Dogs ~ Where does your baby sleep ?

I have a down -filled pillow at the end of our bed for one of my pooches. They also have two beds in the man cave , where they can lay in the sun. I love the texture of this doggy bed.

This adobe would be great for a dog that loves to be where the action is . . . out of the way, close to the door and my guess is, in the kitchen.

Doesn't get any sweeter than this, "Jackson", or his bed. I may get my son -in- law to make one of these. I once seen one made with a upside down table, so cute . . . I wish I had that photo to share.

This dog has his own "Man Cave", so fitting for the mud room and the dog matches the decor in color and breed. Loving his art . . .

This is where I found my other pooch this morning . . . she did this herself with no help. LOL Yes, she is always in our bed, sometimes we have them both . . . I would not have it any other way. I don't mind a bit if I smell like "puppy love".

Get to know Ms. Ryan

Lisa Luby Ryan specializes in creating warm inviting spaces that reflect her client's own personalities. She will often add a variety of French, Italian and Swedish antiques to the rooms she creates.

Her work has been shown time and time again in blogs and print. Yet, she remains fresh and chic every time !

I could look at her rooms over and over, always finding something to make me smile.

Loving the breadboards used in her tablescape here . . . be sure to check out her website, http://www.lisalubyryan.com/ you will not be disappointed . . .

"My" Top Ten Design Elements # 8

# 8 in my series of "Top Ten Design Elements" is the " Art" in the space. I just told a client this morning that , " Art is personal, and if she likes it and the scale is right, it works!" She sent me a photo of a picture she saw that she thought might work in the room we are currently working on. However, the scale was not right . . . Take a look at this photo. The scale of the painting is a bit small for the sofa, but the molding of the stairs makes this tricky. The solution was to pick art with strong, bold colors ! The colors in this piece adds to it's scale. That's why it works.

The art in this photos follows along with the feel of the space. Notice that the chair is also a "piece of art". The two work together beautifully.

Art can be fun and create the " Something to talk about", for the room. Children's drawing are great for this, plus it adds such a sense of pride for the child to see his or her drawing framed and on the wall.

Remember that anything can be used as art . We too often limit ourselves to mirrors and pictures . . . think outside the box from time to time.

Watercolors are light and work best with something light beneath them. This is a perfect combo. So take a look at the art around your castle. Do you see room for improvement ? Starting a art collection is a fun thing for couples to do together. Art never goes out of style ! More than anything else it tells others what you are interested in. Art speaks loudly with out any words !

Happy Birthday Tate !

You've come a long way baby !

Design Predictions for 2011

A favorite blogger of mine, Susan at "Love Where You Live"http://thegreenplum.blogspot.com/ is doing a series called "What's in and What's out. I was honored that she asked me to play . . . My prediction is that we will soon move away from the all white and grey rooms. Yes, now that everyone has painted their walls grey and everything else from the floors to the dishes is white, I except to see more color.

Do I know this for sure, of course not ! I don't know a lot for sure, but the one thing I do know is that change will come. We tire of the same look and everyone strives to be different. So I assume that color will soon be added to all these grey and white rooms . . . very soon.

So far, this year, this is my favorite room ! When I saw it, my heart skipped a beat. Why ? Because it was different. Has pink and cream been done before, of course it has. But I had not seen it for a very long time. So tell me, What do you predict ? I would love to know . . .