Let Me Help You With That

someone forgot the secret signal for special guests

Shoshanna's curtain on Girls (HBO) are from West Elm. I see you searching my blog everyday for the lowdown on her bedding and window coverings. Rest easy. They are attainable.

Now, the white sheers and pink silk (?) I'm not so sure about:

Single-Girl Style: Dynamic Brooklyn

The latest issue of Lonny features a very cool little apartment in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Kelley Carter is an editor at Real Simple who's apartment is loaded with color, texture and pattern. The total effect is a fresh, vibrant, dynamic and glam home.

Color Story: Cool Brights

amazing uniforms at an indian spa

Over the years, I've designed a lot of PowerPoint presentations. When I first started doing them at work I gravitated toward blue backgrounds. Teal, navy, turquoise, lavendar. Always blue-based backgrounds. I could literally feel the relief in my retinas or irises or something. The colors not only enhance and offset the images being displayed, they invite the viewer to keep looking. Once, someone showed me one done in reds and oranges that actually hurt my eyes to look at. That's one thing that's so great about bold color. You can have blazing, eye-searing bolds. Or you can have vibrant, eye-soothing bolds. Neutrals are not the opposite of brights. Brights are the opposite of brights. 

Color Texture Pattern: New PJ's

tigerlily pajamas by alfani

The other night I bought these pajama bottoms while at Macy's to pick up some new stockings. (Knee-highs are so great in the summer.) These "tigerlily" pj's have caught my eye a few times. They're by Alfani, a great brand with cute styles at good prices, and they are modal, a super soft and cool fabric. Heaven against the skin, especially in warm weather. But what really drew me was the pattern. They are just so... pretty with the mix of animal print and colors on a warm tan background. 

A great buy.

Color Texture Pattern: A Room with a View

an attic guest room with global furnishings in shades of airy white [source: home beautiful australia]

With the warm seasons creeping up on us, I could really use a clean slate. Just some relief from all the cozy, layered cold weather furnishings and my own burrowing habits. I want to come home to an apartment that smells like fresh air and that is light and uncluttered and welcoming... Join me?

Viva Print Media: Living in a Nutshell

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled on a new book on small-space design, LIVING IN A NUTSHELL, by Janet Lee. This happens a lot in the course of web surfing. I'm sure you've been there. Anyway, the author was a new name to me. Apparently she runs this blog, Living in a Nutshell, which has been going for several years.The focus is killer DIY projects you can do to transform small rentals into awesome homes without endangering your security deposit. Looking over her website and Facebook gallery, I gotta admit her taste is fun and flamboyant and the projects are pretty interesting. The cover image is her actual home.

Psst...Summer is Coming

And I want to feel as though I look like this: tall, thin, young, feminine and fluttery. 'Cause goodness knows I don't.

Rooms on Film: Girls vs. Reality Bites

gen x's plaid, nubby, thrift store, lawn chair and beers vs. gen millennial's curtains, wall hangings, wine and bistro ambiance

When I was going through images to do a post on the few apartments that have appeared on HBO's new sitcom, Girls, it occurred to my generation never took so much interest in interior decorating. These apartments are pretty together compared to say...Reality Bites. Which of course led me to think of the many obvious similarities between that Gen X classic and this new look Gen Millennial.

Both stories examine groups of four friends, post college, who graduated during a recession and find themselves confronted with the twin realities of being tossed off the parental dole while enduring scut jobs (now known as 'bitch work') they hate, while still dreaming of artistic greatness. Voila! Oh, and there's guy trouble and guys coming out of the closet and a responsible roommie who wants to pay bills on time and...

Good Pitch: Exotic Body Wash

dunno if you can really get a shower like this, but i'd really like one. and that floor pattern is exquisite too.

Apparently, Palmolive makes body washes inspired by India. But they don't sell them here in the U. S. Why the hell not?! I want to smell exotic and delicious. And I only have lotion and body yogurt left from my stash of discontinued Bath & Body Works True Blue Morocco... How am I supposed to leave a cloud of intoxicating fragrance in my wake?  

How?