sneak peek

My hands are spattered with black paint because last night after having a cocktail (or perhaps it was two) I decided it would be fun to paint the fireplace black. And I didn't stop there. Stay tuned for more...

two to tango

Love it!

if the shoe fits

Dries Van Noten, Style.com

How much do I love this shoe? And it's not just a shoe. It's art and it's inspiration. What if you designed a room based on this shoe? I think it would go a little something like this...

The wall color would be dark royal blue by Benjamin Moore,

a throw pillow would look like this one from ABC Carpet & Home,

toss in a glitzy little light fixture like this twist pendant light,

and finish it off with a sleek side table from The Conran Shop. 

Voila: shoe becomes room. The funny thing is, it would probably cost you less to decorate an entire room like this shoe than to buy the actual shoe.

color of the year

pantone

I can't believe we're 39 days into the earth's rotation and I have yet to mention the 2011 color of the year. Introducing: Honeysuckle, or Pantone 18-2120. Most who know me know I'm not a pink girl. I don't like pink. I don't wear pink. I don't buy pink for my daughter (correction: I sometimes buy pink for my daughter because there aren't many options otherwise).

Those who know me well, however, know that I have a weird pink side. I like bright pink. Garish pink. Neon pink. I like it as nail color. I like it as an accessory. I love it on a wall. While the color of the year is a bit tepid for my liking, I'm here to give a shout out to my kind of pink: welcome 2011!

Elle Decor

Property

First of all, have you ever seen anything cuter than these gummi bear lights? Secondly, the bright pink guy has the right amount of style and quirkiness that I would actually consider using it to decorate Scout's room.

New York Magazine

Artist/director Julian Schnabel is not afraid to be bold. Behold his West Village home, the Palazzo Chupi.

Metropolitan Home

COCOCOZY

frilly chair

By the way, here's how Pantone describes the color of the year: "Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you, and carry you through the year. It's a color for every day -- with nothing 'everyday' about it."

color geek

I'm a total nerd. Not only do I actually like school (and attended classes when I was in college, as I've stated before), but I get excited over really nerdy things. Like tonight when I got home, the Farrow & Ball  colour--"colour" because the company is British--card and brochure that I had ordered a couple weeks ago online was in my mailbox. Woo-hoo! Now I get to sift through 132 paint chips and get inspired to choose colors for rooms in a house that I don't even own yet. What (nerdy) fun!

bright and shiny

I love the look of a bright and shiny (i.e. lacquered) wall. Living in a house that's 60 years old with plaster walls that are somewhat questionable in their constitution, I haven't been able to indulge in a lacquered finished (although I tried it on the ceiling in our living room--not so great). The long, narrow hallway in the pool house would look amazing lacquered white and hung with black and white family photographs. I can already hear the bickering between Alex and me as we try to create a perfect smooth and shiny surface--it would be the wallpaper project allover again. Here's a look at some people who got it right (images from Elle Decor):

Images below from House Beautiful

paint it white

Now that the box house is a dream no more, I've begun fantasizing about my next possible home--one that exists in my mind and from time to time materializes in Charlotte. It's a one-story, mid-century home with tons of windows, a great yard (possibly a pool) and is located in a very "desirable" neighborhood. Of course, in order for us to afford this home, it has to be in slight disrepair yet livable condition. We'll gradually renovate it over the years until it becomes the home of our dreams...and then we'll sell it and start all over again somewhere else.

The first thing I want to do to this house is paint the floors white. I'm a girl who loves color, but lately I've been dreaming in white on white. White floors accented by white walls and a white ceiling. Then I can go crazy loco with the colors I use in decorating this blank canvas.

My mind may change a thousand more times before any of these dreams become a reality--especially if our house stays on the market for another 18 months--but at least it takes my thoughts away from our currently cramped living quarters.

Interiors (above) by Vicente Wolf, images from New York Social Diary

Elle Decor

Metropolitan Home

Metropolitan Home

Domino

decor 8

color wheel

On my wish list this year is the Pantone Fashion + Home color guide. It's the mother of all color fan decks created by the world-renowned authority on color. If you've ever wondered how designers all seem to come up with the same "hot" color for a particular season, it's because the masterminds behind Pantone have forecasted color trends years in advance and essentially tell us what we're going to like. Freaky, right?

In case you're wondering, the color for 2010 is turquoise, or Pantone 15-5519 TCX. I can't wait to see what they tell us to love in 2011...

my first favorite color

As a child, purple was my favorite color. There was one year when I demanded purple sheets and sent my mom on a wild goose chase until she could fulfill my outrageous request (at the time purple was impossible to find; pinks abounded, but I wouldn't go for that). I still remember that first set of purple sheets...

But somewhere along the road, my favorite color changed. Perhaps it was when I heard that crazy people cite purple as their favorite color more often than any other, or maybe I just grew up (fact: adolescent girls like the color purple). In design school, they almost teach you not to like purple since so many people have a negative reaction to it. I subscribed to that ideal for a while, but lately I've been loving purple again. Maybe because I'm getting older and as the poem says, "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple."

Whatever the reason, here's a look at some interiors where the designer didn't listen to what the instructors say and trusted his/her own instincts that purple is phenomenal:

Elle Decor

Elle Decor

Jamie Drake interior, New York Social Diary

Domino