Local Living Design Studio's hand-stamped home and bag lines

Bold Stamping Ground

Life, like a good rom com, has its ups and downs.

For instance, you might be a gorgeous, popular sorority queen (up) until some jock breaks your heart (down). Turns out he's headed to law school with his new "serious" girlfriend (ugh, double down).

Our advice? Take a page out of Elle Woods' pink scented notebook and change up your surroundings. Okay, a cross-country move might be a little extreme. But updating your living room? It's a total bend-and-snap thanks to Local Living Design Studio's bright, playful home line.

Designer Michele Baginski knows a thing or two about navigating life's curveballs. She graduated from art school, raised three young boys, and overcame a disease that left her legally blind. Despite her disability, the Kailua native still churns out stunning prints by carving and stamping bold, coastal designs onto crisp linen and cotton fabrics. Coordinating solids and prints are sewn alongside her hand-stamped fabric into a variety of home goods and accessories. 

Orange paisleys and yellow chevrons brighten table runners, tea towels, even handbags. Coral-colored ferns and teal starfish adorn everything from bolster pillows to placemats. And don't miss her new red-, white-, and blue-striped and polka-dotted throw pillows, great for celebrating the Fourth of July, or your own independence.

Baginski can also carve you a custom stamp, say, if you want the face of your perky little pooch memorialized on a table linen. Your sorority sisters would be so jealous.

Ah, well. Finders keepers, Bruisers weepers.

Prices range from about $30-100 for pillows and linens and $50-$150 for handbags. Local Living Design Studio is available at Kai Boutique, 319 Hahani St., and at local craft fairs. For more information, visit LocalLivingKailua.com. Photos courtesy: Local Living Design Studio.