Luxe Magazine Spanish Revival Home Tour with Alyssa Rosenheck and Designer Amanda Barnes

Dear Spanish Revival,

I love you. Your painted tiles and terra-cotta accents are earthy and grounding to the eye. Your textured white walls create enough visual relief to satisfy my artist spirit while leaving warmth of an Old World charm. And!!! Seeing as how one of my dear friends, Amanda Barnes is the Queen of Spanish Revival - you seem to always bring us together for collaborations yielding beauty and joy! Remember the old saying, “Luck happens when preparation and opportunity meet?” - The images you see here are the result of 3 staging meetings, endless love into each detail and a full 13 hour day capturing the soul of this house. Let these images be a reminder to find stillness in your day and confidence that the process of hardwork and passion results in beauty and joy. To read more about this beautiful project, please pick up a copy of Luxe Magazine on newsstands today!!

Happy Day Sweet Souls!!! I am proud of you and sending you all so much love!

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The New Southern | One Stop Grocery Store Shop for Holiday Centerpieces

Simplification. . .the art of editing. . .a sense of ease. . .aspirations of intention and effortlessness. There is beauty in substance. As a creative, I gravitate towards clean lines, simple geometries and negative space. As an entrepreneur, I invest in being efficient without compromising life-giving moments. This is an all year round approach for me and simplicity with great substance is intuitive and a daily practice.

Due to this being a season filled with extremes—extreme spending, excessive schedules—I am wanting to share a little visual relief along with a simple centerpiece idea for you and your families for the holidays! You all do so much and I am talking a ONE STOP grocery shop for your centerpiece decor and holiday meal planning!!! Yep, it is that simple. No more Pinterest fails here, or complex inspiration holiday tables. For me and my schedule, keeping it simple, classic and achievable is KEY!  

My thoughts about holiday decor: I love organic elements and the best way to decorate for the season is through fruit and greenery. The middle of your table is an incredible opportunity for a beautiful flat lay in addition to candlesticks!!

Think about color and scale. My home is light, bright and airy; I love incorporating fun pops of color with art and florals. My grocery store had the most perfect shade of pink peonies and I scooped them up along with these beautiful clementines! Great color combinations for your table also include Bosc pears/greenery/with cut orchids….. I encourage you to experiment!! Also, think about scale and composition. For centerpieces, a visual high / low is important. Visually this keeps your eye moving around… the candlesticks on my table help achieve height while the greenery and buds ground the center of the table. The focus is on company and conversation and with my easy breezy centerpiece, it allows for some room to breathe and will not compete with our table talk!!

• Add this to your grocery list to achieve this look: 

Centerpiece INGREDIENTS (found at Whole Foods Market):

• 6 Satsumas or Clementines (with the leaves attached if possible)

• Filler—My favorite types of filler to style with for a flat lay are any type of fern leaves, seeded eucalyptus, Nageia Nagi, Jade Palm, Eucalyptus Silver Dollar. . .Hello Filler is the New Floral!!

Three Steps:

1. Arrange candlesticks first—the more the merrier.

2. Arrange the flat filler over and around the candlesticks to create a good base; stems go in towards the middle.

3. Sprinkle conservatively with fruit and flowers.

For a little extra extra, you can add fresh basil leaves or rosemary to appeal to all the senses.

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The New Southern | Making the Holidays Your Own

The New Southern’s holiday approach is all about creating new and warm memories while living your best life right now. This is a concept that builds upon the things in life that are already bringing us joy, love, and warmth. I am compassionate and understand this can be a sensitive time of year for so many for so many reasons. For me, the holidays haven’t always been joyful, but, my husband and I are taking this season’s warmth into our own hands and are mindful in creating beautiful memories now with a fresh set of eyes. These are our building blocks for years to come and this is how we are making the holidays our own:

Top 3 Ways of Making the Holidays Your Own:

1. Start a New Tradition: For me this was an easy one, I haven’t ever had a tree until this year. I am Jewish and I am looking at it as more of a symbol of love and acceptance… Since this was our first tree and I do not have ornaments… I incorporated a very New Southern approach and made this tree our own! I love soft linens and silk velvet bows. I styled beautiful linen and velvet bows all over the tree…… HELLO RIBBON IS THE NEW ORNAMENT!!!! #TheNewSouthern - This was easy, economical and delightful while assembling with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga playing in the background!

2. Focus on Making Memories: Now that I am off the road for a few weeks, I hosted a soulful friend dinner with memory making at the forefront of my mind.. My chosen family is very important to me. I left my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma at 18 years of age and haven’t spent any real concentrated amounts of time there since leaving. Now, well into my adult life, I hold onto the people closest to my heart. I think it is so important to hold space for soulful authentic connections. These are the relationships that hold a safe space for your truth, these relationships are energizing rather than draining, and deeply supportive. May we all have life giving and loving relationships based on truth and connection. These are the relationships that will continue to support and expand our worlds in the most beautiful way. I created a night filled with Prossecco and Pizza in an intimate setting. I placed beautiful quotes around the dining room table and encouraged people to sit down with the quote they most resonated with. This set the tone for soulful conversations. Xx

3. Give yourself a Gift of Service…. This is being of service to yourself (Ask yourself what you need? More rest? More Relaxation? More time? and give it to your self… this is a form of love and you have my permission to give yourself the gift of rest or stillness if you need it) AND this is being of service to others! Connect with your local shelters / community youth programs and see how you can give your time and energy to another human who is in need of your love and warmth.

My Home Xx

Easy Decorating Tips Xx

Shop-able Links Below Xx

My First Tree Xx

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The New Southern | Designer Spotlight: Marie Flanigan

For those in the world of architecture and design — Marie Flanigan, owner of Marie Flanigan Interiors, needs no introduction. While her homebase is in Houston, Texas, her full-service interior design firm has made its way to commercial spaces and luxury homes across the country. Rooted and educated in commercial architecture, she has a signature edge that finds a way to remain simplistic and elegant. This award-winning interior designer has always gravitated towards visual expression and her success in the space shines through her internationally published work.

As an interiors and architectural photographer and stylist, the root of my own success stands on thinking outside the box, leading from a place of vulnerability, collaboration, championing my clients, and creating meaningful daily content. Marie is carrying the same torch — uncovering and inspiring beauty within the homes and lives of her national clientele alongside a team of nine other creative women. By turning her passions into a way to serve others, she is fulfilling her own desires while inviting people home to an environment that they can love. Her sophisticated use of color and texture contributes to her idea that The New Southern is about ‘creating meaningful impact through contrast’. Slowing down, celebrating unique stories and doing more of what speaks to her heart is what makes Marie’s design work so distinguished.

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

The New Southern embraces risk takers that not only dedicate themselves to their passion projects but bring light and lift the souls they cross along the way. Marie is one of these New Southerners, delivering a tasteful blend of connection and imagination to the business. Full of taking risks and exquisitely marrying architecture with design elements — she’s a design maven worth mentioning and I’m so happy to have her with us!

Alyssa Rosenheck: Tell us about yourself…

Marie Flanigan: I live in the Heights neighborhood of Houston with my husband and two little boys, John (age 4) and William (9 months). I grew up in a small Texas town and was blessed with a very creative family — my brothers and sisters are musically talented, and I’ve always gravitated towards a more visual expression. I earned my Bachelor of Architecture degree and began my career at an architecture firm shortly thereafter. It was only once I transitioned to a firm that managed both architecture and interior design projects that I discovered my passion for interiors. I was delighted to be stepping out from behind the computer to connect with families and develop solutions that would enrich their home experience. The work remains technical, but it feels so much more meaningful to me. Over the years I also grew to love the strategy and marketing techniques that ensure growth for smaller businesses and decided to pursue a Masters in Business Administration. In 2010, with my MBA in hand, I married my two passions and opened the doors to Marie Flanigan Interiors. Today, we are a team of nine women connected through creativity and service, helping clients across the country uncover the beauty of home.

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

AR: How are you modernizing / updating Southern style when you design?

MF: Modern Southern style pays homage to historic sensibilities in fresh, unexpected ways. It is thoughtfully curated and exquisitely restrained, creating meaningful impact through contrast. The union of old with new, raw with refined, and ornate with streamlined creates timeless, richly layered interiors that will remain authentic for generations to come.

AR: What innovative trends are you seeing with Southern design across the country?

MF: In a world where we are inundated with information and new trends magically appear overnight, I’ve enjoyed the steady shift towards doing less of what the latest style reports tell you to do and more of what speaks to your heart. This challenges us as designers to reimagine, rejuvenate and take risks. Slowing down and paying attention to every detail in order to celebrate its unique story is a decidedly Southern approach. In our clients’ homes, I definitely see an increased desire for reinvigorating formal entertaining spaces and embracing distinctive architectural details in lieu of removing them.

AR: What are your favorite hometown design boutiques?

MF: Houston is filled with inspiring showrooms and, with such a vibrant and diverse city, new places pop up every year! A few of our tried and true favorites are AREA, FOUND for the Home, MECOX, Chateau Domingue, and Vieux Interiors!

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

AR: Favorite shade of white and black paint color?

MF: White...Benjamin Moore Cloud White. Black...Farrow & Ball Pitch Black. 

AR: What’s your life motto?

MF: Uncover and inspire beauty in the lives of others. 

AR: The one shade that changes everything?

MF: White is color in its purest form. It is the pause, the blank canvas that restores a calming sense of balance. I turn to subtle, soothing whites when I want to quiet one element and in turn allow others the opportunity to be seen and heard.

AR: The place you go to get inspired? 

MF: I am inspired most by people and travel. New places and different cultures help me to view familiar ones with fresh eyes. I’m also an artist at heart, so perusing a gallery or admiring another artist’s work always leaves me feeling refreshed.

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

AR: The key to making a house a home? What does a home need more of and less of? 

MF: More intentionality. Less stuff. A home should be a curated collection of the items that bring beauty to the lives of the people who live there. We are the best version of ourselves in the spaces that ease and inspire us. Sift out the clutter and distill down to the essence of what you cherish most. The result will be an enduring and timeless environment that brings light and lift to those within. 

AR: Life advice you’ve gotten that made all the difference?

MF: A mentor once shared that there are four quadrants of importance for the things we do every day:  

1. Important/Urgent

2. Important/Non-Urgent

3. Non-Important/Urgent

4. Non-Important/Non-Urgent

Most of us fill our time with the third category of non-important yet urgent tasks every day. However, the items in the second category are often the MOST important, and they almost never get our time or attention. It’s so important to prioritize our days so that we are spending valuable minutes in the first two quadrants. Once I started viewing my to-do list within this framework, my life and business changed for the better.

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

AR:  What’s the best piece of business advice you could provide for creative entrepreneurs starting out?

MF: Find a way for your passions to serve others. The work will come when you discover where a need exists and then provide a valuable service that fulfills that need. Also, as cliché as it sounds, don’t be afraid of what anyone else thinks. People are always going to have opinions, but staying true to who you are is essential to creating work that is meaningful to you and the outside world. 

AR: Design book you’ll always have on your shelf?

MF: Style by Saladino by John F. Saladino. John’s exquisite approach to design sparked my passion for the art of mixing old with new.

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

Photo: ©Julie Soefer Photography

AR: What’s your dream project/client?

MF: SO many dreams, so little time! To start, I’ve fallen in love with Nottingham Cottage where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be putting down roots. They share a warmth of spirit and classic sense of style that is so appealing. It would be a joy to collaborate with them to create a home that encapsulates their most treasured life moments.

As far as dream projects are concerned, I have my sights set on the development of an MFI furniture collection. I’m not sure when or how that will happen, but it’s a concept that I am very excited about!

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