Blog - Cotton & Flax

interior design

Cotton & Flax in select West Elm stores

Cotton & Flax at West Elm San Diego

After all the excitement around the announcement of Cotton & Flax tea towels being carried by CB2, I was floored when one of my favorite home decor companies, West Elm, got in touch, asking to carry a selection of my wares as part of their West Elm Local collection. It’s been an incredible experience working with these giants in the world of home decor, and I am beyond excited that corporations are showing an interest in promoting smaller companies and the beautiful work of local makers.

Cotton & Flax at West Elm

For a limited time, you can now find Cotton & Flax pillows and tea towels at West Elm stores in LA and San Diego! Take a peek at the local makers included in each store, West Elm posted roundups of the LA Local and San Diego Local collections on their blog. If you spot my wares in store, or if you buy one of the pieces to add to your home, tag me on Instagram or Twitter!

Design Camp with AB Chao

design camp

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending AB Chao’s Design Camp here in LA! Design Camp is a weekend interior design workshop with decorator + stylist AB Chao. At Camp you learn everything from interior design basics to magazine-worthy styling; how to apply what you’ve learned to your own space; and insider tips on making your place a beautiful, happy place to be.

Design Camp

(AB’s photo from Design Camp NYC)

Design Camp was lots of fun, and a big motivator to put more thought into the layout and decor in our apartment. We’ve been living in our current space for over two years now, and it’s never felt quite finished, so I’ve been looking for ways to feel more at home in our apartment.

My number one lesson from Design Camp: draw a layout of your home to see the space as it really is. I love to rearrange the furniture in our house, but I would often find that things didn’t quite fit right once I’d finished moving them around. Drawing the floor plan of our apartment on graph paper helped me to visualize the different arrangements we could achieve before lugging the sofa across the apartment.

treats from design camp

(I contributed Cotton & Flax postcard sets to the goodie bags each attendee received)

AB posted a recap of LA Design Camp, in case you’re curious about attending when Design Camp visits your hometown! While my experience was a little less glamorous (since I was helping out as an intern), I learned some amazing interior design tips I’ll be applying to my own home in the weeks to come. Maybe I’ll even share some before/after photos here on the blog!

A Luxurious, Bohemian Studio

bohemian decor

I’ve been mentally rearranging my living room a lot lately, I’m really itching for a change. I put together this little collection while I was imagining the perfect bohemian corner where I could sit and sketch out new ideas for Cotton & Flax patterns.

  1. Satellite 3 Light from Schoolhouse Electric
  2. Honeycomb Pot from Terrain
  3. Torque Stool (used as a side table) from Anthropologie
  4. Cordage Chair from Anthropologie
  5. Gold Triangle Pillow from Cotton & Flax
  6. Kasbah Wool Rug from West Elm

 

A little pattern never hurts.

patterned decor

I’ve been thinking about the many ways you can add pattern to your decor, and while textiles are my favorite, I compiled another collection that uses pattern in different ways. In paticular, I love the way that the Eames chair creates repetitive shapes in the design of the chair, without using any fabric at all.

  1. Factory Light No. 7 from Schoolhouse Electric
  2. November Frost print from Amber Alexander
  3. Diamond Pillow from Cotton & Flax
  4. Mrs. Godfrey Chair from Jonathan Adler
  5. Eames DKR Chair from 1st Dibs
  6. Brasilia Stripes bowl from Jonathan Adler
  7. Ilmari Tapiovaara Coffee Table from Finnish Design Shop
  8. Jute Rug from West Elm

Feminine vs. Masculine

masculine decor

Living with your significant other can provide all sorts of decorating challenges. For my boyfriend and I, that’s meant finding a way to display his many collections, while also finding space on the wall for the various art pieces I’ve collected over the years.

While I don’t consider myself very girly (I’m pretty sure I don’t own any pink clothing…), it has been tricky for us to compromise between decor that leans towards the masculine or feminine. Even for couples who have similar taste in decor, it seems that there is always something contentious about decorating your home together.

As a couple, we can agree on a few things: we prefer clean lines and neutral colors. I put together a little collection of items that I think we’d both love to incorporate into our own living room.

*The best part of this collection? Everything was made in the USA! Except for that little ceramic planter, that’s from Belgium, but I loved it too much not to include it. You could certainly find a unique ceramic piece that’s similar on Etsy!

1. Painting from Jeremy Miranda (I believe he’ll do custom pieces)

2. Mulberry Tripod Floor Lamp from Schoolhouse Electric

3. Petrie Sofa from Crate & Barrel

4. & 5. Pillows from Cotton & Flax

6. Amersley Coffee Table from Schoolhouse Electric

7. Ceramic Planter from Terrain