To Mr. Drucker, a love letter

Dear Stephen: When I heard last spring that you were leaving House Beautiful to take over (and make over) Town & Country, I'll admit I was a bit surprised -- and even more skeptical. Wasn't that just a step down? House Beautiful has long been my favorite interiors magazine. I anxiously await its arrival each month and, when it does finally arrive on my doorstep, I read it slowly, savoring every

Out of the Powder Room and into the Closet...

While browsing Nordstrom's accessories department with my mom and sister yesterday, I spied Kate Spade's cheerful summer bon shopper ($175) with its playful, leaping zebras. If you're as fanatical a reader of shelter magazines as I am, then no doubt you are also struck by the similarity between this print and Scalamandre's popular zebra wallpaper. While the lack of arrows (which I'm not a big fan

Lacquered Walls: A Maximalist's Dream

Christina Murphy Now that I've blogged for a while, I've started to see trends emerge in my tastes and interests that I don't think I would've noticed without the virtual paper trail. One of the biggest things that I've come to realize about myself is that I tend towards maximalism -- not just in design, but in life. I'm a big believer that bigger is often better, just as more is often more. I've

Going Green

Christina MurphyIn honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd be pretty uncreative and pull together some of my favorite green rooms. I'm always a fan of bright, monochromatic (or dichromatic) spaces and green is one of my favorite colors when you're trying to go bright and bold, but still have a "liveable" room. Unlike, say, orange or yellow, Green -- and even bold greens like kelly green -- read

Anatomy of a Console Table

Sara GilbaneGenerally speaking, there are precious few "rules" when it comes to decorating. After all, taste isn't really a matter of following a prescribed list of "do's" and "don'ts", but instead a more elusive art form: it is emotional rather than logical. There's an often repeated mantra that good taste can't be taught -- and perhaps that is in fact the case. However,I firmly believe that if

Patterned Powder Rooms

Jonathan BergerI suppose I've been on something of a bathroom kick recently. After putting the finishing touches on my master bath last month, I painted my upstairs' guest bath turquoise last week. Next up on my bathroom "to decorate" list is the powder room. What I love about decorating powder rooms is how you can really go all out. Since powder rooms are separated and closed off from the rest

Pink: It's The Color of Passion

Philip TreacyTo quote Aerosmith: Pink it's my new obsession Pink it's not even a question Pink on the lips of your lover, cause Pink is the love you discover Okay, so perhaps pink isn't exactly a new obsession of mine -- in fact, I've showcased a number of stunning rooms that I have incorporated pink in the past (see HERE and HERE), but I haven't really waxed poetic about pink (until now). I

Paint Your House Blue

As regular readers of this blog know, I've become a big fan of blue in home decor (and not just because it's a color I can get my husband to agree to). I think blue is an incredibly versatile shade of paint color. In its paler forms it reads as a cool, soothing neutral, which is lovely when paired with similar cool tones like grays, whites, greens and other blues. These tones are ideal for

An Ode to Zig Zags

Mary McDonaldIt's no secret that I have a strong affinity for bold colors and bold prints -- and maybe it's just because that, like a toddler, I require a lot of visual stimulation (though I'd like to think that it's more attributable to an appreciation for bold, cutting edge design). Lately though, I'm increasingly drawn to zigzag patterns and I suddenly feel like I'm seeing it everywhere, be it