For The Love Of Art / Joni Scully

The other weekend my best friends from college came into town for our yearly reunion and we hit Soho for some shopping. I had totally forgotten how much it is to shop with your best friends. In Piperlime, we all separated to dig through the racks and 5 out of the 6 of us picked up the exact same shirt. Really makes you miss shareable college closets. 

One of my favorite things we found all day was artist, Joni Scully's stand around W. Broadway and Broome. She paints oils of buildings around New York from the Empire State Building to Grand Central to Union Square. Her colorful paintings have a whimsical flair making it my favorite addition to my gallery wall.

Check out more of her work here. 

Links For Your Sunday

Happy Sunday everyone! This weekend has been exactly what I needed to relax and recharge. Today, I'm sharing some fun DIY projects for fall. How cool are these DIY bloody cups?! And the white pumpkin really make me want to carve a pumpkin this year. 

Hearty Roasted Cauliflower & Chickpea Soup {fork and flower}

Suspended Fall Leaves Table Decoration {Modern Furniture Design}

My Style Finder - What's Your Decor Style? {Lonny Mag}

DIY Closet Wallpaper Organization {Apartment 34}

Health Benefits of Apples {Building 25}

DIY Bloody Cups {almost makes perfect}

DIY Decorative Owl Pumpkin {a modern dame}

Sweet Sanctuary Is Right / Suzanne Kasler's Atlanta Home

Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle Magazine featured award winning and Atlanta based interior designer, Suzanne Kasler's classic and elegant home this month. Her mantra? "A room should be collected, not decorated."  I wish my collecting could be this put together! I am loving her mix of whites, light blues and gold accents. It feels very Parisian chic to me. Suzanne also has a line at one of my favorite home decor stores, Ballard Designs.

Inspiration Junky #11 / Tartan, Oxford Shoes & Pumpkins!

I'm bringing Inspiration Junky back! There have been a lot of great trends going around for fall this season. If you couldn't tell from my influx of fall fashion posts, I am super into it. In Atlanta, we just didn't really have fall. You could get by most of September and October wearing summer clothes and a light jacket, no problem. Fall in NY is clearly different and I will be adding some much need fall shoes and patterns to my wardrobe. I love the oxford shoe look with casual jeans. Tartan looks great with a leather jacket that is also trending at the moment. 

Don't forget to check out my blog sale!! 

Top Left | Top Middle | Top Right

Tartan Shoe

Pumpkin Left | Pumpkin Middle 

Oxford Shoe Top

Oxford Shoe Bottom

White Pumpkins Bottom

Bedroom Progress!!

I've been reading a lot about One Kings Lane's start up story this week in New York Mag and Matchbook Mag. The company's moto is "Design Is Never Done," which has definitely been my mantra during my bedroom makeover. I have been picking up different pieces along the way, changing my mind, changing it back and turning my room into a space that feels like me. It's been WAY too long since I shared an update, so I wanted to share my progress with y'all today.

My antique vanity is one of my favorite pieces in my room. I picked it up when I first moved to New York at a vintage shop in Gramercy. With my bathroom being so small and having NO counter space I knew I was going to need a place to get ready in the mornings. I love the tiger maple wood mixed with the faux fur bench.

Vanity - Gramercy Vintage Furniture and Consignment Shop

Rug - One Kings Lane

Faux Sheepskin Throw - IKEA

Foo Dogs - C.Wonder

Empire State Building Jewelry Holder - Anthropologie

Jewelry Stand - Anthropologie 

The curtains have been my biggest struggle so far, seriously I have three pairs of other curtains that just didn't work. These beige ikat are doing the trick bringing a pattern through a neutral color to this side of the room.

Headboard - DIY here

Beside Table - DIY IKEA hack here

Lamp - IKEA

Side Table Knobs - Anthropologie

My gallery wall has been my favorite addition to my room so far. I am a huge art enthusiast and have been for as long as I can remember. I was that kid that actually loved going to museums, took art in high school and bought an easel pretty much my first week in NYC. My favorite piece on the wall is my newest print from New York artist, Joni Scully, of Grand Central Station. Look out for a post on her work next week!! 

Happy Thursday everyone! One more day to the weekend!

Hump Day Home Makeover / Lindsay Souza Of The Pursuit Of Style

I had to share Lindsay Souza from The Pursuit of Style's home featured on Glitter Guide for today's Hump Day Home Makeover. I often find pieces or rooms that I want to duplicate in my own home, but the whole house?! That is rare. Lindsay's style is fun, bright and eclectic mixing unusual patterns and colors to create a fun and spunky space. 

I. am. obsessed. 

Scroll down to get the look, and check back tomorrow. 

Purple and red mix?

Yes, please.

Toile and Ikat = perfect. And I LOVE the cutout on the left.

Throughout the entire house you'll see turquoise accents. From lamps to flower pots.

I also really love her art choices that feel very Matisse influenced.

GET THE LOOK

1. Regeant Octagonal Nutmeg Wall Mirror - Zinc Door

2. Vetro Tortoise Glass Table Lamp - Lamps Plus

3. Quadrille, Kazak Fabric, Orange Pink on Silk

4. Henri Matisse Original Lithograph - Live Auctioneers

5. Flared Top Vase - West Elm

6. Chinese Chippendale Chair in English Liliac - Wisteria

7. Red Lacquer End Table - New York Design Center

8. Framed Toile Print Pillow - Horchow

Back To Budgets & Better Eating

This week feels like the perfect time to get back into cooking at home and healthy eating. I have started using Mint.com {A really cool service (and free!) that you can hook all of your credit card and checking accounts to so you can track all of your spending.} And it turns out I spend most of my money on rent (shocking...), food & dinning, shopping and travel. Food & Dinning feels like an easy solve as long as I can turn my fridge back into looking like this...

source

I made a trip to Trader Joe's, and picked up a lot of goodies. I swear you can't shop anywhere else in the city and get this much bang for your buck. I got all of this for my healthy eating plan for the week for less than $60!! 

So this week, I will be following a friend of mine's diet plan for bettering your eating habits. The menu focuses a lot on food that is lean and high in protein, low on carbs and high in fiber.

Here's my day 1 plan. Check back this week for more menus and to see how it's going. Would love for you to join me! Watching what you eat is always easier with friends!

Breakfast

Fage Greek Yogurt 0% + Low Sugar Granola, high fiber

Snack

Fresh Fruit

Lunch

I am loving Greek Salad at the moment with cucumbers, tomatoes, light feta cheese, kalamata olives and a low-fat vinaigrette 

Snack

Yogurt - no added sugar

Dinner

Chicken Sausage - I like Al Fresco Spicy Jalepenos Chicken Sausage

Red Pepper chopped

5-7 Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

{Cut sausage, pepper and mushrooms and heat in a medium skillet for about a minute. Add roasted tomatoes and cook over medium high heat, stirring for about 15 minutes. Add cumin and cayenne pepper half way through, stir.}

Served with roasted brussel sprouts 

{ To cook the brussel sprouts I washed them and chopped them in half. Then I heated them over about a tbsp of olive oil, adding salt and pepper for about 3-5 minutes. Then I covered them and turned off the heat and let sit for about 10 mins. }

Good Luck!

Hello Dream Job / Domino Magazine Is Back!

You guys know how much I love Domino Magazine, and how devastated I was when Conde Nast closed down my dream job magazine right when I graduated. As a now digital marketer, it's been fun to see how Domino has started entering the home decor world again with a book and quarterly magazine first, and recently adding an e-commerce website. I'm excited to see how their new business model goes since to date I'm not sure anyone has figured out the magic formula for magazines in the digital world. I love that Domino's plan doesn't sink all of their efforts into digital, and still puts a bound issue on shelves and into consumers hands - good catch on a human insight. There's something about reading a tangible magazine, flipping the pages and stacking your favorites in a trendy corner of your room.

So far so good. A sneak peak of an editorial from their Holiday 2013 issue (on sale, tomorrow!) - Ali Cayne's West Village townhouse. Ali is the founder of New York restaurant Haven's Kitchen - that I am going to have to check out + she has a kitchen blog! Her townhouse is seriously amazing. I love the colors, mix of styles, clean open space and the kitchen!

Read more + get some of her decor pieces for your own home. This yellow couch in her living room is my favorite! Up until Oct 15,  you can get 20% off on Serena & Lily's site with code Heart20.  

OR

Read about Domino's relaunch here.

My First Blog Sale!

This weekend all of my best girl friends from college came into town for our yearly reunion. It was an absolute blast celebrating one of our friend's engagement, another's birthday and being aunties for the first time. Do you and your girl friends plan a visit every year?

Two of my friends stayed with me this weekend, and made it very obvious how small my NY closet is, so I figured it's time to host my first blog sale! Shipping is $5.

Email me at  decoreatblog@gmail.com

Anthropologie LEIFSDOTTIR Red Matilija Romper

Worn once
Size: 6

Retailed $148, asking $100

Everly Printed Dress

Size: M

Retail around $60, asking $35

Worn by Southern Curls & Pearls

J.Crew Factory Printed Skimmer Pants

*NEW*
Size: 6

Retailed $69.50, Asking $45

Free People Tailored Camo Jacket

Worn once
Size: 4

Retailed $128, Asking $85

Allen B, blouse

Size: S

$25

H&M Colorblock Dress

Size: 6

$15

Urban Outfitters Cutout Shirt

Size: M

$10

Hope you had a great weekend too!

How To Mix Patterns - Hump Day Home Makeover

source

It's always fun to find a new store or blog that is in tune with your style. I came across Society Social when they paired up with The Glitter Guide to host a giveaway of their bread and butter item, the bar cart. I saw the picture on my Instagram, immediately entered and then a few months later this living room popped up in my stream. I loved it immediately, screenshotted it and knew it had to feature one hump day.

 #designbloggernerdingout

They do a great job of nailing how-to mix and match patterns without over complicating the space. Here are some rules I like to follow when mixing patterns.

1. Pick one stand out color to mix with neutrals 

2. Vary the scale of the patterns by mixing large patterns with intricate ones

3. Give the eyes a place to rest by using a large piece of furniture in a neutral color

4. Choose complementary colors

5. If using a patterned wall paper, other patterns in the room should not match it's scale

GET THE LOOK

1. Veranda Wallpaper - American Blinds

2. Field of Gold Pillow - Lulu & Georgia

3. Greek Key Pillow - Etsy

4. Palamino Table Lamp, Gold - Z Gallerie

5. The Draper Bunching Cocktail Table - Society Social

6. Pink Ikat Pillow - Etsy

7. Bone China Skull Votive - Furbish Studio

8. Brass Peace Sign - Jayson Home

9. Eton Sofa - Ballard Designs

10. Port Providence Cocktail Table - Society Social

11. Leopard Cowhide Rug - Society Social

12. DIY Gold Painted Vases - Style Me Pretty

13. Illume Good Nature Tin Candle - Anthropologie