Rachel Zoe "Shuts It Down" Tonight

Don't forget to watch the season finale of The Rachel Zoe Project tonight on Bravo! After an "AMAZING", albeit short first season which has yielded Rachel and her assistant Brad (Sorry, Taylor) a ton of new fans who now count "I die" as part of their vocabulary, tonight's season finale promises to be "bananas". Tune in for some fabulous fashion and major drama.

Stylish Calendar

While searching for stationery, I came across this adorable personalized calendar at Swoozie's. Each month features a different patterned background and the whole things sits on a lucite stand. It makes for a fabulous desk accessory and gift!

Image via Swoozie's

This Week's Quote

Barefoot Contessa's Barn

I have adored Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa for quite some time now. I love that her food and style are elegant without being complicated or pretentious. Every recipe of Ina's I have ever tried has been absolutely delicious and I have honestly learned so much of what I know about cooking from watching her show. Always the gracious host, Ina makes even the most mundane event an occasion. Whether she is making dinner for her husband Jeffrey, having some girlfriends over for brunch, or having cocktails and hors d'oeuvres with every fabulous gay man on Long Island, she always sets a beautiful table with a lovely floral arrangement. The result is always elegant and inviting, never stuffy. I admire Ina for her kind spirit, killer ability to cook without being professionally trained, and her knack for effortless elegance.

One of the major reasons I tune in to Barefoot Contessa is so that I can see Ina's gorgeous home in The Hamptons. I'm always drooling over her beautiful kitchen and amazing gardens. Ina recently added a barn. This certainly isn't what you would normally think of when the thought of a barn enters your mind! Ina's barn was designed with the help of architect Frank Greenwald, who along with Ina, drew his inspiration from the simple and elegant buildings of the Belgian countryside.

Ina essentially had the barn built as a work space. "Oh my gosh, we were cooking, and filming, and writing cookbooks, and everything else in our house. It was crazy! I needed another place to go."

Robert Stilin helped design the interiors, while Ina made sure that the kitchen was extremely functional and included and included a counter that is 18 feet long. "My assistant and I work together, so we needed a really long counter. It's divided by a sink in the middle — very efficient. You don't want a huge kitchen. If it's too big, you need roller skates to get around it. The work area itself is actually the same size as it is in the old house."

According to Ina, people frequently make some common mistakes when planning their kitchen space. "One [mistake] is that the work space is in the flow of traffic, so people have to walk through your space to get somewhere. And the second mistake is the location of fridge, sink, and stove. That classic triangle. Sometimes the fridge is on the other side of the counter. It's unbelievable — I mean, how many architects don't cook! They look gorgeous, but they don't work."

A gorgeous fruit and cheese platter made by Ina...How simple is that?

Ina's spacious, organized pantry is stocked with allof the best ingredients and supplies, naturally.

The barn includes a bedroom and full bath

"When I'm filming, the bedroom is my place to retreat. When I'm not, it's a great guest room."

Ina's Incredible Tub...it's perfection!

How amazing are those lighting fixtures? In regards to the overall look and feel of the house, Ina says: "It was important that the house not look brand-new, that it felt like it belonged here, had a history."

Images via House Beautiful

Brown: Houston Style Haven

Several beautiful pieces greet customers as they walk into Brown

This past Saturday, Fabian and I paid a visit to Brown, one of our favorite stores in Houston. It is a veritable treasure trove of antique lighting, furniture, vintage teaching charts, mirrors, and decorative architectural and industrial pieces. Owner Jill Brown is a very gracious host and was sweet enough to chat with me for a little while.

Jill frequently travels to Europe to find new pieces for her store, most of which come from France and Austria, where she used to live. In the store, you'll find pieces to suit almost anyone's design aesthetic...traditional, French, Swedish, industrial, all of which have a huge fan base. However, Jill stressed the fact that she shies away from anything that could be considered trendy. When I mentioned that I felt her shop was filled with heirloom quality pieces, I struck a chord. Jill says she has aimed to create a space filled with unique pieces that transcend the current trends and make for an edited, layered look. The result is collected and chic.

Clients frequently come in feeling unsure about exactly what it is that they want. Sometimes people feel they should go with a certain fixture or overall style because it is currently popular or because a friend suggested it. Jill urges them to go with their gut instincts, which I feel is very sage advice. The process of choosing lighting, furniture, and accessories for one's home can certainly be overwhelming, but in a sense, it is actually quite visceral if we choose to listen to our instincts instead of other's opinions. Though, I'll be the first to admit that sometimes, it certainly helps to get the opinion of someone whose taste you admire or is similar to yours.

Whatever your taste, Brown is sure to have something to make your heart skip a beat.

Brown is located at 2940 Ferndale at W.Alabama, Houston, TX 77098.

FYI: Blogger is making my pictures look skewed again despite the fact that I wrote this post in LiveWriter and that they looked perfect in the preview. Please click on the pictures if you wish to enlarge them. Rest assured, I am able to take a centered picture, though you wouldn't know it from the way they look here.

The shop by Brown is housed in an unassuming bungalow on a residential street near Houston's Upper Kirby District

Fabian and I both loved these huge glass lanterns.

The shop is filled with vintage instructional charts. The majority are scientific, but this cursive chart caught my eye. There is a teacher left in me yet!

Brown is like a candy store for lighting and design lovers. There is something for everyone.

Jill always has an assortment of gorgeous mirrors available. My favorites are the black and gold leaf rimmed one on the top right and the more ornate white mirror on the left.

An array of beautiful French copper pots

Unlikely Neighbors: A couple of industrial pieces coexist quite nicely with antique sconces. I love the juxtaposition of the ornate lighting fixtures against the raw, salvaged wood.

A bounty of industrial and architectural treasures waiting to be repurposed

I love this globe ceiling fixture. It looks like it was originally meant to go outdoors, but I love the idea of putting it somewhere unexpected, like in a foyer or a breakfast room.

How amazing is this cabinet?

These choices are a bit more subdued and lend themselves beautifully to Swedish design. The tree trunk lamps would look so great in a beach house with a subdued palette.

An array of unique chandeliers. I think the three piece, billiard-style fixture in the center would look fabulous in a kitchen with black cabinetry.

Beautiful, vibrant antique maps hang out under a fantastic wall-mounted lighting fixture.

These vintage charts would be so great in a foreign language classroom! I'm guessing they were intended for speaking activities where the students made up an original story to go with the pictures.

Antique French Periodic Table of Elements

Fabian especially loved the outdoor fixtures.

I've noticed that mushrooms have started popping up everywhere, which is really funny to me. I must have seen them in three stores that day.

Gorgeous, vintage French bottles in various shades of green

I love these column lamps! They would be so gorgeous in a grey room. How lovely are the canisters behind the lamps? The one on the left is filled with typesetting letters and numbers.