Feeling Blue? GREAT!

Benjamin Moore's Paddington Blue # 791

A friend of mine just moved into a new apartment and was asking me for advice! Yay! She has lots of dark wood furniture and doesn't want pink to be involved in the color scheme (I know, crazy right?). I suggested blue to her and she loved the idea of the rich dark browns and contrasting blues. Also add in some sandy browns or pale golds for accents! Here are some fun blue interiors that I found.

A tranquil bedroom from Dominio Mag.

I love this facade. LOVE.

A blue color scheme with a pale yellow wall from Domino Mag.

A Markham Roberts Dining room. Beautiful.

Blue hallway.

From Domino, Nick Olson designed this living room with bold blues and yellows.

Alicia B.

Flea Market Sunday

On Sunday, my roommate and I couldn't think of anything we'd rather do in the pouring rain than go to an outdoor flea market all the way in Hell's Kitchen. I love going to flea markets and tag sales. You might not see something amazing but you can always see the potential in it to BE amazing. I always end up with something that I'm going to make into a project (which I can't really talk about because some people might receive them as gifts. Awkward.).

My roommate got this adorable hand mirror. I love the little rose detail on the back. Precious.

Some cute old keys. (PROJECT!)

I did not buy this. I promise you.

Florentine style painted diamond panels. Made in Italy!

A "wee" sewing machine. Hand painted. $ 125.00. ugh.

The awesome jug which, for now I'll use as a vase but later I'd like to turn it into a lamp.

Mini tea kettle.

Wooden panels with little painted scenes. SO cool--but did not buy.

A close up on the panel.

Terracotta painted tile.

Check out this amazing framed map which is currently hanging in our living room! I love framed maps.

I'd love to go back or hit up some other flea markets around the city. Here is the website to the other flea markets around NYC. I can't wait to start transforming my so called junk into something awesome that I'll love!


Alicia B.

Technoratty at the 2008 Fringe Festival

Technoratty illustration by Cecilia for the Fringe Festival 9x5 auction

Here is my contribution to the 2008 Melbourne Fringe Festival. It took me almost three days to work out how to draw it. Lots of non-drawing things happened in those three days though.
Coincidentally, one of them was inadvertently making rat soup.
As part of preparing for a long travel, I decided to eat everything in my cupboards. This lead to some color combinations that an illustrator really should know not to do.
Purple cabbage and chicken wing soup.
It was a soup so ugly, it could only be eaten by candlelight.
Delicious though.
"Whats that rat-thing in the soup?', asked my mother. Blue-stained chicken.

But my technological Rat illustration, its pretty nice. The drawings created by the other artists, the real professionals, they are are amazing.
Click here to see the exhibition of rat illustrations of every level of quirkiness, sexiness, and wit. But if you vote, vote for mine too, so I can feel part of the gang.

GO GREEN--Preppy Style

I was invited to a trunk show on facebook for these amazing bags made from recycled sails! I've thought of making a bag out of our old jib from our boat back home but a) was laughed at and b) don't have a heavy duty sewing machine, just a regular one. Anyway, the company is called Ella Vickers www.ellavickers.com started by Ella, who was first mate in the Americas cup, made the bags for herself and the company took off from there! She makes all kinds of bags, shower curtains, dog beds, yoga bags, etc. And, they're made in the USA--good for the shakey US economy! SCORE.






Alicia B.

Hotel Bedding Weigh In

Pottery Barn

One of my most loyal readers (YEAH my mother) came to me with a very interesting query about Hotel Bedding. Hotel bedding is usually white with thin (can be thick, too) but bold lines around the border. It is clean looking and evokes a feeling of luxury and softness. I love the clean geometric lines of it; though in my own apartment I prefer more of a quilt look as you can see below. People love this look so much that even the W Hotel now sells their bedding. While that's all well and good this reader brought up the good point that why would you want your home to look like a hotel? Shouldn't it be the other way around; that a hotel should try to emulate your home? Is it depersonalizing your own home?

Emily from Design in Motion says "Why not feel like you're on vacation every night? Use color and textile to personalize your own boutique space."

I love my white matelasse quilt. I got a celadon green pillow sham as an accent from Pottery Barn to add some color.

Amie of Cafiero Lighting loves it too--she has Polo Hotel bedding in her own room and Restoration Hardware in her guest room.

Restoration Hardware has their own collection as well with monogramming.

Fun colored hotel bedding from Laytners.

I had the privilege of redoing a studio space for a bachelor and good friend--above is the bedding I chose for him. He says "I love hotel bedding. There is nothing better than feeling like you're in a luxurious high end hotel." Having been on many a business trip for work, he should know. What do you think? Too common now? Lap of luxury in your own home?

Alicia B.

Bye Bye Shazia

For anybody who watches Top Design, you'd probably be jazzed about last night's outcome, too. Shazia Kirmani is finally gone. SO, I decided to search her to see if she'd done anything since being kicked off. Not really. Before she started the show though, she got a spread in Nirali (which means different) Magazine, a magazine about art, gossip, movies etc for South Asian Americans and Canadians. So far, I'm uncomfortable. While I do like some elements (I'm always trying to see the positive side of things), many of her elements are poorly chosen and cliche.

.I like the light whimsical feeling but the carpet is too small and being hidden.

Vomit.

I like the chest in the corner. Life Magazine Covers framed? Looks like a tacky DIY project which I'm sure it was.

I like chocolate brown walls. I'll give her that since I know I'm being too harsh.

Something looks crooked or like its about to fall off the wall. Nervous.

I think the thing that made me the most annoyed about her (besides the fact that I was scared every show that she was going to ruin EVERYTHING) was that she thought she was going to be the first ever Indian/Pakistani Interior Designer. In almost every show she would say that she was really going against the grain in her culture by not being a doctor or a lawyer. While that IS the stereotype, you're not the first one and you're putting your own culture/heritage in a box which I found offensive. Good for you Shazia for wanting to have people look up to you for breaking the mold. Was that too harsh? Your thoughts on Shazia?


Alicia B.

Making sexy time for peaches

Making sexy time for peaches

The problem with being a groovy urban peach is that on the seventh floor, you miss your chances for wild dating. The pollinating bees that are meant to come and rustle about in your blossoms just don't think to come up that far.

Bees rustling up blossoms

No bees may mean no fruitfulness, no peaches for summer. So my sister's new balcony peach tree got to spent a day hanging out with a lovely white bush in my back garden, one already popular with the bees. I sent mine out too, just for company of course - a first floor balcony pulls the bees no trouble.

White butterfly with white blossoms, playing hide and seek
Dog walking has been a rich source of single urban mingling, but I'm thinking, from now, productive balcony gardens might open up a whole new field of neighbourly connection.

HI Big Daddy!

Kerry Howard (aka Big Daddy) was a contestant on Top Design and was eliminated last week. India Hicks "couldn't live with his design." He now has his own firm in Georgia and seems to be doing quite well. I liked him a lot and I'm sad that he got kicked off but look at him thriving! His company is Howard House Interiors which he is running with his design partner, Lyndsy Woods. They have a lovely mix of traditional and contemporary interiors. Below are some of the pics of their greatest interiors.









Alicia B.

On Set of Mad Men

In the Hartford Courant today they have published a lovely article about ...Mad Men! The sixties style sets are so amazing, they look like what I imagine my parents grew up with. The pics are below. Some of the stores that they referenced for getting this look yourself are Design within Reach, Room & Board, Ikea, Mitchell Gold/Bob Williams! YAY!

The Draper's Livingroom.

Amazing Office

Another office pic--look at those chairs.

Alicia B.