What I'm Working On

I can't tell you how immensely grateful I am for all the positive feedback I've received regarding the new site design (and yes, the zebra is coming back), the nursery tour video, and the formal launch of my design business (!). Every kind comment brings a misty little tear to my eye, and reminds me of how far I've come since last year. Having a new baby is the most thrilling, exhausting, confusing thing that will ever happen to many people. It's a time of great joy, but the loss of self can be pretty overwhelming. Want to go to the movies? No. How about to dinner with other adults? No. What about to the bathroom by yourself? HELL NO. A mind once brimming with ideas and enthusiasm becomes hijacked by sleep deprivation and the accursed Fresh Beat Band (reach for the skyyyyyyyyy!). And then babies get older. Luke turned one last weekend, and although I still run into walls on occasion, I am slowly regaining my humanity. Work has a lot to do with that.

So to all my design clients, new and old, thank you for giving me a purpose beyond wiping butts. Here's some inspiration via pinterest for what I'm working on.

Moody traditional glamour with a global twist for a brave client with fantastic taste:

Warm modern for clients in a trendy hood who just sprang for a fabulous antique kilim rug:

Soothing blues with fresh contrasting colors for a talented photographer friend:

Crazy colorful with a palm springs flair for a swingin' vintage poolside home:

And I have a brand new client with a 20s Dutch Colonial. Work hasn't begun yet, but I'm considering something along these lines... perhaps a little less trad and a touch more shiny modern:

Exciting!!! I love the variety!

Anyway, I have lots going on and I can't wait to share progress pictures with you. Also, my kitchen is still in a sad state of disrepair and SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. SOON. So stay tuned for kitchen talk, round 2000000.

In the meantime, if you're interested in design services drop me a line at erinwilldesign [at] gmail.com and we can chat.

And once again, thank you for your support! I'm not very good at accepting compliments, but I love them all the same.

You people are the best people in the world.

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In Which I Humiliate Myself, AKA Video of My Nursery Tour on House Proud

You know how sometimes you see pictures of yourself, or hear recordings of your voice, or -- you know -- see yourself on tv, and wonder how the pod people managed to take over while you were sleeping? You know?

ABSOLUTELY!

I suspect my parents will be confused when they discover I have transitioned from born and raised in east Texas to Jessica from Sweet Valley High (don't judge). Or maybe I always sound like that?! Either way, I need some elocution lessons.

Thankfully Luke is adorable and precious and pretty much steals the show. Plus Amy Hadley is utterly charming! If you live in Austin the segment will be airing on YNN today.

Enjoy the video and try not to hurl tomatoes at your screen.

Unhealthy Tribal Rug Obsession

First of all, thank you for the kind comments about the site redesign! It's definitely a work in progress since I finished construction on the fly, so please let me know if you encounter any technical difficulties. And for those of you mourning the loss of a certain beribboned zebra, that guy may stage a comeback tour. You just never know what might happen around here. If you're following me on instagram you might recall my tears of regret over leaving this rug behind:

It was a 4x6 handknotted Chinese rug of some sort... maybe antique Peking? I don't know as much about those types of rugs as others. Anyway it was of excellent quality and I am in dire (using that term loosely) need of a rug for the foyer that you can kinda sorta see here:

Problem is Chinese rug had an east/west design and I have a north/south entry. Still, it was only $80 and I stood in the store hemming and hawing for half an hour before walking away with my lip on the floor. Stupid cheap rug.

But then I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and turned to ebay in a quixotic quest for an affordable antique caucasian rug. "Affordable" and "antique" do not belong in the same sentence.

For example, this rug blows my mind up. Sure, it's only a 4x7 and $700 -- which is more than I would spend on a 9x12 rug, but LOOK AT IT! Over 100 years old and in fabulous condition. I love that you can see where the weaver changed her mind and switched to a different color. So much work, beauty, and history wrapped up in such a functional package. I have considered selling body parts and/or children for this rug.

I am really drawn to crazy abrash in vintage and antique rugs. If you don't already know what abrash is, let annoying Professor Erin tell you: it's those bands and striations of color change that happen naturally over time where wool from different dye lots has been used. Tribal rugs are made on location with small vats and therefore small dye lots. So as they age some of these rugs tend to exhibit crazy abrash due to the differing amounts of dye used. You don't see near the amount of abrash on city rugs because they have vats big enough to dye wool for an entire rug.

Here is a tribal rug where the chosen colors are super consistent, but there is still a fair amount of abrash in the field area. I think it gives it a lot of depth. It's a super old rug and that particular blue is very hot on ebay. Hot = $$$ and my paltry bid got smacked down and stomped on.

Normally I wouldn't be looking at flashy rugs with so much contrast, but since it's for my foyer and will kind of stand alone like a piece of art for the floor, I figured I could afford to get nutty. Except I can't actually afford flashy or nutty.

Here's another rug I was massively outbid on. $500 for a 4x6 and that is CHEAP for one of the better antique rugs.  This rug was made in the 1920s, which I think is a sweet era in terms of age and design aesthetic. I pretty much always like a persian rug woven in the 20s.

A lot of 19th century rugs anywhere near a middle class budget have major wear, brittleness, and loss of edges. I'm not really into the ancient but trashed look -- I prefer medium old and structurally sound with some pile left. Look how delicious and velvety soft this is! I want to rub my face all over it. The seller has the rug folded to demonstrate "flop" which is a desirable quality in handwoven rugs.

And here's the rug I finally bought. It's by far the least exciting of the rugs I just showed you, but it's fairly old, clean and in good condition. I like the tight weave and colors, the seller was nice (that counts in my book), and best of all it was also only $130 shipped. Hopefully I won't fall asleep just looking at it on my floor.

If it doesn't work in the foyer, I'm thinking it can disguise the hideous tiles in my (still) hideous kitchen.

And then I can buy more rugs!

Because apparently that's what I do.