I am so excited to learn that my March cover for House Beautiful is up for the Magazine Cover of the Year in the House and Home category on Amazon.com.

If you find this cover inspirational, please pop over to Amazon and vote.

Thanks a million!!

Here’s a little Essie Fall inspiration for you…

In Stitches

Gorgeous red room from Elle Decor

Limited Addiction

Miles Redd’s yummy red velvet couch

Sew Psyched

Chic grey-green library from Elle Decor

Merino Cool

Dreamy purple living room (source unknown)

Velvet Voyeur

Deep aubergine dining room from Elle Decor

Little Brown Dress

Rich chocolate room from Australian Vogue

I have had so much fun with my Essie “Polish to Room” posts and am thrilled that my first official post for the new blog is all about Essie.  I hope you like Essie’s new Fall collection and my new blog.  I think they are both quite fabulous!

OK, so we’re not that old, but in just a few days, the Tobi Fairley Blog will be 2. What’s better for making an old girl look fresh again than giving her a makeover, right?

I hope you love the new look. There are lots of new things to see. I am so excited to bring you more behind the scenes peeks, video tours and inside information from my design projects. I will continue to bring you some of my favorite blog series like Tobi’s Top Ten and will be adding lots of fun new ones that you are gonna love! Plus I will bring you many more DIY projects and in-depth looks at my favorite entertaining ideas. So get ready, this is going to be your favorite daily “serving” of design, entertaining, style and more!

Besides my design posts of the day, or “Design Dujour”, you can now find fun monthly features in the blog sidebar that offer you a lot of bonus content. On the first day of each month, we will launch a new focus for Home and Garden, Style, Entertaining, and Travel…all of my favorite things. In addition to that, I will bring you a look at one of my favorite current trends each month in “What’s Hot.” And with the “Color Coded” feature, you’ll gain insight into my favorite ways to use color. Oh, you know how I love color! The great thing about these monthly features is that they are conveniently located right there in the sidebar, so you can easily revisit them as often as you want each month. These features will be the jumping off point for many of my daily blog posts, so if they leave you wanting more…great! I’m going to give it to you.

So here’s what you’ll find in the September monthly features. The Home and Garden section takes you inside my Fayetteville, Arkansas project that recently landed on the cover of At Home in Arkansas’s August issue and gives you a glimpse of my client’s funky and fabulous style. In our September Style feature, I have a fun chat with my fellow Arkansan and Project Runway Season 5 runner-up Korto Momolu. Korto is about to head down the runway again in just a couple of weeks with her Fall 2011 New York Fashion Week collection. You won’t want to miss her top 5 must-haves for every fall wardrobe and hear what inspires her work. My travel and leisure feature will help you travel in style this fall. But before you get cooled off with all things Fall, I am heating things up with a fun Entertaining segment that’s perfect for any time of year. Plus my favorite trend and color picks for your home and wardrobe are all there in my new monthly features tabs.

Oh and one last thing before you go…Did you notice the bold and fun patterns here on my new blog’s homepage? Well they are a sneak peek at my new wallpaper and fabric collections that will be out next month. My amazing collaboration with wallpaper designer Given Campbell resulted in such gorgeous designs that I wanted a few of them to grace the new blog home page. So stay tuned for the big reveal of our colorful fabric and wallpaper offerings in just a few weeks when my new Tobi Fairley Interior Design website goes live.

For now, I hope you will enjoy perusing my new blog and monthly features. I can’t wait to hear what you think. Please accept a gigantic heart-felt hug from me to you for all your support, readership and comments over the past 2 years. It has been a wonderful ride so far and it is only getting better!

Here’s to many more inspired days spent with you. Cheers!

xoxo, Tobi

Almost there…This should be our motto around the office. I think I will buy these cute buttons for my staff and me to wear.

I am famous for starting tons of projects, but the good news is that we usually actually finish them. I am one of those crazy people who gets more done when I have too much on my plate!

So I apologize for my lack of blogging in the last 10 days or so, but I have a good excuse. I have been putting the finishing touches on our new look for the blog. And guess what? We are almost there.

Stay tuned in the next couple of days for our official launch. I’m excited and I hope you will be too!

xoxo, Tobi

Back-to-school can be a hectic time for mommies! With all the demands on your time and all the new gear required for school-bound kids, your home can quickly become cluttered. Now is the perfect time to get your home in top shape so that your family stays organized year-round. Versatile wall organizing systems like the one featured above from Pottery Barn are a great addition to a home office.

In my own home office, I have great custom cabinetry from The Closet Factory. I’ve used colorful boxes to keep everything organized in style.

These storage boxes from The Container Store add lots of color and pattern and make organizing a breeze.

Keep papers separated in file drawers or file boxes with these hip file folders by Whitney English via Molly’s Paperie in Little Rock.

Not a fan of the colorful boxes? Vintage gym locker baskets are another fun way to add a unique element to your decor and keep your kid’s belongings under control. These are especially great for sports gear, shoes and all things activity related.

Chalkboard paint is a great way to make your walls part of your organizational scheme! You can make any wall an instant message center and you can even make them magnetic too.

Storage lockers, like these from Restoration Hardware, placed in an entryway or mudroom are a great way to keep the entire family organized.

A stylish, graphic clipboard for each member of the family helps mom keep track of everybody’s school, sports and activity information.

Create this look in your home with these adorable clipboards from Dabney Lee at Home available in Little Rock at Molly’s Paperie.

Are you a mom that just can’t part with your kids schoolwork from year to year. Keep it safe and organized in these handy binders from Russell +Hazel.

Their signature binder comes in lots of colors and has handy divider tabs inside. These work great for moms with several children because mom can have one binder, but can organize each child or activity in its own section.

And if your binder is packed full of important information, keep it all in tact with these adorable decorative rubber bands also from the creative peeps at Russel + Hazel. Find a full selection of Russel + Hazel in Little Rock at Molly’s Paperie.

To not lose track of all those important dates, school parties, ballgames, and more, every mom needs a stylish planner from Dabney Lee at Home. Personalized with your initial, these cheerful planners are the perfect size to slip right into your purse so you always have all your kid’s calendars close at hand.

I hope these tips and products help you and your kids stay organized all year long and add a bit of style to your life too!

A special thank you to my great friends at Molly’s Paperie in Little Rock. You can find many of the items I showcased on the show today in their fabulous shop. I hope you’re inspired to get your home organized!

For all of my central Arkansas readers, I wanted to remind you that tomorrow morning, Wednesday, August 24th, is Design Time with Tobi Fairley on Good Morning Arkansas. Be sure to tune in to KATV Channel 7 at 9am to learn how to get your home organized and stylish for Back to School!

See you in the morning!
Tobi

Time is running out to win one of two fabulous prizes!

Tobi’s offered the chance to win a couple of amazing opportunities for anyone who signs up for one of the two upcoming Design Camps by a certain deadline.

Anyone who registers for the September 18th one-day camp will be placed in a drawing to win a seat at Tobi’s table. Enjoy a dinner party, complete with four courses and wine pairings, the night before camp. But this is no regular dinner party. The whole thing will be filmed for some exciting new features on Tobi’s website and blog.

And anyone who registers for the six-week fall camp gets the equally exciting opportunity to meet Eddie Ross!

Eddie’s going to be in town on Wednesday, October 27th for a cocktail party fundraiser at Tobi’s house for the Fine Arts Club at the Arkansas Arts Center. And one lucky camper will win a ticket to the party!

These two prizes are simply amazing and unique. And there’s only one way you can be eligible to win.

You MUST call or email us before the end of the day tomorrow and register for the one-day camp. Or you MUST call or email us before the end of the day on September 1 and register for the six-week camp.

It’s that simple, but your time is running out. What are you waiting for?

Sorry to have been absent on my blog this week.  I have been so busy with tons of time spent designing a chic farmhouse, giving a fabulous client presentation, staging a photo shoot with At Home in Arkansas and much more! Not to mention I took my baby to her first day of Kindergarten today…sniff, sniff. But to tide you over until I can get back to blogging more, please check out my latest traveling designer post on the At Home in Arkansas blog.

I give you an inside peek at the High Point Furniture Market and some of my favorite vendors. Plus I introduce you to a few hots spots, hotels and shopping destinations in the area.

Hope you enjoy this little “armchair” traveling with me!

See you soon, Tobi

So who won the window book?

That would be Deb Wagoner! Congrats Deb! We’ve got your address, so we’ll be sending your prize soon.

And the lucky winner of the bedding book is…

Why it’s Tricia Helicker! (Psst, Trish, please email me so I can get your contact details.)

Thanks to everyone for commenting! And Happy Monday!