Joel Mozersky, you had me at Dixie Chicks

On my borderline waste-of-time trip up to the Michael's, on the upper Upper West Side, I had a lot of time to read my Metropolitan Home mag. In particular I was most interested in the Dixie Chick, Emily Robison spread on her new loft in a former candy factory in downtown Austin. I usually don't like modern but I DO LOVE the Dixie Chicks so of course I had to read every word. I was most impressed with her designer, Joel Mozersky. He seemed creative, and really listened to his client's requests....huh, strange. Also, did I mention it was a former candy factory?? I'm SO IN.

I loved what he did with the bathroom. It's a perfect place for Emily to relax. And just as a side note, I used that same Agape bathtub in my town house design project for school! Nice choice, Joel!

This bedroom is still in keeping with the loft feeling but seems more intimate. Take a look at those fab sconces on either side of her bed.

Next I took a little trip to Joel Mozersky's website and was even more impressed and excited by his designs. He's even designed three of the Dixie Chicks' tour buses!

The ever popular green and white trellis fabric is used here on the interior of one of their tour buses! It looks so glam here.

Joel seems to be the hottest restaurant designer in all of Austin TX right now. The designs are surprising using bright colors and fun shapes. Aren't these cut outs so much fun? I hope the food is good there because it sure has a lot to compete with.

This has such a really glam tavern feel to it. The rich color of the cabinets and the red leather are super hot.

Remember what I said about fun shapes? I just love that huge circular cut out with the Greek Key detailing around it.

Joel also designs boutiques in the area. These almost make me want to go to Austin TX; especially if there's a chance of running in to the Dixie Chicks. You much check out his website HERE. Just in case you were worried, my trip to Michael's was a complete failure because I was looking for batting and they didn't know what it was and sent me to the cake decorating section BUT I stumbled upon the Martha Stewart craft section and let me just say that THAT was a complete success. She thinks of everything!

Alicia B.

Happy Halloween!!

I just finished icing these scary little cookies that I'm bringing to a friend's party, put out the little dish of candy for kids in my building, and I'm putting on the finishing touches on our Edward and Bella outfits (sparkles)!




Have a safe, sugar filled and happy Halloween!


Alicia B.

Rando Design Inspiration Friday

This has been a super stressful week, to say the least, as I had my midterm presentation on Wednesday for my class. The night before I was at a Fed Ex/ Kinkos until 3AM trying to print out my presentation from my Mac and needless to say, the employees there didn't seem to care about my troubles. The presentation went well, I think, considering how tough the prof is! Now I can sit back and enjoy some good old fashioned interior design. Shall we?

Cullman & Kravis is one of my favorite design firms so I was thrilled when I heard that Ellie Cullman and Tracey Pruzan were picked for "Saturday Shopping" on 1st Dibs this week! She has impeccable taste--isn't this hall gorgeous? That archway is so inviting and from what I can see of that round fixture, I love it!

I may or may not have gone to another Margaret Russell event, but this time, she signed my new book, Style and Substance! The book (I've paged through it 4 times so far) is gorgeous and, like she said, full of timeless interiors.

This is a really cool old barn converted to a home in the Finger Lakes region of NY! Yay Finger Lakes! I wish I still knew how to play the piano because this one is beautiful. From Martha Stewart.

I have the rest of the week off from school so I can finally relax and have a fun Halloween! The beau and I are going to be Bella and Edward from Twilight! Do you guys have any fun plans? Dressing up? Tell me everything.


Alicia B.

Elle Decor: Women In Design Night!

Last night I attended the Elle Decor: Women In Design, a celebration of 20 years of Elle Decor and five amazing women in interior design. Among them was Charlotte Moss (who won an award!), Michelle Nussbaumer, Holly Hunt, Kelly Wearstler, and Josie Natori (who couldn't make it). It was amazingly inspiring and the panel discussion format made it a fun and interesting discussion. We were able to see each designers real personality, instead of a staged personality on a reality show (Top Design).

Margaret Russell was monitoring the discussion and she was SO gorgeous. Wearing a little black dress, four inch heels (and an ankle brace), she was graceful and so funny!

I don't know much about Michelle Nussbaumer but from what I learned about her last night she has impeccable style and amazing design. I can't wait to learn more about her.

Charlotte Moss was so feisty and hilarious but beautiful and graceful, as always. She said she keeps a little notepad (or blue leather bound Hermes notepad!) in each purse to write down ideas as they come to her. She also has a blog Tete a Tete that she updates every few weeks.



Kelly Wearstler was quite inspiring, actually. She has such a passion for art and design and beautiful things.



Holly Hunt is another successful entrepreneur and founder of Holly Hunt which started out as a tiny little shop in the Merchandise Mart in Chicago and how she has a huge design empire and amazing showrooms; one in the D & D!

What was the most inspiring thing for me, as a student was that all these women followed their instincts and passions. In school, there are so many rules that often times you get bogged down and inspiration is hard to come by. These women didn't live by a set of strict rules, and though they've made their fair share of mistakes, they live just by their passions. BTW most of the pictures are from Point Click Home. There is a Margaret Russell book signing October 29th at the D&D as well! I can't wait to go.

Alicia B.

Modern Kitchen Discoveries

I know I've been lagging on my posts of late and this acknowledgment doesn't mean that's going to change because I'm still just as busy. Don't worry though, I'm still here, still loving the blog and still loving design. I've been working tres hard (7 hours at school yesterday drafting) on this town house project and guess what...it's MODERN. I started out with a traditional style because that's what I naturally drift towards, and the professor told me that I needed to challenge myself more. I decided on a somewhat industrial glam look and I'm actually warming to it! The room that I've had the most trouble with is the kitchen though. It's hard to design an industrial kitchen with some Alicia B. personality in it because of all the appliances and stainless steel.

If I could have any kitchen in the world, this would be it. Designed by Joan Schindler, this kitchen has so much character and amazing details: mini tile flooring, glass door fridge, and the most beautiful pendants I've ever seen.

Here are some modern kitchens that I actually like! They have some personality in them and they're sleek as can be (in my eyes).

The different greys and blacks (and whites) add lots of interest to this kitchen though I'm not sure how that table works so close to the counter space, right? I do enjoy the appropriate seasonal accents of orange though! From Marie Claire Maison.

I kind of super like this industrial look for this loft kitchen. I love how the counter juts out of the wall with the mysterious opaque glass on the wall and rough wooden column to contrast the sleek finishes. From Marie Claire Maison.

I like the natural wood paired with the hard steel surfaces and art in the kitchen always gets me! Elle Decor.

Another kitchen with black glossy cabinetry! This one designed by Eldon Wong has open shelving under the island with pretty glass dishes which as a bit of sparkle.

If you imagine this open kitchen in a different finish than the wood as it currently is, it would be super streamlined. In the wood though, it gives off a softer more textured look. Can anybody explain the super thin sink in the island?? Designed by Ann Wolf.

I will admit, if pushed to it, some of these modern style kitchens do have their own personalities. Its hard to balance a contemporary look without it looking too much like a restaurant kitchen. I have certainly learned a lot designing one for my class and I guess I've come around! Cement counter tops, opaque glass cabinetry, and who doesn't love a brand new ultra sleek Wolf range?? I definitely do.


Alicia B.

Bookworm: Backwards Edition

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a book nerd. Sometimes I don't read the most intellectual books per se (Twilight will be a classic in 50 years, mark my words), but I do love to read when I have the time. I enjoy the use of books in design. I think that a library is important when I have a house of my own and I've been known to have opinions about book arrangement. I'm referring to the color coding idea for book arrangment which I'm morally opposed to. Dramatic? Rigid? Perhaps. Anyway, the latest book trend I've seen is turning the book spines inward so that the inside is visible. Take a look at some and then we can talk about it.

Luke Vahle was featured in this week's Decorati newsletter. The books here are turned spine inwards which works with the clean white color scheme of this desk. I like the use of stacking the books on either side like bookends.

Ms. Lauren of Pure Style Home did a similar bookcase display; hers with more interest and "objets". The top row really accents the little bust sculptures. The crates at the bottom break up the mass of books as well. Well done!

From The City Sage blog. Book spines turned inwards everywhere! I love how you can tell how old the book is by how yellowed the inside is.

From Country Living (via Dover Pl. blog), this shows that you don't need a neutral color scheme for this idea. Here, bright colors pop from the background of the books.

I decided to try it for myself on a small scale. Should I be embarrassed of my book selection? I'm not...

I thought I'd break up the monotony with two of my most gorgeous book spines off to the side. I kind of like the look of this but I'm still torn.

I have a really pretty cloth Pierre Deux journal that I included in the stack on the middle shelf. I understand the idea, and maybe when you're finished reading an embarrassing bestseller book you might want to turn it spine inwards.

What do you all think of this idea? I saw this done at the J. Crew in Westfarms mall in Farmington, CT (yeah!!), and in the store display it looked amazing! I wish I had a picture to show you. I'd love to do something interesting with my bookcases besides the mini displays I've created but I have so many design books that I love to show them off and admire them myself. I'm thinking of wallpapering the back of the bookcase or painting it a bright color.


Alicia B.