Weely Interior Designer Moment- Malene B

I’ve been waiting for this weekly interior designer’s moment for so long because I am so excited about this week’s interior designer, her name is Malene B a Brooklyn, NY based African American carpet designer who has a multi-disciplinary background in textile arts, painting and illustration. When I first recognized her work, I must say I was blown away and taken back by her amazing work. Malene’s work is truly a work of art. When I finally researched her work, I was so glad I did. Melene B’s work is used all over the world and used by the interior design industry leaders such as Nicole Miller, Martha Stewart, Nautica, Liz Claiborne, Nate Berkus and so many others. I was so moved by Malene’s work I reached out to her on her facebook page I had to let her know just how much I love her work. This is the reason I had to make her our weekly interior designer moment designer because I thought my viewer had to witness this amazing work just as I have. Please take a look at this astounding work by Malene B

I absolutely love this carpet. I would love to use this in a clients home or if I purchase a new home. I will love to put it in my house. Love it

How unique is this? Check out the hands in the carpet. Beautiful!!!

Love this!!

Malene B's work in the commercial setting- The Shanghi design.

I love the Mola in this bedroom setting

This carpet is amazing if anyone know me I have a heavy crush on the color blue and green  but the color of this rug is not the only reason I like this I love the design. Beautiful

 
In my opinion” Malene B’s work is beyond impeccable and all around incredible”. I hope you feel the same passion for Malene’s work as I do because it’s worth the praise and respect it gets. Thanks Malene B for touching me with your amazing talent.

If you would like to learn more about the work of Malene B check out her work at her website here and if you would like to like her on her Facebook page go here. Did you know that Malene has been featured in numerous of magazines? You can check out her features here.


What did you think about this weeks Weekly Interior Designers Moment?
Did you love Malene B's Carpets?
Would you use any of Malene's carpets in your home?
Tell me what you think in your comments below!!!

Ballons

are magical. :)

Easy peasy (and almost free!!) color flash cards

Rhett and I spend A LOT of quality time together.

We only have one car, and Jake obviously takes it to work, so I'm always looking for a new way to entertain Rhett at home.

He's a bundle of boy. All boy. 

(Translation: he's got a lot of energy.)

So I thought of a easy (and cheap!) game to teach him his colors.

 I went to Home Depot and grabbed some Martha Stewart paint swatches, 2 of each color.

Then I went to Michael's and grabbed 2 sheets of flexible cork board.   

I found it in the scrapbook aisle, originally $2.00 a sheet, but it was on sale for $.59. 

It's made of a cork material, but is extremely flexible and won't tear. 

One side of the cork comes with an adhesive glue.

Peel off the paper backing and lay the color swatches next to each other with the card's edges touching.

(Lining the swatches edge to edge makes it easier to cut through the adhesive on the cork.)

And that's it! 

Like I said, an easy-peasy (and almost free!) game for your kiddos! 

Rhett and I work on matching the colors, but the cards could be adapted for an older child simply by playing Memory etc. 

Happy kid equals a happy momma right? :) 

  

Real Estate Snitch Wednesday's-Michael Jordan

Basketball superstar Michael Jordan has put his Highland Park long time family home on the market, but don’t expect to get a deal on this one. His Highland Park home is on the Market for a whopping price of $29 million dollars, making it the highest priced home ever listed in the Chicago Real Estate Market.

This is the house Michael lived in when he was with his then wife Juanita Jordan before their divorce in 2006 since then Juanita Jordan has bought a newly built mansion in the Chicago River North district for $4.7 million; it’s been reported to have 23 rooms in the mansion I guess the number 23 isn’t all that bad ha Juanita?  Micheal's 56,000 square feet Mansion includes nine bedrooms, 15 full baths, and four half baths and five fireplaces spread between a main house and a connected guesthouse. The property also includes an indoor-outdoor entertaining and pool area, an outdoor tennis court, a putting green, a deep water pond and three climate-controlled garages that hold 15 cars. Wow that was a mouth full, how grand is that. Check out this amazing home of the all time superstar basket ball players Michael Jordan’s home.

This view right here, is worth $29 million. WOW

If this is the outside! What do the inside look like? Amazing

Exterior front of the house- Very Contemporary

Love the 23. "I think this is what I expected from Michael Jordan's home"

Living Room- Very grand

Contemporary at its best

If I didn't see this in Michael Jordan's house I wouldn't believed it was actually his. I know the builder had to dig very deep to get High ceilings like these. Who wouldn't love to have a basketball court like this in their home?

What did you think of Micheal Jordan's $29 million dollar listing?
Is it worth it?
If money allowed and you were interested in the Chicago real estate market would you consider buying MJ'S home?
Let me know what you think in your comments below!!!

Real Estate Snitch Wednesday's - Oprah's Penthouse

When you’re a celebrity, buying a house on the low is essential and sometimes necessary because we all know they’ll have people like me snitching all over the place about their celebrity digs. Such is the case with the scoop on this NY Penthouse of Oprah’s, I mean Gayle’s ha I don’t know but here’s how the deal went down In 2008, it was reported that Oprah Winfrey’s Best Friend Gayle bought a 3 bedroom,3/5 bath apartment in the new midtown tower Place 57.  As it turns out it was reported that the purchase weren’t actually Gayle’s that indeed the penthouse was bought by no other than Ms Oprah Winfrey herself for the healthy price of 7.1 million dollars. Now the facts isn’t clear on who actually lived in the house but all I have to say, “if I paid 7.1 mil for a penthouse” guess who will be living there, you guessed it!!! “ME”Enough said!! Check out Oprah's Penthouse for sale below.....

How do you like Oprah's Penthouse?
If money allowed would your purchase this home for yourself?
Let me know in your comment below!!

Buying a HVLP sprayer

About a week ago I shared my new baby.

My Graco Fine Finish HVLP spray gun.

(Love it!!!)

I did a TON of research before I made my final decision on which sprayer was right with me and I want to to share what I learned with you!

(Seriously, I think I did more research for this than I did for my thesis.)

 Do you research.

There are literally hundreds of different spray gun options. 99.9% of guns fall into one of two categories, airless or HVLP. This is a great place to start your research because once you decide with kind of sprayer you want you can eliminate the other. 

I chose HVLP for three main reasons. 

1. After a demo with the Graco Fine Finish (HVLP) and a Graco Proshot (airless) I felt like the HVLP was easier to handle and much easier to prep and clean. And I like easy. :)

2. I preferred the finish and control of the spray that the HVLP offered. A HVLP offers finer production and a airless offers higher production. The HVLP has knobs on the gun that allow me to control the pressure and out put of the gun which is a great feature for getting a fine finish. 

3. Because the HVLP produces a finer finish, I used way less paint to cover an equal surface area, which over time saves a lot of money. 

Decide what features are most important to you.

One of the most important features that I wanted was the ability to spray any material from the gun with NO thinning. I hate thinning paint. I feel like I always get it wrong. That's why I chose to get the 9.0. The increased motor size and power allows me to spray pretty much anything without thinning it. 

Buy from a store or a rep.

I looked into buying a gun from Ebay or buying all the components of the gun separately, but in the end I felt like the warranty and technical support I would get from buying from a store or rep out weighed the extra money I would spend by so doing. This is just my personal opinion, but I would rather spend $200 more and get a great support system than save the $200 and when I had a problem have no one to turn to. 

Ask a lot of questions. 

This goes with the point above. I met with a Graco rep twice, and it was so helpful to have a living breathing human to talk to and to show me how it worked. And remember there is no such thing as a stupid question. A sprayer is a huge investment, and just like you wouldn't buy a car without test driving it, you shouldn't purchase a sprayer without testing it. 

 Understand the responsibility that comes with with a spray gun.

Not to sound like your DIY mom, but a gun is a lot more time and effort to clean. More than I expected actually. And if you're going to pay for it, use it! (Wow I really do sound like a mom.)

Be realistic about your budget, but expect to get what you pay for it.  

That's pretty self-explanatory, and this is just my opinion, but spending $500 and not getting what you need, is a higher cost that spending $800 and getting exactly what you need/want. If you're going to spend $500 but rarely use it...then it's kind of a sunk cost. 

 I hope this info helps! 

I encourage you to do your own research and decide what's best for you. :)

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email!