May was full to the brim in the best way. We spent the first half of the month in Italy—eating pizza, drinking lots of wine, and taking notes (and too many photos) of all the incredible design inspiration. Our biggest takeaways? Olive oil and limestone go with everything.

Back home, it was a quick shift into catch-up mode. I went straight to Carmel to assist with the final install of the most beautiful project, then down to the Bay Area for a design presentation, and from there, straight up to Tahoe to check in on my project there—while Shane has been busy with all the final prep work on his latest build.

For the home- I’m obviously feeling so inspired by Italy and all the classic Italian design elements—terracotta, linens, all the beautiful stone and vintage furniture and ceramics. But I’ve also been really drawn to classic Americana lately. I think it has something to do with summer and craving that nostalgic, cabin feel. I’ve been especially into Max Humphrey—his unique style and his textile collaboration with Pindler are the perfect mix of fun and nostalgic. I’m also loving a unique quartzite and big, bold wallpaper patterns.

In the kitchen- I’m officially in my pizza-making summer, post-Italy. I’ve been on the hunt for fresh yeast and am wanting to invest in some really good olive oil. But after so much bread and pasta abroad, we needed a little break. We have been BBQing a lot, currently loving this chicken marinade and this sun dried tomato/ garbanzo salad.

In the garden- Leaving the garden during peak season was honestly hard—mostly because of all the prep we had to do beforehand to make sure we didn’t lose the progress we’d made. But coming home to over two weeks of growth was so fun. Of course, that also meant two weeks of insane weed growth. Lately, I’ve been hyperfixated on landscaping the front of our house. It’s been mostly ignored while we focused on the backyard and the garden—partly because it’s tricky: partially shaded in the summer, with a lot of weeds that I recently discovered are actually a type of evergreen native grass. For a while, I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but I’ve decided to just lean in and go for a prairie- or meadow-style landscape. I’m working with what’s already there and adding in plants that can tolerate some shade—including coneflower, hummingbird sage, California currant, butterfly bush, and dead nettle.

Current inspiration- Max Humphrey & Kelly Norris