Over Thanksgiving when we were at our brother/sister from another mister (friends that are truly family), they had set the most beautiful table for dinner. And as always, everything they do, is perfection and makes me want to copy every last detail (imitation is the best form of flattery?). My main take away was the flower vase — yes, a vase — but so so beautiful, unique, and oh so perfect.
Look at the perfect Thanksgiving table!
There is nothing more summery to me than a flower chain — fresh weeds / flowers picked from a meadow AND the time to just make a flower chain. I love it.
Any time I find a field with flowers, I just CANNOT NOT (yes double negative) stop to make a flower chain.
While running family errands this past weekend, we stopped in at Eataly’s rooftop for lunch. Ken and I had been there during early summer years ago and loved the ambiance, decor, and food so much. Newly decorated for Autumn, it was the perfect place to grab a bite to eat in a beautiful setting. The rooftop restaurant, Serra on the roof, serves Italian cuisine and drinks. The food is simple and great, but the DECOR, my god, it is so beautiful! My daughter (who didn’t love her lunch) was so in awe of the space that she kept saying she wanted to have her birthday party there.
Magical.
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
One of my favorite parts of our Pound Ridge home is the bulletin board wall in the playroom. Although we don’t spend much time in the room, it screams happiness. When we were re-decorating our home five years ago, I wanted a place to display the kids’ artwork, so we came up with the idea of having one full wall in cork so we could easily tack pictures. While I unfortunately haven’t updated the artwork in years, I just love the dimension, character, and color the wall brings to the room and house.
Color clutter! Although I am obsessively neat and like to have everything completely organized, somehow I love this little splatter of chaos and confusion. I am surprised that the last time I re-did the art wall, I didn’t organize it by colors…
Remember last Spring, we interviewed old friend Lucie Ayres of 22 Interiors and then she posted on The Guide to the Perfect Bedroom? Well, she is back at it again for us all! Thanks so much, Lucie! And this time she is going to give us some Fall tips for rugs, pillows, and robes! Take it away!
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Fall is the BEST time of the year – it’s cooler, the cocktails are heartier, and the social calendar is filled with parties. Many of us will have guests who spend the night or three, and why not make that the perfect excuse to revamp the guest room? Or any room, really. All one needs to do this transformation is a great rug as the anchor, a few fun throw pillows to help set the mood and maybe something for your guest (or you) like a gorgeous robe to compliment the decor, from Natori of course.
We put together our favorite rug / pillow / robe combos to achieve a FAB FALL design update.
Last month while still in NYC, my West Coast biffle stopped in for a sleepover on her way through NYC. As always, she gifted us the most unique, thoughtful, and special housewarming gift: a collection of coffee table books. (Her last gift, which I also posted on, is here.) Each book is beautiful, interesting, and special, but what makes them even more special, is that they are so me! Take a look at the selection — I love the idea of presenting friends with a collection of books that they can flip through and read for years to come.
The large heavy stack!
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! HELP! SOS!
The most recent decorative addition to our daughter’s room is this fun Indian tribal wall decor. It is colorful, bright, cheerful, and adds a different touch to the room.
Fun colors!
I am all about random pops of color in our house, so I love the baskets from Baba Tree. They add the perfect touches in the living room and make me so happy.
Baskets at the edge of the chair.
Now that we have completed our renovation, we are figuring out where we want to spend time in the new apartment. Like most houses, we spend most of the time in the kitchen. And the rest of the time, we are in the playroom. This room makes me incredibly happy as it is bright, cheery, green, and fun.
The whole shabang.
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.
OK, so this is the LAST renovation post because SOON, OH SO SOON, there will be a REVEAL POST which shows the apartment. So here are the latest photos of what is going on. Yes, still not liveable, still not a lot of lighting (and 3/4 of our belongings are still packed), so there is a lot to do. But here are the latest pics!
One wall in Cruzzie’s room is this whole world map — it is where eventually his bunkbed will go.
I can never have enough candles in my home. And for some reason, candles are one thing that I tend not to be price conscious about. In my closet full of presents (one of the best lessons passed down from my mother), most of the presents are candles. After reading a lot of reviews on candles (yes, they exist), I instantly bought cult-favorite D.S. & Durga. D.S. & Durga is a husband-wife team that makes the candles in Brooklyn (but of course).
Packaging.
Back in June, I highlighted our new Dream Catcher for our bedroom. Not only did I fall in love with the symbolism and beauty of the dream catcher, but so did my 5 year old son. He begged for one of his own, as he wanted to make sure that he only had sweet dreams. Although I love the one in our bedroom, I didn’t necessarily want to spend that much $$ on my son’s (is that selfish?). So I searched and dug, until I found this one! Same type of look and feel, but a fraction of the price!
White, feathers and crystals: the perfect trio.
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.
As the Josie Girl, I am so excited to about the recent launch of Josie Bedding! Natori has done its own bedding for the past several years, but now it is Josie‘s turn to shine. And it is sooooo coooool and soooooo fun! Boho! Bold! Bright! Color! Comfort! Divine!
Bam
Notice something different? To learn more about this bedding and to shop available pieces click the + symbol embedded in my pictures thanks to Shopping Cart Technologies. See this exciting new technology for influencers in action on The Publishers Website.
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.”
In my (small) world, toys > space, so I therefore the need more baskets and organization. My newest set of toy organizers (hiders) are two large straw baskets with multicolored pom poms from Eliza Gran. And how I love them! Unique, colorful, and playful.
The pink pom pom basket
Call me an urban hippie, but I can’t help falling in love with anything bohemian, hippie, ethnic, and colorful. The past few years, I have been on the hunt for a dream catcher for our bedroom as they are beautiful and carry meaning. Nothing seemed quite right, until I found Electric Love dream catchers….and they blew me away. It was hard to pick one, as these handmade pieces of art are unlike any other.
Not sure if it is because of my hippy dippy background, but I love crystals. I love wearing crystal necklaces, carrying crystals in my pocket, and ESPECIALLY admiring the rose quartz lamp in my in-laws’ New York apartment. This lamp is my DREAM. Check out its beauty form every angle! HOLY SMOKES it is a beauty.
Perfection
Wallpaper as art — what??? Super duper unique, interesting, playful, and affordable. Just what we like in art! When we were re-doing the house in Pound Ridge, NY, we had a huge blank wall that needed some OOMPH but didn’t want to spend the $$ on anything. So, our lovely designer, Ali Tick, came up with the most innovative and smart move EVER (hence the reason she is the designer, and we are the consumers). Wallpaper on a section of the wall, covered with plexiglass and large nails to LOOK like a piece of art. Brilliant.
Entrance into the house with the wallpaper in the center.
We safely arrived yesterday in Oregon where we will spend the next week lounging, eating, skiing, reading, and laughing with my parents, also known as Nana and Tata. (I wrote that sentence before our flight. We are here missing a bag and had to drive four hours through the mountains because we missed our connecting flight and they couldn’t guarantee us on another flight until Tuesday. So we are flustered, but yes, still safe!) We are all so happy to be with them and to celebrate the holidays. As Ken’s parents just left for the Philippines to be with Ken’s grandmother, we had a “pretend Christmas” (as Cruzzie said) at the end of last week at the Natoris. Here are Christmas posts from 2012 and 2011, and now CURRENT shots of the Natori Srs apartment from this year! Enjoy!
White Winter Wonderland! Last year, the decor was pink, this year, ALL WHITE.
My dear and hilarious friend, Lorri, is incredibly talented. A graduate of Stanford undergraduate *AND* Stanford Business School (don’t you hate her already), she worked in the corporate world for many years, had two kids, and then realized that she needed a change in professions. So here she is now, a blogger and a “decorating enthusiast.” She writes a fabulous blog about decorating and home inspirations AND has her own decorating business.
I continue to be smitten with my in-law’s Manhattan apartment. Every little nook and corner is specifically designed to get just the right look. The apartment has been featured in Elle Decor, Traditional Home, and the New York Post. And yet in NONE of the articles, do they include pictures or even a mention of my favorite room in the apartment. Yes, while her closet is exquisite and pretty freaking incredible…. this random little powder room on the entertainment side of the apartment is my absolute favorite. You know it — a pretty special powder room!
Teeny tiny, but terrific.
