Single-Girl Style: Sunny in South Africa

stylist tara sloggett at home in south africa

This little cottage has stuck with me ever since I first read about it a few years ago. The light-filled rooms and feminine furnishings feel very restful and refreshing. I could definitely vacation in a b&b (or home-swap) done in this style. The floral stencils on the dresser and mirror are particularly impressive. They feel more personal and distinctive than the average furnishings. 

Rooms on Film: Enough Said (Marianne's House)

Let's have a look at the second of three lovely homes in the 2013 film, Enough Said. Unlike main character, Eva's (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) little suburban two bedroom, Marianne's (Catherine Keener) house is just a little more..something I can't quite put my finger on. Certainly Eva is impressed when she first visits the home. This one is also in a suburban neighborhood, but the location seems to offer some cooler outdoor decoration options. 

Should Eva be jealous? I certainly am.

Rooms on Film: Enough Said (Eva's House)

julia louis-dreyfus as eva in "enough said"

This is a lovely little 2013 film about a midlife divorcee who meets a new man and also meets a new friend/massage client at a party. Turns out the new man used to be married to the new friend/client, which our heroine discovers after having developed a serious girlcrush/envy on the new friend while listening to all her complaints about her ex - who our heroine has fallen in love with. One woman's shlub is another woman's teddy bear. 

Anyhoo, in the course of events both of these women have lovely girls-only homes that each shares with a teenage daughter. I see no reason for anyone to be jealous of anything given these two pretty boxes. But I'm a midlife woman in a studio apartment. Shall we? 

Single-Girl Style: Robin Roberts' NYC Apartment

 

good housekeeping's spread from june 2012

Since she's been in the news lately, it seemed like a good time to take a quick peek at the Good Morning, America host's livingroom. Robin Roberts did a covershoot for Good Housekeeping that indicates a lovely, ladylike space. Too bad we didn't get a full tour. The article specifically mentions a show-stopping view of the Hudson River. 

Surely, we'd all like to take a gander at that. 

Color Texture Pattern: Bright & Quirky Scarf

close up of my new favorite neckwarmer

It was supposed to be a quick stop at Target for some cheap (well-priced) body lotion. Y'know, the big pump bottle. Somehow I wound up in the accessory section - stay on the tiled floor, stay on the tiled floor - and suddenly this flaming beauty just popped up from the rack. A scarf that radiates spring in every fiber with it's searing colors, fine-gauged texture and quirky pattern.

Pink and Orange Bedding

slip into spring with a little exotica

It's official: I have a weakness for bedding that may require some rehab. After the recent IKEA acquisition, I took a good look at the new Bar III line at Macy's. Like the Style & co. line before it, Bar III has some real lookers in it's catalog. And of course that led to a store visit to handle the goods in person. 

Single-Girl Style: Global Mod Living

move-in ready, just needs one tweak

Seeing this livingroom in Cottages & Bungalows magazine last year was a jolt. What a an inspiring room. It's very casual and comfy, heavy on paisleys and blockprints, the colors are fresh and feminine and the bones have simple lines for a simple, modern feeling. 

The only thing I would change is that stuffy rug. 

In Print: Bold Color

eye-popping graphics, adore home (feb 2012)

Much gratitude to the overseas online magazines out there. While we're shivering through deep winter (shrieking, when the wind is fierce), they are serving up gorgeous summer rooms and bright, uplifting color. I'm thinking of making "it's summer somewhere" my new catchphrase.

Fuschia + Aubergine: Edgy Bathrooms

 rock star glam: bright, shiny, chic, cool, a little modern and a little messy 

This bathroom looks like the exact right 'mission control' for a girl who'd rock a flowing goddess gown in deepest purple and fuschia edged in shiny metals:

And a couple more options perfect mix of sparkle and glam for an edgy goddess to handle her ablutions...

Fuschia + Aubergine: A Ladylike Rug

urban outfitters' vine flourish rug

Put on your dancin' shoes! Here's a rug that fits my brand-new obsession with Emma Stone's custom Lanvin perfectly. I really wish it fit my apartment, but I already have my large rug, and the two just don't mesh. So it's just a crush for me (for now). And who could deny this? It's very easy to care for with that typical woven cotton of Urban Outfitters rugs. The damask is a lively, feminine pattern energized by the two rich colors popping against each other. You could play this one uptown or downtown. 

Rooms on Film: The Adjustment Bureau

I don't know what is going on with Matt Damon right now, but he keeps doing movies that make me kinda love him. Not he's-so-hot-infatuated love. No, I'm talking old school Andrew McCarthy-he's-so-sweet-love. To wit, a charming little movie called The Adjustment Bureau which has been all over HBO lately. 

matt damon and emily blunt

Single-Girl Style: The "Sexy Afro Glam" Vibe

Not too long ago, while cruising around Flickr, an image of this room caught my eye. It was in Aphrochic's photostream and over on her blog she had announced the small-screen debut of her wallpaper, The Vibe, on HGTV's Secrets of a Stylist. Being a love-slave to hot pink and all, of course I was desperate to see the episode. Sadly, it has not yet aired. But the show's host/designer, Emily Henderson, recently posted a link to the episode online.  

The phoenix which Henderson dubbed "Sexy Afro Glam" rose from the ashes of this drab box apartment. And naturally, I screencapped the hell out of it for closer inspection:

Some things are so very worth the wait!

Single-Girl Style: Moody, Modern & Eclectic

Of the handful of things I wish I had studied in high school and college, Russian is not one of them. Which left me at a loss when I came across this gorgeous apartment profile. Such a bummer because this lady, whoever she is, has a really cool home. The contrast of the purple brocade wallpaper next to the brown bamboo wall sets the dark, moody tone of the space. The vivid grain in the dark wood floors stands out and contrasts beautifully with the smooth, shiny lacquer table. Not to mention the nubby, wool kilims and the modern leather chair. 

source: glamour russia  photos: will webster

But it doesn't stop there. 

Viva Print Media: This Probably Isn't Very Green

On occasion, I go too far. I'm one of those people with old magazines under the bed, on the bookshelf and just plain stacked along the edges of the living room. And sometimes I have been known to buy an entire magazine for one image. Over the past few years I have learned to cut back on that by looking for the image online first. But- sometimes they just aren't available. Such is the case with the latest issue of Glamour (which I no longer actually read). I was checking to see if they had done an interesting home profile in "How To Do Anything Better" when I saw these two lovely images:

source: glamour magazine   image credit: robert trachtenberg

Rooms on Film: Diario de Una Ninfomana

If you follow my Flickr stream, you know I developed a minor obsession with the sets in this film last year. In particular, the leading lady's apartment in the beginning of the film, where her pursuit of pleasure is firmly established.

Based on the book (bio) by Valerie Tasso, the film is set in Barcelona where we follow Valerie through the ups and downs of finding the right man to match her appetites, maintaining steady employment and taking advice from her elderly French grandmother. Later, things gets dizzily better and then tragically worse. 

This movie is so frank and randy that people find it rather scandalous. But I broke down and ordered the dvd and I have to say... it ain't so bad. She's just a woman with a very strong libido who really does want the fantasy of a prince to sweep her off her feet and give her a family. Val goes down some taboo paths to find her way, but she comes to understand the dark side of some her fantasies.

But, oh, that apartment...

the eclectic hallway of val's barcelona apartment