September 28, 2010

Fresh Autumn Flower Ideas (Plus Tips from a Pro on How to Make them Last)

Inspiration, Projects & Tips

Fresh flowers are great happiness inducers. They’re also one of the easiest ways to bring a seasonal change of scene to a room—especially if you’re entertaining. Now that the social season is kicking in, we talked to Michael Gaffney, a professional florist and founder of the American School of Flower Design, about fresh ideas for autumn floral arrangements. “You don’t have to use dried flowers or create an arrangement with the end-of-season harvest in autumn arrangements,” he says. “You can suggest fall, rather than interpret it literally, by using flowers with autumn colors, such as orange, red and yellow. You … Read Post

September 24, 2010

Instant Inspiration

Inspiration, Products

Earlier this week, Elle Décor’s new editor, Michael Boodro, hosted an event at the Century Furniture showroom in the New York Design Center to celebrate the site’s new LookBook, which is incredibly helpful for people who are in the midst of a remodel and want instant access to inspiration. The LookBook offers hundreds of photos of beautiful rooms organized by style or room type. It also includes source information on the designer and the issue in which the room originally appeared. In addition, a shoppable feature (powered by 1st Dibs, the online market place for antiques and mid-century furniture) provides … Read Post

September 23, 2010

Furniture with Soul

Products

Touring the aisles of the International Gift Show a couple of weeks ago, we came across the tiny booth of a new company called Bourgeoisie 3d that stopped us in our tracks. The beautiful furnishings it showcased were at once familiar and fresh. There was a kind of purity and perfection about the wooden chairs, tables and stools that drew us in and made me want to find out more. After chatting with the owners, John Bourgeois and his wife, Emily, who is the lead designer of the furnishings, we learned about Emily’s thoughtful and inspired approach to design, which … Read Post

September 21, 2010

Thrifty DIY Bath Renovation

Baths, Projects & Tips

One of our readers, Jen Murray, sent us a couple of photos and a brief description of one of her home improvements. Here’s an excerpt of her notes describing the thrifty DIY bathroom renovation by her husband, Erick, who retiled the dated shower and tub surround. I’m just going to take a moment and tell you that I found your blog through Facebook, I believe, on the site of Company C. I read your post about that wonderful pillow you made from Company C fabric. I enjoyed it so much—I had just ordered 2 yards of Maine Cottage fabric (the inexpensive … Read Post

September 16, 2010

The Role of the Kitchen in Modern Life

Kitchens

It’s interesting to reflect on how much the kitchen has changed over the past century—and how much it’s impacted how we live. A current exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York called Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen wonderfully examines the remarkable evolution of the kitchen since the late 19th century. It also illuminates how its continual redesign has shaped our notions of food, gender roles, consumerism and even political ideology—most notably in the famous “Kitchen Debate” between Richard Nixon and Nikita Krushchev in Moscow in 1959 at the height of the Cold War. “Kitchens were … Read Post

September 14, 2010

Eco-Friendly Paints in Beautiful Colors

Inspiration, Products

    Wow! What a difference a coat of paint makes! And if you choose to paint your walls with an eco-friendly paint, you can sit in your home office do your work while the painters do theirs. The best eco-friendly paints have no VOCs (the volatile organic compounds, or toxic vapors, that get released into the air as the paint dries). These paints definitely have that fresh paint smell that makes a house feel new, but not the overwhelming fumes that can bring tears to your eyes (and not in a good way). Among the eco-friendly paint options are … Read Post

September 9, 2010

Choosing Bathroom Plumbing Fixtures with Confidence

Homes

After taking note of the posts I’ve written on my own home improvement projects, a reader and freelance writer, Nancy Bhupathi, sent me the following thoughts on her own experience in planning for a bathroom renovation and choosing fixtures. So clear was she in her praise of Hangrohe fixtures, that I’m running excerpts of her note as a guest post. I also know where I’ll be going when the time comes to take on my own bathroom reno. Meanwhile, here are Nancy’s thoughts: By and large, bathroom renovations give me jitters. Choosing Hansgrohe for plumbing fixtures made the process less … Read Post

September 7, 2010

Prepping Walls for Paint (Plus a Giveaway from the Kilz Brand of Primers)

Homes

After clearing out the contents of our closets over the weekend in preparation for the crew of painters who will be coming to our home later this week, I found a small oily mark on the wall near the baseboard in one of the closets that must have been made by some wood stain I had stored on the floor. It’s nothing a little Kilz primer can’t cover, so I’m not worried about it. Thankfully the Kilz company has just launched Kilz Clean Start, a new zero-VOC primer, which means the product is not only superb for prepping walls for … Read Post

September 3, 2010

Super-Easy Recipe for Green Salad with Parmesan Dressing

Epicure

Over the past couple of days, Madie and Kenny, two kind readers of my blog, left incredibly complimentary comments on an older post (Cooking for a Crowd: A Simple Summer Meal). As a way of thanking them for their very encouraging words, I’m immediately following through with a quick follow-up post, as Madie urged me to do, which includes the recipe for a yummy mixed green salad with Parmesan dressing (another adaptation from an old Food & Wine book). Everyone I serve it to loves it, and I hope it might come in handy in the event you plan to … Read Post

September 1, 2010

Decorating Ideas That Ease the Transition from Summer to Fall

Interiors

Now that the unofficial end of summer is right around the corner, I’m starting to think about ways to ease the transition from one season to the next in my living room and terrace. I asked Susan Feldman, one of the founders of One Kings Lane, an online home furnishings resource, for ideas on keeping spaces comfy and beautiful as the days begin to shorten and cool off. Here are her tips: 1. Toss lightweight throws on chairs. “These are a must this time of year—my favorites are ultra-versatile Turkish textiles,” says Susan. “I tend to keep them draped on … Read Post