how sweet it is

To have a single gardenia bloom at your desk.

yes ma'am

We swiped today's blog post straight from Mack. She nailed it...what a refreshing take on Bama Game Day decor inspiration! Here at MCD, we plan to re-stock our favorite (sometimes unexpected) elephant accessories before football season, so keep your eyes peeled for our interpretation of transitional Crimson Tide decorating.

image via modgirl

new from nest

We love Nest candles and we love peonies (who doesn't?), so we've been pretty revved up about Nest's new Peony Blanche candle. Our shipment arrived today and the shop smells fantastic. Fresh, floral and feminine, it's perfect for Mother's Day. Hurry in - they are sure to go fast!

be bop

We've been be-bopping all over the place the past week and haven't had a chance to share our latest! Last weekend, we put on an amazing wedding and reception at Smith Hall. You may have seen our pictures on facebook. This week has been jam packed with meetings for new projects and planning florals for various UA-related events this weekend (rush, A-Day, meetings, graduation party planning) and more engagement showers (and future weddings...!).

We also had a major breakthrough in the shop: baby's breath. Call us flower snobs, but we cringed at thought of having it in our shop. We needed it for the wedding last weekend to make a sweet halo for the flower girl. It turned out beautifully and we decided to let down our guards (and elitist flower-designing values) and try it in an arrangement or two. We're not ashamed to say that a chic container filled with a big baby's breath bouquet is just lovely.

image via Real Simple.

orchids and lilies

Not your typical orchids and lilies! Orange Mokara and Mini Dark Pink Callas made it through the weekend's five events and are happily brightening our office.
In other news, we've been working on a charming little DIY project this evening for a ladies garden club presentation tomorrow. Can't wait to share it on the blog!

piggy

We just received a small shipment of merchandise for the shop and couldn't resist sharing these charming little piggy banks! Saving up for Spring Break? What better way to gather your change than in a chic glass piggy? Stop by the shop for these and other lovelies ASAP!

PS - we're still recovering from an amazing wedding weekend! Check out some of our pics on Facebook!

pink ice protea

We received some awesome Pink Ice protea today. It's not the first bloom that pops in mind for wedding florals, but we'll be using them for a gorgeous arrangement at the reception this weekend. Given their extra long life span, we'll try to scoop them back up for the shop after the party. Aren't they cool?!

required reading

We have a fantastic little book with fun ideas for flower arranging called Flowers: Chic and Cheap by Elle Decor editor Carlos Mota (whose followers include Ms. Tory Burch). Clearly, he's as big of a fan as we are of flowering branches - from azaleas to cherry blossoms to viburnum, Mota nestles them throughout. All this Tuscaloosa sunshine is encouraging some of the branches to pop around town. Rest assured, we'll have our snips handy when they do.

vintage gold

This beautiful vintage chandelier may have found itself a new home...

simply exquisite

The newest addition to our library arrived recently. Aptly titled "The Encyclopedia of the Exquisite," the book's elegantly alphabetized entries explain curiosities and commonplace. From the origins of confetti to how to make the perfect omelet (a la Julia Child), Jessica Kerwin Jenkins' compilation of luxuries is highly entertaining and an excellent holiday gift. The book has been featured in the November issue of Vogue and on Daily Candy's highly popular Gift Guide. Naturally, we have them here at Matt Clinton Designs, a few copies wrapped and ready to gift.

trending: adirondack

Elle Decor's November issue landed on our desks this morning and we're loving one of their top trends: Adirondack-inspired style. Being in Alabama, many of our clients and friends channel this cozy Americana decor in their camp houses, hunting camps or mountain retreats. Matt Clinton Designs carries one fabulous line of fabric by Eric Cohler for Lee Jofa that is spot-on to this trend (pictured above)...just add hot chocolate and a roaring fire, and these rainy-day blues might disappear!

light up

Matt Clinton Designs loves NEST and we are thrilled to share that their Holiday Candle has arrived! It is - hands down - the BEST holiday fragrance on the market. It is the reason we started carrying the NEST line (seriously...). If you haven't experienced it, you must stop by the shop and try it. The image doesn't do justice to the packaging - the rich red velvety box and gold designs pretty much eliminates the need to gift wrap. Not too Christmas tree-y, not too sweet, the blend of mandarin orange, pine, cinnamon and eucalyptus is all we need to put us in the spirit.

adding flair to your library

Matt Clinton Designs' selection of books are our go-to resource when we're generating ideas for a project. Instead of keeping our library private, we picked up a few fun reads at market this past summer that our clients and customers have been scooping off the shelves for their reading pleasure, as well as thoughtful gifts for friends and family. A few of our current favorites are above. Pulling together a small soriee? Flair, a fun compilation of party planner Joe Nye's favorite tablescapes is a great source to get your creative juices flowing. Consider yourself a fashionista and planning to visit, er...dreaming of visiting, Paris? Check out Pairs Vintage Couture. Want to be surrounded by classic style 24/7? Pick up The Well-Dressed Home for interior is inspiration.
We're getting in even more books - cookbooks du jour, Christmas classics, and maybe even a few children's books - for the holidays! Yep...it's already time to start thinking about THE HOLIDAYS...more on that soon!

diffusing the situatiuon

We're pretty excited about our Nest candle line and their new diffuser line has finally arrived at Matt Clinton Designs! Perfect for dorm or sorority house rooms, the diffusers live up Nest's celeb-worthy reputation. We just love the sharp, yet unassuming bottle design. The most popular blend, Bamboo, is pictured above.

bamboo is back

Matt Clinton Designs' best-seller is back. A new shipment of Bamboo candles from Nest arrived at the shop this morning. We'll be sending out a few to place in powder rooms for private events this weekend. If you're entertaining this weekend - or just need a fresh scent for your home - come by and pick one up ASAP!

rushed week

This week is one of the busiest weeks of the year at Matt Clinton Designs: Sorority Rush. On top of orchestrating parties for a few houses throughout the week and preparing for Bid Day flower deliveries (and a wedding this weekend), we have boxes of fun new merchandise trickling in from market.

One of our new favorite additions to the store is the NEST candle line (fan them on FB). From Moss and Mint to Moroccan Amber, the fragrances are fabulously fresh and a much welcomed addition to the shop. NEST is also launching a diffuser line this fall and we'll have them in stock in about a month. Diffusers are great for dorm rooms (no candles allowed!) - almost as great as a Trina Turk clad dorm room.

While we're on the subject of Rush and dorm rooms, we must plug our Bid Day flower delivery. Orders are pouring in. If you haven't called us yet, pick up the phone ASAP!

look book

We're huge fans of Rita Konig and her Inside Out column on The Moment blog (where we swiped the image above). On Tuesday, she posted about something we're quite fond of: filling and organizing bookshelves. When Matt Clinton Designs' interiors team is on a decorating project, no shelf is left untouched. Whether we bring in a few accessories from the owner's attic (or the shop!) or rearrange by size and/or color, fluffing up the shelves is an instant way to add a decorator's touch.

We recently rearranged our bookshelves here at the shop with chromatic groupings, and we must admit, it looks pretty sharp.

market musings

This past weekend we ventured to Hotlanta for America's Mart Home Market. We kicked the weekend off at Lee Kleinhelter's chic boutique, Pieces, for a party honoring our favorite colorful designer, Jonathan Adler. As wonderful as it was to meet and greet with Mr. Happy Chic, the most fun part of the evening was the impromptu photo booth (complete with mustache and granny glasses props!) by Naugle photography (our favorite/funniest shot from the evening is pictured above). We attended a confab with Mr. Adler on Friday at market and our favorite piece of advice he shared was this: “Every room needs a dash of hippie and a dollop of socialite.”

We kept Mr. Adler's words of wisdom in mind through Friday and Saturday as we scoured endless floors and mazes of home décor. We picked up a few gems, including our favorite candle line, NEST, a fabulous new furniture line and wonderful fine art source. Perhaps our top find was in Currey and Company's showroom – in addition to the fantastic lamps we bought, they had an exquisitely catered cocktail hour. It was so good, we came back to visit Saturday (many thanks to Joy and the Currey team!). It inspired us to plan an open house when we receive the lamps (and other market finds) with an exquisitely catered cocktail hour...any exquisite caterers out there who would like to show off their skills at Matt Clinton Designs' open house in early fall??

Speaking of food and wine, we checked out Miller Union on Friday night. It's one of Atlanta's acclaimed new restaurants, and if fine farm to table food is your thing, we highly recommend it. It was delicious!

belgravia

Here is a sneak peek into Carrie and Big's apartment in the new Sex and the City movie, and look who's staring center stage – Lee Jofa's Belgravia fabric (pictured on the dining room chairs in the foreground). How beautifully do the natural tones in the fabric pick up the bold colors in the background? We have memos of the fabric at the store and think it looks smashing upholstered on dining room chairs. Here's another look from an ad campaign Lee Jofa ran about a year ago.

The pattern is actually inspired by historic English country home design (which we are quite partial to when it comes to a tradtional design) and is licensed under the Royal Oak Foundation. We'll save our praises about the benefits of joining the Foundation for another post, but feel free to check out more info via Alice Marshall PR (NY's esteemed boutique travel/spa/design firm) here.

Interested to see more on the interiors from SATC2? Check out Habitually Chic.

sale

We're having a grand sale at the store with most of the furniture marked down 50%. Need we say more?