Making organization so pretty!

Over the weekend I dipped into the Lilly Pulitzer store on Madison ave and picked up some fun little file folders to file my taxes and some other paper work. I think that organization is just as much a part of design as anything else and i think that it really does matter what they look like. It just makes organization and paying your bill just a little bit more fun. It seems that other people agree because I've been seeing more and more of my favorite stores carry their own stationary lines. Take a look.
Vera Bradley has pretty stationary and I was given VB file folders a few years ago. I like this pink and brown Chinoiserie patterned one. $14 for 6 of them.

The Vera Bradley ones, like their bags, have a vast array of fun patterns. Sittin in a Tree HERE.

Jonathan Alder knows what's what and came up with his own stationary line too. PHEW. $9.95 for six of them.

Greek key, as you may know, is my newest love. I might have to go back to Mad Ave and pick up some of these ones at Jonathan Adler.

I found these on Etsy. The ones on etsy were pretty hit or miss (mostly miss), but I thought these were pretty and much simpler than the rest. From Whisker Graphics, 3 for $5 on Etsy.

These are the ones that I bought on Saturday. They're very tropical/preppy fun. $13 for 6 of them.

Lilly Pulitzer has a great stationary section as well as these adorable file folder. COME on! They have turtles on them!

Of course, the Container Store has a little collection of cute folders. A wee bit more affordable than some of the others, these are $6 for six folders--Bloom folders.

If you're into birds, these are really pretty from Kate's Paperie. Cavallini folders 12 folders for $18, woo! Though these aren't my favorite I kind of like the vintage postage feel to them.

I do love attractive organization but I really do think that it makes a difference to have something like these instead of blah manila folders. You know I'm right. Organization is also a great part of decorating and spring cleaning!

Alicia B.

Dresser Top Organization

Like I said on Monday, Spring is just around the corner and do you know what that means? Spring cleaning! If you're like me though, you love doing spring cleaning all year round, so it's okay at any season. My main source of cleaning angst is the top of my dresser, where I keep nearly EVERYTHING that has to do with make up, hair accessories, or jewelry. I keep it contained (sort of) but it's gotten out of control and something had to be done about it.

This is pretty much rock bottom. ROCK BOTTOM.

Too much is happening here.

The first step is taking EVERYTHING off the dresser and deciding what needs to be on top of the dresser and what doesn't. And also what needs to be thrown out. Putting things into categories helps to prioritize.

Here it is all cleaned off and Lysol'ed. A clean slate!

Phew! This is MUCH more organized looking.

Things are much more contained now. I took my old tray (my new one takes priority on the coffee table) and put my bangles, headbands and bead necklaces inside the tray because they are not easily contained with out it.

I bought that cute Florentine tray at the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market and now all of my hair accessories live there.

I constantly have a twistie around my wrist JUST in case. Aren't these colors cheery?

I bought these 3 glasses and 3 Spanish plates at Housing Works the other day. I didn't end up using the Spanish ones but the glasses came in handy.

This one hold my lipsticks.

All my (faux) pearls in one place!

Here are my bangles sitting atop some Farrow and Ball wallpaper sitting inside a wooden tray!

These buttons were stuffed inside a tiny coin purse that was bursting at the seams. Now they are sitting in the open in a silver awards cup that I won last year. It leaves room to collect more buttons, too.

Headbands! I love the colors of my headbands and wanted to leave them on my dresser.

Here is another glass with dangly earrings hanging from it and some necklaces inside.

This was certainly a tough project to take on, but I'm glad I did it. It's well organized now. Everything has a place and most importantly, I've left room for things to change and for things to be added. It also helped to prioritize. Do I need an empty prescription bottle hanging around? Nope. Do I need my lip glosses front and center? Yup! What do you think of my new dresser top?


Alicia B.

Friday Faves

This first week back from "The Holidays" has been quite a whirlwind. Trying to adjust to work again, working on New Year's Resolutions, my Washington Post shout out, and selling seven of my photographs from my website has been keeping me quite busy. Busy is a good thing though; I'm certainly not complaining! It is Friday though and that means it's time to breathe and prepare for a relaxing weekend.

S. R. Gambrel designed this incredible townhouse down in the West Village and I think this narrow entry way is stunning. The high gloss walls and flooring really make a statement.

Along with just about everyone else in the world my OTHER New Year's Resolution is to get and stay more organized. I love the Container Store to death so this shouldn't be that hard... I have quote a large project to take on though--my under bed storage. I'll let you know how it goes.

J. Crew sends me daily reminders of how cute they are and how I can't shop right now (after Christmas). It doesn't mean I can't look though, right? The Blakely dress is adorably feminine and I love it in Caspian Blue.

I'm probably going to be organizing like mad this weekend. Then on Sunday I'm having brunch with a friend from my semester abroad in Florence! I haven't seen her since last New Years so I'm molto excited. Have great weekends everyone and stay warm!

Alicia B.

It's the little things...

Sometimes it's the little things that make the big difference. My apartment is certainly clean but I'm not going to lie, it's a tad cluttered. I have tons of magazines and fun design stuff that just accumulates after a while. Are you nodding your head in agreement? Here are a few small things that helped de-clutter my tiny spaces.

That's right. I had one of these little bad boys. It was full of paint and art supplies and had a nice label on it but even so, it was plastic and it was crushing my soul.

So I went on over to The Container Store and got one of THESE, which is made from recycled materials, then I applied a thin pink grosgrain ribbon around it to make it more "Alicia" and look how cute it is now!

It really loves its new home under my slip covered stool.

Do you have moments like this (above),

and this? All around your apartment or house? I love design magazines so I tend to accumulate a lot of them. I love to save the Architectural Digests and the House Beautifuls, and the Martha Stewart Livings, but the other ones sometimes I have issues letting go. BUT, I have created two books to help me with this.

This one that I'm showing you is my "Inspiration Book." It is for things that I see in magazines that inspire me and may not have anything to do with design (the often do though). It has small clippings that I just love to look at most of the time and they make me smile.

Above is one of those pages. A series of beautiful Rothko paintings, a pretty blue and white porcelain plate with a simple flower lying on it, and a black and white bedroom on the opposite side. After I do this, then I can discard the old magazines and free up some more space.

You don't need to make huge changes in your living space to clear out some clutter or make things a little bit simpler. Another thing I'm about to do is change my throw pillows on my love seat for fall! It will freshen up my apartment and not cost a lot of money or take a lot of time. Do you things that you do to freshen up your apartment after a while?


Alicia B.

Alicia B. Is Back!

Hey y'all! I'm back! After basically being buried in boxes and a huge mess in my new apartment (and avoiding a nervous breakdown from the mess) I have emerged, and I'm back in action. I will be posting before and during pictures sometime tonight as I still have some on going projects such as finishing up painting, hanging my art, and other odds and ends. I also now know that I have a bit of a storage issue (I have one closet for clothing and too much clothing) so I'm on the hunt for a chest of drawers for my foyer. I KNOW, foyer!!! I'm absolutely in love with this one (below) but it is very much out of my price range.

From Garnet Hill for $1098.

This is EXACLY what I would want; white distressed paint with a sort of farmhouse look to it. In my foyer, I have a huge BOX of fabrics and ribbons and other design slash craft supplies that I'd love to get organized. I'm thinking that I'll just have to go the Housing works Thrift shop route, or the Flea Market...we'll see. Any ideas for my mini budget?

Thanks for everyone's kind and encouraging words as moving is extremely stressful. Now that I'm in though, the rest is going to be pretty fun--organizing, painting, arranging. I"ll update you as I go along. So glad to be back!


Alicia B.

Happy New Year! 2009: The Year of Happy

From Eddie Ross. Yum!

I don't really believe in New Year's Resolutions. I think they're needless--don't we have enough to worry about to begin with? The usual, lose weight, go to the gym, stop smoking etc are too cliche for words and just make you feel bad and guilty if you do them (or don't depending on which one you chose). This year I'm choosing more positive resolutions--using my power for good instead of evil.

Laughing girl from Veer.

I'd like to be nicer to people, and in turn, maybe people will be nice to me and others (it's contagious, I hear). It's something I deal with in New York and it's starting to get me down. Sort of like Pay it Forward without the alcoholism and death. I was in the suburbs yesterday at the mall (I know, it sounds so 90's) but all these random people were smiling at me. Being the hardened pseudo New Yorker that I am, I was surprised but also, I smiled back.
It was a nice feeling.

Organized closet from Martha.

Another one is to cut out the clutter. You know, keep it cleaner. As Emily at Square One Organization says, it takes the same amount of time to put something in the wrong place as it takes to put it in the right place. Organizing for me is really fun, especially when I have the time. I love receiving Martha Stewart's Organizational Tip of the Day, too.

Attractive bookworm from Domino Mag.

My older sister says that she'd like to read more. That's another good one and I wholly approve of improving one's mind as a New Years Ressie. Reading is also a good way to relax. It's much easier and more mindless to just sit down with the remote and flip the channels, but I always feel better after I've read. It doesn't necessarily need to be a book, could be the newspaper too. Thanks, you passed the test.Figueres Mansion take by ME. Is this where I'll be living? Perhaps.

Design-wise, I will be moving at the end of February into my own apartment, so one of mine will be to design my own space as best I can. I think it will be a fun fun project and THOUGH I'll be missing my roommate like crazy, it will be a new experience that I'm looking forward to. Picking out my color scheme (I've already thought about it), possible new furniture, fun decorative accents, and space planning will be some of the challenges as I'm sure I'll be moving into a shoebox with a side of kitchen and a dash of bathroom.

ME again. Drink up!

Well, it looks like I've got my work cut out for me for 2009, but I remain upbeat about it! I think 2009 should be the year of getting back to basics, cut out the greed, the meanness, and just be happy and nice. Am I living in a dream world? I don't care. What are your resolutions?

Happy New Year!


Alicia B.

Square One Organization

pic from Apartment Therapy

Remember my friend who founded The Movementality? She's a super creative, fun and most of all in this case, organized person. She has also founded a company called Square One Organization which provides organization for every room in the house, efficient space planning, and estate clearance. Emily has tons of experience and she even helped me reorganize my closet last spring and it basically saved my life. HERE is her website. Maybe something to think about as you are plotting out your New Years resolutions!


Alicia B.

News Bulletin

With all my thoughts about home offices and getting organized I was thinking about changing my current bulletin board. Right now I have the standard bulletin board that I covered in fabric and stapled on the opposite side then hung from a pretty blue ribbon. Martha Stewart sent me a great idea of using an old shutter for a board to put pretty post cards, notes, and reminders. Since I don't have old shutters lying around (I haven't found my dream farm house yet!) I went looking for other ideas. Here is what I came up with:

This is a simple board covered in fabric with strings and tacks to hold the paper on the board.

Carpet squares organized as a back drop for this desk.

This is a NO TACKS method with wooden slats spaced evenly to hold papers in between.

A bit more elaborate project, this one made with fabric and ribbons wrapped around diagonally.

After I take off the fabric from mine, I hope to accomplish this sort of look above. Very clean and crisp looking.

All these can be found on Martha's website here. Have fun!



Alicia B.

Home Offices

A messy desk at home (in my mind) can be debilitating. Home offices have many uses, even if you are not working from home. I like to sit at my desk to read emails, chat with friends, and blog. I display postcards that remind me of people or things that I enjoy and keep letters from people. They can be very inspiring as well. I like to keep mine organized so that I can add things as my interests change as well. I love the examples with a little vase of flowers. Below are some inspiring examples:

Sara Story. Shes an amazing designer. Look out for a spotlight on her soon.

Sara Story. Grey color palette but still warm feeling.

Todd Romano. What a lovely view.

Ione Skye. Bright vibrant colors.

Sara Story. I love the orange storage boxes. SO organized.

From Domino mag. Great for someone with a small space, this desk is wall mounted.

Windsor Smith. This one looks so cozy.

This one is my fave from Living, etc. www.livingetc.com The desk is an antique and I'm in love.

Alicia B.