These bracelets and vases don't really have anything to do with one another, but with the similar palette and materials, and some special details, these feminine pieces felt like a nice match-up. 

Ria Leigh's ceramic Basic Shapes bracelets come in beautiful glazed color options and I love the shapes, especially the kind-of-edgy geometric lavender style. I'm sensitive to most metal jewelry, so I have to limit how long I wear metal pieces. I'm always on the lookout for accessories made of ceramic, resin, fabric, or other materials so I don't have to worry about a reaction or the color of the metal changing. I feel like these could also go a little 80s, which is just another reason to like them.

Nendo's Dress Up vases, also ceramic, are pastel-hued as well, but have the sweetest detailing--each vase has a different collar style at the top rim. From one side, they look like normal round-edged vases but on the other, they feature a little cutout collar shape traditionally associated with either a father, mother, and child. Plus, it's always nice to have a few small vases on hand for arranging flowers, and these look interesting even when they're empty.

Basic Shapes bracelets by Ria Leigh, $45 each, Frye Art Museum Store
Dress Up vases by Nendo, $25-$38 each or $95 for all three, Fitzsu

I just returned from a little shopping trip with my mother-in-law. My birthday is Sunday and she took me to a couple stores so I could try on things; she usually chooses a few items to buy for my birthday and Christmas from the selection of what I try on and like, and today I noticed a significant pattern in what I was pulling. See?

I love brights, but I was just drawn to the black and white and gray pieces. I tried on a few other things, but the fit wasn't right. Also there was a really (disturbingly) large amount of lamé pants and crop tops in one store in particular and I just can't go there. 

To be honest, I wasn't sure what I felt like posting about today. But when I logged into Pinterest, thanks to the incomparable David Stark, the answer was right in front of me. He must be feeling similarly inspired because he just posted a handful of black & white striped images. So, far be it from me to ignore the signs. Some lovely, classic inspiration to send us off into our holiday. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah!

I have this compulsion to buy all kinds of storage bins. I think that each bin is going to be the one that finally gets my kids' toys, papers, or random clutter organized. I've already come to terms with the fact that I'm a piler, not a filer, but I still get self-conscious about people coming over and seeing the disarray.  

I love love love this fluorescent pink modern toile storage bin (which comes in three sizes) that I found at ABC Home. I'm a big fan of mixing colors and patterns in unexpected ways, and when designs rooted in tradition are presented in a modern way, I'm generally hooked. I'm fascinated by the idea behind toile, but I usually find the traditional scenes a bit old-fashioned (and sometimes strangely suggestive, as evidenced by a shower curtain my sister had at her old apartment). 

In the past I've been really into modern interpretations of toile (see: Timorous Beasties, Historically Inaccurate, and Sheila Bridges) and this pattern is so whimsical with the paper airplanes, wildflowers, animals, cityscape, and fashion-forward (superhero!) figures strutting across the cotton canvas. 

If the fluorescent pink is too much for you, these charming bins also come in water green and honey.

Today's regular dental checkup (cavity-free, hooray!) reminded me of a product I learned about a few months ago. I think we can all agree, toothbrushes aren't especially attractive. A few years back, one of the major toothbrush manufacturers had a designer line that was fairly cute and they had several write-ups in magazines, and probably online. That fizzled out but there are alternatives. 

I love these designer toothbrushes at AlmandersAlley. They're slightly more expensive than the regular type available at the drug store, but there are so many styles available, so you can find a design that matches your personality. 

The marble design above, and the animal print, below, are my two favorite styles.

I have a stash of toiletries on hand in my guest bathroom in case visiting friends and family ever forget something. It would be fun to have a handful of these available for those situations, and I like the idea of having something a little different that would make my guests smile.

There are also abstract, floral, plaid, striped, and tropical styles among others. 

images via almandersalley

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Insert obligatory sentence about how I can't believe Thanksgiving is only a week away. We are still at that age and stage in our lives when our parents host the holidays, so while we host a lot of less-formal gatherings, we have yet to host a big family holiday meal. Right now, I'm okay with that, but I do look forward to hosting sometime, maybe when the girls are just a bit older and can both feed themselves fully! 

I have wonderful memories of a Thanksgiving in Hoboken (pre-children) when I had to work during the day at my retail job and some great friends came over for a late dinner. We cooked an excellent meal, I had a special woodsy centerpiece made at the florist, we used our wedding silver and china (Wedgwood Oberon, goes great with a fall palette), and we had a great time. I felt like such a grown-up. It was so much fun. 

Until we host again I shall live a bit vicariously. I've pinned a few of my favorite table ideas (and some additional inspiration) for Thanksgiving to a board on Pinterest. Check them out and if you're so inclined, feel free to follow me, too! I haven't been pinning as much as I'd like lately, but hoping to change that soon.

Do you host Thanksgiving? How do you style your table?

I have this great coat that I wear faithfully each fall. It's well over a decade old now, though I can't quite remember when I bought it. I love the colors of the coat, and it receives a lot of compliments. However, buttons are missing and the lining is torn.  I continue to wear it, but it definitely needs some TLC.  I'm not ready to replace it completely, but while it worked well in New York, I'm finding it's sometimes a little thin for Syracuse.

I like a coat that stands out in the crowd, and these coats are just the type that would keep me warm and dry in style.

In middle school and high school, I realized that though I was weird, quirky, creative, and some of my closest friends were art kids, I was not an art kid. There was some overlap, and I tried to take more art classes in college, when I could fit them in. But as much as I love visual arts, images, and design, I am better with words. 

Similarly, as an adult, I am not an artist, stylist, or designer, but I work with them, write about them, and get to be partially immersed in that world. I'm trying to learn more from them. The creativity is always inspiring me to look at things differently and sparks my own ideas. When this image from Vintage Revivals (above) happened to pop up in my stream on Pinterest, I was very intrigued. 

Hope you all had a splendid weekend!

For the last week or so, I've been seeing this image pop up on Twitter and elsewhere, because this is New York-based interior designer Tom Scheerer, the subject of the recently-released book Tom Scheerer Decorates, by Mimi Read. I haven't yet had the pleasure of looking through the design book (it's on its way now), but this image struck me for a couple of reasons. 

Film-star-spectacles aside, I love how bright and cheerful this stairway and hall are in his family's East Hampton, New York, beach house. If the stairs and handrail weren't lacquered in that coral color, I don't think I would have been as drawn to it as I am. I do like the geranium wallpaper on its own, but if the handrail had remained in a natural wood, I'm not sure I would have spent as much time absorbing the image. 

With my reasonably mediocre Photoshop skills, I filled in the coral treads and handrail with black, so I could see what it might look like. It still looked lovely, but the space took on a more serious feel. I also tried a "wood tone;" in my hands it looked a little ridiculous, but it did reinforce how much I think the coral adds to the design, particularly in a beach house where its usually desired to keep things light and airy. 

Painting these areas in a poppy color that coordinates with the wallpaper elevates the room that much more. I also like that the coral doesn't seem to be an exact match to any color in the paper, but that it references the floral pattern and adds another dimension of interest. 

I think most stairways could benefit from this kind of treatment (especially including the wallpaper). There are definitely times when natural tones, black, or white, are the right way to go, but where architecturally-interesting railings and banisters are lacking—probably most average houses—a smart paint job is a great way to update and enliven the space. 

I've never had a cup of coffee. I know that probably sounds incomprehensible to some of you, but as much as I love the smell of coffee beans, I can't bring myself to get past a sip. And I'll admit I'm reluctant to pick up the habit. I do drink tea (usually peppermint), though mostly in the fall and winter. My other cold weather favorites are hot mulled cider and hot cocoa with a ridiculous amount of marshmallows. 

My husband loves coffee though, and we're big fans of our Keurig Vue, but our collection of coffee mugs is pretty rag tag. We do have a set of tea cups that came with our everyday plates, but they are very shallow. And I'm not even sure that we have a creamer and sugar bowl. 

I am dying to upgrade to Sagaform's stoneware POP collection. The bright colors are exactly the wake up our kitchen needs and I love the architectural shapes of the pieces. The pink/red and plum pieces are my favorite and I'm definitely putting these on my holiday wish list this year. Click products to see the other colors available. 

If challenged to choose a handful of only neutral colors and design a room around them, most people would probably not end up with something as moody and glamorous as this. I think we'd see a much lighter room, a lot more creams, browns, tans, greige, maybe some grey, or black, or white—but not this mix and not in this way. This image is actually from ZGallerie's fall look book (which can easily be accessed from their home page or clicking the above photo).

I was immediately drawn to it, not simply because I'm obsessed with moody rooms, but because the concept seems like it shouldn't be too difficult to pull together using an image such as this for inspiration. 

Essentially, the designers used black, an off-white, green, and a metallic—all of which are neutrals. But the genius is in the pairing. Using more black than white, particularly on the walls, carpeting and mantle creates a very different feeling than if the proportion were the other way around. The sofas balance the darkness and give your eyes a place to rest. The vibrant malachite green acts as an accent color and all of the gold provides additional light and reflection to keep the room from being too heavy and dull. The use of pattern is also fairly restrained, so the mix of shapes and materials is what provides the depth here. 

Bringing in glass objects, some chrome, and other accessories in these same shades adds interest to the room, and I love the large format framed canvas on the mantle which ties it all together seamlessly.

This is also a good example of using a trendy color (emerald) but in a way that's easy to move around if you're someone who likes to switch out accents each season or as trends come and go. Another nice point of balance is the use of a round coffee table and curved sofas in front of the symmetrical very square/rectangular built-ins.        

I think it all came together brilliantly. What do you think of this room? Does it work for you?

image via zgallerie

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