Great Design Ideas From Kelly Edwards
Everywhere I look I see this beautiful color
by Kelly Edwards | October 15th, 2009
Color, color, color…you hear every designer talk about color on a daily basis. Well today, while perusing around I found my girl Martha’s post about red. Surprisingly enough, if you asked me if I loved red I’d automatically revert to saying, “no”, but in all reality I think I am a closet lover. Looking at this pic, I think it will convert anyone! Even the display of radishes as an accessory on the gorgeous wood table is super cute and adds in the organic feel.
Evolution-One of my favorite stores in NYC!!
by Kelly Edwards | October 13th, 2009
Every time I visit New York City I always stop into one of my favorite stores in SoHo, Evolution. This store is unlike any other. As a valuable resource for museums, educators, nature enthusiasts, interior designers, photographers and collectors, they carry natural history collectables. From replica skulls, skeletons, beetles and butterflies, this place is a natural wonder. Next time you are in NYC you must check it out or at the very least, click on their site www.evolutionstore.com. Currently, I had the pleasure of interviewing with Mason from Evolution. See our interview below. I can’t thank them enough for their time!!!
What was the vision behind your store?
The basic vision comes from a fascination with the natural world: its strangeness and its beauty, coupled with a collector’s eye. I like to describe the store as a natural history museum you can take home and display in your living room.
What or who inspires you?
Natural history museums, certainly. Science classrooms and old textbooks. The aesthetics of Natural History have an evolution as well, from the curiosity cabinets of the Renaissance to an exhibition today that might have interactive media booths sprinkled in. Our own aesthetic tends (perhaps) more towards the former than the latter, but we also love the bizarre.
How did you get started?
Bill Stevens opened The Evolution Store in 1993. He had been in advertising for years, but had always had a passion for collecting the type of material we sell: natural and scientific items not often seen outside museums. At some point, he realized that perhaps he could start a business selling the type of items he loved. It worked. It seems that many people have a fascination with the beauty of odd items from the natural world. There have been a number of currents in the culture that have helped us achieve the kind of popularity we enjoy, from theJurassic Park movies (we sell dinosaur teeth and insects in amber), to the strange ubiquity of the skull motif in every imaginable aspect of design (we sell skulls and skeletons, both human and animal, both real and replica) to the controversy over the teaching of evolution in schools.
Where do your pieces come from? They are all so unique and amazing!
We deal with hundreds of different suppliers – so many, in fact, that it can be daunting to keep track of them all. We work with taxidermists, fossil preparators, mineral dealers, seashell importers, people all over the world who find or grow or raise or cast nice specimens of all kinds of assorted things. We buy antique pieces. Furthermore we strive to be certain that the items we offer are of the best quality we can sell.
What museums can we find some of your pieces in?
We have sold to several museums, but I am particularly proud to have sold a nice piece to the American Museum of Natural History right here in New York. They needed a fossil dragonfly for a traveling exhibition. They looked at their own collection and realized that most of their examples were type specimens: far too significant to go on the road. So they bought ours.
Do you have any adjectives that best describe your store or your inventory?
Our inventory is constantly changing, and constantly surprising, even to ourselves. I think our store is different things to different people. Some people come in the store and are fascinated. Some people see us as a storehouse of the spooky or bizarre. In either case, I think it is fair to say that we offer very unusual merchandise.
Whats the most unique piece you have in your store right now?
Each one is unique, so it is often extremely hard to pick a winner. We have a very crazy and bizarrely spherical two-faced calf skull, a form of conjoined twins in which one basic skull is divided at the front into two snouts. We have a very large and lovely woolly mammoth tusk in the front window right now. We have some very unusual insects. One of the /rarest/ things we have is lunar and martian meteorite, actual pieces of the surface of Mars or the Moon which were blasted off the by a meteorite impact there, then made their way to earth.
What is your best seller?
We sell a lot of hematite magnets. The hematite is quite attractive – a shiny graphite-gray color, and fun to play with. We sell a lot of nice insect keychains, beetle-wing earrings, and lollipops with bugs in them. Raccoon penis bones…freeze dried mice… People can’t seem to get enough of these things – perhaps because they are so odd. And inexpensive – we sell a lot more keychains than mammoth tusks, as you can imagine. I like to think that we have something for everyone, and every budget. We have sold items from five for a dollar to tens of thousands of dollars, and we get new things year-round.
What is the best gift for a guy/girl? (I only ask this because Id like to buy my boyfriend something, but I can never decide what!)
That totally depends on the guy/girl. We sell a lot of beautifully framed insects, which are one of our specialties, and we can do custom work and special orders, but then some people are just freaked out by bugs. A meteorite might make a great gift; it’s a piece of something which is probably older than the earth, and it comes from outer space. But then it is just a pretty piece of nickel-iron… It takes some imagination to really grasp its significance. Some people like big things for display and some people like tiny objects they can treasure. Talk to one of our salespeople. We love to help steer you towards the most incredible gift. And if it turns out that it isn’t exactly right, we can help you exchange it. We sell gift certificates, too. If you are looking for a gift for someone who seems to have everything, we probably have something fascinating that they have never heard of.
Can anyone sell you what they own, or do you have a specific group you buy from?
We buy items from all over. We are very discriminating, but we love to find interesting and unusual objects…
Organza Backed Bamboo Blinds
by Kelly Edwards | October 12th, 2009
From Cottage Living, owner Laurie Lewis backed her bamboo blinds with organza to soften her windows. I love the look of the blinds paired with fabric. Natural and soft.
Go mad for Tartan!
by Kelly Edwards | October 7th, 2009
Fall is here so why not cozy it up with some tartan or as I like to call it “plaid”. I love the beautiful rooms that Ralph Lauren Home puts together incorporating the look. So classic.
Kim Kardashian’s Condo for Sale
by Kelly Edwards | October 6th, 2009
The Real Estalker just posted these pic’s of Kim Kardashian’s Condo thats for sale here in LA. Click on the pic’s for details of Kim’s casa.
B Braithwaite-Ultra Chic Baby Boutique
by Kelly Edwards | October 5th, 2009
A store is born! What started out as a European trip for a mother and daughter team turned into a one stop shop for ultra chic baby and toddler products in Atlanta. B Braithwaite is a fabulous modern baby boutique that carries everything a mom and dad -to-be may need for customizing their nursery. Nancy, a well known interior designer and her daughter Chaffee created this full service shop to provide everything from baby bibs to bassinets. Along with their beautiful finds, B Braithwaite prides itself on great customer service and inspiration for anyone wanting to decorate a nursery or just purchasing a gift. A one stop shop indeed. Check out my interview with Chaffee below where she talks about being in business with her mom, their favorites and the most important thing everybody should have for their babies room. You can also check out their website at www.bbraithwaite.com to see their inventory.
What or who inspires you?
My mother inspires me a lot. She has a very patient way of looking at everything. And I’m constantly looking at magazines- I can’t get enough of them. I tear out pages constantly and save them- I reference them all the time from branding ideas, to colors I like, to furniture design.
As a mother/daughter team, do you feel you both share a similar design style and vision? We definitely do. We tend to be excited by a similar design aesthetic. When looking for new product, if we don’t both love what we see, it usually means it’s not a good pick. We both appreciate clean, simple and sweet- and my mom loves things a little quirky and unexpected.
Do you have any adjectives that best describe your store or your inventory?
Sweet and edited. We really want our clients to feel relaxed when they are shopping. Offering our clients 50 choices of the same product isn’t helpful. They are looking to us to advise them on what the best products and values are on the market. And we strongly believe everything should have a sweet element to it.
Right now, what’s your favorite piece in the store?
We have a beautiful wicker bassinet on wheels from Europe. It’s so elegant.
Do you have a best seller?
We have lots of best-sellers. Our classic Rascal bear is a favorite of everyone. They are gifted to both children and adults which always makes me smile. Our uppa baby vista strollers is such a smart stroller– we can’t keep them in stock. And the Stokke crib has always been our best-selling crib. It’s has a simple design and isn’t too big. Plus it converts from bassinet through toddler bed.
Your store is definitely a one-stop shop for mom’s to be. With so much to choose from, what is the single most important thing
that every baby’s room should have?
Outside of a crib, I have two must-haves. One is a comfortable glider. You’ll spend hours in the chair between feedings and later it’s the perfect place for storytime. My second must-have is some personal item that makes you smile- a great big stuffed animal, a Kristina Bailey painting you love, or a collection of books from your own childhood. These are the items that give everyone’s nursery a unique and personal space.
Events at your store? Classes?
We have events throughout the year- from meet the creator of brands, to demos, to santa claus and stuff in between. No classes
Do you have any design secrets you’d like to share?
Keep it simple and follow your instinct. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by other people’s advice and design aesthetic. The most important thing about your home is that it makes you and your family happy.
If you weren’t an interior designer with a successful store, what would you be doing? I honestly have no idea- hopefully keeping myself busy with my family and other projects.
October is my favorite month!
by Kelly Edwards | October 3rd, 2009
Martha Stewart’s Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcake with Toasted Marshmallow
Call me biased, but October is my favorite month. It’s my birthday month! So in honor of my favorite month, I decided to post my favorites all month long. Simply put, you will get a daily dose of our favorite shops, designers, restaurants and home goods all month long. If you have a favorite store, cleaning tip, design trick, or something you’d like to share…send it over HERE. We can all share in the wealth this month!
Au Revoir Canada!
by Kelly Edwards | October 3rd, 2009
We are finally home from our 5 day adventure to Quebec City and Montreal. Both cities are very different, yet equally amazing. Quebec can only be described as Old World Europe. Beautiful buildings, cobble stone streets and fabulous brasseries. Its sits atop a a cliff which overlooks the St. Lawrence River and is the only walled city on the continient north of Mexico. There are so many great places to explore and you’ll be in awe at the great architecture of the city itself. They also have art galleries galore so if your an art lover, you’ll spend no time being bored here. As one of the locals described it, ” it gets so cold here in the winter, we all just stay in and become artists!” Just a three hour drive away, Montreal could be described as Chicago with a European flair. If you visit, you must go to Basilique Notre-Dame to see this neo-Gothic marvel from 1829, walk around the underground city and eat dinner at Martin Picard’s restaurant Au Pied de Cochon. As the French would say, “Magnifique!” Here are some of our pics of the trip…
Oh Canada!
by Kelly Edwards | September 29th, 2009
We have officially moved our vacation location from Vero Beach, Florida to Quebec, Canada. After a 4 day jaunt in Florida, hanging out poolside, sipping Mojitos and partying at Emilio and Gloria Estefan’s house on Saturday night (they threw a wonderful party and are truly a class act couple), we took a quick flight to Montreal Canada, where we then got into the car and drove to Quebec. It was the closest we could get to Europe without flying there. We were looking forward to seeing all the beautiful colors of the changing foliage on our drive, but we were disappointed yesterday to find that everything was still green. When we arrived in Quebec we found it is home to centuries old buildings full of historical importance. We certainly plan to indulge ourselves while we are here in french brasseries, beautiful churches and breathtaking botanical gardens. I’ve included some pics here from last night. I will be sure to post some pictures tomorrow of our adventures today. Au revoir!
Vacationing in Vero
by Kelly Edwards | September 25th, 2009
Today is officially day two of our annual vacation. Every year around this time we head to Italy to celebrate a wedding anniversary of a few friends. This year the party got moved from Tuscany to Vero Beach, Florida. What a great place for boating, fishing, kayaking, snorkeling, diving, paddle boarding…and the list could go on and on. I’ll post more tomorrow, but until then Im just going to enjoy the moment.
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Kelly Edwards, the do-it-yourself darling, offers great design tips, bargain-decorating projects, and the tools needed to turn any project into a success.