0 design talk webisode 13: erika ward

Erika was one of the first interior designers that I met when I moved to Atlanta back in 2009. She has been such a great friend, mentor and inspiration to me since then! While I was in Atlanta a couple weeks ago I caught up with her to see what she's been up to.

For more on Erika, please check out her blog Blu Label Bungalow! And if you'd like more information on Room Service Atlanta, click here. Make sure you tell her Niki sent you! ;)

0 monday motivation

found on Get Togetha

While I was in Atlanta last week, I had dinner with my friends Ally and Dorothy Burke and something we were talking about made me blurt out, "I don't require myself to be perfect!" That may be the first time I have said that to anyone else, but it is the way I have been living my life for quite some time now. I am admittedly a retired perfectionist; at some point I realized that each morning God wakes me up, I am exactly how He wants me to be. No need to fret about what I think is "wrong". Once I let go of that annoying itch to FIX myself all the time, I noticed that the best of me effortlessly came to the surface.

I owe you guys a real recap of everything I've been up to!! I promise to fill you in this week! :)

Also, stay tuned for a new Design Talk webisode with Erika Ward tomorrow! She is truly one of my "sheroes" and I'm so happy to call her a friend.

Have a great Monday!

6 design talk webisode 12: quintel gwinn

0 design talk webisode 11: thrifting with beverly & rebecca

When I decided to start interviewing my friends for Design Talk, these are exactly the type of stories I wanted them to share. We all have our own preferences and things that we love about our homes and it's so personal. Sometimes it has influence from other family members, and sometimes the things that we choose to include only make since to us!

I absolutely love how Beverly & Rebecca has taken their love for thrifting and filled their home with only significant things. It goes to show you that you don't have to have a LOT to make a house a home.

Enjoy part two of the interview! And be sure to reach out to The Knight Twins on Twitter @bev_knight and @RKnight_light



PS - There's lots of giggling in this one too. :)

2 design talk with rebecca & beverly

I remember when Rebecca & Beverly came to my high school and I instantly fell in love with them! They have an infectious energy and a sense of self that just makes you want to be around them all the time. When I thought about who I wanted to interview for Design Talk in Raleigh, I immediately thought of them. We share a lot of thrifting and all things Southern! This is just a peek into their home, which is a work in progress. I hope to share some "before and after" shots with you in the future!


They had so many great finds that I couldn't fit all of it into one webisode! I'll be uploading part two of this interview next week, but until then, here are a few more shots from our time together.


Beverly shared her collection of vintage & new jewels in this cute tray.


Rebecca shared her inspirations for her bedroom decor, including this beautiful little vanity chair she found at a friend's house.


They saved these chairs from the dumpster, painted and recovered them!


Another amazing find... this camelback sofa! You won't believe how much they grabbed this one for.


And lastly, they have a collection of vintage tea sets. This one was my favorite!

I hope you enjoyed part one of our interview! And stay tuned for the next one.

3 design talk with rachel stewart

Rachel & I had so much for chatting about design and art last week that it was hard to cut down this video to 5 minutes! One of the things that I loved about her home is she really collects only the things that she loves and are personal to her taste. Each unique piece had a story; much like the one she told about the "Charles" mirror!


This was my first time trying a new format for the web series and I hope you all like the "interview" style. Next time, I'll remember to face the camera, I promise! Rachel is so awesome, I'm hoping we can do some more webisodes together!


Here is another piece of Rachel's that she painting 10 years ago! I loved the combination of paint & photographs and there are even little shells on it too.


Rachel told me the craziest story about how she dreamed about this whiskey pourer, and then found it sitting up high on a shelf at a thrift store. She bought it, and wound up giving it to her boyfriend at the time. After they broke up, he refused to give it back & Rachel waited years before she scored another one on eBay!


Rachel's living room was bright, and modern with a twist. Her artwork pops against the sleek lines of her furniture.


And she has a great mix of "high & low" plus vintage pieces.

Please go check out Rachel's work here and let her know I sent ya! Thanks to The Stuyvesants for the background music and Creative Silence Photo for the intro photography of Rachel & me.

2 design talk 8: where do you want to go?

We wanted to share our destination wishlist with you in this brand new webisode of Design Talk. Where would you go if you had all the time & money you want to travel? Click play to hear our picks!

1 design talk webisode 7: summer must-haves!

Welcome Maxine Lee, CSW of In A Fab World blog to Design Talk! Maxine is one of my dearest friends and I hope you enjoy us talking about our favorite summer essentials! If you like these type of topics, let us know! Again, I want to mix up the interior design talk with some more lifestyle posts.

There are some things we just can't live without in the blazing heat here in Atlanta. Here are our "summer must-haves" to stay cute & somewhat cool...

1 design talk webisode 6

SIDENOTE: This video was supposed to go live last week, but YouTube held it hostage! What's up with that YouTube??


In this webisode, we're talking about the fabulous Kelly Wearstler flagship store in LA as featured in the current issue of Lonny Magazine. You can see the images we're talking about below! Have you read the current issue? What was your favorite spread?








All photos via lonnymag.com

6 design talk webisode 5: thrifting 101

Since we started this series, we've had soooo many requests to do a webisode about thrifting! Although it's hard to share all our secrets without actually walking you through it, we wanted to give you a few great tips to start or improve your thrift store shopping experience! This video is a little longer than the others, but I promise, it's an entertaining and informative 8 minutes! :)

As always, we want to hear from you! Keep giving us great feedback & ideas, and we'll keep filming.

Enjoy!


PS - WHY does YouTube pick the WORST screenshot possible for the video thumbnails??

PPS - Tricea is on Twitter now! Tweet her @TriceaM

4 surprise! new design talk webisode

Good Monday Morning! Tricea & I realized that we never really introduced ourselves at the start of the Design Talk series, so here is a little video about our backgrounds & design styles. Enjoy!

6 design talk webisode 3

Happy Monday Guys! As promised, I just uploaded a new webisode of Design Talk! Tricea and I had so much fun making this one. We wanted to have a little chat with the FELLAS this time, because we've noticed a few bad habits that seem to stick with them.


*Disclaimer: No gentlemen were harmed in the making of this video! ;)

Here are a few examples of GREAT man spaces:



image sources

For more examples of great spaces, check out our Design Talk Webisodes board on Pinterest.


Hope you enjoyed the video! Please share, comment and feel free to repost!

7 design talk webisode 2: top ten tips for renters!

I'm so excited to show you another webisode of Design Talk!!! Tricea and I came up with our Top Ten ideas for warming up a rental space after Ishea gave me the great topic idea on Twitter! We had so much fun and I hope you love it. We love your comments and please do share the video with someone you know! :)

9 design talk webisode one

In this webisode, we're talking about House Beautiful's November 2011 issue. Have you seen it? It's gorgeous!


Bear with us, this is our first attempt at filming & my first attempt at video editing, but I think it turned out pretty fun! The photos that we are looking at are below.









What did you think!! Give us your feedback!



P.S. - Check out the magazine viewer I referenced here: Zinio