Renegade Craft Fair Comes to San Francisco

When this popped up in my email this morning from my always fashionable and creative friend/coworker Alison, I immediately asked her if she wanted to go this weekend! We are going to head over on Saturday morning. There will be vendors from all over selling anything from letterpress gift cards to beautiful crafted jackets. SO excited!

Located at the wonderful Fort Mason Center

 in foggy San Francisco, 

admission is free 

and it runs from 11 am to 7 pm!

If you are in the area, seems like an awesome way to spend a few hours! This will be my first time, so looking forward to seeing all of the wonderful booths set up with really talented and creative people!

(I pulled a few of my favorites, and I'm sure to see 

some more great ones! Pictures to follow.)

 The Renegade Craft Fair

Sara Paloma

JulesElin

Carrie Saxl

Cathy of California

Anyone else headed to The Renegade Craft Fair?

Cassandra via San Francisco

"Tinseltown's to Die for Tie-Dye"

While I was reading my August People StyleWatch magazine, I cam across this page on tie-dye outfits. I haven't always been crazy about tie-dye (it kind of reminds me of camp when i was 8...) these are some chic ladies wearing awesome tie-dye pieces.

These pashmina/scarves are also extremely fun and are only $15...we are selling them in our shop for fall. These are my favorite accessory for fall to add a little bit of color to a drab outfit!

*Images compliments of People StyleWatch and Shop Chic Coles

Before and Afters

    We are working on a project right now that is involving a lot of before and afters. The house we just finished, is all set. Every screen door has been scraped and painted...all the beautiful wooden windows have been re-glazed so that the window pains do not fall out. The siding has been re-shaked with beautiful red cedar shakes. Bedrooms have been repainted a cheery sunny creamy white; half linen white. The house has gone through a complete clean up and it looks just lovely, which is just so exciting. Now on to the next project. 

    This next house has a number of large trees around it causing a build up on the roof of pine needles and moisture in the roof.  Down came the trees to be sawed up into beams, boards and planks. We went out to pick the new roof and everything that was needed for that part of the project. The shutters are all coming off to be scraped and repainted with essex green Benjamin Moore paint. All trim on the new windows had to be painted along with a lot of touch up on interior, after the house was totally rewired. We also installed a new french door to replace the old sliding door out front facing the mountains. With all this before and after work, we thought it would be fun to show some completed works. In all these before and afters we noticed how important shutters are to a project and making a house look new and crisp. We are all for keeping the old shutters and cleaning them up but we will have to orders some new ones to replace the ones that are just too broken to use...that is on the to do list. Order or find nice old wooden shutters in great shape. Landscaping is also playing a big part in the updating of these houses. What really fun projects! It is almost like "I spy" trying to find all that was done to the after houses.

Images compliments of: Coastal Living

The Good Looking Game Chair

Below is an image that is the bane of my existence. I apologize to anyone in advance that find these attractive, and don't get me wrong, they are extremely comfortable, but why can't they make them a bit more attractive? 

As a girl who is dating a guy who plays video games (and let's face it, that is most of us out there) this is exactly what he would love to have sitting 5 ft. from the TV screen. They literally would never have to leave, and probably wouldn't if not to eat, sleep and do a few other things. I will admit, I just got done playing a fast paced, bloody game of Left for Dead in which you run around killing zombies. In no way would I consider myself a "gamer chick" but there is something extremely exciting about shooting crazy deranged zombies. That being said, comfort is a HUGE thing when it comes to sitting for long periods of time. So I did some research and pulled some pictures of some really good looking game chairs that pass the test (with the help of the guy who also does this gaming thing for a living-making them that is).

I love the upholstery on this one, and the ottoman

is an added bonus!

1st Dibs - Antique du Monde

These beautiful lavenders almost didn't make it, 

but I promised more gaming on my end!

1st Dibs - Ramos

This one looks so comfortable and has a lucite base!

1st Dibs - Galere

This was the guys top pick! And one of my favorites too!

The high back on the chair is one of the most important elements. 

Good old West Elm!

Here's to happy (and beautiful) gaming homes!

Vintage Bottles

How amazing are these lovely vintage bottles? We are in the love with the coloration of whites, turquoise's and greens.  The frosted milk glass is so beautiful. The different sizes and shapes are so intriguing. The grouping of the bottles with flowers singles or bouquets are so very pretty. Hope every one has a peaceful fun weekend.

Happy Birthday Melissa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!

Our sweet Melissa turns the big 2-2 today! We love you so much! And even though we can't all be with you on your special day we are sending lots of this your way...

And lots and lots of this...

Happy Birthday Lissy, we hope your twenty-second year is filled with laughter and love. Oh, and plenty of success, but you've got that covered ;)

LOVE YOU!!!!

Shop Chic Coles Online "Sidewalk Sale"

Every summer for the past four or five years, I have always attended the sidewalk sales in my town. The time of year when every store offers 20-30% off everything in their store. Well, now is the time for our Shop Chic Coles Sidewalk Sales!

Everything in the shop will be 30% off, as we are getting ready for the new fall items to arrive. Shop our collection of home goods, jewelry and clothing accessories. Prices will be marked as-is on the website and if you have any questions about products, if you want more pictures or special requests, please email us at clmw.cole@gmail.com.

Click here to re-direct you to Shop Chic Coles.

2010 Hamptons Designer Showhouse

This summer is the 2010 Hamptons Designer Showhouse in Sag Harbor, NY. Starting on July 24th, the showhouse will be open to the public for six weeks where some of the most well known design firms and designers will be presenting their work in an all inclusive home.


Here is a video of the "before" stage...unfortunately, I will not be making it up to the Showhouse this summer but I can't wait to see pictures of the interiors when the house is open to the public!

A list of designers and companies that will be participating this summer:

Frizz Be Gone!

Us girls (and any guy readers) have a very important accessory that we are very concerned with every single day. That accessory is our hair. I will be the first to admit, if I am having an off hair day, it's basically all down hill from there; clothes don't fit the right way, colors don't look spot on and accessories don't look exactly as they did in the store. As a girl with wavy and somewhat unruly hair, it can be a daily struggle, in which case a ponytail is the only answer. 

Well...I may have just the answer for you. 

My amazing hair stylist, Skye at Cinta Salon turned me on to this wonderful miracle product. I started going to Skye when she was still taking models and as a student, it was the perfect price. As i've graduated and taken full time employment, I have been lucky enough to afford going to her still. She works wonders on my hair. As I was talking to her one day about the fact that it takes me almost 45 minutes just to blow dry my hair! (I know, a longgg time), she finished giving me an amazing haircut and said let's try something new on your hair and so we did. She tried the Kerastase Slim. At $38, it doesn't come cheap, but it's totally worth it, even on a small budget. She literally did not even use a hairbrush; she used her fingers and a blow dryer, and my hair came out as straight as I will ever get it!! It was smooth, with a bit of volume and did I say straight?! 

It is the best purchase you will make in a long time! And did I mention she did it within 10 minutes?

Reader Request-Wedding Blogs

One of my friends is getting married and we wanted to reach out to our readers and fellow bloggers for some advice about some great Wedding Blogs that are out there. 


What are some of your favorites? We are in desperate need of some fun inspiration and would love to know which wedding blogs you love to read! If you have any wedding pictures from your own special day and you would like to share those, please email them to clmw.cole@gmail.com.  Thank you all so much!

Garden Greens

The garden can be such a pleasant experience. These white foxgloves are so charming with their white trumpets. The color combination of white, gray and green is quite stunning. We hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend. Melissa is off to Houston for the first time.  Bring your camera please so we have pictures of that lovely city!

Bird Homes

Growing up, my grandmother always had a fascination with birds (to be honest, she still does.) Every morning she wakes up and eats breakfast in front of her great bay window in the kitchen and looks out at the birds that line her trees outside. She takes great care to learn about these birds and she has bird-feeders outside the window filled with sunflower seeds and bird seed that always keeps them coming back to that same window. Her fascination with watching birds has trickled down to me, and I love being able to name birds that I see (blue bird, cardinals, hummingbirds) and we talk about the different chirps they make. It makes me think about bird "homes" both bird houses and bird cages. Although I would never want to keep a bird locked up in a cage as a pet, antique bird cages in an interior can add a special element to the room and is a large accessory that is perfect for a great room or living room. I am also fascinated with the idea of bird houses and would love to have one in our "formal gardens" (named from the early 1900's) at our house in New Hampshire. 

More of a bird "hotel" than a bird house but nonetheless exquisite!

*Images compliments of Yard Envy, Pets Lobby, Style Hive, Marc James Museum