Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Show house & Gardens

Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the ASO 43rd Annual Decorator’s Show House and Gardens opening night party.  Billy and I got all dolled up for the event and had so much fun touring the home.  We ran into some of our friends there and had a blast hanging out with them.

^{From left to right (Billy, Me, Tricia Watkins, Chris Watkins (Thrillist)}

This years show house was absolutely stunning. Of course, what do you expect when you are dealing with some of the city's hottest designers.  Melanie Turner, Michael Habachy and Courtney Giles just to name a few. 

I think my favorite spot of the entire home was the front staircase and vestibule, but I don’t have a picture of it.  Pictures weren’t allowed at the party or you better believe I would have snapped a ton of them.  It was very reminiscent of this Kelly Wearstler favorite.

[Original source unknown via Pinterest]

My second was the kitchen. Brass pendant lights…HAVE. TO. HAVE. THESE. NOW.

 

I would have absolutely no problem waking up in this master bedroom every day.

Nor would I have a problem taking a bath in this bathroom.

Doesn’t everyone have a wall of framed coral in their home?  If not, they should. 

The ASO Decorator’s Show House is open through May 12th so definitely head over and check it out. There is so much more to be seen than what’s in these few pictures. 

An even better idea would be to visit the Show House over the weekend and then pop over to ADAC May 3rd – 5th to purchase something for your home during the Annual Sample Sale.  At 80% off you can make your home look like a show house too. Well, it’s a good thought anyway. 

Happy decorating!

**Photo credit - Jeff Roffman Photography unless noted otherwise

Here We Go–Elbow Room Season 2!!!

Finally!!!  This weekend is it.  Time for Elbow Room – The Second Season!!! 

Saturday, April 20th @ 9am EST on HGTV

For the last 6 months I’ve been working hard…really hard…exhaustingly hard on Season 2 of HGTV’s Elbow Room.  Season 1 premiered last May and reruns are still airing. But, Season 1 ain’t got nothing compared to the second season. 

Chip has come up with some of the most innovative ideas yet.  And the designs are killer this season.  I thought I would give you a little sneak into the show and also give you a little behind the scenes look into my life on Elbow Room.

Just in case you wonder what happens around the set… [Apologizing ahead of time for the photo quality. Most of these are taken from camera phones]

First off, I am incredibly lucky to be able to work with such an inspiring group of people every day.  My ER family below,

I even love them when they make me do set push-ups, [that’s me in the center of the table. And yes, I’m doing a girly one.]

What you won’t see on the actual episode is how many people are in the room at any given time while we are working.  Total chaos! And, this was the day before a reveal!

Another shot of chaos on the set the day before a reveal.

This season IKEA sponsored a few episodes so there was quite a bit of IKEA shopping,

and when I say quite a bit I mean LOADS and LOADS of CARTS and CARTS.

The only thing that got me through was lots and lots of these little devils.

Chip came up with some crazy good custom elements like couches that seamlessly move from the inside to the outside, a concrete island that spans 10’ and took 8 men 2 days to get it from the driveway to the house,

an ottoman with a zillion functions, a table that rolls up a wall,

and much, much more.

Paddy chased some chickens,

and later built a home for them.

I threw a surprise baby shower for one of the homeowners,

and did lots of manual labor.

We had a few special guests.  My personal favorite was Kristen Davis from KFD Designs [she’ll be on this Saturday’s episode painting a beautiful mural.]

Chip hoisted a really heavy Big Ass Fan through a small hole while climbing a rock wall with a smile on his face, or a big strain on his face…you decide which.

And finally Alex and I had tons of fun goofing off,

especially late at night after working all day breathing bondo fumes.  It seemed really funny at the time. 

Cristi and Alex goof off on the set of Elbow Room

 

At the end of the day we have 13 more amazing renovations completed and I can’t wait to see them on the small screen.  Please tune in, or set your DVR’s, for Saturday at 9am EST on HGTV.  I promise you’ll love Elbow Room!! 

xoxo,

Cristi

An Interview + A Pretty Room

One of my favorite places to find inexpensive tile and flooring is Floor & Décor Outlet here in Atlanta.  They have some of the same tiles that you may find at high end stores but the prices are extremely affordable.  I highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t already.  They have locations in multiple states so hopefully there will be one near you.  If not, you can always purchase online.

I was thrilled when Malika, editor of their online blog, emailed me and wanted to do an interview.  You can check out the my interview HERE.

Thanks a bunch Malika!

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A Pretty Room

Chango & Co.

Have you ever heard of the design firm Chango & Co.?  I hadn’t until I saw this pin on pinterest the other day.  I fell in love with this space.  I love everything about it from the goldenrod throw to the royal blue, vintage-looking, “Lunch” sign, to the light brick on the fireplace, to the chrome industrial pendants.  Something about it looks warm and inviting while still being bright and invigorating.  I had to check out their portfolio after seeing this image.  I wasn’t disappointed.  If you want to see some more pretty images you should check out their portfolio too!  Click on the image be low to go to their site.

Technorati Tags: Floor and Decor,Chango and co.,portfolio,atlanta,interview

Brizo Fashion Week

A few weeks ago I got a little email in my inbox letting me know that the people from Brizo, a faucet and bathroom accessories company, wanted to invite me (along with a select group of interior designers and bloggers) to New York City for Fashion Week.  I was thrilled at the opportunity and graciously accepted.  So off to NYC I went to meet up with the group. 

Brizo put us up in total style at the Eventi hotel in Chelsea.  They also gave us a really cool tote filled with goodies.  The first night I flew in late because of my filming schedule.  I made it into the city just in time to meet a few of my fellow Brizo Blogger 19 friends before turning it in for the evening. 

The next morning we all met again for an informative and interactive session about Brizo’s brand, their design processes and trend forecasts for the upcoming year. It was so interesting to see how their faucets are created and where the Brizo team gets their inspiration from.

We even got to see a few prototypes that will be coming out next year.  Can’t show those to you yet but you will definitely want to watch for them in 2014.  It was amazing to see the full like of products in person in multiple finishes.  I’m used to mostly seeing them online. 

From there we went to a brief session with Elle Décor on the 42nd floor of the Hearst Tower.  Then we got a tour of the whole building.  The views were breathtaking.

After the Hearst tour we went around the corner to a cooking class at Sur La Table.  This was the highlight of the trip for me.  I had never been to a cooking class before.  It was so much fun.  Definitely something I’ll be doing again.

We made 3 pasta dishes and I had some amazing cooking mates.

From Left to Right – Me, Laura Bielecki, Yvonne Blacker, and Donna Hall.

Now for the sad part of the trip.  Unfortunately, due to the blizzard that hit the East coast, I had to cut my trip short.  I was sad to go and especially sad to miss the Jason Wu fashion show and cocktail party.  From reading all the tweets and blogs I know that all of my Brizo friends had a blast at both of the events. Although I missed the last day of the trip, I still was so thrilled to be able to spend the first part of the trip with all of the wonderful people from the Brizo brand. 

Disclaimer: As a guest of the Brizo brand, my airfare and travel expenses have been comp'd.

Spotlight on Design–Chip Wade

If you are looking for something to do this Wednesday evening, then please join Chip Wade and the cast of Elbow Room on HGTV.  If you read my blog then you know that cast includes yours truly!

The cocktail reception goes from 6-8pm on Wednesday, January 30th.  If you can come please rsvp to RSVP@lizlapiduspr.com. 

See you there!

Switch Modern is located in West Midtown at 1193 Howell Mill Rd., Atlanta.

Design Camp Winner!

And the winner of the free ticket to Design Camp Atlanta is…

Ingrid Porter

Congrats Ingrid!  Thanks for all of you who entered to win.  There are a few other blogs out there that are giving away tickets to Design Camp so check them out.

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I’m leaving you all with a little Monday inspiration via Melanie Turner.  Love her!

Design Camp Giveaway

As of yesterday, I officially joined the team of speakers [otherwise known as “counselors”] for Design Camp Atlanta!  I was so thrilled when Lori Dennis, celebrity designer and one of the masterminds behind Design Camp, asked me to be a part of Design Camp. 

Celebrity Interior Designers Lori Dennis and Kelli Ellis have put together a jam-packed weekend filled with seminars led by design industry experts.  Design Camp took Austin, Texas by storm [over 120 attendees!!] in October 2012 and the reviews were amazing.  Their next stop on the tour is Atlanta!  The seminars are full of “practical, applicable, real-life design insight you don’t get from traditional institutions.”

The course is tailored for design professionals and design aficionados. Each day runs from 9AM-6PM and is broken down into 8 segments per day. Drinks, Snacks, Lunch, and Cocktail parties included. By the end of Camp, attendees will have the confidence and ability to run successful modern-day design careers and take their careers to an entirely new level, network and collaborate with local suppliers and colleagues.

Design Camp is coming to Atlanta January 30th – February 1st and is being held at the fabulous Fox Theater.  Tickets are selling out fast but one lucky reader from this blog will win a FREE TICKET to the event. 

This giveaway is valued at $1297!!!

***To learn all you need to know about Design Camp visit the website at www.designcamp.com. 

You have 3 chances to enter to win a FREE TICKET to Design Camp.  I’ll be taking comments up to Sunday, Jan. 6th at 10pm and will reveal the winner on Monday, Jan. 7th.

To Enter:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post.  [In the past I’ve had a few people email me and let me know that they can’t leave comments for some reason.  If this happens to you please email me.]

2. Like Design Camp on Facebook and come back to this post to leave a comment letting me know you did so.

3.  Follow @TheDesignCamp and @plansforhomedesign on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway.  [As long as you include “@plansforhomedesign” in the tweet I’ll be able to see it.] 

Best of luck!! I’m looking forward to seeing you 

at Design Camp in less than a month!