And the Winner Is...

Nathan's winning Dining Room with custom-designed chandelier (yes, those are paper plates!)

This post is a week overdue, mainly due to the fact that I don't have a TV right now and had to wait until the finale of Top Design was posted on www.surfthechannel.com, but also because this post brings up the issue of Interior Designer vs. Interior Decorator: what's the difference, anyway?? I will delve into the definitions of the profession in a later post, because the public at large is greatly uneducated about my profession (due in large part to shows like this). But for now, I want to share with you my favorite rooms from the season finale of Bravo's Top Design.


Pink and black living room by Ondine (she's from Brooklyn - holla!)

Guest room by Preston - nice mouldings, but a little too blah for my taste.

Almost Famous

If you happen to stop by an Urban Outfitters store sometime this Holiday season, pick up their latest catalog. My Brooklyn loft (technically my brother's loft but I'm currently living there!) is featured prominently on the inside back cover, as well as several other pages. I'm frankly surprised this is the first time UO has rented this location. A Brooklyn warehouse loft and Urban Outfitters are a perfect match - grunge meets grunge.

Dear America,

You did us proud.

Finalized: Color Scheme!

The Inspiration: Actress Rashida Jones' Manhattan studio apartment featured in a recent issue of Domino.

A new apartment always means one thing: lots of shopping. It seems whatever you had in your old place just never seems to fit quite right in the new place. In this particular move, I knew I would be downsizing from a one bedroom to a studio apartment, which presents a whole new set of challenges. For several months now I've been frantically pulling together tear sheets, paint chips, fabric samples and perusing every website and design blog I can find for inspiration. I have decided, for once in my life, I am going to treat myself as my own client and actually create a design plan for my new apartment. After sorting through the wish-list, I have settled on a scheme of black-and-white, lavendar, deep purple, light blue and turquoise. Being a designer and creating a pulled-together space for yourself is always a challenge because we love everything we see and want it all, but in a small space, it's best to keep to a consistent pallete or it could end up looking haphazard. I've flipped back and forth on the colors several times now, the only consistent color being light blue (an existing armchair I am keeping and have to work with), so posting it on this blog is my way of sealing the deal. I'm not allowed to change my mind again!

The Headboard: Cheap and Chic from Target!

Window Treatments: Lavendar Dupioni Silk

Jonathan Adler's "Love" Pillow

Jonathan Adler's "Links" Pillow

Thomas Paul's "Flock" Pillow

Crate and Barrel's "Tempo Velvet" Pillow

Pair of Foo Dogs

Sunburst Mirror: A great e-bay find for only $70!

Circa Lighting's "Dean" Sconce

The Freaks Come Out at Night

And usually they are confined to the East Village, but one night a year, they migrate West and march up 6th Avenue in the Village Halloween Parade. This year's freaks consisted of 73 zombies and Michael Jackson impersonators doing the "Thriller" dance to set the Guineess World Record, serveral Sarah Palin beauty queens, a group of Richard Simmons look-alikes, the usual assortment of Freddy Krugers and Michael Meyers, Witches in Bikinis and "2 girls and a cup" (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you don't want to - trust me). Enjoy!

Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink

Carrie Bradshaw once said that "In New York, we are always searching for a job, a boyfriend, or an apartment." I am currently searching for all three. The boyfriend, not so important at the moment, but the job, and subsequently the apartment, very much so. Even though no landlord in their sane mind would rent an apartment to an unemployed girl with a non-existent bank account, it doesn't hurt to look. Keeping an eye on the rental market is smart - I'll know what prices to pay (and not to pay) for the neighborhoods I want to live in when I'm ready to rent. You know the phenomenon that when you need the perfect cocktail dress for a specific event you can never find anything remotely pretty but when you have no where in particular to go, every dress looks like it should live in your closet? Such is my current dilemma. During my apartment browsing today, I came across "The One". The One that jumps off the page and screams at you "This is your new home!!!". Pre-war 1 bedroom, Upper West Side, 1 block from Central Park, beautiful inlaid hardwood floors, PERFECT proportions, french doors, and in my target budget. But alas, even if this beauty is still on the market when I am in the market, sadly the building does not allow dogs. Haters! But see below, what has now become the benchmark for "my perfect New York apartment". Enjoy!

The Building: West 89th Street and Central Park West

The apartment gets lots of gorgeous sunlight with 2 large windows!

Bedroom (tiny but just big enough to fit a queen bed, nightstand and dresser)

Living Room and BEAUTIFUL decorative fireplace!

Kitchen (you enter the apartment from the right; the bathroom is on the left) Critical space plan issue: in a small apartment it's very important to have a "buffer zone" between the living space and the bathroom!

Petite, but well-planned layout!

Runway Rewind

Any belief I may have that good things only happen to bad people comes to a screeching halt when I talk about Daniel Vosovic. Designer, illustrator, and now - author - not to mention a hell of a nice guy. A brief stint at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC allowed me to get to know this talented guy a little, and believe me when I say that success couldn't happen to a nicer person. Daniel conducts himself with style, grace and poise, and he speaks with an eloquence usually reserved for those veterans of their trade. Leave it to someone so stylish to hold the launch party for his new book, "Daniel Vosovic: Fashion Inside Out" at the slick Vlada Lounge in midtown Manhattan. Also in attendance were Fern Mallis, Senior Vice President of IMG Fashion (she produces New York Fashion week, y'all - she's the one every designer wants to know), Stella (aka Lea-tha!) and Suede, from the most recent season of Runway. Never one to pass up a networking opportunity, I introduced myself to Suede who is just as friendly and down-to-earth as he is talented. Stella left early to meet Hedda Lettuce (Gasp!) for another party, and well, while we only saw part of what went down in that room during the infamous Drag Queen challenge, let's just say that she and Suede did not kiss and make up when the challenge was over. Suede, we've got your back, baby! Put that Queen in her place!

But I digress... so, dear readers, (all 2 of you) go out to your local Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon.com or whoever takes your American Express Platinum card, and buy a copy of Fashion Inside Out. If you're a Runway fan, an aspiring designer, or just curious about what goes on behind the scenes in the fashion world, you won't be disappointed. Would I lie?