New Guest, New Flowers

I have a new guest for the night and she gets NEW FLOWERS! Out with the old, in with the new. The ones I got this time were purple and white calalillies! They are gorgeous and they know it! I love how the purple gets taken over by the white around the edges.

Alicia B.

Nice Jugs--I MEAN recycled glass...

Did that get weird? Colored recycled glass is something that has been catching my eye of late. I love the subtle color of green or olive in them and each one is different. They are antiques as well as glass that has been reused (how green). They are used as vases or can be made into lamps. I know it's not exactly a new idea but I really love it.

Vicente Wolf uses them as vases in the foreground and as an accent in the back.

Tom Sheerer placed these two bulbous jugs side by side to draw subtle attention to the far corner of this room.

Martha Stewart. She always says if you have something odd like a little jar, to get a bunch of them and group them so they look like a collection.

Pictured in Metropolitan Home, a yellow and a green vase are paired together on the mantle. So cute!

Love this Barry Dixon hall with a large demijohn in the corner.

I love this mini still life scene in a Tom Sheerer interior.


You can buy these recycled glass wine glass and decanter from Vivaterra.

One of my favorite places for antiques is rubylane.com. This antique demijohn from ruby lane is $475.

Alicia B.

AD Open Audition

For everyone who is trying to make it big in the design world, Architectural Digest is having open auditions in the D & D Building in Manhattan tomorrow and Thursday!!! Paige Rense will be there to judge you as well as other editors etc. Sounds pretty scary but isn't being in Architectural Digest meant to be the pinnacle of your career? Could be a jumping off point in this case (if not just a great opportunity to have someone like that judge your portfolio). SCARY/AWESOME. HERE is the link.


Alicia B.

Dark Rooms 101

Most people, when painting a room, think of going with a light color, not a dark blue, dark brown or even black. Dark paint colors are a bold choice, and as they are unusual, we are drawn to them. They are often good for small spaces, surprisingly enough. Designer John Barman says about the room above, "You're swept away by the blue and have no sense of the size of the room."

Moises Esquenazi used Farrow and Ball Mahogany paint.

Living Etc. The furniture in the room make this look more industrial.

Todd Romano. I love this room; it looks so cozy yet sophisticated with the rich blue walls and thick mouldings.

Australian Vogue Living. What a great gallery wall--looks so organic.

Carol Prisant used contrasting mouldings that add depth to the wall in this small room.

Elle Decor. This room looks pretty large and the windows add lots of light to it. I love how the walls curve up into the ceiling.

Leta Austin Foster. The dark color used here blends so well with the different colored ethnic floral patterns.

Metropolitan Home. The walls as well as the floor are painted a dark color. Again the use of the mouldings really adds depth to the room.

Jeffrey Bilhuber uses a dark chocolate brown. The glossiness of it reflects the light coming in from the window.

House to Home UK. I like how the black shade repeats in the next room to lead you through the space. NOT loving the Christmas lights on the floor though.

Katie Ridder. I love this little room with navy blue paint.

Markham Roberts. Dark floor and dark walls!

Markham Roberts. This room looks so New England-y and He even uses the dark blue paint in the fireplace.

Jeffrey Bilhuber uses dark paint in a larger setting with natural materials like a sisal carpet and stone fireplace.

I really likes these looks--they're fun and very bold. Thoughts? Has anybody done this in their own home?


Alicia B.

Creative Craft Time.

Even if you don't have the pleasure (and by pleasure, I mean absolute horror) of working in finance, you can get pretty stressed out during the work week. Working, organizing, trying to stay on top of your personal life etc. can get you down. I find that a good way to relax is to do something creative. It is personally satisfying and pretty fun.

Start with a plain headband.

Apply some cute ribbon of your choice.

This headband that I made was super easy and didn't take more than ten or so minutes. I got some really cute ribbon (which you can get at a fabric or craft store) and cut it to the size of the headband plus 1/8th of an inch extra on either side. Then I simply applied Elmer's glue to the bottom side of the ribbon and carefully pressed it on to the headband. You can get plain headbands at the drug store. Remember to wrap that extra 1/8th inch of ribbon around on the underside of the headband--for comfort mostly and plus it finished off the look. Now you have a cute, feminine hair accessory that didn't cost more than five dollars! You can also do the same thing to barrettes, which I'm going to try next.

Good to go! How Martha am I??

Buy one!

Alicia B.

This is what happens.............

when Mommy is busy checking emails and reading blogs.....




Getting into Daddys Desk.....


Finding fun stuff to put in your mouth.....






and colors to draw on the carpet with

Autumn Wreath Proj.

This Martha project reminds me of when I was younger. My mother used to have my sisters and me go out into the woods behind our backyard and gather bittersweet for our fall wreath and part of a fall centerpiece! I guess nowadays you can buy wreaths like this at Williams Sonoma Crate and Barrel, Gumps, etc.--I prefer to DIY it though. Like the good old days, the 90's.


Alicia B.