Moonlite Monday Guest:: Kim of Kim Myles Designs

Kim Myles of Kim Myles Designs and formally of HGTVs Myles of Style and currently working on some other shows and features with HGTV. According to Kim she an erstwhile hairdresser. Did you know that? Two for one,get your hair coiffured and your nest dressed. Of course I'm not the first to feature Kim on their blog. You can read other features HERE+HERE+and HERE. I could go on and on, but without further ado, Kim take it away.

 Calling the Muse

When I won Design Star on HGTV in 2007, I was ecstatic. I'd just survived a reality competition (not for the faint of heart), and won my own show, Myles of Style on national TV! I'd have the honor of designing space after space after space - I'd never get bored, I'd get to scratch every design itch, and I'd be able to share my philosophy about design with a huge viewing community.

Sounds pretty great, right?

Well, while it is absolutely a dream come true, it also comes with it's own huge creative challenges. Somehow, when I envisioned designing spaces at a breakneck pace, I neglected to realize that I'd be designing spaces at a breakneck pace! I had no idea that I was about to experience monster creative blocks, stress, panic and countless sleepless nights. How does one person sustain constant, rolling creativity when she needs to produce a complete room design (down to the smallest accessory) at the rate of 1 every week and a half...while concurrently shopping for, and shooting the most current episode? I'll tell you: you learn to 'Call the Muse'. You develop tools that allow you to bypass creative blocks as quickly and as easily as taking a breath. Here are three of my best and most beloved tricks:

Trick #1: COLOR.

Now, color is the great divider - you're scared or you're not. I happen to fall into the 'not' category. I believe that 99.9% of all spaces can benefit from a shot (if not a bomb!) of rich color. I start by clearing the clutter of style possibilities out of my mind, and I allow myself to envision the space in multiple hues. Once I've arrived at one that speaks to me, I start to explore complimentary palettes (the color wheel is your friend!) like so:

So, yellow and violet...

...can go in as many directions as this:

Decojournal

Luxe Interiors

Design Decor

Or, take blue and orange...

And get...

Chic Provence

Cococozy

Myles of Style

Trick # 2: Fashion.

I love fashion. I find it to be endlessly inspiring, and I turn to it often. Remember Domino Magazine's (R.I.P. - I'll miss you forever!) brilliant 'Can this outfit become a room?' feature? Well, that's the game that I play in my head. Like so:

This Dress…

        

Daily Mail UK

  Becomes this room:

Home-Design

Or this Marchesa gown...

  Becomes this bedroom...

Interior Design

Trick # 3: "Opposites Attract":

Last, (but certainly not least), if playing with color or referencing fashion fails, I start thinking opposites. Opposites are instantly dynamic, and offer the appearance of a 'collected space', versus one that's been turned out quickly by necessity. Example: If I'm dealing with a metal coffee table that has to stay, I'll start envisioning rustic wood. If there's a ton of concrete, I'll think soft wool. You get the picture, but here are some anyway:

Decorpad

           Live edge wood/crisp chairs:

The Lennoxx

   Hard space/soft fabric:

They have an idea!

So there you have it! These three 'creative jolts' have helped me complete over 40 episodes of Myles of Style, and while I do have moments where I wish I could go back and tweak a little something here or there, I'm overwhelmingly satisfied with my work as a whole. I hope you guys find this helpful in your own design process, and I want to thank Tonia for inviting me to Moonlite - may you never be blocked again!

Shiny tile/soft rug:

Moonlite Monday Guest:: Blayne of This Photographers Life

Today we have Blayne who is the author of two fabulous blogs This Photographers Life, where she features fabulous architecture and Blayne's One Thing. Without further ado.

Fashion Photography as Art I am so excited to be moonlighting here at Chic Modern Vintage! Tonia, Thank you so much for having me. Do you guys watch Work of Art on Bravo? This past week was the finale, and the guest judge was photographer David LaChapelle. When introducing him they said he, more than any other photographer had blurred the lines between fashion and fine art photography. What an interesting concept and one I have explored in my own artwork. I went to David's website to explores some of his work.

Isn't this amazing? It almost looks like a painting...

Breathtaking!

I love the stories you could make up about this piece. These pieces definitely stand on their own as fine art, but would also work in any fashion spread. I am a fine art/ architectural photographer in Atlanta, GA, and Sunday morning I delivered a new piece to a client's home.

The client said she was going to frame the piece and hang it in her terrace level. It got me to thinking about how closely this resembles fashion photography and how blurred the lines have become.

If you are interested in this subject, I recommend watching the documentary The September Issue, which shows the editors at Vogue putting together their September Issue. there are some great scenes of them photographing fashion spreads. The results are amazing, and definitely qualify as fine art. Thank you so much for letting me spotlight on such an inspirational blog! It has been an honor.

Moonlite Monday Guest:: Susan of Maddie G. Designs

I’m excited to have Susan from Maddie G. Designs has my guest today. Susan owns a buying and interior design business. All of you interior designers and decorators, Susan should be able to assist you, when you’re in search of that special fabric, accessory, or piece of furniture.  

 

My mom is an avid gardener and collector of bird houses. Most of her collection was purchased some 15+ years ago when we lived in Houston. You can find these vintage bird houses in almost any country antique shop it seems.

In our home in Houston, she used them on the mantel. I am sharing two images, one from everyday living…..

…and one styled for the holidays.

I wish I had an image of the curtain rods that covered two banks of French doors in this room…..the rods were hand carved wood to look like branches….and had wooden birds perched on top of the rod. It was certainly unique.

And here are some of her birdhouses today out in her back yard in Northern Virginia. She and my dad had them mounted on tree branches (I think she said they are locust….you want to find a variety that will not decay over time…these made the trip from North Carolina and show no signs of deterioration).

What do you think? My own personal style is a bit more contemporary…and I’ve got a black thumb. But, I do love my mom’s collection of bird houses. We used to tease her about the rapidity in which this collection was amassed. She never does anything half way!

Thanks, Tonia, for the opportunity to moonlight over here today. It was an honor to be included!

Please visit Susan at her blog, Maddie G. Designs or if you're an interior designer or decorator, let her assist you with all your buying needs. Visit her website for more details. Side note: If you loved the decor of Carrie and Mr. Bigs place in Sex and the City 2. Susan has a few yards same fabric on the dining chairs available. Go here to see if it's still available.

Here is another image of how she used the same birdhouses when they relocated to North Carolina. Notice she’s even got one on the hearth in this sitting area which was just off the kitchen.

Sideline to Success

These are only a few women who have created billion-dollar businesses from a side hustle, as we love to call it from time to time. Women who didn’t set out to create the success they achieved, only to make a little extra money for them and their families. Yet their hard work and dedication lead them to financial freedom from a side hustle.

In the 1930's, Mary Kay a young housewife and mother of three began selling books in order to make extra money for the household. Her husband worked, but yet there was not enough money for the family of five to live on. This woman was successful in her sales effort, and she was able to sell more than twenty-five thousand dollars worth of books within her first six months at the job. In the year of 1938, this woman found herself divorced. She then changed her career to selling Stanley Home Products by conducting home parties.

Undaunted by her negative experience in business, the same year, this woman began to write a book for women who were part of the working world. So, on September 13, 1963, through much labor, Mary Kay Cosmetics was born. With her life savings of only a few thousand dollars, and the help of one of her children, a now-grown son named Richard Rogers, Mary Kay started the long process of making her dreams become a reality for her and the millions of women across America.

She parlayed $5,000 into a billion-dollar company.

Paula Deen was a homemaker and bank teller before entering professional cooking. She divorced her first husband in 1989 shortly after moving to Savannah. She was left with only $200 and her two teenage sons.

Paula was considered a good Southern cook, so she started a small catering company called The Bag Lady. She would make sandwiches and other meals, then her sons would deliver the food. The Bag Lady was very successful and soon outgrew her kitchen.

In 1997, Paula self-published her first cookbook, The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cooking and has written several others cookbooks as well. She began her relationship with the Food Network in 1999. Deen’s success in publishing, where she has sold over eight million books, then translated into the magazine world, and Cooking with Paula Deen, her bi-monthly title, launched shortly thereafter, growing to a circulation of over one million.

With continued expansion, and more planned on a global level in 2010, Paula Deen has remained true to her fans, viewers and readers that look to her name for style, taste and inspiration in the kitchen and the home with her line of cookware, cutlery, seasoning, collectables and lines. The list goes on.

Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 on a Louisiana plantation and daughter of former slaves. It was during the 1890s she began to suffer from a scalp ailment that caused her to lose most of her hair. She began to experiment with many homemade remedies.

In 1905 Sarah moved to Denver and married her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker, a St. Louis newspaperman, and began to use the name "Madam" C.J. Walker. She founded her business and began selling Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp conditioning and healing formula, which she claimed had been revealed to her in a dream.

To promote her products, the new "Madam C.J. Walker" traveled for a year and a half on a dizzying crusade throughout the heavily black South and Southeast, selling her products door to door, demonstrating her scalp treatments in churches and lodges, and devising sales and marketing strategies.

Madam C.J. Walker died in 1919 from complications of hypertension. She was 51. At her death she was considered to be the wealthiest African-American woman in America and known to be the first Africa-American millionaire.

Please tell me what your side hustle is.

Make a new friend,this weekend.Visit a new blog, and visit some of my new blog friends.

London Lisbonite

Lemon Drop Vintage

Wallpaper

Reading is fundamental

 

Moonlite Monday Guest:: Claire of High Gloss Blue

Today, we have two Moonlite guests instead of one. First we have Claire of High Gloss Blue a talented Interior Designer located in Atlanta, GA.

<><><><><><><><>
<>

<><><><><><><><>
<>

<><><><><><><><>
<>

1. Bowls by Magenta, Inc.  2. Pepper mill by Pepper Mill Imports 3. Monogram 4. Candle by Jo Malone 5. Peonies 

My 5 Home Style Tips-

ALL WHITE DISHES:  Just like I like all white sheets and towels, I like all white dishes.  This way, I never have to worry about not having enough of one set of dishes because everything I own matches.  Same thing for sheets and towels, why worry about which ones go in which room when they are all similar!  Plus, the subtle variations give a really pretty layered look that speaks to me.  Right now, I am particularly obsessed with these white dishes by MAGENTA INC.

STATEMENT PEPPER MILL:  Everyone has to have a pepper mill.  Make it a beautiful one that looks like jewelry for the table and never have to worry about hiding it away between meals.

MONOGRAMS:  Love how monograms add an inexpensive personal touch to sheets, pillows and towels.  I am wild for them in simple, bold fonts, but never worry about them matching throughout the house or even the set.

JO MALONE: EVERYTHING.  Her fragrances are divine-but it's her packaging that drives me INSANE.  Burn the candles fast to justify purchasing another one of those ecru linen boxes.  My favorite summer scent- Grapefruit!

FRESH CUT FLOWERS- With the ability to cheer up even the drabbest of spaces, cut flowers are the simplest of style makers!  For a elegant punch, I stick to one type of flower in a single hue per vessel.  Don't underestimate posies popped in a humble juice glass or a mason jar either!

Thanks so much to Tonia for giving me the opportunity to hang out with you all today! 

Remember to visit Clarie at High Gloss Blue

   

 Remember I said there are two guest today? Scroll down read the Moonlite from Vanessa

Moonlite Monday Guest: Vanessa of Height of Vintage

Please welcome Moonlite Monday guest Vanessa from Height of Vintage

~~~~~~~

 

I absolutely love this dress for many reasons!

One, it reminds me of something my mother had as I was growing up in the 80's.

Two, you don't see a pattern like this at all, anywhere. I'm wondering if I can recreate it?!

Three, the open back was sexy and it was so comfortable to wear.

The color screams Summer!

I wore this dress while on vacation in Santorini, let me just say I got tons of stares.

My husband and I couldn't figure out why, but decided it was such a different look from the typical island bohemian flowy dresses everyone else had on. 

If you have never been to Santorini, go! It is Heaven on Earth!

Everything I'm wearing is vintage or was thrifted, except for the sunnies.

Thrifted 80s peach dress $2.00 + alteration $7.00 = total of $9.00

Thrifted Mexican bangles = $2.50

Thrifted clear chandelier earring, bought at Salvation Army in Hawaii =$2.00

Thrifted white leather belt = $2.00

Thrifted white woven sandals = $4.00

Blue sunglasses from Target =$11.00

My entire outfit was under $30.00

What a steal! 
I love vintage and thrifting.

I find thrifting is a rush for me, so unlike going to the mall.

Don't get me wrong, I love new and pretty things.

But when I go thrifting it just gets my adrenaline pumping, and I usually already have an idea in my head of what kinda of outfit I'm looking for.

I always come out with unexpected treasures. 

So for you non-thrifters, you never know what you can find...and if your not one who likes to get into the nitty gritty of it, contact me and I can find what your looking for!

~~~~~~~