Mirror Mirror On The Wall

A mirror can change a room completely with it's shape and reflection, it can really be transforming...
Try this Shell Mirror as seen in Food & Wine magazine's feature on this beautiful Florida kitchen and it comes from Pier 1...

I'll take the kitchen please!

Round Shell Mirror $300

This is an eye-catcher also...

Sunburst on sale for $79

Or this fun wall piece for a girl's or guest room...

Hippie Chic Wall Flower, $99

I love shopping Pier 1... I usually find great buys on their glassware too.  I buy 3 or 4 glasses to mix and match for a dollar or two each like these pressed floral tumblers...

My Holiday Table

As an artist/painter my table setting is my favorite part of preparing for the big Thanksgiving feast, but last week while at the hair salon the beautiful young woman washing my hair asked me what my 'theme' was for my table setting and I was stumped... I don't usually do a theme as such, I just decorate, but it got me thinking about a theme, so I decided to do something playful and creative for our Thanksgiving guests.
 Classic TOYS (from Pier 1), are the inspiration, and everyone can draw/write/ scribble on the table's paper runner with crayons.  Michaels Arts and Crafts is where I was inspired for the center pieces and graphic place mats...
The runner is a roll of white craft paper; the paper under the vases is a lace cutout cardstock (guests can trace and color in them;  the placemats are craft paper packaged with matching patterns; the vases have dried cannellini beans in them and holiday moss with sparkles on top; the greenery is cut from my backyard; the beautiful tall green glasses were my mothers and they add height and punctuate the table...

I'll sprinkle these temporary tattoos around the centerpiece for guests to rub onto the paper runner or on themselves for added graphic impact

When we clear the table after dinner we'll be able to see the artwork everyone created while we're having dessert!

The kids will love this theme and I hope to bring out the kid in the adults too.

Love to hear your theme if you have one or just some ideas for a holiday table... please share your comments with us.

Back To School Tools

Many of us Moms have made a few plus trips already to Staples for the obligatory back-to-school supplies. If your looking for something a little different for your tweens, teens or college bound children I found some great organizational tools that are well designed.  And for that reason they are on the MOMA Store (Museum of Modern Art) website.  So here are a few really I liked... they make great gifts...

Amigo Leather Desk Accessory

Tower of Clips

Conceal Bookshelf

Poster Hanger

If these are too nice for the kids then maybe it's time to buy something for Mom or Dad... and they're not expensive!

What organizational tools work for you?

Inspirational Friday

I can't live without (dramatic, but you know what I mean)...  everyday I check in with my favorite style blogger extraordiaire,"Oh Joy"... so on Wednesday I was in heaven after seeing GREEN, my favorite color... what she calls her "lust list', is SO my lust list...

Then I clicked on the photographer, Mark Eden Schooleys' link, which brought me to his website... OMG...

Just Dreamy

Ok, it's the weekend, it's time for dreamy... 

Next week I'll have some Back-To-School items that are different and reasonably priced.  

We're doing a family getaway Sunday and Monday in Montauk (Yipee) so I won't post until Tuesday... Have a great weekend!

Your Own Show

How would you like to be the CURATOR of your own show, a show of collections of things you love, that you can share with your friends... and follow collections created by other people (with great taste)... well, it's a brilliant idea, called Pinterest... it uses FB to find friends too!
The staff from sunny California (where else do most of the new ideas come from), suggests their favorites and all you do is click 'follow'...

Ben from Pinterest put it this way, “We both found ourselves asking friends for suggestions — good beer, nice gifts for cousins, books, art. We noticed that the people you really trust are actually collecting ideas all the time. They have folders on their desktop, links in emails, and bookmarks. We thought it’d be great if they had a space to share all those great finds. How cool would it be to browse your most well-read friend’s bookshelf, or dvd collection, or closet, or art portfolio? We both felt like you shouldn’t have to start a blog or spam your Facebook friends to share your taste."

Here are just a few things I like and pinned...

Try it... it's so much fun!!!

Never Say Never

I'm generally not a pink person... I don't have girls so there are no pink rooms... my boys are confident enough to have worn pink on occasion, which I do like... the only pink I've worn is a hot pink tank top, so when I saw this pink bedroom on the terrific style blog Coco + Kelley, I was surprised at how much I loved the pink space and thought I could live in this room, it's fresh,  inspirational, and the pieces are perfectly chosen,  just gorgeous...

Sleeping in Luxe

I bought these fabulous sheets awhile ago when my husband commented about how we needed some new ones... if HE said it, they must have been pretty bad, and they were old and frayed... in their day they were good quality, and now super soft, but so dingy looking.
Well my husband opened the door on that one...
One day while browsing the Gilt website I found and purchased these colorful Fazzini, Antigua sheets in Lime Green, big risk right?, but worth it... the colors are spectacular, they're super soft italian cotton, and they have a wonderful fragrance... a bonus!  I paired the sheets with a white comforter I had from Pottery Barn, I bought extra matching green pillow cases at Bed Bath & Beyond and a beautiful accent pillow from them too... surprised I could match it with such distinct saturated colors!

'Gilt' has the sheets and duvet on sale again until midnight tomorrow...

They come in blue and lavender too

Anthology at Bed Bath & Beyond

Trust me this pillow looks amazing with the sheets... so now the bedroom, which is all off white has this beautiful punch of color!

If you're enjoying my blog... please leave a comment, we would love to hear from you.

Design Waves

Changes, rather trends in fashion (or in science for that matter) happen not only in one discipline but usually as a wave across all areas of design... some bloggers have been showing these trends in a format which coco + kelley did here just beautifully!

"Rooms from the Runway: Malene Berger"

"Oh Joy" does this also, in 2 different ways... This and...

feeling confetti & fireworks

That...

this & that

I'm looking forward to going to NYC today with friends... tell you all about it tomorrow.

Crimson Prints

There's nothing like color in the home to make a room luscious and captivating, whether it's just an accent piece to break up neutrals, or an eclectic mix of prints.  You might think that if you pick strong color you'll tire of it quickly, but I find it's just the opposite... These pieces from Anthropologie are a great way to mix it up at home and the price is right...

Julah Ottoman, $198

Laelia Bedding, $58-$228

Terai Folding Chair, $198

Now if you're someone like me who tends to wear a lot of black, but likes color in your home then you'll love what's here... but maybe you're one who loves the neutrals for your home, but likes to wear color, then spring has sprung with this silk tank top with hankerchief hem...

Stamped Tulips Tank, $88

Which one are you?...

Stay tuned for BACK to BLACK next week with a look at a great downtown Manhattan/Brooklyn store that has a terrific website!

'Pillow(s) Talk'

While carpooling yesterday in the driving rain, we passed through a lake in the middle of the road behind a caravan of cars crawling (a pun you'll get later) through WATER that had no where to go, when my 11 year old comedian son says to us, "Imagine we see Michael Phelps passing us!".  Well I thought I'd share that with you on this yet another "Snow Day".
On Monday, my husband and I were returning something at the Roosevelt Field Mall (poured that day too), and we popped into Anthropologie... I know I just wrote about them yesterday, but I can't help it, I love that store!
Anyway I've been looking for something for the above kids room, when I saw a GREAT pillow in the sale area, with an "as is" tag at 1/2 price.  Something just had to be sewn back in place... I could do that!
I don't like to shop for my boys rooms in kiddy stores or catalogues... it drives me crazy to see all that fantastic stuff for the girls and then the boys stuff is drab and boring!

A focal point for Aaron's room

Buzzwords Pillow, $118

Safari Sighting, $128

Love this one, and there are other animals too!

Tokyo Milk Wrapped Soap, $11

They have five other designs, this one looks good in my powder room

I like decorating my home with 'accent pieces' I find slowly over time, that way it's more thought out and  special... with Aaron's room I wanted something for a while now, but had trouble finding the right piece until now.

Tiger in the House!

It's the Chinese New Year, and the year of the TIGER!

Sorry about the late posting, but the kids are on their 'winter break' this week and so am I... It's nice to wake up with sunlight peeking in, intead of the usual darkness at my 6:20am wakeup.  Now that we're back from skiing I thought I would take the kids into the city for some 'cultcha'.  My 6th grader is studying Chinese this year, and it's the Chinese New Year (which began Sunday, Feb 14th) and lasts 15 days, ending on the full moon.

MOCA, Museum of Chinese in America

I like to relate the cultural things we do when possible to something 'au courant'...

So we're planning to visit MOCA, this Thursday, at 215 Centre Street, NYC.  Every Thursday admission is free, thanks to Target.

Zhang Xiaogang, Contemporary Chinese Painter

Good Wishes Red Envelope, $3.99

These envelopes hold money and given for 'Good Luck'.

MOMAStore, Four Napkins, by artist, May Sun, $150

Knockout Beautiful... and Sustainable Too!!!

"Eunsuk Hur is a textile designer who is looking to push the boundaries of fashion and interior design by exploring different materials..." I love it!  I want one of her wall pieces in my bedroom so I can float through her dreamy vision as I drift off to sleep.  I remember as a child having an orange and pink floral wallpaper in my bedroom, and it was almost hypnotic as I would study the patterns, drawing me closer to  somnolence.

There's nothing like a 'Creamy Vinaigrette'  for those salads you want to eat lots of during the weeks prior to Thanksgiving.  So here's one from Ina Garten that I really like and you can make it for the week.  If you don't have shallots just leave them out, and if you want to substitute mesclun greens make sure you do it with a delicate leaf.