For Those of Us With A Black Thumb...

I am notorious for killing plants.  I have brought plants to my mother while they were on their last root and she has nursed them back to health and now they are thriving, but I really cannot be trusted with something green.  Does anybody else have that going on?  I love plants and flowers, but I just seem to kill them.  Luckily, you can decorate with plant motifs!  I've seen a lot of fun and interesting green items lately, namely ferns.  

I read a great article in the Financial Times about a phenomenon called Pteridomania which means Fern Madness.  I think I have it too!  It was a trend in the 19th century "stemming" from gardening which lead to an obsession with ferns.  This pitcher is by William Brownfield from 1859. 

If you can't afford the William Brownfield from the Royal Art Collection, this white pitcher by William Brownfield (apparently) is for sale on Ruby Lane.  Go HERE to buy it for me.

The gorgeous Lauren Liess has designed a beautiful fern embroidered linen fabric.  Here she is posing wrapped in it with her adorable husband. 

I love this fabric!  It has updated classic written all over it--I'd love to make some throw pillows with it, or it would make beautiful drapery in a living room.  HERE it is and many more of her fabrics with a fern motif.

Framed Ferns are an easy way to add a pop of green to a room.  These are a great scale and are very affordable from Wisteria. 

You can also find tons of antique framed ferns and fern botanical prints on 1st Dibs.  There is a great series of these from Polly McArthur Antiques in Seattle.

This is from Eddie Ross and I am in love with the stylized crewelwork fabric that is the headboard and pillow shams.  I'd love to know where that fabric comes from...

If all else fails, you could always do a tablescape with a cluster of ferns in vases.  

Once you're finished with your fern tablescape you can sit back in your adorable fern chair on the terrace with a G & T.  The Arper Leaf Lounger can be found at AllModern.com. 

I think after all this rain in NYC/the east coast we might see a lot of green ferns popping up outside.  Also inside!  As a side note, there is a reason I haven't blogged in a few weeks...I got a new job!!  I'm overjoyed for the change and very happy with my new position (that is all I will say but if you want the deets email me at aliciabdesigns@gmail.com).  YAY!

Have an amazing Memorial Day Weekend and remember to be patriotic!

Alicia B.

A Green Easter

Happy Easter everyone! This is the first Easter in a while that isn't 40 degrees and raining (yet at least) and I'm enjoying the green, the daffodils blooming and spring everywhere. My husband and I are upholding my family's tradition of doing the Easter Egg Hunt until we're senile.

Thornton Design created this charming dining room with gorgeous hand painted wallpaper and pretty ebonized dining chairs. This room looks like spring.

Veranda Magazine had an amazing estate showhouse and I love this green upholstery on the outdoor chairs. Love the green throw too.

Green walls are my favorite. I found this amazing watercolor on the Sister Parish website.

This room with a little fern design on the bedding reminds me of my future country house. Its so airy but cozy. Eddie Ross.

I hope you all have an amazing Easter, or just a lovely Sunday. I'm determined to win the egg hung this year (I will be competing with my husband) even though i'm notoriously bad at it. Wish me luck and enjoy the green pastel interiors!

Alicia B.

Happy Thanksgiving!

There are so many things to be thankful for this year. My husband and I will be celebrating our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, alone, as my entire family seems to have fled to the midwest or can't leave the midwest. I will be sure to take lots of pictures of our first Thanksgiving.

Eddie Ross. Tasteful Abundance.

Anyway, I'm thankful for a lot of things: My husband, my (expanding--no, not me!!!) family, my health, my friends, stuffing and pie, interior design, the Christmas season, and so many other things that you would get bored. What are you thankful for?


Alicia B.

Glad for Plaid.

One of the many things I love about Autumn and Winter is that there is more plaid to be seen. I mean flannel, tartan, and plaid. Whenever I see it it looks cozy and warm and makes me feel like cashmere is wrapped around my heart. I recently had to shop for a client's Colorado house and saw tons of great tartan plaids. Very inspiring and festive.

I would love a day bed like the one here. This looks like a very relaxed sitting room--I guess my little loveseat will have to do for now with brown windowpane plaid.

What a great office. Betsy Burnham in LA has a fantastic workspace with a ton of books and a green tartan pillow! Pillows are versatile and you can change them out when summer comes and you want something lighter.

This is from Hank Azaria's house in AD and the drapery is Sandra Jordan! She had the best line of plaids but I can't seem to find them online. What a cozy office meeting room...for poker games.

As I used to work in a lighting showroom, I loved to see which fabrics designer's used on lampshades. These are very seasonal and the great thing about lampshades is that you can switch them depending on the season! From Living etc.

Ahhh, my favorite house in Newport RI. John Peixinhos's home is a constant inspiration to me. This is such a simple entry and I love the plaid next to the elegantly worn oriental rug. From HB.

Autumnal tablescape! I love the lavender and maize plaid blanket used as a table cloth here. Great idea.

Speaking of tablescapes, Eddie Ross designed this gorgeous Thanksgiving table. This is making me even more excited for Thanksgiving. The unexpected and non traditional Thanksgiving colors make this table really stand out.

Plaid, plaid, plaid and a little dog. Preppy and British looking, yes?

Are you going to add some plaid to your home this fall/winter? When in doubt, you can just add a pillow or a tablecloth. In the image above, the pillow is a green silk pillow with a huge plaid ribbon tied around it. That would be great decoration for a holiday party. Can't wait to decorate for our first holiday party!

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.

Kate and Will Change The World...

...of interior design. Ever since Prince William and Kate Middleton got engaged (and stole our thunder.), there has been SUCH a buzz about sapphires. I suppose when the most influential people in the world get engaged with a 1000 carat sapphire, it will come into fashion in a very big way. I love Kate's style as well as her ring--she always has cute dresses and hats. I read an article that said that sapphire blue interiors would be everywhere for the next few years. I'm on board.

We could all do with a few more hats like these, right?

A wonderfully organized office. I love that pillow on the chair and I can't wait until the day that I have rolls of in a woven basket in my office. Homes and Gardens UK.

J. Crew. SUCH a pretty and simple dress. This is a great shade of blue and this dress looks so comfortable, too!

Eddie Ross designed this room with toile panels and this lovely fabric on the bed--love it.

Silk embroidered linen fabric by my favorite company, Vaughan!

SUCH elegant interiors by Mary McDonald. Blue and white interiors are incredibly timeless.

Here is a more mod-squad interior from Elle Decor with a deep blue striped floor--quite fun! I wish I could see more of that bed, it looks bright.

Okay so let's face it, blue is timeless no matter what shade it is. Will Kate and Will change a lot? Yes. I hope so. I do love that deep sapphire blue color--I hope that there are tons of shades of it everywhere in fashion, fabric, and design (you know, more than usual!).

Alicia B.

Blueberries and Raspberries

One of my best friends is getting married this summer and she mentioned that she liked blue and fuchsia as her wedding colors. I thought that sounded like a great idea because it reminded me of blueberries and raspberries. Besides strawberries, those two fruits are nearly the REASON for summer. Anyway, I was thinking about it, and wanted to see how this could be applied to interior design. Everything in my life revolves around interior design anyway, so lets check it out!

I'm not sure I'd be able to read as calmly as these children in this room. That wall color makes me want to play, not work. It's such a fun color with the much more subdued blue coffee table and x-based bench. By Eddie Ross.

Melissa Rufty, whom I discovered thanks to La Dolce Vita, may be one of my new favorite designers. I love her use of color and pattern. Really fabulous.

Masucco Warner Miller is ALL over the place right now; which is great! This is a child's room but I love its playful sophistication. The blue is very blue and the raspberry is well placed.

Kate and Andy Spade's shakey spread in the NY Times was inspiring from an interior design standpoint (only). This blue leather desk chair is a welcome contrast on that bright colored wall. I love that photograph above the desk. Creepy, no?

Diamond Baratta always delivers when in comes to color. I know this room is primarily a blueberry, but the flowers are so beautiful and add a punch of contrast.

A bedspread is a great place to start because you can easily switch it out whenever you feel like it. I love the laptop on the pink pouf and cotton candy blue lamp though. Living etc.

Ooo glamorous and romantic. Plus there's a MacBook so you know this person has great taste. Note the color combo but also all the different textures--very pretty. From Living Etc.

Angie Hranowsky really knows how to get me! A zebra pelt on the floor, a really beautiful pendant over the table, and french doors out to an enticing terrace. Though she didn't use MUCH of the two colors we have in mind here, they certainly make enough of a point.

I really wish I had a window to look out of while I'm at my desk. I have lovely pictures and an inspirational poem which is sometimes just as nice. The blue on the seat cushion sort of reminds me of those blueberries with a little white frost over them right before you touch them, no? Designed by Joe Nye.

I'm not sure what it is but something about this color combo is making me think Summer. Perhaps because is reminds me of seasonal fruits? Possibly. I love this color combo so I know my friend's wedding is going to be gorgeous. Plus, I'm a bridesmaid so she's all set!


Alicia B.

Yellow Painted Love.

If you read this blog on a regular basis you know some things about me: I love the color yellow, and I have a fondness for painted furniture. Most of the furniture in my apartment is painted--mostly just greens or one piece is blue. I have decided that I'm tired of my blue dresser in particular and decided to paint it yellow. Here is a little yellow painted inspo I've come across.

Martha Stewart offers a really helpful tutorial on painted furniture. I love how she used an accent yellow color on the trims and drawer pulls.

I love the color combination of blue and yellow which works well because my walls are painted blue. This relaxed looking living room is by Lynn Morgan. Doesn't this table look like an Oomph table? They should do a sunshine yellow color.

I love the pretty textiles in this room; the carpet, the suzani quilt, and the scroll upholstered headboard. The texture continues in the matching night stands in a mustard/gold tone of yellow. From House Beautiful designed by Johnathan Berger.

This room is the epitome of sunshine; designed by Eddie Ross. I'd love to know what paint color Eddie chose...

Okay, so now back to me. Here is my dresser which is a distressed blue finish:

Here it is after I re-organized the surface of it with all my make up (what make up?) and jewelry. See what I mean with the competing blues? It's time for a change.


These are the paint colors I'm choosing between and I'd like your opinions also.

Haystack by Martha Stewart Paint from Home Depot. My apologies but imagine this a little bit more on the lemon side of yellow.

Sunbeam by Glidden. Not quite this intense in person.

Golden Honey by Benjamin Moore

So far, my head says Sunbeam by Glidden but my heart says Haystack by Martha. What do you guys think? This project probably won't be finished for about 2 weeks so I'm going to need a decision right away. My plan for the knobs are a turquoise knob from Anthropologie I believe. Don't you worry, I'll give constant updates. Thoughts??

Alicia B.