Pumpkannibal

Happy Halloween, tater tots!

May your evening be full of tasteful, clever and Pinterest-worthy festivities.

xx SP

Ain’t Life a Birch.

I’ve long since been lured to any tree-oriented aesthetic. Re-purposed raw wood materials, black and white photography, and things of that nature (pun!).

So the idea of capturing a silhouette of a birch tree grove – inspiring maximum tranquility – and plastering it on the walls – appeals to me greatly. Lets explore some of the possibilities.

Delighted by the yellow accents – but get that squirrel out of there immediately. This Is Next.

The perfect minimalist tones. Charlotte Fancy.

Covering a door? Genius! Couture Deco

We Heart It.

Love the life-like coloring of these trees – love the idea of birch trees in a children’s room. Tilly Cottage.

Is it me or are these birch trees ILLUMINATED?! Innovative Stencils.

Blinds-Wallpaper.

Decal My Wall.

I could do without the green leaves. Or perhaps just a more olive shade of green? Innovative Stencils.

Love the stark white with black contrasts. Honest To My Blog.

My personal favorite. Love the natural tones. Kaboodle.

Pewter on white. Kaboodle.

And taking it to a completely new level of intensity – an actual wall of birch trees. I know. Stop it. I’m already working on mine.  Plumsiena.

xx SP

…And put it riiiiiight here.

For all those times you invite people into your home and they insist on imposing their design opinions on your living space.

(I, for one, would never impose in such a way.)

Okay maybe once. Okay on occasion. Okay every time I enter someone’s home. Or office. Or retail space. Or public bathroom.

xx SP

Glamouflage 2012.

I nearly spit out my chocolate cream pie  last week in Idaho City when I overheard a young couple talking about the camo themed wedding they had just attended. “The bride had a camo sash and all the guests wore camo accents” she gushed.

I imagine the spectacular sight looked a little something like this. The social event of the season, no doubt.

Then suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere (perhaps because it blended in so well? Gaffaw, Gaffaw) camo appeared everywhere in fall fashion.

I immediately found myself wondering whether or not this print would translate well to interior trends. There are whispers of imagery sprinkled throughout the web suggesting that I am onto something. And love it or hate it, I see big, square, fluffy down-filled camo accent pillows in Suite Potato Store’s future…

Camo wall accent. A definite statement but the grey scale keeps it surprisingly subtle. Home Designing.

Modern meets manly.Nylon Guy.

Canary yellow! This conjures up all sort of possible combinations. The yellow accents could just as easily be a shade of florescent pink to be used in a girls room. Houzz

PB Teen.

I’m swooning over these Lima-bean-green chairs. I am very on board with camo as a detailed accent (displayed in lampshade.) It’s not the first thing you notice when you see the room but it makes second and third glances more interesting and dynamic. Suite 106 Blog

How would you incorporate camo print pillows into your setting, you ask? I was thinking a little something like this:

Sofa: Joss and Main.  Canvas Art Trio: Didgi Widgi Non-camo pillows: Furbish and West Elm. Side table: West Elm. Tripod floor lamp: Target.

xo SP

The Weekend Experience.

Blake and Megan.

Adventurers, best friends, world-class trash-talkers.

The anticipation leading up to this event had AWESOMENESS written all over it. Maybe it was the diligence and attention to detail from being an accountant (Megan) or the abundant supply of rambunctious, animated gentleman who kept the energy high for 4 straight days (Blake) or perhaps the stars aligned for everyone at just the right time for this one special weekend, but I have never heard “that was the best weekend of my life” uttered so many times in reference to one event (and this wasn’t even the Bride and Groom talkin’).

THE TREE! Megan had difficulty pinning down exactly the way she wanted her invitations to look. But it was decidedly absent of….something. After sending me several proofs conjured up by the folks at fabulous Paisley Roberts, I started thinking about representations of the stunning McCall mountains where the ceremony would take place, along with all the wood accents being used throughout the table settings. I ended up superimposing a simple silhouette of a pine tree on the header of the invite…

Eureka! The missing link! Like any good branding campaign, the symbol of the tree was quickly incorporated into all wedding paraphernalia we could get our hands on and will forever serve as a symbol for ‘the best weekend of our lives’. What – Too far?

Cowboy boots, fresh-cut wood chargers, vast acres of secluded rolling hills with which to run wild, midnight pool parties,  cloudless blue skies, home-made Cornhole gameboards, impromptu dance parties and bellies full of laughter with old friends. Now THAT’S a wedding.

And can you really call it a marriage ceremony if the entire bridal party doesn’t throw themselves into the pool at the end of the night? (Although Megan’s dress designer might be inclined to disagree.)

Special thanks to Two Bird Studios for stealthily capturing the most memorable frames throughout the weekend.

xx SP

Something Old, Something…Older.

The masterful (and newly engaged) Sara K Byrne published the stunning results from our stylized photo shoot this past spring at the Botanical Gardens in Boise. Sara came to me to help develop a unique concept for a wedding photo shoot and we spent many weeks brainstorming themes, accents and details.

I challenge you to inspire a wedding photographer by coming up with an original wedding theme they haven’t seen and shot a hundred times before. Hipster-tastic? Too vague. Rustic chic? Yawn. Traveling theme? Contrived. Asian inspired? (She actually shuttered).

A hundred vetos and a slew of lattes later; we devised a theme. Or was it a non-theme theme? Without realizing it, we managed to cleverly incorporate all of our favorite elements from all of the above into one cohesive theme under an umbrella we donned “throw-back eclectic glamour’. We wanted chic but not pretentious, old but not tired, quirky but not kitsch. And if I do say so myself – that’s exactly what we got.

Insert two beautiful people, one gorgeous day (and location), one seriously incredible vintage wedding dress and a collection of some of the finest Boise artists and vendors, including Amaru Confections, Bliss Events, B29 StrEATery, yours truly, Marissa Lyons Makeup Artistry, and Lunatic Fringe Salon  and you’ve got yourself a success story. (as well as featured on uber cool Bridal blog – Bridal Musings.

The table setting. I immediately knew the look I wanted to achieve, which was largely shaped by heirlooms from my grandmothers. What better way to portray authentic vintage glamour than to incorporate the possessions of two fabulous women who lived it?

Lush gold silk fabric peaked through a vintage cream lace curtain panel-turned-table-cloth.

I have stacks and stacks of stunningly intricate china (note the infamous blue and white that Mamma Sal and I have seamlessly carried down the bloodline…) and I wanted to find a way to mix them all together.

Brass candlesticks, antique pins, statuesque glassware and antique photographs each held their own without fighting too hard to overpower one another.

My very favorite photographs of my grandparents served as perfect ‘bride and groom’ seat indicators – juxtaposed with these fabulously modern Lucite Louis XIII Ghost chairs.

and they [all] lived happily ever after. Probably.

A Romantic Blur.

Weddings, weddings and more weddings.

But we’re back. And we’ve brought footage.

So let the re-caps commence.

Phase 1: Amber + Sam’s McCall Wedding.

Suite Potato had the honor of being tasked with the flower arrangements, table settings and last minute embellishments for this stunning June wedding.

Although not without challenges, including a last-minute scramble to purchase/replace wilted flowers and a dangerously narrow window of time for overall preparation, the whole thing went off without a hitch.

Navy, burlap, re-purposed wood, mason jars, horses, fairy lights, wild flowers, fire roasted marsh mellows, twine, live music, a roaring river, incredible wine, a beautiful couple, breathtaking views….there isn’t anything I could have screwed up with design that would have deterred from this perfect evening.

Stunning imagery captured by Ampersand Studios.

and that’s a wrap! (well…one wedding down – five more to go.)

xo SP

Mid Century Facelift

When Craigslist postings started popping up left and right for mid century furniture in Boise, it waas reason enough to investigate further.

What I found was Broadway Vintage – A refuge for unappreciated mid century and Danish Modern finds rescued from estate sales, thrift stores and – as one of the owners recently told me – even bought right off the front porch of houses.

Both inventory and patron were filled with the usual suspects; Eames and Wassily  replicas, Arch lamps, Lane coffee tables and thick-framed, vintage-briefcase-toting hipsters eye balling console tables to house their collection of antique SLR cameras and Jesus and Mary Chain records. Since their arrival on the scene in winter of 2011 I’ve watched as their audience, knowledge and quality of pieces have risen.

I found this hiding in the basement in a room of unfinished pieces on one my first visits.

I enthusiastically made the purchase, deciding to tackle the issue of missing foam later.

A few weeks later I came upon this ottoman at a thrift store.

A perfect mate! Looking past the scuffed legs and disaster of polyester upholstery was challenging but if I  found the right fabric, I new I could resurrect it.

Out came the staples and off came the legs.

I toyed with color choices – first red, then matte grey, but ultimately  the clean modern lines wanted themselves a little satin black.

Before I proceed it is imperative that I explain the tragedy of photo quality is thanks to the suicide of my camera.

Boo. Boo hoo hoo.

But the show must go on.

Ta-da!

That’s a wrap, folks.

xx SP

Hey you. Not so fast. Where’s the fire?!

Everywhere, apparently.

E.ver.y.where.

From Idaho to Colorado to Utah to New Mexico and back again; a constant and relentless stream of blazes have lured Special Man Friend off our shady porch and into the desert so many times that I have almost stopped asking ‘hey,  WHERE’S THE FIRE?!” Almost. OK I still ask.

In fact, I’ve come to realize that I usually have a better idea of where in the world he is and when he’ll be home than he does. Thanks obviously goes to internet intuition.

And for a self-proclaimed hater of all photos, he’s become somewhat of a media daahhhling these past few weeks, thanks to CNN and Utah evening news interviews.

Idaho City Hot Shots. photo: Kari Greer

Despite our despicably short and sparse R&R days, we have still managed to squeeze in every morsel of summer-in-Idaho goodness when he gets to come home.

and then there are the Special Man walnut waffles.

And lastly – the ultimate act of chivalry – showing he still thinks of his Suite Potato and her style whilst battling the forces of mother nature….

A beautiful, bleached, perfectly-intact deer shed.

Naturally, i found a new home for him immediately.

Shizam!

Talk about living on the edge. You think fighting fires is scary – try sleeping under a 6-point, poorly secured deer shed every night.

I kid, I kid.

It’s well secured. Isn’t it? Wait, is it? What if it’s not. I don’t know. Now I’m not sure. I should go check. I’m going to go check.

+++

Stay safe and cool out there, tater tots!

xx SP

…So I made some more pillows.

You want them? Do you want them? Do you want the pillows? Do you?

They’re for sale.

At Suite Potato. In Forget Me Nots.

xo SP