Target has done it again! The same retailer that brought us the Missoni collection and Jason Wu for Target is reclaiming its reputation as a front-runner of high-end design partnerships. Target will soon be home to The Shops at Target , unique boutiques in stores offering trendy, affordable merchandise. The Shops at Target will feature products from specialty shops around the country for six-week runs. The Minneapolis-based corporation will work directly with the shop owners to create limited-edition collections for its guests. Products will range in price from $1 for a nail file to $160 for a pouf chair.

The Shops at Target debuts Sunday with fresh, affordable products Target has co-created with five stand-out specialty stores from around the country: The Candy Store, Cos Bar, Polka Dog Bakery, Privet House, and The Webster—nearly 400 design objects in all. Find out the Kerrie Kelly Design Lab designers’ favorites in this sneak peek below.

The Webster is a Miami Beach boutique known for its highly curated mix of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and luxury accessories. The Webster at Target includes Miami-inspired apparel and accessories for women, men, kids and baby.

Kristen loves Webster at Target deco print 60′s dress ($39.99)

Cos Bar, known for prestige makeup, skincare, and fragrance, started in 1976 in Aspen and now has 12 stores nationwide, including 50th & France in Edina. Cos Bar at Target includes makeup essentials, body care products, beauty tools, and cosmetic bags in bold prints.

Katrina loves Cos Bar at Target blueberry white tea body scrub ($6)

Privet House of Connecticut boasts an international collection of antique and vintage furniture, artwork, and mirrors for the home and garden. Privet House at Target features decor and accessories for the home and garden inspired by the shop’s East Coast charm.

Kerrie can’t wait for the Privet House at Target ceramic cheeseboard ($14.99)

Polka Dog Bakery is a Boston treat boutique for dogs specializing in natural, freshly baked goods and stylish accessories. Polka Dog Bakery at Target includes colorful toys and accessories as well as edible delights.

And Jill loves Polka Dog Bakery at Target striped collars ($5.99-$7.99)

Does Sacramento finally have a small scale version of New York’s Balthazar Restaurant? Maybe so! Trong Nguyen and his wife, Annie Ngo, have created a French culinary showcase at the former Cassidy’s Family Restaurant site at 51st Street and Folsom Boulevard. Called Les Baux, after a picturesque village in southern France, this place bakes and sell breads, pastries and cookies on one side and will have affordable sit-down dining on the other, with crepes, fruits de mer, pistou soup and other French specialties this Summer.

Inspired by Bouchon, the Thomas Keller-owned operation in Yountville and trained by Sim Cass, the founding baker at Balthazar in New York, you get a sense of the two styles by just looking at the font at on the menu, let alone the simple design aesthetic. Trong even fashioned his own unique light fixtures from wine barrels to contribute to the easy style.

Vintage teapots serve your tea order and coffee is steeped by the cup, so if you need a quick cup, Annie says, “this may not be the place for you”. However, if you would like to nosh on amazing pastries and take in a beautiful interior scheme or even pick up a baguette on your way home, you should stop in for sure!

Straight from the runway to your home, our designer Kristen Gong has noticed a trend or two. This spring in New York, birds are fluttering their way into some fantastic designer collections.  Some birds are realistic and others stylized, but mostly all are graphic, bright and beautiful.  Our team loves the dresses by Carolina Herrera; they are both flirty and feminine. Marc by Marc Jacobs featured a graphic bird in a pop style that we would love to wear around Midtown Sac, Davis or Chico this summer.

How happy are we that KKDL has translated the bird trend into great pillows for our clients’ homes! The peacock pillow works in so many spaces, and the red bird pillow is really sweet.  This little feather pillow reminds us of a tiny golden seal- just the right amount of shine against a matte textured fabric.

Birds have also been popping up in wallpaper.  Jill, another designer at KKDL, found this fantastic bird paper from Osborne and Little.  So beautiful!  We can’t wait to see what birds flutter by next.

And we LOVE our Wesley Hall chairs—so chic!

Recently one of our designers, Kristen Gong, made a trip to New York. We discovered she is inspired by some of the same great brights and patterns that I am from Marimekko! See what she has to say…

I love the bright colors from Marimekko! Their store in NY was so refreshing and bright. They definitely captured the tangerine tango color of the year- however, we are seeing shades of electric blue in our new home fashions! The sunny tangerine seems to make any rainy day bright!

We are so excited to be a part of a new Spanish Revival design project! We are in the early stages of construction but Katrina and I have found inspiration from a recent trip to Santa Barbara.

The Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara provided us with inspiration for lighting.

Throughout Santa Barbara, we found inspiration for tiles that we will be using inside the home.

Continue to follow us for this project’s progress!

With the sun shining and warm weather in the air, Spring has sprung! This means it is also time for refreshing your interior design. Before you rush to the nearest store in search of items that will breathe new life into your home, take a closer look at what you own and decide whether you have items to be flipped, flopped or swapped.  Last weekend, with the help of our friends at Good Day Sacramento, our team was able to show an East Sacramento resident how to rejuvenate her home’s interior with items she already had on hand.

Before: Our homeowner was off to a good start with hardwood floors, white shutters & fresh paint.

After: A completed space welcomes our homeowner’s friends with a few inexpensive flop, flops and swaps.

The Kerrie Kelly Design Lab team flopped many of the solid red pillows by layering pillows with larger scale prints.  The previous rug was too small for the space so it was swapped with a black and white cowhide from the bedroom, adding texture and anchoring the seating area.  A bar cart found in the dining room now serves as a side table as well as a place to display a splash of color from the kitchen.  The white linen ottoman cube found a new home at the other corner of the room and was flipped with a leopard print slipcover.  The merchandised bookcases showcase some of the homeowner’s favorite books and the empty shelves are now a place to stow away throw blankets and extra pillows.  Our completed designer flip, flop or swap created a completed living room for the homeowner to enjoy just in time for Spring!

In commemoration of Sacramento native Ray Eames’ 100th birthday, this week Lumens Light+Living, Sactown Magazine, Hot Italian, The Bridge District, and the The California Museum brought “Eames: The Architect and The Painter” to the Crest Theatre. Widely regarded as America’s most significant designers, the husband-and-wife duo Charles and Ray Eames created an extraordinary body of work beginning with molded plywood splints for the military during WWII to furniture, films, exhibitions, toys and more through the late 1980s. While their professional work has been widely documented, “Eames: The Architect and The Painter” is the first film since the close of their Los Angeles studio in 1988 to explore the personal lives and legacy of these visionary California designers, from the development of modernism through the rise of the computer age. That screening has brought back wonderful memories of my time with Charles and Ray Eames’ grandson, Eames Demetrios.

Last Summer, I had the opportunity to meet Eames Demetrios and tour Charles and Ray’s home in Los Angeles while filming our educational design segments for Pearson Education. We feature the family and their personal design stories in our  furniture chapter of our interactive program.

Interviewing Eames at Charles & Ray’s home, chatting about his childhood.

Eames told the stories of his grandparents with a gleam in his eye while he talked about the perfect tool for everything they did, including eating grapefruit. Such thoughtfulness in their work, he also discussed the client or guest/host relationship, which truly spoke to me—“no matter who you are meeting with, they are guest in your space.”

At Eames Office playing amongst their toys!

With Eames Demetrios & John Mounier, Filmmaker

Last night, we celebrated the Eames family further at a Herman Miller event at Lumens Light+Living.  We enjoyed food, music, and great design as the Sacramento community welcomed Herman Miller furnishings, who includes many original Eames designs in their line, to the Lumens store. Also, the first 50 guest arrivals received an Eames Elephant keychain by Vitra.

With Zack Rosson, Lumen’s Lighting Expert on a classic Eames Chair

Our Goodie: Eames Elephant keychain by Vitra

I would have to say during my time at the Design Blogger’s Conference, I was most inspired by guest speaker, Bunny Williams. Her design approach paired with her business savvy spoke to me.  Trained in the “old school” way of learning from the bottom up, her first job out of college had her cataloging antiques. Her second job was on the staff of the famed team of Sister Parish and Albert Hadley (Parish-Hadley) for twenty-two years.   Her experience there prepared her to run her own business, design her own furniture and home accessory line, open up a high-end home garden store, Treillage with husband and antique dealer, John Rosselli and write four very successful books that feature her various homes.

The big take-away was her emphasis that young designers had to get out and see things first hand. Online learning, Facebook, blogging and Twittering are important, but visiting  museums, traveling, popping into antique stores and markets, puttering into off- the-beaten path shops and if possible, finding an apprenticeship in order to learn from the designers that have come before you is most vital.  Bunny feels education is the most important element in becoming the designer you want to evolve into.

“Everything in design is recycled; it is how we put together what we have seen that makes it unique.”  -Bunny Williams

Well the party didn’t stop at the gift cards and the sweet treats during day two—actually there was more design inspiration! Our Design Blogger Conference started with the wit and wisdom of Martyn Lawrence Bullard and Bunny Williams greeting us at the door! During his keynote speech, Martyn told of his colorful design path and how the relationships he formed with Cheryl Tiegs, Elton John and Cher has help to carry his career to what it is today. Martyn’s line with Schumacher is pretty fabulous too!

After hearing so much about this eatery, we headed over to Bottega Louie  at 700 South Grand Avenue in Los Angeles for a sweet treat to kick off our conference stay. We were welcomed by a beautiful French-feeling exterior. The interior carried the same feeling with the extremely high ceilings, wide open space with view into the kitchens and a simple approach to décor. It really appealed to me, as you immediately felt the focus was in the right place—on the food and the people.

As you walk in the door you are welcomed by a large case of colorful macaroons! They are simply gorgeous. However, we chose to step around the corner to a sweeter treat case that reminded us of our travels while in France. Understandably, we went in for café and a key lime tart and raspberry chocolate goodie. The raspberry chocolate one was literally irredescent as you can see in my photo!

 We were also surrounded by pizzas, salads and beautiful sandwiches. Our only dilemma was when will we have time to come back? Breakfast tomorrow?

The first day of our Design Blogger Conference event begins with check in at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. This hotel is the premier choice for celebrities, presidents and dignitaries for over 85 years. The Millennium Biltmore Hotel offers historic grandeur and modern luxury in the heart of exciting downtown Los Angeles. Located in the vibrant cultural and financial districts, the downtown Los Angeles hotel is steps away from major attractions, including our latest find Bottega Louie!

Upon check-in we received top notch designer swag from some of our favorite pals in the industry. One Kings Lane provided us gift cards for their ongoing tastemaker sales and Christen Maxwell partnered with The Foundary and Hayneedle to provide designer Ikat patterned business card holders. What I love about Christen’s products are that they are all made in the USA—simply the perfect gift to be prepared to share business information with the other 350-blogger attendees!

Before we headed off to our networking event we couldn’t resist a sweet treat. So, we headed off to the uber-popular Bottega Louie! Check what we found there tomorrow.

The Design Bloggers Conference, hosted at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, is an event looked forward to every year.  This premier conference focuses on new media in the interior design industry.  This year, Kerrie Kelly Design Lab is attending the sold out event!

The trip started with a stop in Santa Barbara for some inspiration for a Spanish Revival design project currently in the works in Sacramento.

Upon arriving in LA, I became excited to reconnect with some of my design blogger friends from Brizo’s New York Fashion Week. Tonight, I get to connect with Twitter pals and fellow bloggers over cocktails at a pre-conference reception.

Tomorrow really starts the party with keynote speaker, Martyn Lawrence Bullard.  His unparalleled knowledge of interior design will be shared at the conference during his Interior Design Trends in 2012 speech.

I look forward to sharing the fabulous new design information and experiences that I discover the next couple of days!

In anticipation for the March issue of Sacramento Magazine’s feature of Hardworking Laundry Rooms, Kerrie Kelly Design Lab would like to share a few laundry room tips of our own!

The laundry room is all about the best storage, the layout, and little details that make cleaning clothes less time-consuming and more cheery.  Here’s a pile of helpful tips:

1. Choose a smart layout: Don’t position washers, dryers, ironing boards, etc. behind doors or in awkward corners. If you purchase front-loading washers and dryers, consider pedestals to raise them up and make access easier.  When choosing flooring, avoid wood or ceramic tile and go for something durable like porcelain tile (unglazed to prevent slipping when wet).

2. Be efficient: Evaluate how much washing you’re doing these days. If you’re not using the most efficient machines for your needs, new ones may actually save you money. When buying new machines, always investigate how much electricity they will use in a year. Other design features that help save energy include water level controls, moisture sensors, and spin cycle adjustments.

3. Decorate / paint the walls: So many laundry rooms are drab, utilitarian places. Don’t be afraid to continue your home’s décor into this space. You’ll enjoy working in there more if it feels as warm and inviting as the rest of your home.

4. Include plenty of storage: If you can afford it, built-in cabinets and shelves are smart (and can even add to a home’s value), but there are plenty of inexpensive free-standing or between-the-washer-dryer caddies, cabinets, organizers and bins found at most box stores.

5. Consider a fold-out or hide-away ironing board: Having an ironing board set up all the time takes up a lot of space. There are a lot of models that are meant to hide behind the door or fold up on the wall when not in use. Find full-size boards online at sites such as  the Container Store.

6. Create Timesaving Sorting: Never face a heaping pile of dirty clothes again! Designate baskets for darks, lights, and dry-cleaning so everyone can help sort clothes. Have canvas-lined baskets embroidered, or label them with a fabric marker. Discount and specialty stores sell rolling carts with divided bins. Use adhesive felt letters to label each one, so everyone knows what goes where.

7. Music: Dirty Laundry never sounded so good – when sung by Don Henley. Make sure you have a CD player or stereo for some tunage!

With New York Fashion Week commencing last week, Kerrie Kelly Design Lab becomes filled with new interior design ideas for 2012 and inspired by fashion shows past.

2012: Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton

This year to display Marc Jacobs’s ironically girly Spring/Summer 2012 collection for Louis Vuitton, the designer embraced the juvenile femininity of his crystal tiaras, pastel puffed skirts and eyelet-daisy detail by staging a runway show on the most playful of platforms: a giant carousel. The whimsy of the set and the saccharine collection were counterweights to the darkness of that Fall’s fetishism. As rumors swirled of a potential move to the house of Dior, Jacobs’s scenery was also a clever commentary on the merry-go-round of fashion.

2005: John Galliano for Dior Haute Couture

We have come to expect such spectacles from brands like Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Louis Vuitton and, the original showman, Thierry Mugler. Incorporating film and stage direction into the production, Mugler depicted a model, La Madone, in an embroidered angel ensemble suspended above glass spires.

1984: Thierry Mugler

Yet fashion shows were not always dramatic productions. As recently as the early 1980s, collections were exhibited over a two-month period in the intimate setting of designers’ salons. Throughout the decade, pioneers like Vivienne Westwood and Mugler led a transformation from small-scale “parades” to extravagant runway shows, and by the late ’90s, Paris fashion shows had become over-the-top extravaganzas, as designers one-upped each other-and themselves-year after year in the race to put on the wildest show. Which is why we welcome all that is fashion week each year.

Ever dream of living in a chalet, only with modern elements? Kerrie Kelly Design Lab’s recent trip to the Las Vegas World Market allowed us how to discover all the collection pieces to achieve a new Modern Chalet look! Think of a chic haven full of rustic wood details, minimalist forms and lively accents punctuated with crisp plaids and sophisticated animal prints—and see how it comes together below.

Begin by anchoring your space with Masland Carpet’s Large Houndstooth Rug.

Provide seating with Daniel Stuart’s Hero Wing Chair and upholster it in a classic red tartan.

Add some pop with Daniel Stuart’s Oh Deer Pillow in Red or Black.

Layer walls with the Howard Elliott Collection’s Hawthorne Mirror.

Add in traditional nesting tables that branch out as casual perches for laptops or small bites in casual update of classic design with Crate & Barrel’s Set of 2 Hudson Round Nesting Tables.

Throw in Red Clay Home’s Incline at Sunset Bowls for nuts and treats. The delicately sloping edge of this serving bowl creates a beautiful nest to display fruit or corral loose items. Simple yet stunning, the Incline at Sunset bowl is suitable to serve salads or sides, or just add a pop of style to any space.

And don’t forget to shine light above with Four Hands wooden chandelier.

Voila! You officially have your own Modern Chalet!

We are so thrilled to share the great work that our clients and friends, Mitch and Teri Ostwald are doing with the Sacramento Speaker Series! The Law Offices of Mitchell S. Ostwald actually sponsors the series and we are so pleased to be a guest of their endeavors.

In case you haven’t heard, the Sacramento Speakers Series provides an open forum for the exchange of ideas, opinions, and perspectives as well as the enrichment of the Sacramento community. Each season’s speakers represent a wide variety of subjects ranging from world affairs, politics, business & economics to the arts, entertainment and the environment. Speakers are chosen on the basis of their career achievements and unique expertise in their particular field of endeavor.

Last week we had the pleasure of attending the series to see Richard Roeper. For eight years, Richard Roeper was the co-host of the nationally syndicated “Ebert & Roeper” program. Roeper is currently the co-host of the “Roe & Roeper” show on WLS-AM. It is the highest–rated talk show of any kind in any time slot in Chicago. To gain his insight on the Oscars, movie industry and favorite picks, was interesting and also a trip down movie history lane!

We look forward to March 1^st where Sacramento will welcome Peter Greenberg, America’s most recognized, honored and respected front-line travel news journalist. Join us while there are still tickets available by clicking here: Sacramento Speaker Series.

The Kerrie Kelly Design Lab is proud to announce that they are new winner of the Jason Wu for Brizo Blogger 19 Design Challenge. Inspired by Jason Wu’s Spring 2012 runway collection, the KKDL team created a stunning bathroom design that incorporates Jason Wu’s new luxury line of powder room products. The Design Lab’s award winning sketch designs will soon be brought to life in a photography set and featured in Jason Wu for Brizo advertisements.

Timeless styling paired with functional ease creates an irresistible experience. Inspired by Jason’s 2012 Spring Fashion Week Collection, simplicity, whimsy, pops of color and bold contrast all contribute to this bathroom design. Dark eco-friendly wood flooring anchors the space while a lacquered yellow floating vanity cabinet provides a vibrant and youthful elegance. Sitting atop a white seamless solid surface with integrated rectangular sink, Jason’s Odin faucet gets the contrast and presence it deserves. And so do the accessories–just like the Spring 2012 show’s slick strappy stilettos and spiky leather hair clips–when placed against a simple white wall covering. As an added inspiration, a black and white Brizo scarf from Kerrie’s Fashion Week visit serves as the room’s mirror detail inspiration. Thank you for the opportunity Brizo!  And to the new Blogger 19, enjoy New York Fashion Week this week with Jason Wu and team!

Our recent lighting find has us in “suspension!” It seems to coordinate with any scheme—urban, contemporary or even a little country. It’s called the Icaro Suspension Lamp and comes swinging in painted transparent, matte white or black steel wire. The lamp’s light bulb can be in plain sight or protected by a strip of removable material.

It is available for both indoor and outdoor, in four different sizes {in both table and swinging lamp} and four different finishes.

Kerrie Kelly Design Lab is back from two great days at the Las Vegas World Market– Winter 2012 Show. From lighting and furnishings to textiles, rugs, and décor, we found a bit of everything for our clients! We have categorized some of our finds below to see what strikes your fancy, too.

Lucky Strike—How can we resist? Just as discussed in our trends presentation, chevron patterns are here to stay. We love the chevron for its clean modern appeal and eye-popping graphic attitude. From lamps to pillows, fabrics and accessories, brights versions are the way to go for a playful look!

Mary McDonald Chevron Stripe Table Lamp.

Thomas Paul’s vivid pillows flip from clean geometric chevron to effusive Mexican-inspired prints.

Rough Luxe—Highly textural mirrors shine bright this season, reflecting a certain purity of form and function. We even plan on using one of these goodies on our HGTV designs!

Grace Feyock for Uttermost designed this wood frame with a light walnut stain with burnished details. The interior mirror is beveled.

The Baum Mirror from Bunglow5 mingles elements both rustic and sophisticated with silvered faux bois design crafted to resemble a wreath.

Outdoor Traditional Brights— Bright colors and traditional shapes featuring a modern twist on what one would consider outdoor furniture surely stopped us in our tracks as we walked through the outdoor market.

Re-proposing classic furniture and giving them  a vibrant contemporary look is something that PolArt has mastered.

Resto Remix—Lighting and furniture categories have found their way to reclaim, repurpose and even borrow a few ideas from Restoration Hardware. The great news is they have priced pieces affordably and proportioned them appropriately too!

Stay tuned for a few more finds and understand which pieces we will be bringing back to the Design Lab!

Hi everyone! I’m Jessica, a writer for Arcadian Lighting, a blog and website with a really cool selection of affordable light fixtures in all different sizes and styles. Every day I get to research the latest interior design trends and then share them on lovely, inspiring blogs like Kerrie Kelly. One very popular trend I’d like to share with you today is decorating with shimmering mercury glass accents. The brilliant shine and sparkle of mercury glass, whether it be a vase, a paperweight or a lamp, instantly adds a chic flare to any room. I hope you enjoy!

The bulbous shape of these mercury glass vases and their reflective surfaces add a magical quality to the room. The pair of spotlights are a very unique touch that makes this living room more attractive and original.

I love the combination of sea green wall color in the shelves and seashells and coral scattered throughout this beautiful living room. The few mercury glass accents add brilliant reflective pops of light.

The inverted pendant lights in this kitchen contrast beautifully against the rustic, matte surfaces throughout the room. I love the expansive windows that let in so much natural light, making the mercury glass shades a fun decoration when the light fixtures are not in use.

A rich lavender and black color palette throughout this room is at once chic and serene. The glass coffee table and reflective mercury glass cup help the room feel more light and spacious. I love the unique detailing on the floor lamp in the corner.

Mercury glass accents are perfect for decorating for a party or the holidays. The vintage mercury glass, disco ball and ornaments are positively radiant on this holiday table.

Layering a mercury glass frame over an ordinary bathroom mirror plays with the contrast between old and new. The subtle floral detailing on the Venetian mirror and the exaggerated length of these types of wall lamps are quirky, pretty details that make this room more interesting.

The monochromatic color palette in this bedroom is anything but boring thanks to swirling patterns and an elegant tufted headboard. A regal shaped lamp fits in well with the bedding.

A wall of antique mercury mirrors is a wonderful idea for making a stunning accent wall. The leopard print pillows are a fun contrast to the vintage appearance of the mirrors and the sofa. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

If you love these inspiring interiors, be sure to stop by Arcadian Lighting for a mercury glass lighting fixture or two for your own home!