Name: Karlie Paschall

Title: Customer Service Rep

How long have you been with Design Public? 8 months

Where do you live? Who else lives there? Rathdrum, Idaho. Right now it’s my husband, our dog Maggie, our cat Tito, and in four more weeks, our son Dylan : )

Favorite city or town? What do you love about it? My favorite city would probably have to be Paris. I just watched Midnight in Paris the other night. The colors and sights of the city are incredible. It has an old time theme to it and I think the city was just right with its designer flair.

image via collider

A Design Public product that’s on your wishlist? I really like the Inhabit Jackson Pendent Lamp 14 X 8.

Which reality show are you the most ashamed of watching? I only watched it one time but it was Jersey Shore and I didn’t even finish the show. I think I might have watched like two minutes of it. I just couldn’t get past the drama : )

Describe your dream vacation. My dream vacation would have to be one that included my entire family. I would love to take a cruise to an island or just a cruise itself would be fun. I would love to be able to just get a way and relax and have some fun. Maybe be able to sip on a strawberry daiquiri or two!

image via LasVegasGinger

Over the past few years, dramatic black, bright bold colors, jewel tones and even neon have ruled the runways as well as home décor, but the recent fashion shows brought back some hues we had not seen in awhile; pastels. Once evoking thoughts of sister-wife dresses, Easter egg hunts and looking washed out, designers are treating pastels in new ways, making them fresh, cool and futuristic. Peach, lavender, dusky rose, dove gray, mint green and pale blues were everywhere, usually in solids, some paired together in simple blocks of light color, others paired up with plain white with hints of silver.

Graham and Brown Contour Spa Pastel Wallpaper

Above, crisp and cool aqua and mint green pop against a silvery white background of a mosaic tile-like wallpaper.

Kartell DR. NO Chairs

Kartell Mr. Impossible Chairs

If you like this translucent pastel look, Kartell has several great choice, including a range of light pastel options for Thalya Chairs, La Marie Chairs, and Victoria Ghost Chairs. Mix in clear chairs and a healthy dose of white to keep the look fresh.

Blu Dot Modulicious No. 4

Another fresh look? The mid-century inspired casework of Blu Dot allows you to choose the colors you’d like for each drawer. Choose pastel tones outlined in dark graphite or walnut for an updated, contemporary look.

What do you think of this pastel trend? Do you have a favorite pastel hue? Or did you swear off pastels for life back in the ’80s? Will you be incorporating any of these colors into your wardrobe or your home? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!

I have a confession. I’m in love with Pinterest. I can’t stop pinning. I can’t help that I find so many PINteresting things over there that I spend all of my spare time on it.  I think I may need a PINtervention.

Too many puns?

Anyway, the whole staff here at Design Public has had so much fun with Pinterest in the last few months, we thought we’d launch a contest to bring our favorite peeps into the mix (that’s you)!  Introducing Design Public’s first ever Pin It To Win It Contest!

Interested?  Here’s how it goes down -

1. Create a board on Pinterest titled “Dream Home with Design Public”.
2. Pin a minimum of 10 things to your board that show us what you’d love to have in your dream home (or what your dream home looks like!).
3. At least 5 of the items on your board must come from Design Public (meaning products on our site – not items on our Pinboards.  The whole site is your oyster – we have thousands of products.  Check it out.) – the rest can come from anywhere you’d like.
4. When you’re done, fill out this short form to submit a link to your board and you’ll be entered to win $250 gift card to Design Public.

That’s it.  Super simple, and totally fun.  Be sure to spread the word – we’d love to see as many boards as possible!

By the way, be sure to check out our very own “Dream Home with Design Public” board for some inspiration to get you started!

And don’t forget – the only official way to enter is to submit your link to our form when you’re done building your board!  Happy Pinning!

New Rue! I particularly liked seeing how interior (among other things) photo stylist Raina Kettelson and her architect hubs decorated their farmhouse for new tenants in just two weeks. I especially love it because it’s in my favorite color combo: Black, off-white, yellow and gray.

photo by Emily Johnston Anderson

I can’t even begin to explain it, but this branding experiment I saw over on Fast Company is just cool and rather hypnotic to watch:

As an Atlanta resident who lives right near where most of these photographs were taken, I am particularly interested in the work seen on the Return to Atlanta blog. He took pictures all over Atlanta 23 years ago, and now he’s returned to shoot the same spots and compare the two sets. It’s a universal study in gentrification and really interesting to anyone who wants to follow the way cities change over time. While lots of good has come of some of the changes have occurred, the saddest change was the Urban Nirvana Studio. It’s a good case study in paving paradise to put up a parking lot. What was once this crazy exuberant garden full of sculptures and plants..

image from Return to Atlanta

…is now this typical generic gated condo complex:

image from Return to Atlanta

Don’t read this one unless you are ready to fall into a bloghole, but the list of nominees for Apartment Therapy’s The Homies award will keep you clicking from now through next Tuesday. It’s kind of sad (on my part) that I haven’t even heard of the one that was on top of the list, Manhattan Nest; I’m going to go check it out now. See you Monday!

Name: Ali

Title: Keeper of all the Products in our Trapper Keeper (Merchandising)

How long have you been with Design Public? Since 2007

Where do you live? Who else lives there? I live in a former WWII submarine repair factory that has been converted to very raw live/work lofts. I live with my husband and dog Oslo.

What’s your place like? How would you define your style? Our space is a photography studio loft where we also live/work. We have 30 foot ceilings (concrete ceilings = not so great for earthquake preparedness!) and two walls of windows so lots of great natural light but without too nice a view. Our style has evolved into an eclectic/rustic modern space with a lot of white, a mix of grays, pops of color and natural woods…lots of woods! We try to keep our place simple and natural…kind of trying to adopt a Scandinavian approach.

A Design Public product that’s on your wish list ? I have a really really long list since I love so many of the products from our designers but I do quite enjoy the Eastvold Elko Dresser:

…and I need the Buster Pet Feeder!

Best design choice you ever made? A few years back we decided to think about everything we bring into our place as something we want to have forever and not just something to furnish our place just because it serves a purpose or looks pretty. We only buy things we LOVE, that have a lasting quality and design element. I think this started when we bought a great sofa about 6 years ago and still just love it. We try to do more with less but of the things we do have we prefer quality over something that is disposable.

Favorite city or town? What do you love about it? I’m more of a mountain woman than I am a beach bum so I have a major soft spot for the countries of Austria and Switzerland. Pretty much any spot where lederhosen is part of the cultural attire is a city/town I’ll enjoy. Zurich might be up there as a favorite city…plus the McDonalds in Zurich have Vitra Panton chairs (yes, I flipped the chair over to make sure it was Vitra, I’m that kind of girl…oh, and I didn’t actually eat at McDonald’s, I just bought a soda pop).

Which reality show are you the most ashamed of watching: Usually what happens in our place is we’ll start by watching something educational and the minute my husband leaves the sofa the channel automatically turns to Bravo. We have a smart remote.

Favorite App? Just starting to get into instagram and I love it!

Describe your dream home: A renovated modern space (like a barn or warehouse) surrounded by tall trees and land with way too many windows, tall ceilings, an open floor plan, lots of white and maybe a roll up wall for indoor/outdoor living. It has to be 10 minutes to a fabulous city (like S.F.) but hidden from neighbors. Nothing too big but also not too small. Oh, it would be really nice if it had a teleporter to get us to Washington state or Colorado in seconds (where our families are located).