West, Collier West

(I was picturing that in a "Bond, James Bond" kind of voice) Suzi West, of Collier West - my favorite store in Columbus - was featured on Apartment Therapy for her amazingly cozy loft in Columbus. And while my desk still looks as atrocious as it did (see below) I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this! It's listed under Apartment Therapy's Chicago tab - See how chic the midwest can be??
I absolutely love this light fixture - aka 'branchelier' and it is actually on display in Hudson's front window right now (the Boston location.)
With less than 600 square feet you can see what a good job Suzi did of using space wisely because it looks much larger than that. I love the overlapping oriental rugs sprawling from the living into the bedroom.

Aparment Therapy notes that one way Suzi opens up the small space is by not using curtains to minimize the windows, but you can see she uses large mirrors too to make the space feel bigger.I think one of the smartest design tips in the article is "evaluate your life, how you spend your time and then build around that" which Suzi refers to when she explains why she didn't redo the kitchen - because she rarely eats in.

This is my favorite. I honestly can't decide what I like the best...the sign, the headboard, the bedding, the chandeliers, the chest. It's all amazing!

Help!

I feel so out of the loop...I haven't had time to browse, shop, click, read, blog, etc because this is currently my life...

...as soon as I can poke my head out I'll be back in action!

Paper Party

I'm a firm believer in the written word - I love thank you notes, I don't want newspapers to die, and admittedly I have some pretty juicy diaries from about Grades 6-11. So I thought I'd share with you some of my new favorite paper products as I feel like there has been an abundance of them recently.

Moleskine notebooks are a staple in my life and their most recent line is genius! Moleskine 'Passion Books' are journals catered specifically to wine, music, film, books, recipes, and wellness.


They have the same classic setup, shape, size, etc of the regular Moleskine notebooks but are organized based on topic and also each one has embossed covers specific to their topic.



I'm definitely going to get some I just haven't decided which ones yet - how do you decide between wine, movies, food, and books? (I mean, I've already eliminated 'Wellness'...)



The other new paper-products I'm oohing and aahing over are Jonathan Adler's new stationery line. I'm a sucker for a new set of note cards but our dear friend Jonathan has taken it to a whole other level with file folders, gift wrap, paper lanterns, and much more.


I love that all the envelope/card sets aren't match-matchy and that he makes good use of all of his great patterns and colors.

If you're anything like me these folders will legitimately make it easier to stay organized. I don't mind doing taxes, sorting bills, or cleaning up my desk when everything is getting put into these! (This might be a slight exaggeration)


Last, but not least, I love using note cards like this because you don't always have enough to say for a whole gift card - if you're giving a good gift I think "Love, Elizabeth" should suffice!



Well I could go on for hours about 1. Stationery in general, 2. Moleskines, and 3. Jonathan Adler so I'll spare you and let you look around for yourselves....have a great weekend!

Extreme Makeover: Bed Edition

My adoring sister Katherine pointed out to me my lack of content recently and offered up her recent bedroom transformation for me to share with you, so here goes...


Our bed was in a sad, sad state. We had sheets that Peter bought a few years ago from Bed Bath and Beyond. Nothing wrong with them, but they were tan and drab and boring. I used to have really pretty blue and white toile Yves Delorme sheets, but when we joined forces we kept his
bed because it's a queen and my sheets didn't fit. Anyway, one of our cats, Henri, is fascinated with the process of making the bed. When I fluff up the comforter his pupils dilate and he jumps underneath, clawing his way in...resulting in some tears that have grown bigger, and bigger. Note my fine sewing skills to patch them up.




Anyway, we finally said enough is enough and bought new sheets. I decided to buy from Garnet Hill, I've owned several sets of their sheets before. They're good quality and very affordable. I chose Fiesta Percale for the duvet (blue sky) and fitted sheet (white), Signature Hemstitched Percale for the big pillowcases (white), and Everyday Percale for the regular pillowcases (lemongrass). All those items came to only $240 with shipping. Here's some before and after
pictures. The lemongrass color looks more yellow here, it's really more of a citrus green. And that brown quilt is from ABC Home, from a few years ago. And yes, that is Henri...ruling the roost.

...and after.

As requested here's a picture of what the boys' house looked like after the girls (and maids) worked their magic...

*Please not the poster in the background strategically covered by one of the many Britney Spears posters the girls used to redecorate!

Boys to Men

My sister, Katherine, was in Boston this weekend for a bachelorette party and they surprised the bride-to-be by 'renting' the house they all lived in during their years at BC from the kids that live there now. Good in theory, right? Reminiscing in their old house - this huge Victorian in Brighton that was the closest thing BC ever saw to a sorority house. Yea, good in theory.

They arrived to see this....


4 hours and 7 maids later it was as liveable as they were going to get it. Now I've seen a lot of bad apartments and houses through my four years at BC and various trips home to Ohio State houses on campus but nothing like this!

It got me thinking, and I couldn't think of many male-owned houses and apartments whose interiors I really admired. With the obvious exceptions...Johnathan Adler and Simon Doonan's Palm Beach house.

Nate Berkus's Chicago apartment...

So I did a little digging, and granted these are not your average men, look at some of the beautiful homes I found! Clearly designers and filmmakers and hair dressers already have a predisposition for beautiful things but these homes are still inhabited by the same sex that was inhabiting the aforementioned house - decorated with mostly just beer and dirt.

J. Mendel designer, Gilles Mendel's bedroom...


Lambertson Truex designers - Richard Lambertson and John Truex's dining room...


Frederic Fekkai's living room...


Filmmaker and directer Brett Ratner's living room...


Images via Elle Decor