Blog Love: Moth Design

(all images by Erica Cook)

This is the amazing closet of interior designer Erica Cook. I love her use of beautiful glass bowls + dishes to hold accessories but I especially love the way she framed her shopping bags. Ingenious!

Check out her blog, Moth Design to see more images of her home, her client work and bits about her life raising 5 kids, which is hard I know, my mom did it!

Attention NYC! Distract Yourself From the Heat With a Great Contest

The Sweeten, a Brooklyn-based home improvement site which allows you to post your remodeling projects and receive estimates from their hand-picked network of contractors and designers, is giving you a chance to win wallpaper from the fabulous Flavor Paper and have a professional, J Marc Wallcovering, to hang it for free. View details here and do it today as the contest ends August 2!

I Want High Ceilings Too!

I've been helping this client get settled into her fantastic new apartment. Wanting a calming, tranquil bedroom we opted for the white bedding and dresser. She found the gorgeous glass lamp at a local shop and is looking for a rug to complete the room.

I was there this weekend to place the new dining table and chairs, the set of bookcases and to finish styling the space. Click here for more pics.

Update: My Bathroom

before

after

A few recent shots of my bathroom. I don't like 'bathroom accessories', I like the bathroom feeling and looking like the rest of the apartment. Click here for details on what's in here.

I'd still like a rug and new curtain. For the rug, I'm looking for a regular rug; either a runner or two small rugs. With a shower stall not bathtub, I use a long window curtain instead of a short shower curtain. There's a lower rod hung behind the curtain for a shower liner.

I'll let you know when I find something...

Packing For a Chic Getaway

write out the days you'll be away

lay out possible outfits on the bed...

or hang on a rod...

(click on image for larger view)

Write out each day you will be away, filling in the events and general things you'll be doing; walking around, nice dinner, casual lunch. Either write down possible outfits or pull them out so you can see them, including accessories and undergarments.

Start with events/times you have an idea what you'd like to wear and go from there. The idea is to wear individual pieces more than once, but not the same outfit more than once. Think about pieces that can be worn in multiple ways; a fancy top with a skirt and heels then with casual pants and flats. Also think about simple pieces that won't be obvious you're wearing more than once. For instance the beaded neck top pictured above would be hard to wear twice unless I'm not seeing the same people.

Pick a color scheme to make it easy to mix pieces and accessories seamlessly. Then at the end, toss in an extra sweater and a couple simple tops for just in case....

The pics are from my wardrobe, but this works for those with color and prints as well. If you're outfits aren't layered play around with the accessories to dress an outfit up or down.

Art Display In Small Apt

I helped this couple move earlier this year. They had the dining table + chairs, lounge chair, sofa and area rug and lots of art. Envisioning using this long wall as an art wall, I suggested bright white walls and minimal white furniture as not to detract from the art. We went with the three Ikea bookcases since I knew much of the art needed framing and I know how much that can cost.

I love the way the bookcase came out. Since these shelves are pretty deep I was able to layer some of the smaller books to give it more depth and interest. They said to do it whichever looked best, not necessarily by subject or author.

For more pics and info, click here.

Visualizing With Tape

It can be hard to visualize how something will look in a space, and more importantly how the actual size will look and feel in a space.

Measure out where the piece in question will go and adhere painter's tape or artist tape, I've even used post-it notes. The pic above shows how my mother and I did this to see how an oversized mirror and shelves would look in her living room. This can also be done on the floor to see how furniture will fit.