studio Tour. My husband, who is a potter, and I turn our garage into a temporary gallery space for a weekend during the tour to show our work along with over 200 other studios that reside in East Austin.

When feeling uninspired or less than motivated, you may find me at any number of art galleries in Austin, at a friends studio to chat up their current work, at Book People or Domy flipping thru their amazing book collections, taking a Bikram Yoga class at Yogagroove, window shopping at a local vintage shop or digging around at a local thrift store.

6. If you could go anywhere where would you go?
If I could go anywhere my heart desired I would plan a road trip with my husband, with a tiny “fixer upper� trailer in tow, and discovery the sites one city at a time.

Click here for more of Jaime’s work.

Hey friends! Wow, it has been a busy week for me! In addition to starting my two weeks at HomeGoods (thanks to ALL of you who went and left me a comment on my first post!!) and getting going on my new position as Editor of the Home and Garden channel of Blissfully Domestic, I am out of town as I am writing to you! Yes, we are in our new city checking things out and starting our house hunt.

Phew, I haven’t had much time for holiday post hunting so my list is short and sweet. But that is where you come in, dear friends…I am adding Mr. Linky to this post so if you have a holiday post you’d like to share, link on up!

I’ve included a link to my second HomeGoods post and I hope you will all come on over today and share your ideas in the comments! You can see the new chargers and holiday napkins I found! You guys are the best!

Traditions: Telling your family story

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Frugal & Festive Holiday Tips

We are THAT Family

I Can Make That!

Just a Girl

Festive Tables

The Inspired Room @ HomeGoods

Blissfully Domestic

Creative ideas for Wreaths
Decorating Naturally

Now, it is your turn!

What holiday ideas have you shared lately?

Rules for Mr. Linky:

• Please link up HOLIDAY posts only. It doesn’t matter if they are decorating related or not, as long as they are holiday related.
• Link up to a specific post, all links to home pages will be deleted. Sorry!
• Please link back here from your post to this Link Love post, so others can find inspiration too.

Photo: Country Living

Contributed by: Janet M. Perry




Lately it seems I’ve been getting and thinking about the kind of questions people have when they buy older homes. An older house can be a wealth of hidden and not so hidden treasures. Knowing how to turn what seems awful, like knotty pine Rec Rooms, ugly carpet on vintage wood floors, or very high ceilings can go a long way into making that “diamond in the rough� you bought into the jewel you envision.

And it can be affordable as well. Sometimes the solution is as simple as an inexpensive device or a can of paint. Here are some common problems and ideas for solving them.

How do I tell if there are hardwood floors under my carpet? What do I do if there are hardwood floors down there? The easiest and least intrusive way to see if there are hardwood floors under your carpets is to take out one of your floor registers. The carpet will not be tacked down there. Lift if up and see if the floor underneath it is hardwood, linoleum, or something else. What this can’t tell you is the condition of the floors. If you want your old floors to be restored, you should contact a flooring company with experience in restoration. Sometimes there is water damage, sometimes there are patches, sometimes parts of the floor have been replaced with plywood. A restoration expert can help with lots of these things. But, mentally at least, I would always be prepared to put carpet back down if the floor was too badly damaged.


I've got knotty pine paneling in some of my rooms? What can I do about it?
Knotty pine was extremely popular in the 1960’s for Rec Rooms and Family Rooms. Actually paneling of all kinds was big. But knotty pine is particularly jarring because it has darker knots scattered all through it, making a strong and irregular pattern. It has a very rustic look, which doesn’t work in many homes. The best method to cover it is to paint it. You will need to use an oil-based primer first and pick one that will add resistance for knots. The knots are darker than the surrounding wood and primers made for lighter colors will allow the knots to show through. You should use two coats of primer.
Once the primer has dried, paint the paneling.

In this case, the joints between the boards have not been covered, so the wall will have a painted board look. Another possibility is to stain the paneling. You can use any wood stain as long as the paneling is clean and not varnished. If it is varnished, it will have to be stripped before re-staining. This is not a job for the faint of heart! Most stores that have wood stain will have samples on pine, but it is clear pine (without knots). The knots will be considerably darker, but the difference between the clear parts of the boards and the knots will be less after re-staining.

The cabinets and woodwork in some of my rooms doesn't match. What options do I have?
First determine if the pieces are all the same wood. If they are you can probably stain them the same color to unify them. They may still have some differences, but they will be minimized with the uniform stain. Different woods will take stain differently, so if they are not the same wood, you will probably want to paint. This will completely unify your mismatched pieces. Make sure to prime and to paint with a semi-gloss paint. Wood painted in eggshell, satin, or flat paints tends to look dusty and unfinished.

Where can I find ready-made curtains 108 inches long or longer?
You’ve just bought a vintage home with soaring 10 foot ceilings. You want dramatic curtains to match the rooms. But you are working with a ready-made budget and want a more affordable option than custom drapes. As the curtains get longer, your options get fewer. Today on Overstock.com, there were 32 different 120� curtains, including these dramatic ones in embroidered taffeta.


Pottery Barn also has curtains this length, like these lovely Silk Dupionni drapes which come in lengths to 124� and in 12 colors. They also have some lovely striped one and, my favorite, ones with embroidery at the top. One important note about curtains, no matter how luxurious the fabric, if the curtains aren’t full enough the drapes will look skimpy. Measure the width of your window from the outside to edge of the frame to the outside edge of the opposite frame. The total width of the curtains should be 2.5-3 times this measurement. That means if you have two panels, each should be 1.25-1.5 times that measurement. If your curtains won’t be closed, you can get away with 2 times the measurement, but anything else often looks too thin. Think of it like the blazer that won’t button, you can wear it, but it still looks like it doesn’t fit.

The heat registers are close to my windows and if I put up curtains, they will cover the registers, is there anything I can do?
This is not an uncommon problem, even in newer homes. I know boo about Heating & Air Conditioning, but you’d think that putting a register near a heat sink like a window would be a bad idea. In my house (built in 1989) every register on the first floor except the Master Bedroom, the Kitchen, and the Master Bath is right under a window. In the case of kitchen and bath other things like the sink and the bathtub are in the way.

The solution is to get a plastic cover for the register that will deflect the air (pictured above). The nicest ones are pretty flat and cover the top of the register. Their purpose is to redirect the flow of air out instead of up. They are made to fit under furniture and are made from clear plastic. They would be even less noticeable under drapes, especially if the drapes puddled on the floor. The vent would come out and the drapes would flow around it. They look like the one pictured above which is from Improvements. The length is adjustable to fit under just about anything. This one is made from PVC and they have discounts if you buy more than one. You HVAC contractor may also be able to order these for you. For registers without furniture or drapes over them, you can get higher deflectors like these ones from Corner Hardware.

Often, when you are looking at older homes, it seems like the amount of work to do is phenomenal. But knowing what is possible and what resources are out there does a whole lot of good to ease your mind and make buying that vintage home a source of joy.

Contributed by: Janet M. Perry

Click here to read all of Janet's posts.