Victoria Writes the Foreward for Kelly Hoppens Book

Victoria Beckham has written the foreword for her friend Kelly Hoppen's new book - praising the interior designer's style.

"Kelly has a passion for style with an aesthetic like no other," Beckham says. "She is a very dear friend, and for many years I have admired her strength and success. She is a woman with a strong vision, instinctively combining comfort with contemporary chic. Fashion, lifestyle and art are all reflections of our individual personas. Learning how to recreate the visual references that we love is an exciting journey for any homeowner. Kelly has made this achieveable for everyone in the pages of her beautiful book, guiding us through her idea and vision."

The book, Kelly Hoppen: Ideas, provides a room-by-room master class to help people to plan the design of their own house - using Hoppen's expertise and knowledge. The book is available now.

source: Vogue UK

A Writer's Refuge

Where does a great storyteller and writer get inspired? What feeds the minds that shape new environments and situations? Writers give us part of our history, education, and entertainment, and sometimes even change the world with their words.

The entire process of writing is very intriguing to me. Of course, as a designer and pragmatist; I find myself also wondering about Where a writer works when creating something new. I believe that the environment we choose for ourselves can affect our thoughts and actions. So, when I saw Re-nest's photos of famous writers' work spaces; I almost jumped out of my seat! They are fantastic!!

The pictures above are of Roald Dahl's hut. Why is it, that the yellow door and cozy clutter are just what I would have imagined for the creator of Willy Wonka and the fantastic Mr. Fox?

Mark Twain's space. He is my personal favorite. No matter how many books I read or how old I get, I still love none more than Huckleberry Finn:)

Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond. I thinks this proves that living with simplicity allows the mind to think clearly. Talk about an environment that inspired world changing words!!

George Bernard Shaw's "London". Haha! Love the back story behind that name.

Frida Kahlo: I Will Never Forget You

Last weekend, Mark and I spent our anniversary in Dallas. (Kid free!!) My husband is so sweet, that while there; he willingly wandered through countless galleries and furniture stores with me. Thank you, Sweetie:) Anyway, I stumbled upon PDNB Gallery  and found an exhibition of Frida Kahlo portraits taken by various photographers. Wow, I was so excited! Frida has been such an inspiration to me since I was a teenager. Aside, from our shared heritage; I always aspire to be as unique and bold as she was. My motto is, WWFD. (What Would Frida Do? For those of you too young to know what I'm talking about). The sad thing is, I have never had the pleasure of seeing her paintings in person! That's why this exhibition was a must-see.

Some of Frida's most iconic photos are part of this collection and some photos I have never seen before. They are worth stopping by to see. The exhibition closes on January 1, so don't miss it! If you can't see it, many of these photos are included in a book called I Will Never Forget You: Frida Kahlo and Nikolas Muray. Check it out here,  in my brand new bookstore! I'm very excited about it, so I hope you enjoy looking through it this compilation of my favorite books.

P.S. Tomorrow, I will share some of new favorite Dallas shops. Ooh, I found some great stuff!!!

Vicente and Me

Confession time: I've been sitting on these photos for a couple of days now, because I wanted to come up with a clever introduction for them. I wrote and re-wrote, but all I ever came up with was...I MET VICENTE WOLF, I MET VICENTE WOLF!!!!!!!
Now you understand my dilemma. I mean what do you say about meeting someone you admire so much., who's creative genius inspires you to be better at your own profession, everyday?

(That's me palling around with Vicente. I won't show the photo of me unconsciously twirling my hair around my finger while he spoke to me)
So, sorry this is late; but here's what happened. Monday, the Houston Design Center hosted a book signing and lecture to promote Vicente's new book, Lifting the Curtain on Design. This was something I couldn't miss!

It was so exciting and I was pretty nervous. I imagined myself walking up to his table and drooling or passing out. Also, I wondered if I could tell him how much I love his work and how much of a genius he is. In reality, all I could get out was, "Hi Vicente I'm Carolina. I love your books, will you sign my copy of Learning to See, also? Oh, and may I take a photo with you?" Amazing, huh? Funny enough, he asked me if I spoke Spanish and I answered, "Si, claro". This seemed to make him relax a bit and we chatted a little bit more.
Next, Vicente spoke about his new book and about the ins-and-outs of running such a prominent design firm. I found this refreshingly honest. (Let's face it designers have a tendency to be a bit standoffish!) So, it was awesome.

Although by evening's end, Vicente wasn't overwhelmed by my charm to the point of insisting on being my new BFF; I still had an experience I will never forget:)

Better Words

I've been gone for a while, because I haven't been able to put words together. All the things that I begin to write down, have nothing to do with what I have been doing so I've been at a total standstill. I thought perhaps using someone else's eloquent words would be a smarter choice:)