A few posts ago, I shared some Spring kitchen inspiration, and with the weather warming up even more, I’m now inspired to share some Spring tablescape ideas. I love cooking for friends and family and throwing any dinner party they’ll allow me to. When I lived in Echo Park, my friends jokingly called my home The Restaurant, and I was happy for it to be considered as such. I cooked them everything from my big salads to something we called the miracle chicken (we called it that because whenever I made this particular roast chicken for potential boyfriends, they usually stuck around a few years ..read more

This week’s Found is like one of those old riddles: “What’s black and white and…” — and in this case, it’s a little bit noir. You see, I intensely binge-watched Ripley, the recent TV series adaption based on the 1955 psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith, on Netflix over the weekend, and I literally cannot get it out of my mind. It stars ‘Hot Priest’ Andrew Scott, Dakota Fanning, and Johnny Flynn, is filmed all over Italy and shot entirely in very dramatic black and white, which adds to the movie’s shadowy mood and edgy tension. And it’s so cinematically inspiring, I think you ..read more

If you’ve followed me for a while, you may have seen me share this kitchen featured in Domino a while back. It’s my all-time favorite kitchen look, mainly for the sassy Italian-inspired striped curtain. I still want to create this for my own kitchen, and it’s on my Springtime to-do list. And since it’s feeling quite springy and sunny outside right now, I feel inspired to share some fresh-looking kitchens and helpful cooking accouterment with you this week to start your Spring off right. There’s nothing like a kitchen with a fresh coat of white paint and a few green accents to give you a lig ..read more

I’ve often found myself inspired by timeless, original, and authentic beauty that never goes out of style or could be considered a trend. Like a good Martini, it’s a standard I can live by — with a twist and two olives, please. The twist, in this case, is a bit of eccentricity. I think that’s where the inspiration for my home makeover came from, too. I wanted to streamline and simplify but get a little bit modernist at home, too. I could never go wholly modern or minimalist. I’m too much of an eclectic and a collector for that, and living in a 1929 beach cottage doesn’t really lend itself t ..read more

I get these urges every once in a while to completely makeover my space. It starts with a bit of restlessness and a general feeling of ennui, and slowly, I become rather obsessed. It’s been going on since my early teens when I’d play sick from school, and my mum would check in on me only to find I’d wholly rearranged my room — furniture included. Don’t ask me how I did it — I imagine myself dragging things around with a bedeviled determination. And I’m still at it. This time, I made some pretty significant changes, so I hired a TaskRabbit to do the heavy lifting, but before they arrived, I ..read more

Hello, and welcome to my first issue of Found, a brand new series here on SFGirl. As I mentioned last week, I’m changing things up around here and condensing my many emails to you into one newsletter centered around various design-related themes I’m currently inspired to share with you. Thus, I give you ‘Found.’ I also want to thank you all so much for your continued support. Your kind and generous comments put so much joy in my heart. I honestly did not expect such a supportive reaction, and it really motivated me. I’m still playing with the new format and expect it to be an ever-evolving ..read more

dearest readers, i’ve been writing sfgirlbybay since 2006, and to be quite honest, i must admit to a bit of burnout. as you may have seen on instagram, i turn 65 in may (insert mind-blown emoji here), and i’ve come to the realization that the rapidly evolving, fast-paced swiping of the internet these days may no longer fit the content i’ve been providing you with for almost two decades. time marches on at a very quick pace these days. i was going to retire my substack all together, but instead, i think i’d like to change it up. i’d like to make it more intimate, perhaps writing what would b ..read more

welcome to the weekend, friends. rain is returning, so i plan to work on the current mission of mine to redesign my cottage, which i mentioned earlier this week. i finally found a larger sofa that i love (on sale, yay!), and now i’m needing to hunt down a new square or rectangular wood coffee table that i want to style by stacking my design books and my many objets d'art. i’ll post soon on the new living room look i’m going for, and i also thought you might be interested in some of the pieces i’ll be selling if you feel like a trek to laguna beach to pick them up. on to this week’s friday f ..read more

call me crazy, because i know it wasn’t that long ago that i converted my home studio workspace into a dining room — but i miss having that functional creative space and a place to play. and truth be told, i never eat in the dining room unless i have guests, and we mostly end up eating outdoors on the patio or casually in the living room. so — i’m converting the room back to a studio workspace and a workout space. i need an area i can do my indoor mini treadmill, and i’ve recently purchased the pvolve workout kit, so i need some floor space, too. it’ll be a multi-purpose room, to be sure ..read more

happy weekend, everyone. i’m not sure what your weather’s like, but our sun finally returned, so i’ll be spending some time in the great outdoors while i can. however, if you’re stuck inside, there are so many good films and tv series to watch lately — have you noticed? it’s hard to keep track of all the streaming services, but if you’ve not watched maestro, it’s an incredibly well-acted, beautiful movie, and assouline even has a stunning book out by bradley cooper on the making of the film. also, if you’re ready for a sobfest, do not miss one day on netflix. holy moly i was a mess througho ..read more