All About Color With Lucie Ayres

Over the past several years, friend Lucie Ayres has guest posted here. Not only do I love it (writer’s block solution and busy schedule!) but I also love Lucie. She is full of pizazz, style, and is a super talented interior designer. To see her previous posts, go here and here. Today, she is presenting ALL ABOUT COLOR. Which I love, because if you know me, I am ALLLLLLL about color. Take it away, Lucie and THANK YOU!

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It’s SPRING  (officially Summer, but hey, early summer) – a colorful time of year, one that inspires the ol’ spring cleaning, and also the busiest time for many interior designers.  It’s that REFRESH MY SPACE moment. Sure, you can clean up, and add some new throw pillows into the mix (new pillows are NEVER a bad idea) but if you REALLY want to update a space  – it’s all about thinking about your walls… particularly the paint color. That much might be obvious, but what’s not obvious is the type of paint you buy.

 

Paint samples by DRIKOLOR

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22 Interiors – Styling 101

Once again, our dear friend Lucie Ayres from 22 Interiors joins the blog for some designing and styling tips. I love her work and styling, so don’t just read the post for advice…. follow her on instagram to see her Californian digs and designs. Thanks, Lucie!

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The finishing touches are what make a room feel designed or not. One of 22 Interiors FAVORITE things to do is style bookshelves and coffee tables. We love discovering what clients already have, adding to it, and finalizing a curated look that works for them….We recently went to a client’s house to do some bookshelf and coffee table styling as part of our design service. Our client already had put some objects up on the shelves along with some books. This is what it looked like:

 

Before:

 

before

Before

Domino Magazine Spread

Our apartment was recently featured in Domino Magazine in an interview with our interior designer, Ali Tick. We are so thrilled with it and love the fact that we will always have these images of our “forever home.” As you may know, we went through a major renovation for 8 months, during which we put together our dream interiors and designs. We love our home — so so much — as it truly represents us…  comfortable, clean, modern, and cheerful. To take a look at the full article, go here. Thanks to Domino and thanks to Ali for working with us on so many different projects (remember this in Lonny years ago?) and thanks to you all for letting me indulge in sharing this article! Thank you! (All photos by Cody Guilfoyle for Domino)

 

This is our “formal” living room. I love the colors and the chairs.

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Fun Posters- Renovation Hacks

Readers of the blog know we recently finished a major home renovation.  One of my favorite hacks is in our laundry room, where we had an old-school (retro like 1960s) lobby intercom AND an electric wiring box that required covering up. Since we need access to the electrical box,  we wanted something cheap, easy, and replaceable. The laundry room is fun and playful (my favorite room in the house), so we added to the fun by covering the wall with place posters and washi tape.

UGLY!

UGLY! HELP! SOS!

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Interview with Lucie Ayres- Interiors 22

I recently posted tips from our friend Lucie Ayres of 22 Interiors on how to make a great master bedroom. Read below for more insight into her interior decorating and her business.  Thanks Lucie!

 

When and how did you decide to become a designer?

 

I’ve wanted to be a designer ever since I was a little girl and rearranged the furniture in my room constantly.

 

Lucie at age 8.

Lucie at age 8.

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Zara Home

I love Zara — both the adult and kids’ clothes are my go tos for shopping. And now, I am in love with Zara Home. Although there are no stores currently in the United States, Zara Home is all over Europe and online. Think home decor at Zara prices — a win win for everyone! They have a terrific selection of linens, bedding, tabletop, accessories, and more. Recently, on my quick trip to Paris, I went in and oohed and ahhed at the selection (and prices).

 

Zara Home.

Zara Home.

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DIY Instagram Photos

My favorite form of social media is instagram, mainly because I love the square cropped photos with various filters that instantly make me look like a photographer. (Yes, I realize the irony behind the fact that I am a public blogger but have a private instagram account and don’t really like posting photos.  I’m an enigma.  But if you send a request and your profile isn’t obviously psychotic, I will accept it!)  So recently, I did a DIY project where I hung some instagram photos in my son’s room. I know, super creative.

 

closet door

A little surprise on his closet door.

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Barrington Blue Foot Stool

This past Spring, we spruced up our Living Room in our NYC apartment and made it more hippy, laid back, colorful, and low key. We wanted a relaxed and fun feel, without breaking the bank. So, this footstool was the perfect touch. The bright embroidered suzani footstool, handmade in Los Angeles by Barrington Blue, adds a pop of color, touch of vibrancy, and special oomph. I love it — makes me so happy. Not only is this stool a great buy, but everything on the Barrington Blue website is gorgeous and a must have.

 

A foot stool. A PINK foot stool.

A foot stool. A PINK foot stool.

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JCN’s Office

We have all seen Josie Natori (my fabulous mother-in-law)’s home here (closet) and here (bathroom) and in magazines here and here, but we have not seen her office at The Natori Company (the office within the office). So without further ado, here it is — take a look!

JCN's desk. Her office is gigantic -- the size of our apartment -- with one side "his" and one side "hers."

JCN’s desk. Her office is gigantic — the size of our apartment — with one side “his” and one side “hers.”

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