Recession Special

I LOVE LOVE LOVE grey right now. They say that neutrals are in because of the recession, something about pale, washed out colors feeling appropriate for the bleak economic situation. I suppose then that all of this grey beauty in design right now may be the only silver lining to our economic problems!

So, my friend moved into a new apartment recently and of course I tried to convince her to paint her living room grey. Mind you, this was unsolicited decorating advice, as she was quite satisfied with her already off-white walls. So she simply said "umm I can't really picture what that would look like." Hmm, weird, so you mean that not everyone fantasizes about paint swatches like these?" David Kaufman Collections DKC-10
Sherwin-Williams Magnetic Grey SW7058
Benjamin Moore's Grey Tint 1611

Benjamin Moore's Bear Creek 1470

Alex, this one's for you! This is how amazing grey walls can be!









Photo Credits: Paint Swatches: House Beautiful, Domino, Domino, House Beautiful, Domino, Domino, Elle Decor, Brooke Giannatti.

I've always been a Nantucket girl...

but I LOVE this Hamptons house!

I was looking for bedroom ideas to help out one of my friends who is redecorating... and I came across this one in Elle Decor .

I loved that the bed is surrounded by windows; I'm like a cat, I love sleeping in the sunshine! Of course I was also drawn to the mostly white decor and the couch is a vintage! This is the kind of room that makes me wish I were less traditional - I don't know if I'm cool enough to pull this off myself!

With such a great master, I HAD to see what the else of the house looked like. Look at this stunning entry! It's so bright and fresh. I'm obsessed with the white wide plank floors. Grey counter-tops and white cabinets are my fave! The owners broke through to the space above to give this kitchen double height. Oooh all of that sunlight!
I love bathrooms that feel like more than just a bathroom. With windows in the shower and the bench in here, I'd spend HOURS getting ready if I had a room like this.

A clean and simple living room - I like it!It also has a parlor. I'm not sophisticated enough to know the difference between a living room and a parlor, but whatevs I like them both!

And it has a pool! I love that the pool is simple and blends in with the landscaping.

Peter Frank is the designer responsible for all of this beauty!

Photo Credits: William Abronowics, Elle Decor

Movie Day

It's a rainy Sunday... perfect for movie watching! I've just finished "The Wedding Date" and am starting "Monster-in-Law." All of this movie watching reminded me of how I've always loved Cameron Diaz's house in "The Holiday."

It's located in San Marino, CA and was the home of Wallace Neff, a famous Californian architect. Nancy Meyers and Jon Hutman are responsible for these gorgeous interiors. This living room would be great for entertaining. It offers tons of seating without feeling over-furnitured. I promise that I would learn to cook if I had this beautiful kitchen and casual dining area.

Not that there is anything particularly wrong with my living room, but I'd much rather be watching movies in this gorgeous tv room.

Just looking at this bedroom and bath makes me feel relaxed! Hope it does the same for you!

Right after I posted this, I was on one of my favorite blogs, Velvet & Linen and Brooke had just put up a post of a Wallace Neff building that her husband had worked on - so hop on over there if you are curious to see another of his buildings!

I Heart Art

Whether you're visiting NYC or live here, you need to check out the Museum of Arts and Design at Columbus Circle. Having been an Art History major, I shouldn't say this, but I sometimes find that at other museums, I enjoy the art because I know I should; I've learned how innovative the artist was in their time etc, but it's not exactly awe-inspiring all by itself. The Museum of Arts and Design, however, has a real WOW factor. I went with my roommate, and she and I had the hardest time obeying the "do not touch" signs, because so many of the pieces were just so intriguing.

These images from Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary exhibition, an exhibit that featured objects and installations comprised of ordinary and everyday manufactured objects, don't even begin to do it justice; you need to see them in person, but I wanted to show you a few of my favorites!

Portrait of a Textile Worker, by Terese Agnew, is striking because the entire 8x10 ft image was created with just clothing labels.

I want Johnny Swing's Quarter Lounge for my living room! Ok, it probably wouldn't go with the current decor, but made entirely from welded quarters, I SO badly wanted to try it out and sit on it!

Can you guess what this coral by Tara Donavan is made of??? I only figured it out after reading the sign at the museum... it's made of buttons!

Yuken Teyura created a series of these trees using designer brand shopping bags. In person the detail is amazing, but I also just learned that each bag represents a specific tree that the artist has taken a picture of and has recreated.

In addition to amazing exhibits, the museum also boasts a fabulous gift shop. It includes much more than just standard "touristy" items and I highly recommend stopping by or shopping online here if you need to find a unique housewarming gift, birthday present etc. Another perk to the museum is "Studio Sundays" - gatherings each week for those of all ages to discuss and create works of art. I went to the one called "Visually Speaking" where we made jewelry from every day objects like rubber bands and buttons. This is a great activity if you have kids in the 5-10 yr old range but was also fun for me as something different to do from my normal routine.

MAD Museum also has on-site studios where visitors are welcome to view the artists actively working and talk with them about their processes, materials and concepts.

I can't say enough good things about this museum, so you just HAVE to check it out for yourself!

Grief Counseling

I'm hooked on Domino Magazine and devastated that March is the last Domino Magazine ever, and now having read the last issue cover to cover, I'm trying to figure out out to survive without it in my life anymore. I am sure some of you must be equally as upset. I have a strategy called "get it out of your system." It's been highly successful with clothing and accessories that I fall in love with, but know that I probably shouldn't buy.

It goes like this: Try it on MULTIPLE times usually by the end you've realized that it doesn't actually look as good on, or fit right or whatever, and you realize that while it's a beautiful dress etc, it's just not meant to be.. and you can get over it and don't want it anymore. This helped my friend Kimi when she wanted an $800 jacket!

When that doesn't do it, I've taken it a step further as I did with these Chanel Sunglasses and this ring from Tiffany's. I'd been wanting them for MONTHS! Tried then both on in stores multiple times, but still desperately needed them.So I bought them! Wore them around in front of a mirror in my apartment and realized that maybe they weren't as amazing as I thought they were! I no longer pine over them. I realized they weren't as amazing as I thought they were and returned them. I GOT THEM OUT OF MY SYSTEM!

So I'm trying to see if perhaps I spent loads and loads of time looking at Domino maybe just maybe I can start to get it out of my system! I kind of doubt it, but it's worth a shot!

While doing this, I found these pictures of Dana Caponigro's house. She's the style director of Domino and I really love what she's done with her house. Her mantra is "don't let anything into your house that you're not in love with." And I think that advice definitely works! She's created such clean beautiful spaces.

In her master bedroom, she broke through to the attic and added a window. I love that she left the woodwork from the attic rather than sheet-rocking over it. The beams' texture gives it a loft-like feel.

Previously, this bedroom was just a storage space, but Dana notes that it has now become "everyone's favorite space" in her home. Again, I love how she left the original materials exposed - gives the room so much character! I know that I am such a sucker for all things white, but I think this fireplace and sitting area are just so pretty. Dana doesn't use a lot of color or objects but she makes a room feel comfortable by keeping the original charming architectural details like this fire place.

Hmm, I don't really feel any better about Domino... perhaps I need to blog more about it tomorrow!

Photo Credits: Domino, Chanel, Tiffany & Co

Party Time

I don't like to turn down a party.... and Pretty Organized Palace is having a toile themed party today.. so I thought why not!?

I've always loved how Pottery Barn does a toile; They manage to make it still feel modern and sophisicated. These are 2 bedding sets from Pottery Barn that I've had my eye on over the past few years.

This is their Martine Toile in powder blue that is currently for sale on the website. I love that it comes in a duvet and a quilt so that you can add a little texture. Unfortunately I have white furniture in my bedroom, because I LOVE how this dark wood bed creates a contrast and keeps the toile grounded.
After weeks of agonizing about this Asian toile (the debate was over how much I loved the overall pattern and color, but there is a man in the pattern and I didn't know if I was comfortable sleeping with humans on my bedding - I'm not neurotic I swear!) I finally went to my shopping cart all set to purchase and it was sold out in the size I needed!! I've been devastated ever since!

Anyways, if any of you are up for a party tonight, hop on over to Pretty Organized Palace!

Photo Credits: Pottery Barn

A Plastic Tan Never Fades

I thought it was SO bizarre that the Mattel website clarifed more than once that Babie was just a doll and in fact not a real person. But I've gotten quite excited and perhaps overly involved in her life over the past few days that I can see how you might forget that she's not actually real.

I just learned that Barbie has a runway show at Fashion Week last month. Why did the Today Show not inform me of this!?!? 50 designers showcased their real-sized designs. I loved seeing how each designer infused their personal style into their design.

Each of the models wore these Barbie Pink Christian Louboutins below.

This picture with Heidi Klum was taken at Barbie's 50th Birthday celebration in the shoe closet of her Malibu Dream House.

My favorite designs from the show were by Jeremy Scott, Bagley Mischka and Tommy Hilfiger.
I'll be honest, for the past year now, I have thought the jumpsuit trend is just terrible. I didn't get it, I didn't understand who could wear it, or WHY anyone would want to. But when I saw this one by Jeremy Scott come down the runway I was floored! I just love it! You still won't see me wearing anything like this any time soon.. but now I totally get how fabulous a jumpsuit can be!

I'm also a fan of this dress by Bagley Mischka. I was drawn to the pale pink ground color with silver accents. The glare on the belt in this picture makes it look a little bit harsh, but trust me in the video of the runway show its stunning! I also thought this dress was a lot of fun by Tommy Hilfiger. There should probably be a bit more coverage over the chest, but I love a dress with movement!

I highly recommend watching the whole show if anyone has a lot of time! Its about 40 minutes long and can't be downloaded, but you can find it here if you are interested!

And if you don't have quite so much time you can watch just the finale here!

Design Crush: Barbie

I haven't exactly had Barbie on my radar in awhile.. or at all since I was 10, but I just read The Hartford Courant's article on her new Malibu Dream House and it was love! Of course the decor is so silly and flamboyant but I can only hope to still have such a stylish apartment when I turn 50!

Designer Jonathan Adler was hired to style the actual 3,500-square-foot home in Malibu, California as the site for Barbie's 50th birthday celebration. He says "This house is as over the top and as fantastic as it should be for this American icon." Over the top it certainly is, but there are elements of each room that are just fabulous and can be used even if you're a bit more conservative.

Oh Barbie, what a sense of style you have!! I always love a white couch; here it helps all of the bright color and pattern make sense. The pink poodle is hilarious and the mirror above the fireplace is a perfect example of the popular circle shape that is so en vogue right now.

Here is a close-up of the mirror using 65 of the 1959 style Barbie. I will always love the clothing fashions of the 50's.

I love the pink and white stripe lamp shades that Barbie has here in her sitting room. Wouldn't they be adorable in a little girl's room? The corseted chairs are down-right wild, but I'd still love to have this room in my Malibu beach house!

Wait! Let me make a correction to that previous statement; I'd love to have this room with the exception of this hair chandelier. I think this is the creepiest, scariest thing I have ever seen! I mean everyone is allowed a design faux pas now and then, but my god, designer Chris March really missed the boat on this one!

Here's Barbie's bedroom and Yes! You are seeing correctly! That IS a shoe closet FILLED with Christian Louboutins!!! And of course you can never go wrong in any bedroom by using white monogrammed bedding. I also really like the white lamps with black shades - very chic.

If you're looking to add some fun to your home decor, Jonathan Adler will be launching a "Barbie loves Jonathan Adler" collection in September.