the Day of Design at soco

Saturday was the Day of Design at the SOCO & The OC Mix in Costa Mesa, and oh, boy! It was so much fun! Kelly McMaster, who has the adorable blog Cottage Flea by the Sea, joined me for the day. 

We are like two peas in a pod, when it comes to styling and décor. She also just finished editing the "Holiday Decor" issue by Cottages & Bungalows, now available in stores, and it's filled with gorgeous Christmas inspiration!

The Day of Design started off with a bang in the spacious Room & Board showroom, as the first guest speaker was the amazing home décor stylist Heather Bullard. Her talk was all about styling the perfect “shelfies” for your home. 

Heather has all kinds of tips on creating beautiful shelves for the living room, family room and kitchen. She even offered some of her favorite ways to photograph vignettes in our own homes. 

This is one page of the handout that Heather had available for us on Saturday. You can get her whole scoop on Prop Styling 101 right here on her blog. 

Kelly, Heather, me and Carrie

Afterwards we got to meet Heather, and I do have to say, I was a little starstruck, but she’s so sweet and lovely and made us feel very comfortable.  

Also pictured here is my friend Carrie Williams-Freitas who organized this whole event through her company Kitchen Table Marketing. You can check out the complete list of panelists and speakers for the day here.

Brad Harris

Our next stop was C.S. W & Sons where Brad Harris shared his knowledge of unique treasures created by nature and how they can be incorporated into our own homes. 

Josiah Lilly, Wendy Blackband, and Andrew Patterson

We then headed to the gorgeous Famosa Tile showroom where Josiah Lilly, the creative force behind Famosa, moderated questions for designer Wendy Blackband of Blackband Design and builder Andrew Patterson of Patterson Custom Homes. 

  

The Q & A was intimate and informative. I love how they shared their opinions of what's hot in the design world right now, and what's not.

Carrie Williams-Freitas, Anne-Marie Claassen, Anne Michaelson-Yahn,
Ashley Clark, Tania Cassill and Donna Whelan 

A beautiful lunch was provided, and while we munched away, we also got to listen in on a lively discussion by a dream-team of local designers, all of whom I truly admire. 

The design panel:  

Anne-Marie Claassen of Anthology Interiors  

Anne Michaelson-Yahn of Anne Michaelson Design 

Ashley Clark of sKout  

Tania Cassill of Huit Laguna 

Donna Whelan of Whelan Design House 

Carrie served as moderator, and she made it a fun and relatable chat to listen in on.    

The last stop of the day was hosted by the Rejuvenation showroom and their designer Paul Fernandez. As we walked in to find our seats, this gorgeously set table was front and center. Just look at those flowers!  

Interior designer Julia Carro Alt put this whole look together, and really hit it out of the park with this dramatic fall tablescape. Her husband even pitched in to create these two reclaimed wood candle holders. Aren't they so perfect for this table?

Kelly and I also had a chance to meet and chat with designer Donna Whelan who was so friendly and nice. She's currently working on a unique home in Newport Heights that sounds absolutely amazing. She describes it as super chic with a tropical Cuban vibe. I can't wait to see it! 

All-in-all it was a really enjoyable day with my girl Kelly. Every showroom had an amazing offering of food and drinks, and it was just the perfect day for design enthusiasts like us!  

And, I’m still fangirling over meeting Heather Bullard! 

ciao! fabiana 

Quite often time is of the essence, and I have last minute projects or events to work on, so I turn to Amazon for one or two day delivery. You’d be surprised at how many amazing items they have to offer! And I'm constantly updating this page with my new favorites.  

  

You can check it out here, at “Tablescaping Essentials”.