Merry Christmas

Christmas in my home is all about family, food and napping. My parents take turns cooking up the tastiest food they've made all year, and the "fancy" china finally comes out of its cabinet. We tempt our cat with catnip-stuffed mice and watch him gallop around the house, sometimes sideways. We fill the house with cheesy Christmas tunes and sing at the top of our lungs. We have fun :) I hope all of you are enjoying your holiday traditions as well.

Every year I ask Santa for a stack of books and usually fall asleep on the couch reading them. My favorite this year is definitely the Principles of Uncertainty, by incredible illustrator and funny gal Maira Kalman. Be sure to check out her website and her blog in the New York Times! I'm headed to Florida for a few days and then the movers will be in New York when I get back, so I won't be blogging as often as usual but will try to get a few in here and there. Happy day!

Deal of the century

Photo: Simon Watson for Domino, November 2005

Last weekend I rented a car and headed to the Pottery Barn/Williams Sonoma Home outlet, only to find that EVERY piece of furniture was an extra 60% off the outlet prices! So you can imagine I nearly collapsed when I found the Faux Bamboo Chair above for a whopping (drum roll, please) 66 bucks!! Hello new apartment! It will give my fairly trad living room the perfect punch of Hollywood Regency flair ;) For those of you who live near a PB/WSH outlet, trust me- you need to go. (Like right now.)

Luggage {as storage}

Photo: Eric Piasecki for Elle Decor

While flipping through the December 2007 issue of Elle Decor I stumbled across this great storage idea from Keni Valenti's Miami Beach home. I love how he created two artsy vignettes at the foot of the bed with his gorgeous Goyard trunks. Since the average bear (like myself) could never afford one of these beauties, I was excited to find the chic alternative below in the December 2007 issue of Lucky! I can't get enough of these steamer trunk styles from Steamline Luggage.

Celerie Kemble's office

Photo: Johnny Valiant for Instyle

I'm always such a fan of Celerie's work so it's no surprise that I'm totally digging her office, as seen in the January 2008 issue of InStyle! I love how the space is highly functional but still looks and feels nothing like an office.

Celerie's office was also shot for the premiere issue of Domino, and it's interesting to see how much it's changed since 2005. If you look at the carpet it appears to be the same space (and both articles say Celerie's "New York office") so I'd be interested to see how she incorporated the two styles. BTW- I'm head over heels in love with the bookcase- especially the color!

Photo: Francois Dischinger

Celerie's own line of furniture at Lane Venture has some pieces with a similar Asian feel. They're beautiful, but personally I think I'd rather hunt down a piece like this at a flea market ;)

My new apartment!

So today was a big day! I signed a lease for the tiniest little apartment on the upper east side and couldn't be more excited to get the keys and start decorating. The image below at right is my teeny living room, so I'm thinking I should add shelves to the left of the fireplace like the image at left from Domino. Now if only I could figure out where to put all my clothes...

Styling: Williams Sonoma Home

I love how the styling in Williams Sonoma Home catalogs allows them to read like chic decorating magazines or even coffee table books. Here are some of my favorite images from the past few years :)

Incredibly chic and cheap: Victoria Hagan for Target

All these goodies can be found at Target.com

To faux or not to faux {The Barcelona Chair}

So I'm currently obsessed with the classic Knoll Barcelona chair and am THINKING about buying a reproduction! This mid century design masterpiece will set you back about $7000 with the matching ottoman, versus a mere $559 for its reproduction. What do you think? (By the way, the image above is from the CUTEST blog, Turquoise Chic!)

The reproduction piece above can be found at Designer Seating.com. Here's also a great article on the Knoll knock-off debate.

Apt hunting in NYC

(Iomoi custom stationery)

So I'm excited to say that my lease is up soon and it's time to find a new place! I love moving, and in fact rarely stayed in the same home for more than two years while growing up. It's such a great opportunity to explore new neighborhoods, as well as to reassess what you own and edit it down to your absolute favorite pieces. (Especially in NYC apts, which are teeny tiny!) Below are some inspiration pieces for my dream apartment ;)

(Left to right: Tory Burch orange lacquer box, Victoria Hagan for Target Coindot Mirror, Global Table Faux Snakeskin Tray, basic cheapo white twill drapes with greek key trim sewn on, Jacqui Coffee Table it's a bit pricey so I'll be on the lookout for a flea market version, Shades of Light Moravian Star Ceiling Light, Ikea Docksta dining table, Shades of Light Black Zebra Cowhide Rug (I'd probably go for Jonathan Adler's wool version), Ikea Egeby rug.)

(Photo: Justin Bernhaut)

Giving a rental apartment some charm is no easy task, so I love how designer Ashley Whittaker made the most of her small space. A few coats of a high-gloss black paint on her kitchen cupboards instantly makes them chic, as do the custom light fixtures, wallpaper and appropriately scaled rugs.

This is also such a charming idea! Many prewar apartments in the city have unusable fireplaces, so I was excited to see this display idea in the December 2007 issue of Domino.

December Domino!

So I'm completely obsessed with this rebellious little magazine shop on 44th and 3rd that always puts magazines out way too early! When I worked for Domino, this newsstand often had the issues out before we even received them in our office! Haha. Anyway, I won't spoil the issue for you, but thought I'd show you the $35 faux snake tray from the gift guide! It's 12"x 19" and would be great on an entry console to catch keys, loose mail and curled up dog leashes :)

The tray reminded me of furniture designer Laura Yaggy's python "Duncan" end table from the December 2005 issue! I love how it adds pattern and texture to the room and mixes SO well with reds, however I prefer the $35 price tag on the tray ;)

Small-space wallpapering

Photo: Kim Cornelison for Country Home, May 2007

Hello once again! I'm finally back from my week long Thanksgiving vacation and ready for some blogging ;) I wanted to show you the hallway above as it's such a great example of using bold wallpaper in small spaces! Hallways and bathrooms are the perfect places to use busy patterns such as this Farrow & Ball print.

I'm also loving the pair of ceramic busts! The patterned wallpaper really makes them pop. For similar busts, try searching eBay for "vintage bust pair." The $10 pair below popped up on my first search.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's some centerpiece ideas from Domino

And of course some from Martha ;)

I Heart Dovecote

It has always been a dream of mine to own a store one day, so through the years I've paid close attention to stores that inspire me. Although I've never had a chance to check it out in person, I've been "watching" Dovecote for years through their website and magazine articles, and have enjoyed seeing the many style changes that it has gone through. Store owner Sarah Kaplan started her career as a buyer for Neiman Marcus' European Sportswear and eventually did the buying for Barney's Private Label Collection. She now uses her well-trained eye to do the buying for her Westport, CT store by traveling to Paris and the south of France six times a year, finding the best antiques from Bagues to Napoleon III. (Click here to see the treasures she has recently brought back from France!) The store also carries hard-to-find lines ranging from Laduree candles to David Hicks fabrics and wallpapers! Fans of Dovecote include Martha Stewart, Paul Newman and Harry Connick Jr. to name a few. Check out some pics of this fab store :)
As expected, Sarah's own home is pretty spectacular as well! Here it is, featured in the January 2006 issue of Celebrity Living.
Finally, Sarah also participated in the 2006 Hamptons Cottages and Gardens idea house, designing the gorgeous room below!

Happy weekend!

Photo: Bjorn Wallander for O at Home, Winter 2007

Happy weekend all! Hopefully you can make it to a flea market while the weather is still nice. This weekend we're celebrating my dad's 50th birthday in the city (yea!) so I'll have to flea market vicariously through all of you ;)

I thought I'd show you the images above and below from the home of Kirsten Hollister as they illustrate the power of mixing old and new. Kirsten's upholstered bench and knock-off Eero Saarinen table are both from ikea, (as is the chandelier, I would assume) and her art and accessories are all flea market finds! The chalk board is such a genius idea. Kirsten found a vintage mirror and broke the glass out, flipped the backing around, and spray painted the backing with chalk board paint! So anyway, be creative and happy weekend :)

Photo: Bjorn Wallander for O at Home, Winter 2007

Neutrals {sometimes the best color is no color}

Photo: Helen Norman for Country Home, May 2007 (side note: I'm obsessed with this library! Click on the photo to see how amazing it really is.)

Photo: Simon Upton for Domino, June 2006

Photo: David Loftus for Island Life

Photo: Helen Norman for Country Home, May 2007

Haynes-Roberts library

Dara Caponigro's Manhattan apartment, as seen in September 2006 Veranda. Dara is currently the Style Director at Domino and is known for her love of neutral colors. Photo: Laura Resen