Sweet Dreams With Dena Designs

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Dena Fishbein, a hugely talented artist and designer, when I wrote about her beautiful California home.  Her house is being featured in the upcoming issue of Romantic Country Magazine, and trust me, you won't want to miss seeing it!

Along with being an amazing award winning designer, author, and TV host, Dena is simply a wonderful person!  I knew right away after speaking to both Dena and her husband Danny, that everything they create is done with passion.  Whether they are scouring the flea markets in Paris together, or working on Dena's next design venture, the two of them are enjoying every minute of it.

One of Dena's latest projects is a line of beautiful bedding that will be available through Bed, Bath and Beyond stores this fall.  Thanks to Dena and her great team, I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at these wonderful collections and even had the opportunity to photograph them to share with all of you! 

True to her fun and whimsical romantic style, Dena has created three wonderful collections that will make any bed envious!  The first collection is known as the Wish Collection!

 

It is a gorgeous grouping of pillows done in a soft green and paired with crisp white details, all of which coordinate perfectly with the lovely floral quilt from the same Wish line.  

The quality of all three of Dena's collections is really amazing and the attention to detail is unsurpassed.  Each of the pillows in the Wish Collection is a unique play on the green and white color scheme, and I love how they compliment the quilt without everything being too matchy!

Wouldn't you love to dress up a bed with this very sweet collection, I know I would!

And I just love all of the feminine touches Dena has infused into each of her collections!  Just look at those darling ruffles and the appliques on the two pillows pictured above.  

Dena's next fabulous collection is the Cloud Collection.  This dreamy bedding is soft, simple, and oh so pretty!

It boasts shams, a quilt, and bolster pillows each adorned with delicate ruffles.

The Cloud Collection, along with all three of Dena's latest lines of bedding, is really perfect for someone of any age.  I can see this beautiful ruffled bedding on a toddler's bed, providing glamour to a teen's room, or adding sophistication and romance to any bedroom!

Just look at how pretty it looks with the turquoise walls in my own bedroom!!

The crisp white color, flirty ruffles, and covered button details on the bolster make me want to re-do my daughter's room in all white and buy this gorgeous bedding to be the icing on the cake!

Just in case you weren't having quite enough trouble deciding between the last two collections, take a look at the Moroccan Garden Collection!  This colorful bedding collection has something for everyone with it's bold colors and fun floral designs!

The moment I opened the boxes for the Moroccan Garden Collection I was in love!  Dena has paired stripes and florals to create a beautiful one of a kind collection that is colorful, fun, and just makes you want to smile!

The quilt has the perfect mix of vintage charm and lively rich color to make it my own personal favorite among her new collections, though I have to say that choosing just one collection to love is not an easy task!

And the details are what really set all of Dena's bedding apart from your average run of the mill bedding I see so much of these days.  Instead of boring, the Moroccan Garden collection is bold, beautiful and with its many colors, it would be at home in almost any bedroom!

Just look at the detail on this embroidered pillow...and you could easily use this with The Cloud Collection too.  I love the versatility of all of Dena's bedding and how you can mix and match among the three collections!

I also love this pillow that combines striped fabric, ribbon, and beautiful crewel work!

The Moroccan Garden collection will definitely be on my wish list when it comes out in just a few months...and I'm thinking that with three bedrooms and a son leaving for college this fall I might just have to buy all three of Dena's collections! ;-)

I would like to thank Dena, Alex, and Allison for helping me get this beautiful bedding so that I could share it with you.  And to the wonderful girls from The Vintage Source for letting me borrow one of their great quilt racks to use to display the Wish and Cloud Collections in some of the photographs.

And be sure to pick up a copy of Romantic Country Magazine this September to see Dena's gorgeous home!

Accessorizing With Color

We all know that accessories are an important part of design.  Whether you are talking about fashion or homes, accessories are the icing on the cake when it comes to design.

You also know how I like to drone on and on about drawing design and color inspiration from nature and there is a good reason for that.  Nearly everywhere you turn in nature there are pops of color used to accessorize and accentuate the landscape to make it more visually appealing!

Colorful accents, even muted ones, are what draw the eye in and make us want to see more.  It's the same way with our own homes.  Take a close look at any home interior magazine and really study each photo.  One of the tricks of the trade is to beautifully accessorize a room to achieve that perfect look that we all want to emulate!  Stylists have a gift for this and will often times open closets and cupboards looking for beautiful, and often times colorful, accessories to use in a shot.  It's also why stylists and designers often have the most beautiful homes!

If you think about it, pops of color are what make us love our homes more in the spring and summer, when everything is in bloom and our houses look perfectly accessorized and all dressed up in their Sunday finest!  It's also why we tend to have a little bit of a let down when we remove all of our holiday decor each year.  That added punch of color and "stuff" tends to make us feel like our homes are a little more pulled together and polished looking.

Even monochromatic design schemes introduce color.  It's often a much more subtle color used to accessorize, but it is color none the less and helps to add visual interest to a space.  If you've ever viewed photos taken by yourself and wondered why it doesn't look like something from a magazine, then do a little staging and bring in some color!  

Even the most beautiful white on white room or black and white kitchen can benefit from a little colorful accessorizing.  And you don't have to go out and purchase something to achieve the look...fill a beautiful pottery bowl with oranges, lemons or limes.  Or go to a local market and gather up a bunch of flowers!  Several stems of daisies spread out among small vases or wine bottles lining a windowsill make a bold statement and cost very little!

Take some advice from my friend the butterfly.  Blue and black make a wonderful color combo, but what makes his or her outfit, are those dashes of red!  Clearly this is one insect who knows how important the right colorful accessories can be!

What color is your favorite when it comes to accessorizing both your home and yourself?