White and Yellow. White and Yellow.

As you may know, I'm planning my (I mean OUR) wedding for this Summer! My life revolves around weddings, design, and school right now so let's take a moment and talk about the wedding (and then loop back to design)! I love the color yellow so it might be color in the wedding. As usual, I have to relate everything back to interior design so lets look at some fun, preppy, and bright interiors, shall we?

The simplicity of this bedroom is stunning and sophisticated. Of course it's designed by Lee Kleinhelter, who has access to the most ridiculous antiques. From Lonny.

I always think of John Loecke when I think of preppy colors. these two yellow chairs look bright in this fresh interior. I'm pretty much obsessed with all the fabrics in this room.

This geometric yellow bedding is definitely on my list for my new apartment. From Jonathan Adler. Want it now...

Green and yellow are so fresh preppy together, don't you think? Love the ribbon detailing on the roman shades and the lampshade. DIY project for the weekend? INTERESTING... (I can't remember where I found this image...anyone want to help?)

SWOON. A gorgeous combination and a balance of white and bright vibrant blues greens and yellows makes this room feel color infused yet light and open. From Country Living.

Marie Claire France. I love stumbling into an old French mansion. This living room is bathed in natural light and painted a soft buttery yellow for a sweet airy feel.

It's almost too cold for words here in NYC, but some people have been complaining that it's even colder in Chicago...These warm yellow rooms are making me yearn for Summer more than ever! I have lots to look forward to though in more planning of the wedding--what do you think of yellow? Just an idea I'm playing around with.

Now that I have internet finally in my new apartment, my posts might be more frequent, so thanks for your patience. I'm also excited that I'll be meeting up with some actual real live design bloggers--I've never met anybody that is also a design blogger so this is going to be monumental and scary. Wish me luck and Happy Friday everyone!

Alicia B.

Milk Glass Inspiration

Wedding planning is beyond fun. It's like mini designing for every single little event. I'm knee deep in designing the rehearsal dinner. I'm envisioning french linens on the tables and milk glass vases with yellow flowers. I've been obsessed with milk glass lately--join me.

The contrast of rustic and smooth glass is so beautiful. Peeling paint is true love to me. Country Living.

These are great on a shelf too! A shelf-scape. I hope to have more bookcases in my new apartment for all of my books and put some pretty vases in it to break it up a little bit.

I love the simple color scheme here of pink and white. It's very pure and easy on the eyes--perfect for a party setting. Country Living.

A collection of like colored items like this looks great together. Even if they are not the same size and shape, the same look and color looks eclectic but cohesive.

Citrus colors and a pretty pile of oranges looks nice and summery in these milk glass pieces. Perfect for our August wedding.

Eddie Ross is a tablescape miracle worker. This gorgeous table with milk glass chargers and candle sticks convinces me further of my original design!

My next step is to collect some pieces of milk glass. I've found a bunch on etsy and some on ebay but I'm really excited to hunt around thrift shops in NYC and up in CT. I love a new project too. Does anybody have any suggestions for places? Here is my inspiration board so far...thoughts?



I said, THOUGHTS??


Alicia B.

Oh Christmas Tree

I will be going home in about 24 hours and I can't wait to see our Christmas tree and decorate it. This year, my parents have finally gotten rid of their metal stand from the 1940s, that makes my dad swear and makes the tree tilt to one side, and replaced it with a 2010 easy-to-use stand. Because it's easy, my parents are slightly un-trusting of it. Anyway, it got me thinking about different bases for Christmas trees and how I've been seeing so many interesting ways of standing those gorgeous trees up.

This wide basket makes a beautiful base for a tree, right? It also looks really stable--no tree tippage here. From Southern Living.

From Martha Stewart. Martha mounted a tree in the stump of a birch tree for a super woodsy look! I find the gold tree a tad abrasive but it's Martha so, I still love it.

This cute couple tried the same thing and I think it turned out really well. They took a regular stump of a tree, drilled a hole and put their tree inside it. I think this works only with fake trees as they have a thin end to them, which makes it easy to put inside the thick stump.

This is a great way to elevate a smaller tree if you don't have a lot of space. Sometimes if you want a taller tree, it has to be wider too, but if you put it in a bucket or on top of a cute box like this, you can show off your bucket and give some height to the tree. From Lisa Fern Creek.

Here is another bucket tree stand but this time in galvanized metal. I love how old fashioned this looks with apples hanging from the tree. From HERE--cute blog!.

If you have a crate, that also makes a great tree stand. Or an old flower box--just leave it natural or paint it white like this one from Homes and Gardens UK.

I adore this wide galvanized metal bucket tree stand from Country Living. This probably makes watering it really easy because you don't need to worry about protecting the stand or having leaks!

I know we'll just have a traditional stand with a skirt around it which will look beautiful, but do any of you, my lovely readers, have creative stands like these? A basket? A bucket? I'm sure everyone is traveling today so be safe and enjoy yourselves. Don't put too much brandy in your eggnog!

Alicia B.

Friday Faves

This week has been AMAZING because the warm weather finally came--but now it's been quickly ripped away from me and I've been left with rain and 60 degree weather. I'm practically left shivering compared to the 91 degrees we had two days ago. Yeah, I like warm weather. I'm really ready for it. WELL. Enough about me, let's get to Friday Faves, yes?

In my previous post I wrote about Scott Sanders' new book, Picture Perfect. This living room in a beach house is so full of color and life (from his website). I love the bright turquoise and the wall paper in the far room.

Lately I've been doing a lot of sewing (b/c i love to) and making pillows out of all the fabrics I have. I made this pillow a few nights ago from Lee Jofa fabric I believe. It is a gorgeous ikat and I backed it with a dark elephant grey linen. Right now it's $45, but when I put it up on my website it will be $52 so email me (aliciabdesigns at gmail dot com) if you're into it.

Whilst looking for some more inspiration fro my yellow dresser, I came across this great bedroom in Country Living. I think this really seals the deal with yellow and blue--they just look great together.

I'm off on a hot date tonight (with the bf) to Atlantic Grill- I'm pretty jazzed. I'm also working on a framed map sort of project which I'll let you know more about later! What are you all up to this weekend? Hopefully I'll get to spend some time outside if the rain holds off. Have a great weekend everyone!

Alicia B.

Putting all your eggs in one basket.

Eddie Ross put all these pretty country eggs in a wire basket. I love the different colors these eggs can be without dying them.

People warn against doing that but really it can be quite beautiful! Clearly I'm on an easter high even though its not quite here yet, but I'm decorating eggs so i can't stop thinking about how beautiful they can be all together! In one basket!

What would a holiday--or even HALF a day--be without Martha Stewart? This looks like a fun project with little fern leaves silhouetted onto these little Easter eggs. I think I'll try this one this year.

I love these wire baskets and egg holders. I think this is from Country Living. OOO Jelly beans!

Pottery Barn wanted to get in on the Easter madness as well with this cute egg holder. Well played Pottery Barn.

This is a fun little project you can do with those commercial Cadbury eggs. If you put them all in a pretty box with some Spring flowers, look how gourmet they appear! From Country Living.

Whatever you're doing today, walking through the park in this amazing weather, dying eggs and getting your fingers pink and yellow like mine, or hanging out with friends, have a great day. Happy Easter everyone!!


Alicia B.

Easter Interiors

Easter is only three days away and am definitely ready for some jelly beans. I love Easter for many reasons but I really love the pretty pastel colors. Purples, greens, pinks, and yellow are a nice harbinger of Spring and warm weather. These interiors are like beautiful pastel Easter eggs.

I don't wanna brag but I have this rug in my bedroom. Its so cute but a little bit softer than the one above because it's faded. I'm a huge fan of painted furniture so I pretty much can't find anything I don't love about this S. R. Gambrel room--except that I'm not in it.

How great are these shades of blue and green. Like a vibrant robin's egg and a faded celery. The light in this bedroom is generous--designed by Phoebe Howard.

One of my favorite parts of Easter is when they show the local news reports of farms giving away little yellow chicks on Easter. They are so so cute but I'm definitely not allowed to bring home more baby chicks (Long story short we thought it was a hen, it grew up to be a rooster. Not a pretty scene). Anyway, this yellow wall and then the strategically placed Hunters are the perfect dose of yellow. From Country Living.

I wish I could get this color of seafoam green on my eggs when I dye them. This bathroom is simple but has so much going on and so much to look at. Designed by Kerry Joyce.

Perfect beach colors: sand and sky. This living room of a beach house from House Beautiful.

I think the color green is really growing on me. It is a color that reminds me of nature and plants so can be really fresh but also gives a feeling of coziness. I love this little bedroom from Coastal Living.

Yellow is really one of my favorite colors. I adore this little breakfast nook with yellows and whites and the organic elements like the faux bamboo chairs and the flowery chandelier. I will be doing a little DIY project involving yellow next week so GET JAZZED. This yellow gorgeousness is by Celerie Kemble.

I'd never put a shag carpet in any interior but I love the blue stripes running up the wall and the ceiling. I'd also love to have double doors leading to a terrace. So rip out the shag carpet and switch out the bed frame to a white painted country style frame and I'm there. By Betsy Burnham.

Don't you just love pastel rooms? I'm sure even if you're not a celebrator of Easter, the colors and the spring feeling, yes? I'm now at home in CT and I've been instructed that I must dye all the eggs, but I'll be helped when the boyfriend joins us tomorrow. My sisters are also dying eggs in Chicago and carrying out the silent competition of who can dye the best (funniest, too. I know, we're wild!) eggs. What are your Easter Plans? Non-Easter/just a gorgeous weekend plans? Tell me!


Alicia B.

What a racquet.

This weekend is going to be all about squash. I'm going to see my sister play her last squash matches of her CAREER before she retires as a college squash player. I played squash in college but wasn't nearly as good as my sister, but I love the game and the competition. How does this relate to interior design you ask? Well a lot of times people incorporate their hobbies into their designs. Tennis, squash, and even ping pong racquets can be used in design.

From Live Well Designs, Kyle Shuneman put antique tennis racquets above this bed. I like the way this looks with them alternating. In a close up though you can see that the strings have been replaced with mirrors. I don't' know if I LOVE that idea but I'll take it.

Jonathan Adler has created these fun geometric racquet covers in his Spring collection. I really would love one... Via Style Beat.

This room is full of fun classic sports equipment: croquet in the basket on the left, and the two antique racquets pointing towards the lovely glass cabinet. Suzanne Kasler via willow decor. I love everything in this room and I wish I could see more of those throw blankets flanking the patchwork rug.

You can customize a rug to have cute crossed racquet design like this one! This rug is in the Racquet Club of Philadelphia via THIS blog.

This design is totally plain Jane and I'm not happy with it BUT, I like the idea of hanging these racquets in somewhere utilitarian like a kitchen. This breakfast nooks seriously needs my help though. Via M English Design.

From Country Living, this DIY project is a project in which you place an oval cut mirror over the strings in each of these antique racquets.

Interested in buying your own antique racquets? I found some great ones on Etsy! HERE is a pretty one with a wooden frame! I bet there are some on Ebay as well. Just for the record I'm not a preppy obsessed designer. I don't have crossed racquets over my bed, they're in my parents' basement, okay??!! Decorating with object from a hobby though can be fun. Care to share? Also, GOOD LUCK to my sister! I don't' want to brag but, she's awesome at squash.


Alicia B.

A Green for Winter

As I was working out in my head what colors I could use for my New Year's Eve party (which has taken a turn in a more relaxed direction), I was thinking what would be holiday but not Christmas? My colors were silvers, whites, and greens. I think the sparkle of the silver with the green color would be just festive enough but not scream Christmas at the same time. I've also been seeing light greens nearly everywhere against whites, gilt woods, and silvers.

This interior by Nate Berkus may be in my top 20 favorites and not just because of the patriotic moment in the back. The tiny pops of green among the neutrals is very subtle but makes the room fresher.

I saw this chest in the Wisteria catalogue today and was instantly enamored. It's so simple but it has so much texture.

This is a little vignette from a Lynn Morgan interior. Even using a plant is a great way to add green to a room. Like I said above, I'm super drawn to the metal tones with green.

This is really bringing the outdoors in in this Eddie Ross interior! The ferns are so sweet and natural with the brass lamp.

In this rustic and mostly white/creme interior, the green from the plants softens it. I love that layered display on the mantle. From Country Living.

This is a perfect neutral holiday scene. Even if it's not Winter these colors look warm and fresh. Bierly Drake.

An interior using Anne Selke fabrics has more light fresh mossy greens with a faux bamboo upholstered ottoman. I adore her fabrics; they're so fresh and whimsical.

These interiors are certainly inspiring for my little NYE get together. I'm thinking of using some of my same trees that I have for Christmas but remove the red elements and replace them with green. Perhaps the green theme is a good one for New Years as well; turning over a new leaf for a new year, that sort of thing. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back to New York and things get a little less abstract.



Alicia B.

Bookworm: Backwards Edition

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a book nerd. Sometimes I don't read the most intellectual books per se (Twilight will be a classic in 50 years, mark my words), but I do love to read when I have the time. I enjoy the use of books in design. I think that a library is important when I have a house of my own and I've been known to have opinions about book arrangement. I'm referring to the color coding idea for book arrangment which I'm morally opposed to. Dramatic? Rigid? Perhaps. Anyway, the latest book trend I've seen is turning the book spines inward so that the inside is visible. Take a look at some and then we can talk about it.

Luke Vahle was featured in this week's Decorati newsletter. The books here are turned spine inwards which works with the clean white color scheme of this desk. I like the use of stacking the books on either side like bookends.

Ms. Lauren of Pure Style Home did a similar bookcase display; hers with more interest and "objets". The top row really accents the little bust sculptures. The crates at the bottom break up the mass of books as well. Well done!

From The City Sage blog. Book spines turned inwards everywhere! I love how you can tell how old the book is by how yellowed the inside is.

From Country Living (via Dover Pl. blog), this shows that you don't need a neutral color scheme for this idea. Here, bright colors pop from the background of the books.

I decided to try it for myself on a small scale. Should I be embarrassed of my book selection? I'm not...

I thought I'd break up the monotony with two of my most gorgeous book spines off to the side. I kind of like the look of this but I'm still torn.

I have a really pretty cloth Pierre Deux journal that I included in the stack on the middle shelf. I understand the idea, and maybe when you're finished reading an embarrassing bestseller book you might want to turn it spine inwards.

What do you all think of this idea? I saw this done at the J. Crew in Westfarms mall in Farmington, CT (yeah!!), and in the store display it looked amazing! I wish I had a picture to show you. I'd love to do something interesting with my bookcases besides the mini displays I've created but I have so many design books that I love to show them off and admire them myself. I'm thinking of wallpapering the back of the bookcase or painting it a bright color.


Alicia B.