My dream office

Dreaming of a new house and a new home office... Would love a place with a guest house/MIL quarters or pool cabana that I could convert into my private studio and office. I love the clean organization and use of my favorite light blue in this office done by West Elm... And I really love that door. I would replace the chair with this one. Then my office would match my redesigned website!

Arabian Design

Photos copyright Arizona Foothills Magazine, 2009.

Arabian architecture and design detail has always held great appeal to me. Just look at those windows, arches pointing up to a golden dome in the ceiling. A perfectly dramatic, yet somehow not over-the-top, way to frame a beautiful Arizona view.

A three-walled outdoor room, overlooking an infinity pool, which in turn overlooks a portion of the valley east of Phoenix. Although you can't see it in this image, I'm wondering if there is a large glass sliding wall that can be closed between the rug and the pool ledge so that view can be enjoyed on our chilly desert winter nights.

This home, by the way, is a $20 million spec home featured in the Arizona Foothills Magazine Designer Showcase. According to the mag:

"Arizona Foothills Magazine teamed up with builders F.O. Buck and Brent Buck of Paradise Valley Mountainside Homes and 18 of the Valley's most talented design firms to create the $20 million Showhouse. The home, rooms and designers will all be featured in the April 2009 Showhouse issue of Arizona Foothills, and 100% of proceeds from the accompanying tours will benefit Valley charities.

Fast Facts
*100% of tour ticket sales will benefit:
SW Center for HIV/AIDS
Child Crisis Center
SW Human Development
Xavier College Preparatory's Scholarship Fund.
*Tours will run during April weekends, excluding Easter
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 pm. on Saturdays, 12 to 4 p.m. on Sundays
*Tickets are $25 or 2/$40, and can be purchased at the door or pre-ordered from charities
*All guests will park for free at the Montelucia Resort & Spa, and take a free shuttle to and from the home.
*The home is the most expensive spec home ever in Arizona, and 20,000+ sq.-ft."

I think I might have to visit and dream!

If I was a princess..

...this would be my palace apartment. (Yes, royals have apartments. Each royal has their own suite of rooms in the palace. 'Tis quite grand. Look up info on Marie Antoinette's apartments. Fab.)

This is the Manhattan apartment of 22-year-old supermodel Jessica Stam.

Stam's humble abode was featured in the October issue of Elle Decor.

I love purple. Lovelovelovelovelove. A few homes ago I had a purple bedroom: lavender walls with a rich, dark eggplant duvet and lavender sheets, with dark wood furniture. My husband is not such a fan of purple, so we've compromised on light blue and brown for our bedroom -- masculine enough for him, feminine enough for me.

But oh, if I was a princess...