Veranda, Sept-Oct 2006, Photo by Peter Murdock

Phew! What a spooky week! So many strange blog happenings. I think my blog is happier with it's original color. I am happy to be back to normal.

Fall is my favorite season, and it has been a beautiful week here. A bit of rain to cool and freshen the air, and the leaves beautiful. So here are a few Fall Color photos to celebrate the season. I hope you enjoy.

I can't imagine a more serene and joyful place than this front porch. All of the details: the fall fruit on the table, the red barn and stone wall in the background, the fall leaves. Heaven.

House Beautiful, September 2008, Photo by Thibault Jeanson

This room is perfect for curling up with a book and a glass of wine. This house was designed by Mother and Daughter team, Hattie Wolfe and Abby Rizor for Abby's young family. It is about the bold gestures set against a calm background of ivory and beige.

House Beautiful September 2008

What a wonderful place for a casual dinner. The table and chairs were custom designed by mother and daughter.

California Home and Design, November 2008, Photo by Mark Darley

This bedroom designed by Jay Jeffers exudes a cozy warmth with it's amber mohair upholstered headboard (custom by Jeffers) and bedding. The unusual starburst mirror is a striking focal point against the warm grey walls.

Architectural Digest, November 2008, Photo byErhard Pfeiffer

I love the Autumn colors of this study in the home of actor Dennis Quaid. The black and white portraits of the actor hang above the bone inlaid desk. Interior Design by Everage Design.

House Beautiful, September 2008. Photo byWilliam Abranowicz

This foyer by Jeffrey Bilhuber just says "welcome!". The French tortoiseshell mirror is perfect against the backdrop of embroidered and hand-screened wall fabric. The red lacquered boxes lend a beautiful extra touch of color next to the pewter colored lamps.

House Beautiful September 2008, Photo by Simon Upton

Another entry hall with a lighter, brighter feel. I like seeing a hint of the table under the tablecloth. Details like the French enamel pitcher, white carved mirror, the painted paneling and the wood ceiling all lend texture and character to this casual, relaxed home designed by Jason Bell.

Architectural Digest, November 2008, Photo by Scott Francis

I love this kitchen designed by Stephen Shadley for actress Diane Keaton. Casual and unique, with it's inverted stitched lampshades antique table and chairs and plaster hood, I could spend many an hour enjoying a meal with friends here. I am sure Ms. Keaton does quite often.

I hope your Fall Season is filled with color, warmth, and friends and family.

I wanted to tell you something.  I wanted to tell you that we are out of money.  I wanted to tell you that we are limping along, that we are crawling at a snail’s pace, that we’re inching like inch worms.  I wanted to tell you that when the stock market crashed, we crashed, too.  I wanted to tell you that I am not sure when Peacock Pavilions is opening.  But it won’t be March 2009.  It will be sometime, sometime after that.  I wanted to tell you that I don’t know when it will be.  I wanted to tell you that I am disappointed, that I am very disappointed.  But I also wanted to tell you that none of it matters; that it’s just money - it’s not more than that.  I wanted to tell you that I feel lucky for what I have.  I wanted to tell you that I know that there are so many who have nothing, who have had everything taken from them.  Including their dignity.  I wanted to tell you that I think that this was meant to be.  And I am even thankful for it. Because nothing good -- yes, nothing really good -- should ever come too easily.  I wanted to tell you that I am okay.  I wanted to tell you that I am really okay most of the time.  Except for when I am not.  But those times are not so many. 

I wanted to tell you so much.  But (shyly) I didn’t know how.  But now, now you know….what I wanted to tell you.  

PS Many thanks to the gypsygirl for inspiring this post.

If you're looking for me this week, I'm guest blogging the whole week on design*sponge--and writing more posts there than I have in the past three months combined I might add!

Also, I've gotten some inquiries on this: if you're wondering where to buy Craft Inc. because it's apparently sold out at Chronicle Books and Amazon, here are some other retailers that currently still have them in stock (for now): Reform School and Fred Flare.

I also don't know when they are expecting to receive more books but I'm sure it will be soon!

• Natural colors
• Mix of materials
• Rustic ornamentation

Hello everyone! I have bad news and I have good news. The bad news is that the discount at Pillows and Throws that I posted earlier had to be removed because the coupon code could not be applied to all Thomas Paul pillows and I was not aware of that so I removed the post in order to reduce confusion.

The good news is… They are still offering us a discount, just not on the pillows I had posted about earlier shown in the original photographs. The 20% discount is only for the Thomas Paul cotton collection that normally retails for $44, some of these cushions are shown above. Please enter “decor820″ at checkout. Offer expires on November 21, 2008.

Thank you Pillows and Throws for the clarification and I’m sorry friends for the mistake!

(images from pillows and throws)

Last Sunday, we had some friends over for dinner to celebrate the Fall Season. It gave me the push I needed to add a little Fall decor to my house. I rearranged the front table in my Living Room adding a piece of art done by my sister-in-law for a wedding gift, some pumpkins from the Farmer's Market, and a beautiful arrangement of corn stalks, seed pods and wild grasses put together by a wonderful vendor also from the Farmer's Market. I wish I could take credit, but when you have it right in front of you, why pass it up?! (Plus, for only $4, what a steal!!!!).

I put the Fall foliage in an ironstone master jar, and added two ironstone footed bowls, the small from H&Co, the large from Thomas Hughes. I think I will fill them with walnuts.

At the Dining table, I started with a table cloth I made from inexpensive natural burlap. I find that if I use this as a base, I can put all different sizes of smaller cloths on top. The white one here is a vintage cotton cloth with fringe on each end. I used a pair of antique mercury glass candlestick holders in which I put some brown fun faux bois candles I found at Target. More pumpkins from the Farmer's Market and leaves from the yard make a very easy center piece. I added a few votive candles among the leaves.

I used simple large white plates, and my silver, hand blown glass water glasses from Anthropology, simple wine glasses that are always available at Cost Plus or Ikea, and Hotel Napkins from William Sonoma. Easy and very quick to put together!

We had a Fall menu starting with goat cheese filled dates with toasted bread crumbs as the appetizer, and then a French Onion Soup, which was pretty easy and delicious! We made grilled Cornish game hens with a Dijon Mustard and Riesling marinade on a bed of sauteed carrots, turnips and cabbage and an Apple Potato Gallete. There was Schwelmer Hefe Weizen Beer and a Dry German Reisling to choose from. Good food and good company!

(All of the recipes for this dinner can be found in the William Sonoma Entertaining Cook Book)

Posted by Kendra

If you're needing some visual inspiration, an excellent place to go are photographer or stylists' websites. Here are some of my favorites:

MARTYN THOMPSON

ROBYN GLASER

GENTL & HYERS

ROLAND BELLO (Sadly under construction, but be sure to check back. you won't regret it.)

As Senior Designer of Benning Design Associates, I had the huge pleasure of heading up the design of a new Sacramento restaurant, Cosmo Cafe. (I mentioned it a little bit ago here.) There are some new photos on the Cosmo Cafe website that may just tempt you to come take a look for yourself. Located in the multi-use Cosmopolitan building, the Cosmo Cafe shares real estate with the Cosmopolitan Cabaret, and the newest Sacramento nightclub, Social.

Come on in. Here's a bit of a virtual tour:

Front Lounge Area

This is a great place to enjoy a cocktail and chat with friends while waiting for your table, or when catching a show at the Cabaret.

Lounge and Bar

Another view of the Lounge showing the graphic floor design

Opening Night Party. The enlarged back lighted photo in the background shows the original building in it's first incarnation as the Woolworth Building.

Main Bar and Restaurant

I had the signature Cosmo on opening night, natch. And I tried a "Faux-Hito" the other night which was so perfectly refreshing, everyone at the table ended up getting one.

Restaurant

I promise you, the food is delicious. There are small and large plates to suit every palate. Like the roasted beet salad, or the polenta fritters I had the other night. Fabulous! Check out the menu here.

Located in Sacramento a block from the State Capital, it seemed fitting to "capitalize" on the political climate with a few caricatures. You may recognize a few!

Some photographs from the Sacramento Archives of historic points of interest near the Cosmopolitan Building were featured in special art niches.

As we go into the weekend, I wanted to leave you with the dreamy images of The Royal Collection, Fabrics and Wallpaper, the newest from Designers Guild.

Inspired by the interiors of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and by the art in the Royal Collection, this collection is a creation of luxurious fantasy.

Designers Guild was given access to the archive of historic fabrics and wallcoverings and has come up with their own interpretation of sumptuous embroidered silks, velvet jacquard velvets and flocked wallpapers.

The Arabella Autumn Winter Collection also makes it's appearance with a fairytail-like collection:

Dream a little dream this weekend!

Additional Note: I received an email from Sophie Trinder with a reminder that the whole collection can be viewed here. And in answer to Aesthete's Lament comment, the collection was indeed photographed at Buckingham Palace. A link to the Royal Collection with more information about the Palace can be reached here.

HAPPY WEEKEND!