packing up, heading out

Moving into my new apartment tomorrow. It's a long (five hour!) drive away, but I'm going stir crazy here and I'm ready to get my own place, so I don't think I'll mind jamming out in the car for awhile. See you on the flip side.

And Sometimes, I Picture My New Apartment Styled as a Beach House...

Like this: 

(Above: Anthropologie sheets and a vintage Pendleton blanket.)

(Above: Look at that green leather sofa!)

See more of Richard Christiansen's laid back, beachy-cool Montauk, NY house in this NY Times Home & Garden feature.

Color Theory

Mel Shimkovitz

Jan Dibbets

Found via here.

The Wooden Heel

When I saw the picture above, my first thought was, "Oh! What a cute couple. Where do I find a boyfriend like that?!" But as I looked at the photo and styling in more detail, I became fascinated with the girl's shoes. I love the look of that thick dark wooden heel next to the leather. (And, I'm always a sucker for knee socks pulled above a pair of boots on bare legs.)

So I set off on a search for something similar. Like shoe window-shopping online. It's fun, you know?

Love the blue suede color here:

These green ASOS boots are probably my favorite. Love the mossy color and the little pop of wood at the heel. I'm definitely a neutral/earth tone color girl, and these would fit into my wardrobe easily:

And then, these purple ones are super hot. I would totally wear these. Although sometimes I shy away from purple because I'm not sure how to style it as well. But, the low heel is a definite plus for me, as I'm a pretty tall gal. Besides the boot, these would probably be easiest to wear around campus. 

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What do you think about the wooden heel? Which style above do you like the best?

Mmm, Crochet...

I'll take one of these couches for my apartment, please...

Also, is that yarn going around the wall? What a fantastic idea to add color when painting the walls isn't an option...

{Via here.}

Kitchen Table Centerpieces

As I get ready to sign the lease on my first single apartment (without roommates!), I've begun to switch gears from looking at interior design blogs with the "Oh, that's nice!" mindset and have started to really start bookmarking ideas or spaces I really like and feel are doable for my first, small, college-budgeted apartment. Recently, I've been looking at kitchen table centerpieces. I feel like tables (kitchen or coffee) are so bare without a nice decorative piece on them. 

My finds, though, have been less than unique and inspiring. It seems that the go-to centerpiece idea for most designers is a nice bouquet of fresh, colorful flowers. That, or a bowl of fruit. While I would love to be able to afford to buy fresh flowers every week, I just don't think I have it in my budget to have something alive and not really sustainable as my centerpiece. If there are wildflowers around my apartment, that could be an option, though.

Here are a few ideas I've found...

I like the neat patterns on the ceramic bowls here.

Are these purple stems real or fake? This could definitely be an option... Simple and easy to maintain.

Love the tall glasses here. Even empty they look neat, but they could also be filled with something to add a bit of color.

Several of these little glass votives could be nice...

Or, you know, I could always just stencil the table... This one made me laugh- love the directness of it. (P.S. Check out the tutorial for this table at the link below.)

What do you guys think? What's the centerpiece on your kitchen table?

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Ilana Kohn

Loving this designer I just came across- Ilanka Kohn. The clothes (especially that marigold top, which also comes in tangerine and grey) have a very "indian" feel to me. Love them. The dress was a custom design, but you can see her other dresses in the shop. Check out her blog, too!

{All images via here.}

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J.B. Blunk's House- Inverness, CA

Photos from J.B. Blunk artist residency in Inverness, CA. Wouldn't you love to work here!? The house was made completely of found materials. See that sink in the first picture? Carved redwood. Gorgeous...

{Photos via Leslie Williamson and T Magazine.}

Welcome!

Hi there! Welcome to my little corner of the interweb- cotter & cole. First posts are always the hardest, so I thought I'd start with a little introduction of the writer/cuator behind what you're reading now!

I am Grace, Art History & English Literature college student, gallery assistant, part-time stylist/curator, (current) mountain dweller, voracious reader, lover of design & style and owner/driver of the most fantastic little black moped.

This blog is my visual mood board, a collection of inspiration and is carefully curated to reflect my design style. The name of the blog, cotter & cole, comes from my mother's maiden name and her mother's (my grandmother's) maiden name.

Besides using this little blog as a place to collect design inspiration, I also plan to use it as I chronicle the decoration of my first apartment (all to myself, no roomies!!).

Please leave comments and feel free to send me notes! I'd love to hear from you!