A FAMILY FRIENDLY BEACH HOUSE! (AND THE ANNOUNCEMENT I JUST CAN'T KEEP QUIET ABOUT)

I was so happy to get an email from Paige Sumblin Schnell over at Tracery Interiors in Florida the other day. She was writing about a project she worked on with fellow interior designer Bess Marshall.

A 4000 square foot 4 bedroom, 4 bath beach house in Blue Mountain Beach, Florida that sits on the highest point of the Gulf of Mexico.  The house was designed as a vacation home for a family with 3 children.

Paige and Bess designed the space so the main areas mirror the natural environment just outside the home. "It all reflects our gulf water, white sand, and rolling dunes" says Paige.

I love the two toned brown and white drapes in one of the bedrooms!

Thank you Paige and Bess for sharing this project!

Happy Wednesday!

xo
Coco

P.S.  Last night I had an absolute blast.  Best of guy friend BN and his wife and dear friend SN joined me for a party at chic Los Angeles showroom, Harbinger...owned by the equally chic Joe Lucas and Parrish Chilcoat.  The party was hosted by Traditional Home magazine for designer Bunny Williams.  It was also a blogger type event for some sort of design blog conference (which I did not attend btw).  Anyhooo...fab Associate Operations Manager KS (who loves the color pink...but for some reason was wearing red) came with her very nice boyfriend MF (who she says only wears dark colors) to hang out for a bit.  Fab public relations consultant Stephanie Tsai of Ink and Press also came (so did Amanda Youseff from Stephanie's company but I missed seeing her)!  I got there late (of course) and stayed late (of course)...but I managed to snap a few photos.

The gorgeous Harbinger showroom as last night's party was winding down when I snapped this photo.  Earlier it was packed beyond belief.  Was happy everyone was gone because I could some of the amazing furniture in the space...love this bent wood original design Harbinger sofa table! (above)

P.P.S.  The cool thing about the night was running into and getting to catch up with so many fabulous blogging friends and designers including...Kristi Bender of Wendy Schwartz Design, designer Oliver Furth, fabulous designer/blogger Tobi Fairley, very nice Erin from House of Turquoise blog, Jennifer Powell from Kravet, Emily Ruddo from Armonia Decors, Vanessa de Vargas of Turquoise L.A., Cassandra Lavalle from Coco Kelley/Rue, Crystal from Rue, designer Darren Ransdell, Clara Hendon from Hillary Thomas Design, stylish designers Ron Woodson and Jamie Rummerfeld from Woodson & Rummerfeld...and the list goes on and on.  I also met some designers who are just starting out in the blogging world like Jana Hunter, Stacy Kunstel and Holly Hollingsworth Phillips!

P.P.P.S.  So...let's see...it is still February, coy and mysterious month... but I can't help it...I must share some news...(I know p.r. guru ST is thinking..."uh oh, here she goes again...just blurting stuff out")!  I hate to bury big news in a P.S. but I can't help myself...ughhhh...this is a real problem...my OSS (over sharing syndrome)...I can't seem to hold onto any news for very long...

P.P.P.P.S.  You should be proud of me, I held on for a whole P.S.

P.P.P.P.P.S.  So...here comes the big announcement (that I am announcing in a P.S. and that is only really big to me and maybe KS...)...drum roll....I am so thrilled to announce that prestigious furnishings showroom Harbinger has picked up the full Nbaynadamas to-the-trade fabric-by-the-yard collection and will represent Nbaynadamas fabric to-the-trade exclusively in the Los Angeles area! (Our Nbaynadamas finished textiles like pillows, throws and drapery will still be sold at other retailers around Los Angeles but for fabric by the yard, Harbinger is it!)  Phew...I got it out...I feel better.  Imagine how thrilled I was last night to see Nbaynadamas linen fabric hanging along side some of the most reputable names in textiles and my pillows thrown hither and thither around the showroom.  Thrilled beyond.  I hadn't been to the showroom before last night and I was delighted!  We still have to get so much more fabric to the showroom for display but we got the first batch there in time for the party!

Nbaynadamas fabrics hanging in the Harbinger showroom in Los Angeles! (above)

Nbaynadamas pillows in cubbies above designer Katie Ridder's wonderful textile collection. (above)

More Nbaynadamas at Harbinger! (above)

P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  I'll do a full story with pretty pictures about Harbinger very soon!  You've got to see all of the wonderful home furnishings they have there.

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  After the event, BN, SN and I enjoyed a nice dinner at the bar across the street at STK.  Good food.  Good company.  Bizarre Tuesday night crowd.  It was like a club scene at a restaurant on a week night!

Photos: Tracery Interiors; Coco of Nbaynadamas

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AN beach house, events, Harbinger, Nbaynadamas collection, Nbaynadamas fabric, Nbaynadamas textiles, party, showroom, vacation home

Nbaynadamas LAVENDER SACHETS!

Nbaynadamas Lavender Sachets and gift box. (above)

I'm so excited to unveil one of the latest from the Nbaynadamas collection...lovely super large luxurious organic lavender sachets enveloped in Nbaynadamas Logo linen!

I had a real problem with these sachets at the New York Gift Fair where we debuted them in the Nbaynadamas booth (and they were oh so popular).  Here's what would happen each time I would start talking about these...I would reach out to give them to a potential customer to hold and sniff and then before I could place one in a customer's hand, my reflexes would kick in.  I would snatch the sachet back and take a big long whiff, close my eyes and impulsively say in a whisper "Oh this smells so good" and forget for one moment where I was before handing it off.   The customers ALL looked at me like I was kooky but then they took a sniff and closed their eyes and said "Oh it does smell really really good!".  I couldn't help myself.  The lavender is just dreamy and sooooooo soothing.  Fab Associate Operations Manager KS (who loves the color pink) watched time and time again as I repeated this strange ritual...at first I saw her brow furrow in shock and then I think she just realized I couldn't help myself.

The sachets in best of friend AM's bowl (I needed a bowl to put things in so I commandeered the bowl right out of AM's posh living room before she even knew it (I gave it back...I think)) in the Nbaynadamas booth at the New York International Gift Fair earlier this month! (above)

We made this sachet big and chunky - six inches square...and full of lavender. We have the organic lavender flown in from Northern California.  We also thought it would be cool and somewhat chic to make the sachets out of our signature highest quality linen (instead of the normal little sack with a ribbon around it that you think of when the word sachet comes to mind).   A large luxurious lavender sachet!

A lavender sachet...for your drawers and closets to keep things smelling good. Or one magazine editor told me, she sleeps with hers at night on her pillow - lavender is known to soothe you know - smart woman!

Anyhoo...a lot of words to say...I hope you enjoy this latest offering in the Nbaynadamas collection.

So this spring, these make for great bridal party gifts, baby shower favors, hostess gifts or most importantly a gift for yourself!

Nbaynadamas - Lavender Sachets - $35 each  (6"x6". Organic lavender wrapped in signature Nbaynadamas Logo linen.  Comes in either grey or navy. Each comes gift wrapped)(above)

I love the navy - why not have a stylish sachet in your drawers, closet or on your pillow! (above)

We have a lot more goodies to unveil over the next few months - all of the new things we took to market last month.  We'll have them all on the website soon (hopefully...web guy has disappeared...he got a new job so I think he's busy...happy about his new job...sad that have all of these new items that can't get on the website...oy...luckily sachets made it onto the site...other items will be on hopefully soon). We've started shipping these sachets and new pillows, throws, tabletop, lacquer boxes and more to our Nbaynadamas retailers already!

I hope you like this first new item!

Happy Tuesday!

xo
Coco

P.S.  Thank you to Liz Joy of Shorely Chic blog for guest posting yesterday on stripes!  Awesome post.  I met Liz at the New York Gift Fair...she stopped by the Nbaynadamas booth to say hi and she was so nice and I knew her blog so I asked her to guest post.  I hope she'll guest again!

P.P.S.  Tonight am going to a party at Harbinger here in L.A. - a party for designer Bunny Williams I think.  Harbinger is one of the most prestigious showrooms in town and they carry Nbaynadamas pillows and Nbaynadamas throws.  There is  more though!  I'm going to have a nice announcement about how I am working with Harbinger on another big project (big for me...probably small for them!).  I'll take some photos and show you tomorrow hopefully!

P.P.P.S.  I am so glad February is almost over.  Am tired of being coy and mysterious!

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AN linen sachet, Nbaynadamas collection, Nbaynadamas lavender sachets, Nbaynadamas textiles

A WONDERFULLY STYLED DESIGN WEEK IN NEW YORK & WHY I GOT A LITTLE TEARY EYED!

All photos in this post by Coco of Nbaynadamas

New Nbaynadamas Naturals linen pillow covers were a big seller at the New York International Gift Fair. (above)

I just woke up this morning.  Late.  Slept in.  Haven't slept in in weeks.  Fair season is officially over and the Nbaynadamas booth is packed away until the summer.

I had so much fun at the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF)...a great time meeting so many nice people, introducing new Nbaynadamas textiles to buyers, hanging out with fab Associate Operations Manager KS (who loves the color pink) in the booth, chatting with our neighbors and I got about a half hour to walk around the fair and see what else is new for Spring.

The fair closed at noon yesterday and we were done packing up the booth by 4p.  It took us about a day and half to set everything up and just 4 hours to break everything down.  It is a little sad when they start rolling up the carpet at the fair and then when the mass tear down starts.  The good news is that we all know that in a few months we'll be doing it all again.

So with that...some final images from the winter New York International Gift Fair!

Our new colorways and styles  in the Nbaynadamas luxury linen collection have been a huge hit...sea foam green, sea green and charcoal grey seem to be in for spring! (above)

Pantone Christmas ornaments and vinyl folding chairs from Seletti! (above and below)

More color in the form of Harvey & Strait cocktail napkins for spring! Harvey & Strait were are our across the way neighbors at the fair and it was a pleasure spending the week with them! (above and below)

Pom Pom at Home's oversized cable knit pillows were oh so popular at the show! As chance would have it, my friends Hilde and her son Sam Leiaghat who are from Los Angeles, were Nbaynadamas next door neighbors at the show.  We spent a nice amount of time enjoying their company! (above)

One last shot of the booth on the last day of the New York International Gift Fair...and then....

The carpet is rolled up....

Everything in the booth comes down....

And the lights go off...and the show comes to a close...until next time...

I get a little emotional some times...when I think of how lucky I have been.  Don't get me wrong...we are still building Nbaynadamas...and while the we've increased our sales significantly during this fair season (woohoo) with lots of new customers and stores coming on board (yay), the company has a long long way to go before we're "there".  I feel very lucky still to even have the opportunity to try to build something and to hopefully help a few people and inspire them along the way try to build their dreams.

I cried a few times at dinners out with my good friends during this trip.  Best of friend AM thinks I may just have been tired...because I've been working so hard (late nights, early mornings, 2 full time jobs for almost a year and half)...but I think I was more crying thankful tears than tired ones. Both times I teared up I was with best of friend AM who has been a constant rock through this, other best of friend FF who flew in all the way from New Orleans with friend FM, AM's sweet hubby JE and KS.  While we were all sitting out to dinner as everyone was chatting, I started to think about the wonderful people in my life including my mom and my sis DS (who came all the way to NYC to hang out with me before the show), my extended family (AJ, SS, RM, MP, JP, LB, MA, AY, ES, LS, JS (family friend who is like family) and so many more), and  friends like NS, BN, JD, AZ, RK, CJ, JT, JLF, A.Ro, AT, JL, RRM, AG and fab Associate Operations Manager KS (who loves the color pink) and all of the lovely supportive readers who came by during the week at the gift fair to cheer us on.  I was a little tired of talking about all that we've done this last year to start up this business (not tired of talking to people but I felt like talking so much about Nbaynadamas was boring to others and I was leading my own "brag fest"), but each time someone said they were inspired by the Nbaynadamas story...it energized me.  So I cried at dinner...not sad tears...but happy ones...

There's a long road to travel before my business gets to where I want it to be...lots of hard work ahead...I will I'm sure cry "tired tears", "scared tears", "disappointment tears", "sad tears" at some point during this journey of building a business (and hopefully I'll have the strength of character to wipe those kinds of tears away and keep plugging along)...but this week during the NYIGF winter show, the tears shed were happy and thankful tears.

Happy Friday!

xo
Coco

P.S. Let's see...want to make sure to mention all of the wonderful people I met.  Connecticut based interior designer Liz Joy from Shorely Chic blog stopped by...we had a nice long chat during a slow period in the booth. Liz is awesome...she is like me...leading a double life of sorts...Liz has a day job and then blogs and does interior design on the side. I hope my babbling was helpful to her. While Liz was there at the booth, New York designer Mimi McAndrew stopped in as well...Mimi was quite lovely too. Designer Keita Turner also stopped by to say hi earlier in the week. Home accessories designer Dabney Lee stopped by with her whole team to say hi.

P.P.S. Oh and how could I forget, interior designer Maria Koundourou of MK Square Studio, who interned for me way back when and who is now an interior designer came by too - what a delight to meet Maria in person after having worked with her virtually so long ago...I was so so so so happy to have some time to talk with her...she was and is delightful.  I may be emailing her today for some help on a project in fact!

P.P.P.S. Good friend CJ stopped by the booth yesterday.  She was so sweet, she helped us start the break down of the booth.  We later went to drinks with her and her talented NYC interior designer sister Jennifer Jones who runs of J Logan Interiors.  KS and I were so hungry after working all afternoon to break down the booth that we gobbled down appetizers at a rate that I think was surprising to both Jennifer and CJ!  Ooops!

P.P.P.P.S.  Also, a thank you to KH and DG who have been so entirely supportive...they work with the gift fair and they have been such a great and fabulous help.

P.P.P.P.P.S.  A stand out to me at the fair were the pillows from Luru Home...started by two sisters.  Their blue and white imported pillows are gorgeous.  They stopped by the booth to say thanks at the beginning of the show because they said I chatted with them at the last show and gave them some advice about showing their collection.  I don't remember speaking with them back then but was so happy to know that something I said may have been helpful.  Then I went down the aisle and saw their collection...just wonderful. Never got around to taking pictures of their display but I'll do a post on them in the future!

P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  Happy happy Friday again!

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  Did I mention how best of friend AM got me to stop my welling tears at the dinner table?  She threatened that we (she, her hubby and I) would walk the 5 blocks from the restaurant to her house instead of taking a cab.  I am a Los Angelenos through and through...why walk when you can drive?  Plus it was FREEZING outside (reminder that anything below 70 degrees Farenheit for me is FREEZING).  So I immediately stopped the sappy emotional blubbering since I knew I did NOT want to walk home.  We ended up walking home.  I was duped!  LOL!

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Oooohhhh just saw that our Special Edition Valentines Day Candle is featured on Casa Sugar today! Yippee!

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S.  I have officially overdone it with P.S.s today.  I know.  Will get it under control for the next post.  I wonder if I can write a post without a single P.S.?  I'll try tomorrow.  I just have so much stuff to chit chat about and aside thought bubbles going at all times, the P.S. has been a great platform for all of my many random thoughts.  Thank goodness I am no longer in school...if I had any kind of writing professor they would surely give me bad marks for this misuse and abuse of the P.S.  P.S. Am sorry for misusing the P.S.  :-)


All photos in this post by Coco of Nbaynadamas

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AN Nbaynadamas booth, Nbaynadamas pillows, Nbaynadamas textiles, New York International Gift Fair

SNEAK PEEK - Nbaynadamas 2012 (AND NEED YOUR HELP DECIDING ON CATALOG COVER)!

Catalog Cover Option 1 - Assortment of navy pillows and throw on sofa with green hydrangea flower arrangement. (above)

So remember I mentioned that fab operations manager KS (who loves the color pink) and fab photographer Hugh Hamilton and I were up until the wee hours doing a photo shoot on Tuesday night (just two days ago...I thought the shoot would take 3 hours...we were there until 1:30a and I didn't get home until after 2am)?  Well...we were shooting the new cover for the Nbaynadamas 2012 catalog...!  We're introducing the new catalog and new collection on January 29th at our booth at the New York International Gift Fair!
Well here is a sneak peek of what's to come from the Nbaynadamas collection!  Some new designs that I cooked up and a whole collection on a new natural linen base fabric.  We have a few new throws too, some table top, lacquer boxes, hand towels and maybe a bit more!

Oh and I need a bit of help figuring out the cover of the catalog.  Fab graphics designer EF is working down to the wire to finish it all up in time for the big launch at the New York International Gift Fair a week from Sunday.

I have of course already canvased all of my friends...with FF, JLF, KB and SN weighing in so far...each of them liked something different.  Help! Need your help readers!

Which of these photos do you like best for a possible cover shot?  Do tell?

Catalog Cover Option 2 - Chair shot with new natural linen pillow and tulips. (above)

Catalog Cover Option 3 - Close up of two new styles in the Classic Linen pillow group. (above)

Catalog Cover Option 4 - Sofa with gray and sea green pillows and roses. (above)

All of these were shot at my wonderful sis DS's house using her furniture (the tables a classic Paul McCobb side tables btw).  DS went and got a hotel room for the night of our photo shoot because she knew we'd be there all night and we were!

KS and I have turned into stylists...Hugh had to get us to stop laughing though as pillows kept tumbling everywhere and we were tripping over piles of inserts...but between the laughing, lots of snacks, lots of moving furniture and placing and re-placing stuff...we got it all done...woo hoo...yippeee...uh huh uh huh...woot woot...yahoooooo!

There is still so much more to do so I probably should stop with all of the premature celebrating!

Please let me know which of these you like best for a possible Nbaynadamas catalog cover.  If you don't like any...we have so many more to chose from too.  Would so appreciate your help.

Happy Thursday!

xo
Coco

P.S.  Thanks ST for the advice on posting. :-)

P.P.S.  Here's a shot of Hugh snapping photos at sis DS's house.  I took this with his extra camera...he says I need lessons on focusing!

P.P.P.S.  Need to take photography lessons...LOL!

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AN mid century modern, Nbaynadamas, Nbaynadamas collection, Nbaynadamas pillows, Nbaynadamas textiles, Nbaynadamas throw, textiles, white chair, white sofa

Nbaynadamas TEXTILES LAND IN BEVERLY HILLS!

All photos in this post by Coco of Nbaynadamas

Nbaynadamas Logo pillow in grey on a dining chair at PomPom Interiors in Beverly Hills! (above)

I am thrilled to let you know that Nbaynadamas Textiles are in another Beverly Hills store! Woohooo...!

Just this week we dropped of a selection of Nbaynadamas linen pillows, cotton pillows and cotton throws to Hilde Leiaghat's Beverly Hills home furnishings store Pom Pom Interiors...and then I held my breath. It was hard holding my breath for two days...but I did it. Then I received a nice email from Jamie the store manager a few days later saying Hilde actually liked some Nbaynadamas! Yippeee!!! I'll calm myself.

Anyhoooooo...I personally went back yesterday to swap out a few things and tahdah...Nbaynadamas is in Beverly Hills right on Canon Drive...(just two blocks from the famed Rodeo Drive...)!  I'm pinching myself!

Nbaynadamas Quatrefoil brown linen pillows and a Nbaynadamas reversible cotton knit throw on turned wood chairs inside the store. (above)

If you happen to be sauntering around Beverly Hills, go see please and let me know what you think!


PomPom Interiors
432 N. Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Phone: 310-248-4440

Happy Saturday!

xo
Coco


All photos in this post by Coco of Nbaynadamas

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AN Nbaynadamas collection, Nbaynadamas pillows, Nbaynadamas textiles, Nbaynadamas throws