I’m gearing up for the annual Design on a Dime fundraiser for Housing Works which is right around the corner and if you didn’t know, I am designing a room filled with fabulous items that will all be sold at an amazing discount and all of the proceeds will benefit a new housing development that Housing Works is building as a home for formerly homeless New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. It is such a fantastic cause and a super fun event with INCREDIBLE shopping!!! You can find wonderful, designer merchandise for your home – for a “dime” and it’s all curated by some of the industry’s top interior designers. There is a VIP preview and shopping event this Thursday April 25th which is a star studded party that will allow attendees the first opportunity to shop the rooms and score the best items before the general public. If you’re in
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Who doesn’t have a pair of blue jeans that have seen better days? Usually, I save those for ‘work’ jeans, but I’m thinking I may have to rescue a pair from the stack to make an apron. The first option comes from Patricia. A bit too ‘tweeny’ for you? Scroll on!
How about this shabby-chic number from The Farmer’s Daughter? TOO ruffly? Keep scrollin’.
This next one was made for a firefighter and his wife (note the fabric). Perfect safety reminder for the grill master, no? There’s no how-to, but it looks utterly fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants do-able.
Okay, more ruffles. The tu
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Spring is here, the birds are singing and the sun is trying to make an appearance but, the looming grey clouds have other ideas, not to be deterred, its that time of year to prepare our homes for the summer months ahead.
Out with the old and in with the new, time to de clutter and spruce up our homes.
Using a palette of soft white hues and splashes of subtle colour can add a lift to any room in the home, creating a new look at a relatively low cost.
Keeping furniture to a minimum and maintaining the style throughout allows a natural continuation in any home.
The use of white furniture visually looks clean and tidy and remains timeless through the years, never dating in appearance.
With the use of key pieces, furniture can be used to create casual or more formal areas, dependant on the usage within the home.
Make use of your outdoor space, incorporate your design to include your garden or courtyard.
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A handsome four-poster bed is the focal point of the master suite of Southern Living‘s Athens Idea House. Plaid silk bedding and silk drapes add luxurious softness to the dark furnishings. The blue walls and warm vanilla armchairs repeat the colors found in the home’s main gathering areas.
What’s that old saying? Necessity is the mother of all invention? In this case, the necessity was ‘erasing’ a chandelier that had fallen out of favor with its owner, Amanda. Ultimately, she embraced her inner inventor and turned a hula-hoop into a barrel shade to cleverly hide the chandelier. Besides the hoop and her sewing machine, Amanda used a section of burlap, some wire and ribbon to create the new shade. Very clever! To see how to she did it, visit Burlap and Denim to see the entire tutorial.
Before they are even born, we are planning their own little domains. The all important nursery colours! Do we choose pink or blue ?With a lot of new parents not wishing to know the sex of their new child, this is an all important decision. Why not plump for the most timeless and versatile colourwhite.
The nursery is usually one of the smallest bedrooms in the home and as everyone knows white enhances both the overall feeling of size and wellbeing. A range of white furniture suitable for all the new arrivals needs is not only practical but easy on the eye. Any additional colour is offered to the room by the huge numbers of cuddly toys always present!
As baby grows, his needs change in many ways. Primarily, his sleeping arrangements change too. He will need a bigger bed and this may have been easily converted from his young cot.
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I’m so excited to finally share photos of my completed Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Gala table! When I learned that the theme of this year’s event was “High Society” I decided I would choose a “high society” muse to inspire my table design and I immediately thought of the iconic American heiress Doris Duke and her magical Hawaiian retreat which she called Shangri La. The daughter of a wildly successful tobacco and energy magnate, Duke was known as the richest girl in the world even earning the nickname “Million Dollar Baby.” She loved exotic travels which included journeys to far flung places like Morocco, India, Iran, Syria, Turkey and other regions of the Middle and Far East. It was through these travels that Duke fell in love with the beauty and exoticism of Islamic art, textiles, architecture and culture. She was drawn to
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