THIS OR THAT: MOSAIC TILE BATHROOM FLOORS!

As you might know if you read this blog regularly, I love a great mosaic tile floor. Adding a bit of texture and interest to a floor is such an wonderful design touch!

Love these three bathrooms with their delightful floors!

Which of these baths do you like best?

I like the first bath the best...but I like the floor in the second picture the most.

Which do you favor?

Do tell!

Happy Wednesday!

xo
Coco

Photos: John Granen; Apartment Therapy; Matthew Millman Photography

GUEST POST: INTERIOR DESIGNER EMILY RUDDO ON DESIGNING WITH BOOKS!

Hello Readers! I am Emily Ruddo of Armonia Decors and I am grateful to be back on Coco's fantastic blog sharing design tips with you today. I absolutely love books and use them often to add interest and color into spaces. Don't think of them as just belonging to a bookcase, library or office.  Use them throughout your home so that you are surrounded by things that you love.  The books and accessories placed in your home show your guests who you are. 

1. Decide what you are truly passionate about and interested in and buy books based on that topic.

2. Use colorful books as a way to introduce an accent color into your space.

3. Books aren't just for bookcases and shelves. Use them throughout your home as accessories.

4. If your book doesn't have a lovely jacket, remove it and you might find a surprise. I found an oh so chic leopard book cover underneath the paper jacket of Glamours Rooms by Jan Showers that is pictured above.

5. Layer your other favorite objects on top of your books for an added style and interest.

6. Create themes with your books and accessories. The bookcase above contains book themes of interior design and travel with added accessories like coral and stone for a coastal earthy vibe.

This cabinet contains clusters of large fashion coffee table books. Play with them to see which ones look best with one another. The black and pink books stand out next to the white furniture.

Even your bedroom side table should be glamorously styled with all of the treasures you love. These small books were the perfect color combination that stand out on top of this white lacquer table.

I hope these tips and photos offer some accessory inspiration to you.  Thanks again to Coco for letting me share today :).  I welcome you to visit my blog for more tips and inspirations.

xo

Emily

Photo Source: Designed by Emily Ruddo of Armonia Decors, Photographed by Meghan Beierle-O'Brien

GOLDEN ERA!

Downtown - Eclipse Coffee Table - $8570 (Oval coffee table in solid brass with beveled glass top)(above)

So I am back. Back home. After a whirlwind week in NYC!

New York is full of sparkle, charm and glamour I think. I love NYC. Miss it already!

I don't know what inspired today's post. But I headed over to Dering Hall this morning and found a few brassy gilt gold items I'm loving...important pieces of furniture with an easy style. Not hard to find lovely things on Dering Hall at all. So I began browsing on some dream pieces with a golden hue. I'm loving gold and brass these days...is this a trend that I will regret or is it one that is here to stay? I don't know...but I want to change a room in my house from silver metals to rich golden metal pieces.

Hmmm...what do you think?

Remains on Dering Hall - Coquille Leaf Pendant Light - $5,565 (Gold leaf on cast resin. Shell shaped chandelier design by Tony Duquette)(above)

Downtown - Equis Console - $9200 (Gilt metal console table with marble top)(above)

Do you like metallic golden hues for the home? What do you think of these pieces? I love the Eclipse table the most. Do weigh in.

Happy Monday!

xo
Coco

P.S. Had a nice dinner in New York with good friends A.Ro. and CJ...A.Ro. invited some of her friends, Tina and Denise, from Houston along for dinner...they own an adorable clothing shop called Cheeky Vintage! What a fun girls night out talking about everything under the sun including getting to see some of their fabulous vintage finds!  I was exhausted after the week at the NYIGF, I wasn't sparkling too much...a rather bland first impression I made I'm sure...but I still had a great time.

P.P.S.  Am thrilled about all of the news buzzing around the internet...Lonny Magazine is back.  The online shelter magazine took a hiatus at the end of 2011 and today they just announced they'll be back with monthly issues starting in May 2012 and a new edition in March.  Lonny Editor-in-Chief Michelle Adams stopped my booth at the New York International Gift Fair to say hi. She has been so nice and supportive of COCOCOZY textiles and so nice to me.  Congrats Michelle and Patrick!  I'm so happy to hear the great news!  I told Michelle I knew something was brewing when I saw her last week...she did not reveal a thing but smiled a lot as I hinted that I thought good news was coming...little did I know the announcement would come so soon.  Yay Lonny!  Woot woot!

P.P.P.S.  Didn't I say I wasn't going to use the P.S. for awhile after my mega P.S. ramble the other day?

WEEKEND PHOTO!


Am obsessed with wallpaper murals as of late...really only as of this last week when I saw some at the Winter Antique's Show here in NYC.

So when I saw this Zuber wallpaper in an Architectural Digest feature on actress Brooke Shields' NYC apartment, I was captivated and intrigued.  This is a concept that could either go terribly wrong or actually look quite regal...in this setting the lush forest scene works in this space.  I also like the black chandelier as a bit of contrast in the room.

I wonder where I might use a wallpaper mural in my home?  Hmmmm...wallpaper for thought! :-)

Do you like or dislike?  What do you think of these large scale wallpaper murals?  Is this something you could ever see using in your home...if so, where...if not, why not?

Happy Saturday!

xo
Coco

P.S. Hopping on a plane and headed home!

A WONDERFULLY STYLED DESIGN WEEK IN NEW YORK & WHY I GOT A LITTLE TEARY EYED!

All photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

New COCOCOZY Naturals linen pillow covers were a big seller at the New York International Gift Fair. (above)

I just woke up this morning.  Late.  Slept in.  Haven't slept in in weeks.  Fair season is officially over and the COCOCOZY booth is packed away until the summer.

I had so much fun at the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF)...a great time meeting so many nice people, introducing new COCOCOZY textiles to buyers, hanging out with fab Associate Operations Manager KS (who loves the color pink) in the booth, chatting with our neighbors and I got about a half hour to walk around the fair and see what else is new for Spring.

The fair closed at noon yesterday and we were done packing up the booth by 4p.  It took us about a day and half to set everything up and just 4 hours to break everything down.  It is a little sad when they start rolling up the carpet at the fair and then when the mass tear down starts.  The good news is that we all know that in a few months we'll be doing it all again.

So with that...some final images from the winter New York International Gift Fair!

Our new colorways and styles  in the COCOCOZY luxury linen collection have been a huge hit...sea foam green, sea green and charcoal grey seem to be in for spring! (above)

Pantone Christmas ornaments and vinyl folding chairs from Seletti! (above and below)

More color in the form of Harvey & Strait cocktail napkins for spring! Harvey & Strait were are our across the way neighbors at the fair and it was a pleasure spending the week with them! (above and below)

Pom Pom at Home's oversized cable knit pillows were oh so popular at the show! As chance would have it, my friends Hilde and her son Sam Leiaghat who are from Los Angeles, were COCOCOZY next door neighbors at the show.  We spent a nice amount of time enjoying their company! (above)

One last shot of the booth on the last day of the New York International Gift Fair...and then....

The carpet is rolled up....

Everything in the booth comes down....

And the lights go off...and the show comes to a close...until next time...

I get a little emotional some times...when I think of how lucky I have been.  Don't get me wrong...we are still building COCOCOZY...and while the we've increased our sales significantly during this fair season (woohoo) with lots of new customers and stores coming on board (yay), the company has a long long way to go before we're "there".  I feel very lucky still to even have the opportunity to try to build something and to hopefully help a few people and inspire them along the way try to build their dreams.

I cried a few times at dinners out with my good friends during this trip.  Best of friend AM thinks I may just have been tired...because I've been working so hard (late nights, early mornings, 2 full time jobs for almost a year and half)...but I think I was more crying thankful tears than tired ones. Both times I teared up I was with best of friend AM who has been a constant rock through this, other best of friend FF who flew in all the way from New Orleans with friend FM, AM's sweet hubby JE and KS.  While we were all sitting out to dinner as everyone was chatting, I started to think about the wonderful people in my life including my mom and my sis DS (who came all the way to NYC to hang out with me before the show), my extended family (AJ, SS, RM, MP, JP, LB, MA, AY, ES, LS, JS (family friend who is like family) and so many more), and  friends like NS, BN, JD, AZ, RK, CJ, JT, JLF, A.Ro, AT, JL, RRM, AG and fab Associate Operations Manager KS (who loves the color pink) and all of the lovely supportive readers who came by during the week at the gift fair to cheer us on.  I was a little tired of talking about all that we've done this last year to start up this business (not tired of talking to people but I felt like talking so much about COCOCOZY was boring to others and I was leading my own "brag fest"), but each time someone said they were inspired by the COCOCOZY story...it energized me.  So I cried at dinner...not sad tears...but happy ones...

There's a long road to travel before my business gets to where I want it to be...lots of hard work ahead...I will I'm sure cry "tired tears", "scared tears", "disappointment tears", "sad tears" at some point during this journey of building a business (and hopefully I'll have the strength of character to wipe those kinds of tears away and keep plugging along)...but this week during the NYIGF winter show, the tears shed were happy and thankful tears.

Happy Friday!

xo
Coco

P.S. Let's see...want to make sure to mention all of the wonderful people I met.  Connecticut based interior designer Liz Joy from Shorely Chic blog stopped by...we had a nice long chat during a slow period in the booth. Liz is awesome...she is like me...leading a double life of sorts...Liz has a day job and then blogs and does interior design on the side. I hope my babbling was helpful to her. While Liz was there at the booth, New York designer Mimi McAndrew stopped in as well...Mimi was quite lovely too. Designer Keita Turner also stopped by to say hi earlier in the week. Home accessories designer Dabney Lee stopped by with her whole team to say hi.

P.P.S. Oh and how could I forget, interior designer Maria Koundourou of MK Square Studio, who interned for me way back when and who is now an interior designer came by too - what a delight to meet Maria in person after having worked with her virtually so long ago...I was so so so so happy to have some time to talk with her...she was and is delightful.  I may be emailing her today for some help on a project in fact!

P.P.P.S. Good friend CJ stopped by the booth yesterday.  She was so sweet, she helped us start the break down of the booth.  We later went to drinks with her and her talented NYC interior designer sister Jennifer Jones who runs of J Logan Interiors.  KS and I were so hungry after working all afternoon to break down the booth that we gobbled down appetizers at a rate that I think was surprising to both Jennifer and CJ!  Ooops!

P.P.P.P.S.  Also, a thank you to KH and DG who have been so entirely supportive...they work with the gift fair and they have been such a great and fabulous help.

P.P.P.P.P.S.  A stand out to me at the fair were the pillows from Luru Home...started by two sisters.  Their blue and white imported pillows are gorgeous.  They stopped by the booth to say thanks at the beginning of the show because they said I chatted with them at the last show and gave them some advice about showing their collection.  I don't remember speaking with them back then but was so happy to know that something I said may have been helpful.  Then I went down the aisle and saw their collection...just wonderful. Never got around to taking pictures of their display but I'll do a post on them in the future!

P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  Happy happy Friday again!

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  Did I mention how best of friend AM got me to stop my welling tears at the dinner table?  She threatened that we (she, her hubby and I) would walk the 5 blocks from the restaurant to her house instead of taking a cab.  I am a Los Angelenos through and through...why walk when you can drive?  Plus it was FREEZING outside (reminder that anything below 70 degrees Farenheit for me is FREEZING).  So I immediately stopped the sappy emotional blubbering since I knew I did NOT want to walk home.  We ended up walking home.  I was duped!  LOL!

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Oooohhhh just saw that our Special Edition Valentines Day Candle is featured on Casa Sugar today! Yippee!

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  I have officially overdone it with P.S.s today.  I know.  Will get it under control for the next post.  I wonder if I can write a post without a single P.S.?  I'll try tomorrow.  I just have so much stuff to chit chat about and aside thought bubbles going at all times, the P.S. has been a great platform for all of my many random thoughts.  Thank goodness I am no longer in school...if I had any kind of writing professor they would surely give me bad marks for this misuse and abuse of the P.S.  P.S. Am sorry for misusing the P.S.  :-)


All photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

THE LATEST FROM MY DESIGN CRUSH JONATHAN ADLER & WHAT COCOCOZY WON!

Photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

Jonathan Adler's new menagerie statuette called Silver Fox! (above)

Okay so fab Associate Operations Manager KS (who loves the color pink) and I were in our COCOCOZY booth at the New York International Gift Fair yesterday and my design crush Jonathan Adler stopped by to say hello.  He is adorable.  He gave us some great advice (marry rich) and some nice compliments (he said he liked the COCOCOZY booth) and he chit chatted a bit and then was off.  I think he is so cool.

Felt very fortunate during his Jonathan Adler visit for two reasons...1. that I wasn't eating something when he came by (yesterday was a big snacking day in the booth...invariably anytime I took a mouthful of a snack some big buyer, press or someone important came into the booth...the snacking started early and continued all day long and it never occurred to me to stop snacking...instead I just kept snacking and kept getting embarrassed with a mouthful of snacks.  Smart girl right? Help!) and 2. that he came by.

Anyhooo...so I didn't have a post this morning so I ran up to the Jonathan Adler booth here at the fair and found so many cute goodies (some nice person named Macy took me around) to show you.

Jonathan Adler's Channing Desk in orange lacquer - a specialty color for 2012!

For election year, some George Washington themed items  - apparently Jonathan's personal favorite is the ceramic bust! (above)

New kidney shaped coffee tables is white and orange have Jonathan's signature retro vibe. (above)

Which of these Jonathan Adler goodies do you like best? I'm loving the Silver Fox!

Thanks to Jonathan for stopping by our booth yesterday!

Happy Wednesday!

xo
Coco

P.S. Things at the gift fair are going well at the COCOCOZY booth. We were the 2nd place winner of some award for our combo placemat table runner in the COCOCOZY Logo pattern. It's a new tabletop item we added for this year and people have been loving it!  It is the width of a placemat and runs across the width of a table (not he length like most runners)...so you get a runner and placemat all in one!

New placemat table runner on our table in the COCOCOZY booth at the New York International Gift Fair. (above)

P.P.S.  I hope you have a great day!

P.P.P.S.  Am in flats today as opposed to the heels I've been wearing all week.  Sparkling flats mind you.

P.P.P.P.S.  Was happy to see Clara from Hillary Thomas Designs today - they are showing their line of stone finials here at the fair.  Clara stopped by to say hi and mentioned they have a sale for One Kings Lane going on today.

Hillary Thomas booth featuring lamp with stone finial and their cane lamp shade.  Photo courtesy Hillary Thomas Designs. (above)

P.P.P.P.S. Also, forgot to mention that I saw Marissa from Style Beat blog and Sue from The Zhush blog yesterday too.  They are very nice.

P.P.P.P.P.S.  Went to an art party last night with best of friend AM and KS.  It was in this HUGE apartment in Tribeca that overlooked the water.  We then went to the Soho House where we shared a communal table with a group of guys who kept hitting the table.  Strange customs here in NY at posh private clubs! :-)

P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  COCOCOZY fab Associate Operations Manager KS (who loves the color pink) is standing here in the booth counting things.  I don't know what she is counting.  She seems to have a calculator in hand.  Confusing.  She is standing in the center of the booth pointing and counting something and then mouthing numbers.  Will get to the bottom of this and let you know.  Hmmm....

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  Having drinks with RK this evening and good friend CJ is supposed to stop by today.

GUEST POST: HOUSE OF TURQUOISE TUESDAY!

Hi everyone, I'm Erin from the blog House of Turquoise! I'm so excited to be guest blogging today for Coco...I'm a long-time fan of this fabulous blog!

As the name of my blog implies, I'm also a fan of the color turquoise! This elegant home designed by Tobi Fairley is filled with a serene sea-inspired color palette that I love dearly.

The soft and soothing color scheme is carried over into the spacious, light-filled kitchen. I love the aqua cabinets, lighting, and great built-in banquette. What a dream space!

The master bedroom below is also filled with the colors of the sea. (Can you see why I love this home?!) Comfortable, yet entirely elegant.

I hope you guys all enjoyed this home tour! If you too love turquoise hues, I hope you'll come visit me over at House of Turquoise! Coco, thank you so much for asking me to guest blog!

Erin

COCOCOZY IN NEW YORK 2012 - DESIGNING A BOOTH DISPLAY!

All photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY

Almost exactly one year ago yesterday, I launched the COCOCOZY textiles collection at the New York International Gift Fair.  An exciting year filled with many highs, a few lows, lots of comedic moments and an incredible "ride" on the so called become a business owner-textiles designer learning curve!

Before a year ago, I had never in my life set up a booth, created a display or sold a pillow!  How things change!  Never say never...really!

Well here we are.  COCOCOZY 2012 at the NYIGF...in a bigger booth (#7919)...with more pillows, throws and new items like tabletop and some home accessories!

Here's a little show and tell on what we did to set up!

We arrived Thursday to this - an empty white 12x20 space with hard walls constructed and plastic over my sisal rug. (above)

Friday, the next day...miraculously someone had moved in my white lacquer display cases and put up floating shelves on the sides of the booth. (above)

Then fab Associate Operations Manager KS (who loves the color pink) and I began stuffing pillows.  For every one pillow I stuffed,  KS seemed to have stuffed two.  I spent a lot of time fretting and scrutinizing the space. (above)

My favorite part of set up is when the vinyl lettering goes up.  (above)

Some progress being made!  Two ladders that I had painted white to hang throws and several boxes of inserts and other accessories still needed to be placed into the booth. (above)

Lights still on the ground but best of friend AM's pink birdcage and drapes are all up. (above)

This was Sunday morning!  Booth complete ready for the show! (above)

New fabric pattern called Arch and new colorways charcoal and sea foam green. (above)

Lovely lavender sachets made out of COCOCOZY Logo linen. (above)

Our booth cards sit in silver plates for passersby to take with them. (above)

About 25 minutes before the show starts...booth is ready to go! (above)

What do you think of our little booth?  Like or dislike?  It is okay to dislike you know...I have thick skin.  Anything you might add or take away or replace?

A special thanks to fab Associate Operations Manager KS for all of her hard work setting up the booth with me over the last few days...she basically did most of the styling because I kept stepping back and squinting and rearranging and making tweaks.  Another special thanks to WA, KS's friend who came out to help with set up and the first day of the show.  And then a huge thanks to best of friend AM, who lent items from her home for the booth (pink picture frames, a ceramic bowl, the pink birdcage and more) and who came in and made all of the necessary display adjustments!

My sis DS came by and now is back in L.A.   Now best of friend FF from New Orleans and FM her neighbor (and my friend) came all the way in to hang out!  Oh yes and I saw my good law school friend JT who stopped by to say hi and I got a gander at her lovely engagement ring - she's getting married! All so exciting.

We had a great first day of the show.  Lots of nice people stopping by!

Today is another day!

Here we go!

Happy Monday!

xo
Coco

P.S.  So many nice readers stopped by including designers Kate Jackson, Emily Butler, the Paige and Dough from Tracery Interiors in Florida/Alabama, Lee Kleinhelter from Pieces Inc. in Altanta and so many many more!  And I had a COCOCOZY first, a lovely MAN named David stopped by with his wife and gorgeous baby son to say that HE reads the blog regularly!  I've never had a guy who has actually admitted to reading my constant chatter.  He was so nice.

P.P.S.  Running off to another day at the show.

P.P.P.S.  Hope you have a great day!


All photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY