Rando Design Inspiration Friday!!

How jazzed are you all for this weekend? RIGHT?? Anyway, to speed it along (not that this week could have gone by faster), here are some lovely pictures that I found that made me smile.

I'm really loving Mollie Johnson's portfolio. This bedroom in particular really caught my eye. The simple white and soft green palette is so refreshing. I also can't take my eyes off that nightstand.

I love the preppy style of design of John Loecke. Sometimes it's a wee bit over the top but still playful and fun.

Am such a sucker for books...and a gallery wall...and a fireplace mantle. By Glen Gissler.

I bought a bolster pillow form but haven't gotten up the courage to attempt to sew a cover for it. I did make a square pillow last night though for someone special...who will receive it?? This one above, the Shali Bolster is from Anthropologie for only $228.

I SWEAR I'm going to make strawberry jam this weekend. THIS recipe from Martha Stewart looks pretty simple.

Last night was my last class for the summer so I celebrated with dinner and then went home and made a pillow. I'm really excited for my jam project and some more cooking projects that I've been inspired to try. Cough PAULA DEEN Cough. Speaking of which, I've started to follow some foodie blogs! I love the images, the recipes, and the enthusiasm that matches that of a design blog! Sunday Suppers, Simmer till Done, and Out of the Event are some of my favorites. I love to bake cookies and treats but I think I should up my difficulty level and go for larger projects. Do you guys have some favorites? What are you plans for the weekend?

Alicia B.

Painted Furniture Adventure

In my quest for the perfect color for my new painted wardrobe (I can't very well call it my "new chest," can I?), I thought I'd take you on a little painted furniture quest. I actually am a bit of a painting nerd as I have a green painted kitchen table and chairs, and a blue distressed dresser! I have also painted my desk a light green and is has distressed naturally on it's own due to a life with me! Many designers use painted furniture. I think it can be a very chic look, but also quite relaxing looking.

Martha has a project here where she painted this pretty/traditional pattern on this caned head and foot board to a bed. So very country and sophisticated. I am so jealous of those wide/irregular floor boards.

Marshall Watson shows us here in this sitting room that with this painted end table, you can create a modern look with a painted piece! Gorgeous drapery fabric on the right, too.

I was thinking of painting the wardrobe a cream color but the walls are also cream. This tone on tone is quite nice and soothing though. By Gunkleman Flesher.

I just adore this little nightstand painted yellow with wire mesh on the doors. By my hero Jamie Drake. I also love the purple from the flowers against the yellow.

This is the color I'm going for, but more blue and lighter! This gorgeous antique chest would be perfect in my fantasy Tuscan kitchen. From Country Living.

Oh! Look who else has a light green kitchen table! I love it with the different colored chairs. It looks like a light and relaxing country kitchen. From Country Living.

I think I've narrowed down my colors to two now. I'm deciding between Swan Sea, and Lotus Leaf, which I can't find online. Sorry. Any opinions? Can't wait to paint it tomorrow!

It's between the one alllll the way to the left (Lotus leaf) and the one on the left in the top row (Swan Sea).

Alicia B.

Thursday Night Craft Project

At Easter we each got a super cute box (see above) from the Easter Bunny full of jelly beans, skittles, and chocolate eggs. Well, now that Easter is over, I wanted to get some good use out of this box. I saw THIS project for a remote control holder from Martha Stewart, and decided to give it a go. This will come in handy as I've finally decided to break down...and get cable (that I have to pay for).

I was FORCED to eat all my jelly beans right away so that I could make this box! FORCED I tell you!

I chose this great blue and white floral toile fabric, cut it to the height of the box plus about 1/4" extra on each side.

I then took fabric glue and adhered the fabric to the box! Next, I took this grey grosgrain ribbon from Kate's Paperie and put it on the inside to cover the raw edge of the fabric that I folded over.

Yay! Look how cute it is!

Here are the two remotes that I have. Don't they look comfy spooning in my new pretty box!?

Alicia B.

Who wants cake?

Too bad. You have to have had a birthday for me to make it! I ended up making THIS classic Yellow butter cake with Chocolate frosting yesterday (above). It was SUPER good although I had some issues with the frosting which were quickly remedied and the cake part wasn't as sweet as I would have hoped. Oh well, these things happen. This too shall pass. Try not to be so dramatic about it.

I really love photographing food!

Anyway, I'm not going to lie when I say that I completely nailed it and the birthday was a hit! Next stop: my surprise giveaway THIS WEEK!!!

Alicia B.

Let Me Eat Cake

How cute is this one? Very spring looking. No Bake Marshmallow Cake!

Let's take a break from design for a hot second, yes? I've been looking at some cakes lately for a special someone's upcoming birthday this Saturday. My assumed parameters are the following:

1) Cannot be healthy or a pie.
2) Must have chocolate in it
3)Cannot forget important ingredients like eggs or baking soda. This has NEVER happened before, I swear! (It's happened twice, WHATEVER.)


As any good Martha Stewart-ite, obviously I will be making this cake from scratch; that's not even a question. Here are my choices so far:

Okay I know this doesn't have chocolate but it DOES have ice cream so perhaps I could slip that one by him. Muah ah ah. This is a Martha Stewart Inside Out Strawberry Ice cream cake. It looks so fresh and yum.

This one looks INCREDIBLY rich. The Mexican Chocolate Cake is from Real Simple. And apparently this cake is "kid friendly."

This one is fighting for first place in my mind. Its just simple and beautiful and not too much work for me! Moist Devil's Food Cake. YARMMMMM.

There's truly no way that I'll be making this cake but I just thought it was funny. Burgers are somewhat of an addiction for SOME PEOPLE. HA. I found it at good ol' Betty Crocker.

From Cooking Light (love you!), this decadent Dark Chocolate Orange cake doesn't look "light" at all.

Hopefully in this endeavor, I don't end up eating all the dough and/or frosting myself before I put it in the oven! Does anybody have any other suggestions? I also looked at my secret love, Paula Deen's recipes but there are no pictures! Hmm.

PS: Possibly could be doing a surprise give-away next week. TRUST ME, it's really good! Look out for it!


Alicia B.

I'm on the cupcake budget...

In one of my recent daily emails from Martha Stewart (not personally BUT STILL), she says, "Who says happiness has to cost a fortune?" This is so true, Martha! In recent months I've been cutting back a lot, making a lot of my own things, DIY-ing, and it's been quite fun. I even made Valentine's Day Dinner myself and had a super fun slash romantic time! Uncomfortably enough for me, (especially since my mother gave me a book called "Budget: It's Not a Four Letter Word"), I seem to have a bit more extra cash floating around. I had an amazing budget breakthrough a few weeks ago, when I realized that the best way to save money is to NOT buy something from Banana Republic every single day on your lunch break. Interesting...



Anyway, in Martha's newsletter there is a recipe for 40 different cupcakes! With all the ingredients, they are probably $15 to make, and when you buy a cupcake anywhere in NYC they're usually about $4-5 each. That's money in your pocket and tasty-ness in your mouth! Here is the cupcake I'll be making this weekend (above)! HERE is the recipe. What are you all up to this weekend?


Alicia B.

Collectable Collections

My budding collection of demitasse cups.

Lately, I seem to have started a mini collection of these cute demitasses and espresso cups. The one in the middle is from Anthropologie back in the day and the other two I by accident (not really an accident) won from Ebay. This got me thinking about displaying collections and having a collection in general. People collect things from china, pottery, or art, to the more quirky and eclectic to Navajo blankets and globes.

Apartment Therapy shows a collection of globes set up on this sideboard.

I love this fun mix of mirrors in this bathroom. It really satisfies my needs for vanity and each one is different and beautiful. From Martha Stewart.

Here, Martha his used different sized aquariums to display glass globes. I love the colors and the different glass reflecting off of each other.

In this DeMattei and Wade kitchen, like colored dishes are displayed on open shelving. The whole spread is here in House Beautiful.

Many people collect art which can be a great investment, but something more affordable is to collect prints. These framed botanical fruit prints are especially lovely from Country Living.

I am absolutely swooning over this display of hats by Myra Hoefer.

From a Tom Scheerer house in the Bahamas, here is another collection of hats. Not as arty as the above picture, but I am really loving the idea of a hat collection. I super love the texture of the straw all together.

This was kitchen of the month a few months ago in House Beautiful! Susan Dossetter designed this kitchen and displayed china and pottery in this antique cabinet what was originally used for store display.

Rebecca Bradley displays her client's white pottery and cake stands throughout her whole kitchen on top of the cabinets.

Aren't these books amazing? I'd love to be an antique book collector. Designed by Nicholas Pentecost.

This is by Nathan Egan, who displayed a mini collection of copper cake and jelly moulds in a cabinet. Displayed by size!

After a lifetime of collecting, one of my fave designers, Keith Irvine was forced by his wife Chippy to get rid of some of his most prized possessions. Read about it HERE in the NY Times. Sometimes it is hard to know what to do with small frames as they can get lost very easily but Irvine displayed them all around this mantle to make a larger display out of many small objects.

This amazing collection of blue and white and then yellow pottery and china is displayed in this large Nantucket kitchen by Hilary Musser.

I love the striped banding on the little pitchers on the open shelves and how they are pushed so close together...so cute! Also Hilary Musser.

Collections are super personal. Also, the fact that they are something that you acquire over time makes the very special. Organic. Each object could remind you of where you were when you found it; like a time line to your life, or your decorating life. There are many tips also provided by Martha and on Point Click Home, such as arranging objects in like colors and don't try to hide your collections! Be proud of them! What sorts of things do you all collect? Anything weird?


Alicia B.

Packing Weekend

I hope everyone has a lovely, relaxing, and at times creative weekend! Maybe, spend some time outside enjoying the nice weather--up in the 50's this weekend! Curious about what I'll be doing? I know. I'll be packing! I'm really so excited to go through all my things, label, categorize, and maybe even throw some stuff out! De-cluttering is THE BEST. This pic above is what my apartment looks like, minus the cute dog. Oh wait--it's from Martha.


Alicia B.

Gift Guide Number Two: UNDER $25

In honor of the fact that this is my 125th post, I shall share with you some great gift ideas for $25 or less! Also, I love shopping so it's just plain fun for me. Enjoi (as in joi in french which means joy).

I DIE over this Fleur de Lys tea cup and saucer from Anthropologie for $10.

This would be a perfect gift for me (ahem!). A pocket mirror and its own sack from Anthropologie for $14. You can have them in any letter, not just "A."

Remember what life was like before email and people wrote real letters? I love Crane's stationary and I write my sisters all the time using it! Get back to basics. THESE are $16 for a set of 10. Lots more to choose from on the Crane's website.

How can you not adore Simon Doonan? As Diane Von Furstenburg says. "Who better than Simon to write about glamour and eccentricity? He is both!!!!" This book from Amazon or your local independent bookstore for $24.00

When I have time I really want to make this gift from Martha Stewart. It's Sugar body scrub because I love sugar and I love exfoliating! Priceless.

Here are some fun folders for the person in your life who loves organization and loves to decorate! From this great site Spoon Sisters which has fun creative gifts like this one. $ 9.95

I love cook books dedicated specially to certain desserts like cupcakes or cookies or pies.
This one from Spoon Sisters for $ 15.95.

A bright idea? Wow, that was cheesy. This candle lightbulb from Spoon Sisters again for $25.00 Kind of a cute idea for your environmentally conscious friend.

Nobody likes a moisture ring on the table! They (I) do like these coasters, though. La Mer Coasters (set of 4) for $15 from Williams Sonoma.

Only FOURTEEN DAYS left until Christmas and TWELVE DAYS until the first day Chanukah!

Alicia B.