Lulu Interiors

Attention Subscribers

To all of my subscribers out there, you are amazing!  Thank you for continuing to read our blog.  We are working on transferring your email subscription to the new site so that you can continue to receive your email updates with as little hassle as possible.  If you receive an email from FeedBurner Email Subscriptions, Subj: Activate your subscription: Allison Harper don't delete! 

Simply open your email that will read:

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You recently requested an email subscription to Allison Harper. We can't wait to send the updates you want via email, so please click the following link to activate your subscription immediately:

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(If the link above does not appear clickable or does not open a browser window when you click it, copy it and paste it into your web browser's Location bar.)

 

And click on the link provided in the email you receive (not this blog post) to update your subscription.  Soon you will receive posts from the new site.  Don't miss out, make sure to update today!

-Allison

 

We Have Moved!!

 

Please visit us at:

http://www.allisonharperdesign.com/blog/

(Image by Henrik Sorensen via Getty Images)

Best,

Allison

New Space, New Name, Same Look. & VOTE Today!!

After much thought and a lot of work (I cannot believe it's April!).  Lulu Interiors has become simply:

 
 

I will still be blogging so don't worry!  You can find the new blog here: 

http://www.allisonharperdesign.com/blog/

Or you can still go to www.luluinteriors.com and you will be re-directed to allisonharperdesign.com.

On another note:

VOTE FOR ALLISON HARPER INTERIOR DESIGN! :)

Beacham & Company is giving away a FREE advertisement in The Beacham Series magazine to one of their finalists.  So, please go to their facebook page to vote.  Click here to see This Photographer's Life for more information:

http://www.thisphotographerslife.com/2011/03/finalists-for-the-ad-space-competition.html

Voting ends Monday at 10am.

Thanks for all of your support!  I look forward to seeing your comments on the new blog page!

-Allison

Play Time

 

Isn't this just the picture of perfection?

(Image via La Dolce Vita)

Thinking Green

This lovely spring weather has me thinking green.

 

 

 

(Images above from Martha Stewart Living)

 

 
Rug:  Jonathan Adler, Lamps:  Swank Lighting, Painting:  Michelle Armas available at Gregg Irby Fine Art, Pillow (top):  Block and Brayer, Pillow (bottom):  Pieces, Sofa:  Pieces, End Table:  Edward Wormley- 1st Dibs. 

 

-Allison

Mountain Views

 
(Room by Charlotte Moss)

We are heading to Telluride, CO on Friday for a week long vacation.  I am sooo excited!  I love to ski and love to après-ski even more... :)

I thought images of Colorado interiors would be appropriate for this occasion. 

I saw this cool loft in Colorado Homes & Lifestyles:

 

 

 
LOVE the painting.

 

Holly Hunt's place outside of Aspen isn't too shabby either:

 

 

 

 
One day...

Have a great day.  I'll share pics when I get back!

-Allison

Get Organized

I think that getting organized is something with which we all struggle...I am currently working on organizing other people's spaces as well as my own.  Right now this is the system I'm using to organize the fabric samples in my office:

 
 

They are supposed to be color coordinated better than they are and folded nicely; however, when I'm quickly trying to clean up they get thrown into the best spot.  I like the basket system because they are easy to pull out and bring to my work table.  Also, my library/office/meeting spaces are combined so I like how they look.  Drawers or cabinets would be nice to kind of hide everything but the Ikea baskets on shelves are pretty cost effective.  I am still deciding what to do in the new space. 

 

Baskets on bookshelves are a great catch-all place for things that don't really have a place or are too small to stand on their own.  These new fabric buckets from Block and Brayer are a great alternative to baskets.  They can be made in any color or pattern and would be really fun in kids' rooms.

 
I love this one in my current office and it has caught a lot of stuff that needed a spot.  Contact me for pricing and to purchase.  I think a shelf of animal print buckets like these pigs (but in pink):

 
would be adorable in a playroom.  Different animal buckets for different items would be a fun way to get kids organized.

Hutches or cabinets are a good option for office-type storage if you are tight on space and don't want to display all of your stuff.

  
 Open to work and close to hide.  This one is from Wisteria. 

 

I really like these acrylic shelves from Wisteria too:(the catalog came today...) 

 

Time to organize!

-Allison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

très chic

I love this vignette from designer Todd Romano's apartment that I read about on The Peak of Chic  yesterday.

 

Have a great weekend.  I'm off to Athens (Georgia) with the girls, can't wait to see everyone!

-Allison

New Office, Yea!!

I am moving here in March:

 
I cannot wait!  It's a very small space but perfect for me and in a perfect location, right next to ADAC.

I am so behind on the design of my office, when it comes to my own projects it seems like I just cannot get them done.  The clock is ticking...March seemed sooo far away when I signed my lease. 

These are some offices that I am drawn to:

 
I LOVE Jason Wu's new atelier/office in New York. 

 
 
My office is not this large and is it not a modern loft (see first image of the Galleries above), I'm also not a fashion designer (obviously).  But what I love about this space is that it's fresh, has unique pieces, and doesn't seem like something that one would easily tire of working in day in and day out.  Also, it was very well designed for what it is showcasing:  clothes.  The background blends in and the clothes stand out.  Similarly, I will be showcasing art, fabric, accessories, etc. in my new office so I don't want the background to overwhelm.  My space also needs to compliment the larger suite that I will inhabit AND I don't want to get tired of working in it...phew. 

Let's look at some others.

 
This is cool and functional.  I will have a lot of shelves but not this industrial. 

 
Very pretty...I need something simpler.

 

 
This is cool, love the photographs above the desk.  Probably too modern.  I will be in Spalding Nix's space, owner of Spalding Nix Fine Art, who has beautiful 18th century paintings and antiques so my space needs to reflect who I am as a designer but also compliment my surroundings.  Luckily I love antiques and if I had to define my "look" I would go with something very vague like: transitional.  :) 

Which brings me to this...

 

 
The first image is, I believe, from Bunny Williams' Bee Line Home line.  I know it's Bunny Williams but not sure where the image is from.  The second is her library (image via Lonny).  Both of these spaces are much more transitional where modern lines work and antiques don't seem out of place. 

 

It may seem like I jumped around a lot but from looking at all of these very different spaces I have drawn some very important conclusions:  Clean, simple, versatile, fluid (things will be moving/changing), and I really need to get to work. 

Have a great day!

-Allison

 

Gallery Update! And a Town Home Before/After

Check out new pictures of my work in the "Gallery" album on the left column under my picture.

 

Town home Update:  Before/After     

These (wonderful :) clients called me with a few requests:  1-  A new kitchen.  Their drawers were falling out, cabinets coming loose, and they hated the look.  2-  To freshen up their home and bring it up to date but make it look like them by using pieces they already had.  3-  Make the first floor flow. 

They liked the layout of their kitchen but wanted it to feel larger, fresher, and be a better fit for their more casual personalities and modern taste.  One of the parameters was to work within the existing foot print of the house, so we went up to the ceiling with the cabinets and took the colors to soft whites. 

 

 
Everything that we wanted to hide fits inside the drawers or cabinets.  Their beautiful white stoneware that was previously hidden from view is now the center of attention.   

 

They loved having a dark, romantic feeling dining room but could never get the color quite right.  All of the different colors on the first floor of their town home left it feeling choppy (red in the kitchen, brown in the dining room, gold in the living room) and one of their top priorities was to make the space flow from one room to the other without knocking down walls.  Before:

 

After:

We carried the same neutral wall color that is in the kitchen through the hall and to the living room adding accents of a light gray/blue in each room.  We put a deep version of that same gray/blue on the dining room walls making the dining room different and dramatic but not out of place with the rest of the first floor.  We also updated the lighting, highlighting their great art collection.

We brought the living room up to speed by using pieces they already had along with new pieces, colors, and paint. 

Before:

 

After:

 

My favorite part of the project was this text from my client:

"LOVE it!  Thanks for putting a fresh look on our home." 

Mission Accomplished.

-Allison