July 9, 2010

Landscaping a Terrace

Outdoors

My friend and colleague, Peter Walsh, the editor of Gardening & Outdoor Living stopped by yesterday to offer ideas on how I might enhance our small urban terrace. Much to my surprise, he suggested that I build a little tuteur. It wasn’t so much that I could have a tuteur (he knew I’d been thinking about this kind of garden structure just days ago—see my post from 7/7), it was that I should have a tuteur. You see one of the plants on my terrace is an unwieldly flowering jasmine, given to me by a friend for my birthday a … Read Post

July 8, 2010

Hosting Guests with Style

Epicure

The summer party I’m throwing is coming up, so I recently asked Ali Pincus, one of the co-founders of the luxury daily sales site, One Kings Lane, for some easy entertaining ideas—especially ways to set an informal table. “I love personalizing seating,” she told me. “My new favorite thing is to write each guest’s name on a piece of fruit. I think green or yellow apples work really well. I saw this at a friend’s home, and loved it! And a beautiful glass pitcher with water and sliced lemons & limes always looks lovely.” Since One Kings Lane offers home … Read Post

July 7, 2010

How to Make a Tuteur

Projects & Tips

If I had a yard, I’d carve out a spot for a kitchen garden and grow tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries and rhubarb in addition to herbs and flowers. I’d also build an obelisk-shaped tuteur like the one I saw at The Hedges Inn in the Hamptons a couple of weeks ago and put it right in the middle of the garden. I don’t have a yard, so I won’t be building the tuteur, but a girl can dream. If you do have a yard, however, and would like to make a tuteur like this one, here’s how: Materials: •Four 2”x2” 8-foot-long … Read Post

July 6, 2010

Beautiful Indoor/Outdoor Fabric and Custom Bedding

Interiors

After talking to the designer Joe Ruggerio on the phone recently, I went to his Facebook page to take a look at a photo of some of his newest soft furnishings, which were introduced at the last furniture market in High Point, North Carolina. When I saw the bed hangings in this totally uplifting bedroom setting, they made me want to put a four-poster daybed like the ones you see on the beaches in the Caribbean on my terrace. Since the bed hangings are made from an indoor/outdoor fabric from Sunbrella, this fabric would be perfect for a project like … Read Post

July 5, 2010

Window Treatments That Promote Healthy Sleep

Interiors

Since the sun is rising early and setting late these days and my husband, Anil, has trouble sleeping unless the room is dark, I realize I really need to focus my attention on replacing our bedroom window shade with one that has a blackout backing. My husband thinks I’m too busy to sew one myself right now, so I’ve started looking around for reasonably priced custom or semi-custom alternatives. One window treatment company I worked with while I was the editor in chief of a group of decorating and design magazines was Budget Blinds. I visited its site recently and noticed … Read Post

July 2, 2010

Organic vs. Eco-Friendly Mattresses

Interiors

It often happens that what I want and what I get are two different things. Usually, that’s because the price of the thing I want is more than my husband, Anil, thinks we should spend. And that’s why, even though I’d love to have an OMI or Coco-Mat mattress, I’m continuing my search for an eco-friendly mattress at a lower price. What I really want is an organic mattress—one that’s made of 100 percent natural materials that have been cultivated mostly from plants grown sustainably without pesticides or chemicals. I also want it to be manufactured in a hygienic environment … Read Post

July 1, 2010

Beautiful Eco-Friendly Bedding

Interiors

If I’m going to sleep on an eco-friendly mattress, then I think I should have some eco-friendly bedding, too. And a couple of the blankets and throws in Eileen Fisher’s new line of natural bedding for Garnet Hill are just what I want. They won’t be available until the first week of August, but when they are I’d to get the Link Stitched Cashmere Throw and the Cotton/Linen Blanket. The throw is great because it’s made of un-dyed, unbleached cashmere, but I really love the Cotton/Linen blanket because artisans at Brahms/Mount Textiles made it working on antique looms in their historic … Read Post

June 30, 2010

Creating an Easy-Care Herb Garden

Outdoors

Unlike a lot of New Yorkers, I rarely visit the Hamptons during the summer months, so when I do I savor every minute. Such was the case, a few days ago, when my husband, Anil, and I drove out for a long weekend to attend a wedding. We spent our free hours driving along the lanes of Sag Harbor, Bridgehampton and East Hampton and taking in views of the charming houses and beautiful gardens the area is known for. One of my favorite stops during this particular journey was The Hedges Inn, a gracious old hotel in East Hampton, where … Read Post

June 29, 2010

Pretty, Simple-to-Sew Pillows

Projects & Tips

In general, I prefer neutral rooms with walls and floors and furnishings defined in shades of cream, oyster, amber, chocolate and gray. But there’s something about summer that brings out my colorful alter ego—and I love introducing pops of color that play off Mother Nature’s seasonal styling cues. One of the ways I like to do this is with easy-to-switch-out accents, such as pillows. Sometimes my husband will let me look through the showroom of Milli Home, a company he owns with his partners that produces affordable pillows, poufs and table linens for retailers such as Home Goods, Sam’s Club, Costco, … Read Post

June 28, 2010

Eco-Friendly Cleaning Supplies

Interiors

When my husband, Anil, told me he wanted to launch a new brand of eco-friendly cleaning products with his business partners, I was thrilled. Many consumer and industrial cleaning products are loaded with toxic chemicals that pollute our homes and our waterways. But the new Eco Clean line of household cleaners is not only free of toxic chemicals like phosphates, bleach and ammonia, it’s packaged in easy-on-the-eye recyclable PET bottles, too. Made in Denmark from solutions derived from sustainably grown renewable sugar beets, the products in the line include bath, kitchen, glass and all-purpose cleaners as well as dish and … Read Post