Staging project

I've just helped to stage this property. Check it out. Graham, the owner, has amazing taste - I hardly did a thing!

http://www.mcguire.com/listings/173816-1118-De-Haro-Street-San-Francisco-California--2-to-4-Units-Potrero-Hill-361875

Again, the lovely Ilonka Edwards at McGuire is the lady you should contact if you're interested.

Provence

I know we're just heading towards Fall here in San Francisco, but I'm still day-dreaming about vacations.... imagine my joy when I came across these beautiful images - all in Provence.... Oooooo I can just smell the lavendar.

Thank you http://www.cotemaison.fr/

Entertaining

I absolutely love to entertain. I also love to cook. I find it therapeutic - deciding what we're going to eat and drink, thinking about timing and then the best treat: dressing the table. I like to have enough cutlery and glasses... gone are my student days when we'd have to wash the knives and forks after the first course!!! I tend to use oversized white plates and clear glasses, paired with crisp linen napkins.

One of the nicest parties I ever went to was my lovely friend Alicia's 30th birthday party. She hired long tables and we ate outside in her garden in Kensington.... it was just like being in Provence. The food was delish too.

Take a look at these lovely table displays for inspiration:

Photos from http://www.myhomeideas.com/

Featured on Rachel Thomas' blog

Thank you to the lovely Rachel Thomas for the great before and after feature on her blog:

http://raenovate.blogspot.com/

This was an apartment I did in Pacific Heights.

Thank you Rachel. You're the best.

Guest blog

Please check out my latest guest blog on London - this is my fifth post for Decorati.... hope you like it:

http://access.decorati.com/2009/09/19/valeries-london-mayfair/

Staging project

I work a lot with a friend of mine, Ilonka Edwards, who is a fabulous realtor at McGuire Real Estate, here in San Francisco. Ilonka sends many projects my way and I am eternally grateful... especially in times of economic uncertainty. With this in mind, we recently worked on this gorgeous house in Noe Valley. Ilonka is selling the property and I staged it. To keep costs down, I used a lot of the home owners existing pieces, I then purchased a few decorative pieces - e.g., pillows, vases, flowers and used some props from my home too!

For further information on the property:

http://www.openhomesphotography.com/75Clipper/

A sneak peak

I thought I would let you see one of my ongoing projects. It's a penthouse in Nob Hill in San Francisco. I've been commissioned to decorate the entire space, which is fabulous because you can really tie everything together from one room to the next - for example, throughout the space I have used circular patterns from a mirrored art piece, the office rug, lights and decorative spheres. I have also used a muted, muddy palette of greys and browns and added a splash of sunset accent colours in oranges and reds.

I will add more photos over the next few weeks - but here are some of the master bedroom: