Alicia B. at Etsy!

Designing my wedding was one of the most fun projects I've ever worked on. Calling it a project feels weird but in terms of a design idea, it was. I wanted to create a fresh nautical but country inspired look for the Bridal dinner with milk glass and hobnail vases and blue and white table linens. Well, guess what!? All the vintage vases and accessories and hand made linens are available to you at my Etsy store. I collected these vases and bowls and made the linens from fabrics I found on fabric.com.

Set of 8 hand sewn square napkins. They look amazing with the ones below it mixed in.

Wow, so nautical!

This little bowl has the most beautiful detailed edge, right?

You. Are. Gorgeous.

This basket is one of my favorites. It's so sweet and looks amazing with flowers overflowing from it. Or candy!!!

Gorgeous hobnail pitcher.

I have a few pairs of pretty 8" tall vases. I love the detailing on these.

Here they are in action. It was a beautiful perfect night (not as perfect as our wedding day but HEY).

I love that you can use milk glass at any time of year; summer, perfect for Halloween actually, and they would really look so beautiful on a winter inspired table with lots of whites and greens. I'll be adding more items to my shop all the time so check back. Word on the street is that some mint julep cups will be arriving in the shop soon. Take a look!


Alicia B.

Bookcase Re-Org

This post should really be titled: Stuff I do when my husband goes out of town. I tend to break out the craft box, sew some pillows, and generally do small decorating projects (when I have 7 mins to spare) when my husband travels on biz. Hes a biz man traveler. Anyway, things get crazy and I do things like this:
I took out all the books, novels, art books, and yes, that says "Intermediate Accounting." That is a book of my husband's. We have a lot of books though between us so the organization of them is important.

These are more of MY books; DVF autobiography, a Twilight book, and a gorgeous book about chandeliers. I have a lot of large sized art and design books which should be displayed with their splines facing outward and stacked one on top of another.

Even if you have a lot of books, you can still make a cute bookcase display. It doesn't have to be a few books and tons of objects! You just have to keep it simple LOOKING. With lots of novels, line them all up by height.

Stack up your art and design books. They are beautiful, so show them off! I love antique books and have a few really small ones so I stacked them on my design books like objects themselves. Putting them on a diagonal helps.Here it is in all its book-full glory next to my full length mirror and my gorgeous framed DVF magazine.

When my husband came back (from China), he gave me a jade elephant statue for our bookcase display! Next time he goes away I'll probably paint the back of the bookcase a fun bright color. Or switch the living room with the bedroom--we'll see. Just kidding, that's crazy.

Alicia B.

Custom Cool Rugs=Amazingly Cool

Last week was completely consumed with an installation that we did in Quogue. We had to find the majority of the pieces to complete a home in 2 days. It was a blast, but exhausting. Since we had to find things on short notice, I was able to visit stores in person, one of which was Custom Cool Rugs in Quogue. I had written about the owner's home a few months ago and was delighted to meet her. Eliza Gatfield (the owner) is a very sweet and extremely generous woman and happens to own and operate the most interesting rug store I've ever seen.

The store is a cute shop on the corner of the "main shopping area", if you can call it that, in Quogue. This rug is stunning in person.

Eliza takes Kilims and makes them into bags and pillows, as well. This is one of many adorable displays around the store.

Here is a close up on one of my favorite bags. They look incredibly versatile and durable.

These soft geometric patterns can also be made into rugs. They are subtle and beautiful and work seamlessly in a beach house.

Just a nice moment of some pretty rugs rolled up on a beautiful etagere.

The whole shop has a very youthful vibe but still very sophisticated.

Last but least, look...at...this...stunner of a rug. Blue Ikat in a large scale is incredible. I almost bought a house in the Hamptons JUST for this rug. ALMOST.

Custom Cool can do custom rugs (obvi), they do kilims, runners, bags, chairs, etc and everyone that works there was super nice and accommodating. They are also "GoodWeave Certified" which means they do not support child labor in the countries where they make their rugs and even support opportunities for better education in the area. If you are even anywhere near Quogue you must make a stop here--it is an incredible shop.


Alicia B.

Inappropriate Sofas

A friend of mind is moving into her own apartment and has asked me to assist her in creating a great new space for her. One of the main things she needs is a new sofa and I'm more than happy to help her fine one. She likes a bit more modern feel than I do but I am designing for her, not myself so it's no biggie. We've been looking at some cute sofas and day beds. I came across some really horrifying sofas though. Observe:

Don't get me wrong, I love tufting on an ottoman or on the back of a sofa, but this has seriously gone too far. This is so gross looking I feel like I should look away.

These are from Restoration Hardware's latest collection of sofas. I'm horrified and this is one of many reasons I prefer not to shop there anymore. I understand where they were going with this but, it looks like old dough.

My friend and ex roommate (who is starting her own blog soon!) sent me this scary 80's jeans sofa from the pages of...Pottery Barn. I mean, are you kidding me? This looks like they upholstered a sofa in some acid washed jeans that my 8th grade history teacher wore on a "dress down day" at school.

It also reminds me of when Cindy Crawford tried her hand at designing furniture after she hired Michael Smith to design one of her homes. Again, really?? That was mean but Cindy Crawford is very beautiful (and smart because she hired Michael Smith) but not a designer.

Anyway, we are going to stop by CB2, West Elm, Pottery Barn, NOT Restoration Hardware, and possibly Room and Board. I can't wait until she moves into her new space--I'll show you pictures once it is complete.

Alicia B.

Obsessed with Pleats

Have you guys noticed this in fashion--all these adorable pleated skirts and dresses? I literally can't get enough of them. Pleats are a given in interior design with pleated lampshades, pleated upholstery skirts, and pleated drapery but what I've been seeing are a super intense version of this with a knife or accordion pleat everywhere.

I took this picture in a dress maker's store window in Roma from...our honeymoon! It was one of many swoon worthy moments from the honeymoon...sigh...

When I think of pleated fabric, I think of Bart Halpern, who offers tons of different pleat options. We've used a few of these fabrics in recent projects and they are gorgeous.

Doesn't this take your breathe away? I am speechless at how gorgeous this is. Also, is she making a cape look graceful and beautiful?

Like I said, pleats are in interiors too with this cute pillow from West Elm.

West Elm is getting these pleats. This nautical feeling pillow is from WE also and is in yellow too.

Can I pull off a long skirt? They are chic and comfy looking but am I too short at 5' 4"? This gorgeous lady looks amazing in the long accordion pleated skirt and long sweater.

I love this dress for if I had eloped and gotten married at City Hall. Perfect right? Too late for that though...

This skirt nails it in a rooftop photo shoot paired with a simple white top and belt.

Great for fall or back to school (like yours truly again) a dusty pink pleated skirt!

Are you all feeling the cute pleated skirts and dresses? I love the girly sophistication of them and the movement and motion of them. In terms of the interior design world, I think clean knife or box pleats are the way to go, otherwise you risk going shabby chic mess, which I don't advise. So who wants to buy me a pleated dress? All uncredited pics are from HERE.


Alicia B.

Friday Faves

Been a while since I've done Friday Faves, huh? Well life has been pretty hectic for me lately and its slow down a LITTLE but not a lot. So today has a theme, can you guess what it is?

I would like to have this at least once a day. YUM. You know that they taste as beautiful as the colors look.

Repetition is something that always catches my eye. This is gorgeous and I love this dark buttercup color.

Nautical. I'm loving all these ropes wrapped around the railing.

Ahh to ride on the back of a Vespa...I've never done that I swear. This one is quite jazzy with the stripes.

Well? What's the theme? These pictures make me want to travel and take tons of pictures. Maybe I will do just that. Happy Friday! (pictures from here)


Alicia B.