At Home with Paisley

Ciao Amici!

The sunshine is back in Atlanta. Too bad for all of those Music Midtown fans (my daughter included), who sat in the rain yesterday for HOURS to hear the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Journey, and many others.  I hope you have grand plans to get outside today and soak up the sun. We sure do, so here is a quick post just to share our radio podcast link with you.

You may have read in my last blog post that my dad and I were guests on the At Home with Paisley radio show. We had so much fun talking shop with Paisley McDonald and her co-host Krisztina Bell.  If you missed the live show, you can still tune in to the segment by clicking on the link below:


Thank you to our darling and talented hosts Paisley and Krisztina for the invitation, and thank you to America's Web Radio for the air time.  

Most of all, thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this blog and for your support as we build our businesses. We hope you enjoy the show!

Lisa and Gabby

On Air

Ciao a tutti!

Thank you for all of your support and feedback this past week.  It has been an eventful one!

And the fun continues... this Thursday please tune in to hear my dad and me as guests on At Home with Paisley, a national radio show on America's Web Radio focusing on interior design.


For those of you in, or near Sandy Springs, you can tune in to AM 1620 from 3:00-4:00 PM this Thursday, September 19th.  The rest of you can listen via the web by going to www.americaswebradio.com and clicking the "LISTEN ONLINE" tab on the homepage in the link.

We are sure to provide lots of laughs and stories about how the two of us got started in the interior design, antiques, and wood working worlds!  If you've ever heard Car Talk (the most hilarious radio show ever), that's kind of what I am envisioning. Not that I consider myself even remotely funny, but with my dad in the mix....well, you NEVER KNOW....

Here I am with my dad (aka The Pied Piper) and kids...just a few years ago...

If you are unable to listen to the live show, I promise to post it on the blog as soon as I have the link.  Here is a little bit about our co-host, Paisley:

At Home with Paisley

Paisley McDonald

Born and raised in Georgia, Paisley McDonald is one of Atlanta's most sought after interior decorators. Growing up in the industry; Paisley's passion for color, furniture and Interior Design was cultivated at a young age. Her early start in the Trade has allowed her much success and has given her an edge on today's trends.

Paisley's unique vision and fearless, eclectic style appeal to a broad clientele. Her ability to balance old with new, bold with bland and her impeccable sense of color, has established her in the industry. She believes rooms should be “Simple but Significant .

We are SO honored to be invited to chat with Paisley and Krisztina.  Hope you will join us too:)

A Giovedi'-Until Thursday,
Lisa

Press Release - Holiday Cottage

I am very happy to announce that the Holiday Cottage magazine featuring our home has just hit the newsstands!

This is a special holiday edition of The Cottage Journal published by Hoffman Media.  It is available now at Barnes & Noble, and should be at nationwide grocery stores too, through December 16th.  Infinite thanks go out to photographer Lauren Rubinstein, who scouted and shot the feature.  She made our home shine in a way it never has before! Thank you, too, to The Cottage Journal for your interest in the story, for putting us on the cover, and for the beautifully written article by Karen Callaway.

In case you are wondering, we actually shot the pictures last January!  Lauren was at our house for a Christmas party in early December, but we found out that the magazine was interested in shooting it while we were out of the country on winter break.  As I am not one to take down Christmas on the 26th, the decorations were still intact and the tree was still standing, and ALIVE upon our return after New Year's! The Cottage Journal graciously gave me an allowance to freshen up the greens, and the photos were shot mid-January. How's that for getting the most out of your holiday decor? 

A few interesting side bits on the shoot... 
The cover shot was photo-shopped to make it look more festive.  They changed the color of our chair and pillow from blue to red, and added the holly berries to the greens on the table so it would pop on the newsstand.  Another fun detail is in what turned out to be my favorite photo.  Dixie, our Golden Retriever, still loves a party and would not leave the photographers alone. Lauren, a dog-lover herself, decided to embrace the situation by putting a bow on her. There she sat, the star, all poised and pretty for the duration of the shot.

Although they ended up using seventeen images from front to back cover, a couple of AWESOME pics did not make the cut.  Here they are for you to see....







That's all, folks! If you should need help redesigning your family home, or simply decorating for the holidays, I am booking clients for October and November now.  Please email me at lisagabrielson@att.net to discuss your needs. I am happy to help and can't wait to hear from you!

As always, I am so grateful for your readership and support. And although it's a bit early....Happy Holidays to all.

Cose Cosi'

Otherwise known as, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Sorry for my absence lately. Some of you have told me you miss my posts, and I appreciate the feedback. Today, I am home recovering from surgery.  I am doing fine, but forced to stay put....WOW, what a concept. It almost makes me feel guilty. Yesterday, I had my fair share of cooking shows and couch time. This morning, Lorenzo and I ventured out to the corner at a snail's pace. The beautiful fall weather has inspired a blog post on what I'm looking at, working on, and dreaming of these days. Here we go....

But first, a little confession: I have the seven year itch. We have been in our house seven years now, and I am dying to move. For a variety of reasons, that is not happening anytime soon, like not even in the next decade. To appease my itch, inch by inch I have been whitewashing the walls, and have finally decided to take the plunge and do the family room too. In a perfect world (with no medical bills), I would also add beams and planks like this...


...off-white walls and Paris grey bookshelves, just like the mirror finish below.  Those are our sofas too...love the pillows, but these are too bedroom-y for our family room.


My office would go from light to dark, yet warm, clean and classy (below):


In the kitchen, I am on the lookout for new-old pantry doors, below...


The guest room would get a tiny makeover too, with a new striped headboard and touches of blue again.  I already have the pillows below (a total fluke), just need to recover the headboard.


How about cocktails on the chevron terrace in front of this spectacular fireplace?


And dinner under the Virginia Creeper pergola...


Here's what I'll be wearing this fall...


With grand plans of a client's bonus room looking something like this...


I also adore the vintage, yet modern look of this dress...my husband would hate it, I'm sure.


Once my swelling goes down, I am breaking out the belts.  I can't wait to try this Hermes version with a horse bit I have sitting around.


Add this to the wrist....yummmm!


At a client's we are adding striped panels tied with ropes to the basement windows...




 Their stairs are getting a make-over too...

(All images above via Pinterest)

Another couple got a new bedroom last week.  I will post before and afters once the back-ordered rug arrives.



Lunch break. I am on the look-out for iron rich meals, and am not really a huge fan of red meat, although the sugo bolognese tasted pretty good today. Please feel free to share some of your favorite recipes!


On another note, check out my Dad's recent blog post. He puts those cute little twenty-something DIYers to shame!  Here is the link to his blog.  Also in the news, the two of us will be guests on a local radio show next Thursday, September 19th from 3:00-4:00 pm. I will send details ahead of time if you care to tune in. This is a first for me, so I have mixed emotions of excitement and fear. But as my lovely son so bluntly put it:

"You can't be a wimp if you want to succeed."

                                              -Luca G. Russo

OK then friends, let's forge ahead. Thank you so much for following. You absolutely MAKE MY DAY!

I'd Walk A Mile For Your Style





Ciao!  I hope all of you are doing well!  Today I had the joy of being interviewed on Annette Joseph's, "I'd Walk A Mile For Your Style" blog feature. For those of you who don't know her, she is a rock star interiors stylist, designer, and cookbook author. Needless to say, Annette oozes with great taste and creativity. Her uber-hip house, which mirrors her artistic spirit, outgoing personality, her love of Italy, and cooking passion, easily makes the list of my top ten faves. It is an honor to be featured by someone who's work I admire so much. Mille Grazie, Annette.


...and thank you to all of you for following!