Rue Magazine's Gallery of Rooms

I recently posted about how Lonny now has a gallery of images that you can search by room. Since then, I saw that more online magazines are doing the same thing. While the archives are pretty spare right now, they will no doubt becomes a major resource for design bloggers and anyone else in need of decorating inspiration.

Here are some images that I pulled from Rue Magazine's gallery of rooms:








Do you have any other resource suggestions for interior design? Do tell!

Just in Time for Winter (in Key West): The Best All Natural Mosquito Repellent Candles!

We just received a shipment of one of our best products ever: all natural mosquito repellent candles! I know, I know - some of you are looking at snow. But here in Key West, mosquitoes are a part of life year-round. And when we find something new we get a little excited about it.

The candles are from our new candle line, Hillhouse Naturals (they also have a blog).

The candles are all natural with two different fragrance blends. One is wild mint, juniper, and tea tree, and the other is eucalyptus, mint leaf, and lemongrass. Note: No citronella! They smell fabulous in the shop without being lit, which is great, but we had to product test them for actual mosquito repellent abilities.

You know how we love outdoor dining. So Sunday night, we tested them at a dinner party in our loggia...



...and they worked great! The fragrance of the natural herbs was subtle and didn't overwhelm us as we dined.


And the container is reusable as a planter. All natural, no smelly citronella, reusable container, and THEY WORK! We're sold.

Elle Decor Showhouse Room Renderings

I always say that if there is anything I like better than a pretty room, it's a pretty picture of a pretty room. So of course I've always had a bit of a thing for designer sketches and room renderings.

Elle Decor's 2010 Showhouse has some lovely spaces, and a few of my favorite rooms have accompanying designer sketches that I would happily frame and display.

Youth Bedroom by Grant Gibson:


Bedroom by Suzanne Tucker:




The Breakfast Area by Palmer Weiss:




Then I saw that one of my favorite artist bloggers took this:


And created this:


That would be by Patricia van Essche of pve design fame of course! I'm not sure which I'm charmed by more - the room or the illustration...

The Lonny Library

I may be a little late to the party here... But I just noticed that Lonny now has a gallery of images that you can search by room. I love this!

What a great idea - and how obvious really. As an online magazine, each picture used could be easily dropped into a separate web page. And now, Lonny fans have a go to source for design inspiration.

First, I took a look through bookshelves:






Some good inspiration here...

Then, in honor of the Style Key West lifestyle, "outside living," I looked through the outdoor gallery:






I'll take the one with the paper lanterns, please. But then I think every outdoor space it taken up about 20 notches with pretty paper lanterns.

Looking forward to seeing these galleries grow!

Cosmo the Boat Cat

Please allow us to introduce you to Cosmopolitan Von Moxie Sweet Tewell, or Cosmo the Boat Cat, as he's known in Key West.



Cosmo and his trusty human side-kick Sherry Sweet T were our featured guests at last week's Caroline Street Art & Design District First Thursday event. Sherry has created a beautifully illustrated children's book telling of Cosmo's adventures when they moved onto a house boat.

Now, some of the story may seem a little hard to believe, but Sherry swears, and I've seen photos, that the manatees and various and sundry other sea creatures swim right up to the boat and Cosmo truly seems to interact with them. And the poor little guy did end up in the drink one day.


This is a great gift for the children in your life and it comes with a DVD, and you can get a little plush Cosmo to go along with it! And the best part of it is that not only do the children learn how important it is to protect and preserve the reef, but a portion of sales goes to support Reef Relief, Save the Manatee Club, and the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, FL.


I bought the book for my grandchildren and they love it. Now they call all black and white cats they see, "Cosmos."

Fantasy Fest Week 2010 - Adults & Their Significant Others

There’s nothing like Fantasy Fest to bring couples together in a common cause… exposing your woman to a world of grateful admirers.





Seems like everyone gets into the act. Even respectable CEO guys…


Unfortunately, it looks like Mrs. Kiss didn’t get the memo…


Creativity was also alive and well on the couple’s front…





Although for the life of me, I can’t figure out the connection between BP and pink flamingos…


Some relationships didn’t seem long for the world…


While others seemed to be made in heaven…


And then, of course, there was the occasional ménage a trois (or is that ménage a weird?).


Finally, I leave you with a couple of close couple friends.