Living green

"What's more green than..."

Plants, farmers markets, and supporting local businesses?  We love, love the most beautiful orchids and air plants that we found the other day at a market here in Houston. There they were, Red Vault member Orchid Obsession, known for specializing in orchids, bromeliads, air plants, etc. They sell their gorgeous growings at four local farmers markets just about every week: "Find us most every Saturday morning from 8 to noon at Urban Harvest (formerly Bayou City) Farmers Market on Richmond Avenue; most Tuesdays at Rice University Farmers Market from 3:30 until 7; Wednesdays at City Hall Farmers Market from 11 to 1:30; and Thursdays 3 to 7 at Kingwood Farmers Market."  



Orchid Obsession is a local grower, wholesaler, and retailer of tropical plants. The plants that we saw were great quality, and we couldn't believe the reasonable prices. Owner Bruce Cameron is genuinely friendly, telling customers how to care for their plants, and he has 16+ years experience as a grower to back up what he says. 

We have been seeing a lot of these tillandsia (air plants) in decor recently. Orchid Obsession carries them and keeps track of trends in plants and naturals. They see whites continuing in  popularity but report more customers looking for novelty colors such as yellows and (Pantone again!) the colors of the year.

Orchid Obsession has been recognized by the Texas Department of Agriculture as a "GO TEXAN" company, and the owner is a frequent speaker at garden clubs, civic groups, and garden centers. Cameron has served on the Board of Directors at Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, and he is a member of numerous orchid societies. If he isn't an expert, who is? 


Orchid Obsession 
6215 Knollwood Trail
Spring , Texas  77373 
Phone: 713-253-9611 
Email: orchidobsession@hotmail.com 
http://www.orchidobsession.com/ 

Fredericksburg to France

We want to go, too!


Hope you're having a nice long weekend, free from work and worries and schedules, and taking time to think of those who made our freedom possible. That can't be said or remembered often enough. 


This long weekend we're driving through the Hill Country and stopped by Fredericksburg yesterday to visit Homestead Antiques. They've moved! Made great changes too. With a little asking around we found Tim and Carol Hicks Bolton's Homestead-now-Antiquities: Laboratoire de Design on Warehouse Row, 301 S. Lincoln Street. We grabbed a few antiques that we had to have and snapped a few pics too.

Antiquities warehouse in Fredericksburg

And here's a big connection: We know them on The Red Vault! At the bottom of our home page, a sponsor banner points to their fabulous Vagabond International tour "Discovering Provence with Designer in Residence" scheduled for October this year. We clicked on their sponsor banner to learn more... and... guided shopping, cooking class, wine tastings, design ... We want to go! We want to go!

Around a corner at their laboratoire

Things we love and unusual treasures, too

Tim Bolton, expert du domaine

The Boltons know how to show their stuff and have lots more room to do it now. Til Provence time, we can always drive up to the Hill Country, right?

Designer tips on lighting

To break or not...


They say rules are meant to be broken, but sometimes we do wonder how high to hang a chandelier, what kind of lighting is best when entertaining, etc. Many designers adhere to certain rules for their projects, while others might not. Most agree, though, that choosing the right lighting is an integral part in creating the best look for a room. Legendary designer Albert Hadley, in The Story of America's Preeminent Interior Designer, was quoted as saying, "Design is defined by light and shade, and appropriate lighting is enormously important."


That being said, here are a few rules on lighting that are commonly heard. Are they meant to be broken?

Italian chandelier at Watkins Culver

Chandeliers should be hung so that the distance from the lowest crystal is 30" - 36" from the table top.

Lamps at AREA

Every room should have one accent that is black... a lamp shade, for example.

Painted sconce at Ex Domus Interiors

Artificial lighting should include ambient (overall) lighting, task lighting, mood lighting, and accent lighting.

Mixing lighting at Kitchen & Bath Concepts

Combine the effects of both natural light and artificial lighting in a home.





Rules to be broken? You decide.

Designer's tip

French yearnings this week?

If you're looking for great French finds this week, you'll want to check out Judith's Wholesale/Antiques & Linens. Long known to designers and antiques lovers across the country, Judith's Wholesale offers great French and other European antiques that they pick themselves on frequent trips to Europe. But wait! They also offer garden inventory and custom lighting, plus upholstery, restoration, and other services.

Primarily serving the trade with consideration to designers and their clients, this source is located near downtown Houston.

With 20+ years experience, Judith knows what this business is all about. Her son Darrel is actually a 3rd generation importer on both sides, and he reports that "the refinishing shop was my day care." The expertise of these two and their staff is well-founded and appreciated!

A great chance to see some of their finds is this Wednesday through Friday, 9 until 5 each day. Their Unloading Sale promises NOT to disappoint.

So, will we see YOU at the Unloading Sale this week?

Judith's Wholesale 
1003A West 34th St.
Houston , Texas  77018 

Viewmap 

Phone: 713-890-9449 
Email: dldimports@hotmail.com 
http://www.antiquesandlinens.com 

Top picks for your inspiration

Dreaming about making changes?


Dreaming of updating, redoing, renovating, and DIY-ing can lead to inspiration or perspiration, and probably a little bit of both, depending on how you look at it. Our April 12 post Ready to remodel?  shared the reno miseries of Houston newlyweds Natalie and Ryan, and their decision to turn to a contractor. For inspiration and directions to take for your own dreams, we're sharing our picks: three top, current sites about DIYs, redos, renos, remodels, and what-have-yous.


You may want to bookmark the three sites below before you turn to The Red Vault's members for even more inspiration. Find our horizontal menu bar at the top of our main page. Click on Our Members and then from the drop-down menu, Members by Category. You can find great sources here in Houston, like Architectural Design Resource, Designer Floors of Houston, Creative Style Furniture, Settlers Hardware, Kitchen & Bath Concepts,  and Barrio Antiguo Furniture. Happy dreaming and happy searching!


Remodelista is one of the top sites on the net, a "one stop sourcebook" that is simply filled with design and reno ideas from around the world. We've mentioned it before, and we'll be mentioning it again for its great content. 






"A botanically inclined interior in London" is one of many posts we found on Remodelista. Remodelista is not just a blog. It's so much more. Schedule some time to enjoy this one.


Apartment Therapy just thinks it's focused on small homes and rentals, but we know that their projects and advice and shopping suggestions and... well, their entire site... will be of interest to anyone who loves to be inspired, home-wise.



Just one hint that we found today on Apartment Therapy's site shows us where to skimp on our bathroom redo. Who doesn't mind saving money in one spot so we can use it somewhere else?


Any "remodelaholics" out there? Remodelaholic seems to be a smaller site, but it's well-read and shares design and DIY projects in an easy, down-home way. Like many other sites, they have lots of ads, but they also have great, realistic suggestions that many of us will like.



There's a TV in here, says Remodelaholic, as part of a post on living with television. We all live with TV, right?




We think you'll enjoy Remodelaholic's May 9 post on less-than-an-hour updates. We're thinking rearranging furniture might take us more than an hour, though.

At the Market

There's still time...


If you are reading this today, there is still time for you to drive, rush, or run over to Urban Market for some great finds.

Industrial, one-of-a-kind, handmade, you-name-it, it's all here today until 4 p.m. at Urban Market, 9401 Knight Road, just off Fannin at 610..

The Red Vault is at the Market, too... You can sign up for a gift certificate, "private label" red wine, and more.

Mid-century modern, shells and naturals, and talk about shutters! More shutters in one place than we've seen since Marburger.

Antiques, garden decor, decorative smalls, bags and jewelry... Great stuff from some of the city's top decorators and antiques dealers.

Oh, and stop by to say hi to The Red Vault, too. We would love to see you!

Looking for fun?

Shopping fun this weekend

If you're looking for a little shopping fun (who isn't?) this weekend, we just know you'll love these events!

Living green

Renewing our energy

We all want to do our part to  s a v e   t h e   p l a n e t,  right? Sometimes, though, we want a little inspiration to spur us on, to re-energize our efforts in recycling and reusing...


The Design Ark, a fun blog that searches the internet for art and design inspiration "so you don't have to," shares cool-looking recycled chairs called Street Seats. "Street Seats is a furniture project developed by Bade Stageberg Cox for the Pier 94 Coffee Bar at The Armory Show. The 50 chairs, found abandoned on the streets of New York, were repaired and given a new life with a coat of taxi cab yellow paint. The bottom of each chair is stamped and documented with the date and location it was recovered."





A blog devoted to blending style with sustainable design is Haute Nature, which recently posted about recycling those old glass decanters into pendant lighting, clustered below. "These were created by designer Lee Broom for London bar Coquine... They look so elegant and give off a beautiful warm glow. Broom removed the bottoms of the pieces in order to place simple hanging bulbs inside. Each piece is made from a vintage find, and the overall effect of a cluster of the decanter lights is elegant and perfect..."

Haute Nature doesn't give all the details for making these lights, but we're thinking about taking our collection to a lighting source here in town for some "how to." Speaking of... Red Vault members Lighting Treasures and Lighting Unlimited are well-known and trusted lighting sources in Houston.

Lighting Treasures 
7026 Old Katy Road 
Suite 151
Houston , Texas  77024  Phone: 713.523.5267 http://lightingtreasures.com 

Lighting Unlimited 
4211 Richmond Ave.
Houston , Texas  77027 Phone: 713.626.4025  http://www.lulighting.com 

Solutions for small spaces, part 2

Space issues, solved

On April 13 we posted about an annual design contest that features the creativity of dwellers of homes less than 1,000 square feet. The results of Small Cool 2012 are in. Thanks to blog Apartment Therapy for the winning images below, and to the owners' solutions that can be applied to any size home...



Owner's solution:  Keep an open mind... see the possibilities.
Named the U.S. winner, this NYC apartment boasts 614 square feet. With all this space (!), the apartment shows us how important it is to "keep an open mind so you can see the possibilities instead of just the drawbacks. A very awkward, angled, long entrance hallway is no one's idea of a design plus, but seeing it instead as a rich source of wall space for much-needed storage cabinets and an optimum place to display an ever growing art collection is absolutely the right 'small, cool' mindset."




Owner's solution: It's okay to recreate, to move things around.
A contest finalist shown here is "Beth's Charming Downsize," with 554 square feet of charm. Beth shares some thoughts: "Small homes require you only keep around things that you love and that feed the space you're constantly recreating... a compact casa is never finished. You're always moving things around, thinning stuff out, looking for a better place to put one thing or another, always seeking balance and the best possible design for every nook, because every corner counts all the more when the whole is tiny."




Owner's solution: Think multi-purpose and out of the box (fauxdenza).
Another finalist, above, has all of 970 square feet of living space. Say the owners, "Our 1910 home was dark and cramped when we moved in, but now it's open and filled with natural light... We also love that everything has a purpose and that many elements serve double duty. (For instance, the studio loft doubles as a guest sleeping area, and the guardrail for the stair doubles as a storage 'fauxdenza.') Our house is now more functional, more efficient and a reflection of the way we live."



We're noticing clean lines, contemporary touches, a casual but careful use of color in the homes above. And pups in each picture. Can't help it, we're pet lovers... don't furry friends help make a house a home?  

Insider's tip

"Secret" designer source

Lucky Houston! We have so many designers and sources right here in our area. Houston interior designer Chandos Dodson mentions one of her favorite sources in the May 2012 issue of House Beautiful. 


"Houston's Balinskas Imports is an off-the-beaten-path shop that carries really unusual furniture and architectural fragments from around the world. Their wood furnishings always have a beautiful patina that works well in both traditional and modern spaces."








This "secret source" can be checked out right here at The Red Vault, of course. And since Balinskas ships fresh inventory to Houston multiple times each year, we're thinking you'll want to see their showroom in person, too.

Balinskas Imports 
410 Martin Rd.
Houston , Texas  77018 

Viewmap 

Phone: 713.227.7919 
Email: lourdes@pdq.net 
http://www.balinskas.com