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.

DIY Tray for Spring

I have many many projects around my apartment and the weekends are a great time to get them done. I found this great wooden box (below) at a thrift store for ONE DOLLAR. Obviously when I saw it, I had big plans for it.

This is the box I got, except without the yuppie wooden toy fruit.

I wanted something fun and bright because Spring is coming! I can feel it, I don't care what that little varmint says about his shadow.

I got this pink called "Heart to Heart" at the hardware store for $3.99. Perfect.

I painted the whole thing even though I knew that I was going to put fabric down on the bottom. I gave it two coats.

I got this fabric about 2 years ago at Mood and I've been wanting to use it FOREVER. I thought that it would really make the pink pop. I cut it to fit the little wooden tray and....

Voila! I took a little spray adhesive and did a light layer before laying the fabric down in the bottom of the tray.

I replaced the other wooden tray I have with this fun poppy little one on my coffee table. I'll probably change the display on the inside but we'll see. That's what is fun about a little tray like this: It cost me about 5-6 dollars in the end and if I don't like it after a few months, I can a) carefully repaint it or b) switch it out and bring it back another time. For now I really love it though, it's brightening up my living room and making me think of Spring.

Have a Happy Monday!


Alicia B.

Friday Faves

Wow, I love four day weeks. I think that's how weeks are supposed to be. Four days of work and then three days of weekend--perfect. Anyway, though it's been very very cold and we're bundled up here in New York as much as we can be, I can feel spring is coming right around the corner. I'm sure I'll be saying that for another month and a half but, who cares?! It's something to look forward to, yes?

Sometimes you have an amazing architectural feature and all you need to do is paint it gold. This little niche is so simple and breathtaking. I found this designer from a wall street Journal article about design: Three Best Ways to Follow Trends, Not Fads. This interior by the extremely talented Tracy Morris.

Last night while I was watching Lindsey Vonn (LOVE) and the Olympics, I was flipping through my Axel Vervoordt book. I was blown away by this bathroom. The architectural detailing, the intricate woodworking, the colors, and the lighting are so unique. You don't see interiors like this every day.

Remember when I said that Spring is coming? I'm right, right? I love this cute jersey dress from Boden for $128

It's good to look forward to something, right? For me this weekend I'm looking forward to the possibility of seeing my sister who is back in my time zone playing squash! Hopefully I'll be able to take the train to see her, and see her win. Design-wise, I'm doing a slow (very slow) decluttering in my apartment; kind of like spring cleaning! What are you all up to? Anything design?

PS-This is my 403rd post! Can you believe that? I can't.


Alicia B.

A non zebra rug? YES, they do exist!

I do love zebra rugs but sometimes they don't work in a certain space or home. I know, hard to believe that I'm not advocating for something fur, right? Anyway, often times my clients inspire my posts and this is one of them! As I've mentioned, I'm working on a client's master bathroom and as pieces are coming together in the master bedroom area too, they mentioned they want to replace the rug as well (though perhaps further down the line). Immediately, I envisioned a large faded antique carpet with pinks, creams, and golds. I've been seeing antique oriental and Turkish rugs everywhere lately and loving it.

From Lonnymag. A small rug can help define an area. In this case, it really draws attention to the funky chunky coffee table. It looks like you can just sit down on that pillow and play a board game. Life, anyone?

From Clover mag. This one, by Rob Southern, helped to separate the desk area from the rest of the room. It's like a little desk island.

I love idea of a layered rug; a smaller one on top of a wall to wall sisal like this one by Phoebe Howard.

Or many different rugs dividing up different seating areas in this large living room by Weissman Fisher via Point Click Home.

How sweet is this lavender room? This is how faded I envision the carpet for my clients. By Phoebe Howard

Here is a bold one with golds, blues, and reds that really unites the room. And this room is so beautiful! By Michael Smith.

James Michael Howard. Okay, so this one is a geometric but it's soft tones are wonderful.

A bold pattern in a faded tonemakes a beautiful statement but doens't take all the attention away from the other amazing parts to this room. Charlotte Moss via Cote de Texas.

I think this one is my favorite. The soft blue/green and cream tones throughout are so lovely. My client's bedroom has many pink tones everywhere so I think a faded pink toned carpet would be beautiful there. Elizabeth Dinkel.

You don't see many oriental or turkish rugs on the blogs. Many are geometic and striped, which are great and I have 2 striped rugs in my apartment, but often times you need a carpet that will bring together a room, not stretch it out. I hope I find the perfect rug for my clients, but I may just go with a simple plain one. A subtle faded carpet would certainly be perfect though. I can't wait to show you how everything comes together--more on their wallpaper soon!


Alicia B.

I bet you were wondering...

I bet you were wondering how my show is looking! I'm so intuitive that I can tell what you all are thinking though I've never met most of you. Over this past weekend, I went to Cosi's in West Hartford to install my show. If you are nearby I'd love it if you checked it out but for those of you who can't make it because you live far, here are some pics!

I don't know this woman but she was so cute and smiled for my photo!

These are in the front of the cafe and that's my artist's statement off to the right.

In the back, this one is visible from this huge mirror. Placement for this one is super important and strategic.

As I mentioned, the show is mainly black and white photographs, although I added some of my favorite color photos here and there.

BTW I realize that the place looks empty but I had to install them when nobody was around! It's called strategery.


I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour but of course, everything looks better in person. Everything looks better when you have an order of smores on the way, too. Check out more on my website www.aliciabdesigns.com

Alicia B.

Bachelorette Jillian Harris Designs

Once again, my awesome sisters are informing me of tiny little bits of knowledge that somehow slip by me. My older sister, a fellow Bachelor/Bachelorette fan, sent me a clipping about former bachelorette Jillian Harris's latest career move, working for the Dobbins Group in Chicago. Ever since I heard she was an interior designer, I'd been curious about her work. I checked out the Dobbins Group, who specializes in hospitality and commercial design, and I found a link to Jillian Harris Designs!

Shes had quite a few years of experience, starting under Scott Morrison, a restaurant designer.

Maybe all the work shes done in restaurants helped to develop her famous "hot dog theory"! It's a theory about men and what they put on their hot dogs.

Nobody puts Jillian in the corner...but they DO put a chair in the corner with black and white fabric behind it!

Miss Jillian also has her own custom furniture line which includes ottomans, wing chairs and Louis XV chairs.

I realize that watching the Bachelor is pretty awkward and doing a blog post on it is even worse but I don't feel bad about it so don't bother judging me. Anyway, I'm really excited for Jillian and anxious to see what else she designs. Chicago is the perfect city for her too. It has such a great history of architecture and design. Yay Jillian!


Alicia B.