What's In Your Beach Bag?

With summer in full swing many are starting to stretch their weekends out a little longer and head out to some beach time vacations.  The Well Appointed House owner Melissa Hawks recently vacationed in at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic.  The mother of three was kind enough to share not only her go to beach bag, but also the essentials she's packing with her.

Her bag is from island outfitter favorite Roberta Roller Rabbit who in addition to great beach bags, also makes fantastic linen cover ups for you and your little ones.

 Hawks has all the essentials: sununsceen for the little ones, her ipad, Chanel aviators, fedora by Scoop, Pelligrino and some key mags.  Her adorable blue bikini and cover up are by Letarte and yes, that's a freshly cut coconut! Snag her chic beach style with some totes below!

Get her look for less!  This Paisley hobo tote from Gap has that Roberta Roller Rabbit feel but at just $50 it's budget friendly chic.

A preppy monogrammed tote is a staple year round, and this fantastic canvas tote from The Well Appointed House is an easy favorite.  Choose from four different colors and your personal monogram to make this bag all your own.

For an ultra classic feel, this woven raffia with leather trim and bamboo handle tote from Milly is perfection.

This colorful stripe tote from Missoni brings some European glam to your beachside look.  It also has universal appeal which means you'll be able to convince your hubby to carry the load every once and a while.

Hunter is a brand known for their rubber wellies, but the company is looking forward and now including a line of bags to round out their accessories. This rubber tote is durable enough to make it through a summer long of sandy abuse but also has a polished, classic feel that can bring you into fall.

For a fun, quirky-chic look this Tory Burch tote is the ultimate.  Clean and modern with a fun transparent PVC topper this tote is too cool to resign simply to the beach!

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What's New in Home Decor: Michael S. Smith at Brunschwig, New Fabrics at Quadrille, New Trims at Schumacher and Hardware at Scalamandre!

Michael S. Smith!

Summer is in full swing, and it seems no one is on vacation in the home decor world!

Last week, Brunschwig & Fils announced an exclusive creative consultancy with Michael S. Smith.  The iconic fabric house tapped the renowned interior designer to help guide the brand's future direction and product development through an exclusive consulting agreement as Creative Director.  We hope to see his influence with new designs coming out as early as 2013.

“Michael Smith’s experience and advice will be invaluable to the product and merchandising teams,”expressed Cary Kravet, President and CEO of Kravet Inc., which acquired Brunschwig & Fils in 2011. “I look forward to his fresh approach to this brand, which I am confident will help to present newcollections that match the brand image and equity with the discerning palette of our customers. Michaelwill be an integral part of the Brunschwig & Fils team.” Smith, known for his multi-layered take on traditional interiors, has redefined American design for a newgeneration. His influence appears throughout the country, from his classic design for the Oval Office in the White House to the cover of Architectural Digest and many fine residences in between.

Quadrille!
China Seas has some fun new patterns. We like Lucaya Ikat Multi (linen/cotton blend) and Zigguart (which you can see on their site).



Schumacher!
Schumacher also has a beautiful new collection of Plein Air Indoor/Outdoor Trimmings that are worth looking at. Perfect for a sun porch!



Scalamandre!
Scalamandre is also one of my fabric design houses -- and they are now offering decorative hardware. They've got a new collection of finials, poles, brackets, rings and holdbacks. As we said, there's a lot going on in home decor this month!

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House Beautiful Kitchen of the Year

Well Appointed House founder Melissa Hawks was among a select group of influential bloggers invited to attend the unveiling of this years House Beautiful Kitchen of the Year this past Wednesday.  For the 2012 kitchen, the shelter magazine turned to none other than Mick de Guilio, whose made a name for himself in the industry as "the kitchen designer."

The space featured luxe custom pieces from Kravet including the pictured setee and slipper chairs in a crisp white Belgian linen. 

The kitchen was the perfect mix of rustic and modern with raw wood accents paired with stark metals and bright white clean lines.  Still the designer maintained a playful feel with surprise elements like the blue walls, blue sink interior and fun, original lighting fixtures.

(photos)

The black leather bar stools added a hint of city-chic to the kitchen which is on display in Rockefeller Center  now!

A little bit of country in the big city!

And to keep the feeling extra seasonal, de Guilio and his team created the perfect outdoor entertaining space, which coincided with the whole presentation.  This kitchen had a faboulous open flow and created a relaxed elegant feeling.  This was the kind of place you could invite some friends over to and open a bottle of wine on a summer's night.  For more (pinable) photos click here!

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Gold Medal Style: Catch The Olympic Spirit at The Well Appointed House

Olympic fever is sweeping the nation and with the games in London this year, the city made famous by  the royal nuptials and Queen's Diamond Jubilee, will be represented by athletes who will be judged as much as on their performance as their style. The home team will be sporting designs from none other than hometown favorite Stella McCarthy as they hit the field.

 McCartney took a more modern approach and made a decision to dump the classic union jack red in the flag and instead opted for a more abstract interpretation. Undoubtedly, stand out Brits like Andy Murray are going to look extra sharp in these new dudes.

The Americans on the other hand will be dressed in the good ol' red, white and blue in classic Great Gatsby inspired outfits from, of course, Ralph Lauren.

This year's look is not without controversy.  RL has caught a lot of heat for outsourcing the Olympian's uniforms to China.  Wherever they were made we have to admire the stark white bottoms and perfectly tailored, all-American navy blazers.  Accented with a red, white and blue tie or scarf the look is completed with a... baret?  Though maybe not the most American topper (I think we can safely say we may have dodged a bullet with no cowboy hat) take a look at some past styles to see how our team compares.

In the 1900's our Olympic team was more rag-tag, white and blue than anything else!

Twenty years later it looks like we are finally getting our acts together!

 By 1952 the American team was looking the part of gold medal athletes.

And finally in the 60's we got a little more dapper.

 But in 1964 we couldn't go without those cowboy hats!

 There's nothing more American than having Levi's design our team uniforms, which was the case for the 1984 class of Olympians. 

In 2004 we showed our playful side in a fun and youthful outfit by Canadian retailer, Roots.

(Photos via fashionista)

And in 2008 we enlisted the help of the help of the designer who portrays the American Spirit, Ralph Lauren.

With all the Olympic excitement building here are a few of our favorite gold medal products for your home, from The Well Appointed House!

A contradiction in colors, this golden, coral candlestick is the perfect accent to a stark, clean space or is a coordinating sparkle to a glam beach house. 

Nothing is more Olympic in spirit than a solid golden Greek key, which is what this statement table lamp embodies.

For a more modern, minimal approach to adding gold decor into your home, this Dransfield and Ross pillow is just the ticket.  Add to your all white couch or add to a moody chocolate scheme for a chic and warm feel.  This pillow also comes in three different sizes.

Banish the dorm room disco-ball decor with this ultra polished gold shimmer pendant. 18 inches in diameter, this lighting fixture is perfect to make a statement in an apartment living room or to hang in a trip across a dinning space for the ultimate lounge-like feel.

Sometimes the best pieces come in the most unusual packages, which is the case for this liquid gold hanging pendant.  This contemporary light adds high style to every room it graces and is an example of an extraordinary piece available here at The Well Appointed House.  For more gold medal decor click to shop here!

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Big News! Lonny Magazine Acquired by Zimbio

We heard today that the parent company of Zimbio.com and the fashion and beauty website StyleBistro.com, has acquired Lonny magazine.  The buyout includes the Lonny website, its library of past issues and their archive of original photographs.  The Editor in Chief, Michelle Adams, and Director of Photography, Patrick Cline, will continue to hold the reigns.  According to the press release, this acquisition will broaden Zimbio's reach in the women's category.  Congrats to Michelle and her team!

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Gray House Shutters

There is a lovely house here in Greenwich on Carleton Street that I pass by about six times per day when I am running my kids back and forth to camp.  It's a white house and the owners have recently put up gray shutters and are doing additional renovations, and the project caught my eye.  I started thinking about how elegant gray can be so I just pulled a few photos of homes with gray shutters for inspiration here on the blog.  Here are a few I thought you would enjoy:

Photo

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The shutters, lighting fixture and statue work in this photo!  It's charming!  If you are considering gray for your house, here are some fun articles. In this House Beautiful article, 26 Designers Share Their Favorite Grays.  Benjamin Moore shares their top five shades of gray on their website.  Here's another great resource - Stacy Naquin, an interior designer, rounds up some favorite grays and includes photos. Take a look!  Let us know if you've used gray and what color it was in your comments below!

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Gwyneth Paltrow Buys Veranda's House of Windsor in Brentwood

TMZ and the Editor at Large reported recently that Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, Coldplay rocker Chris Martin, have bought the home that Veranda magazine used as it's show house last summer.  Veranda magazine and designer Windsor Smith unveiled the 8,000 square foot "House of Windsor" in Brentwood last June.  Paltrow and Martin reportedly paid $10.45 million.

If you're curious to see the inside of the home, as it was last year at the show house, take a look here!  All photos from Veranda:

Things must be happy on the home front for the duo, as they were seen sharing a kiss last week at a Coldplay concert - Martin leapt from the stage between songs, ran out into the audience to find his wife and planted a rare public display of affection on his wife.  A quick kiss and then back to the stage!  See the footage here.

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