Design & the City

I am one of a million girls out there who are eagerly waiting for Sex & the City 2 to hit the theaters. I definitely enjoy watching the storyline, characters and fashion, but the interiors are what have me truly excited! These sneak peaks will have you drooling right along with me...

{Heather from Habitually Chic has done an AMAZING job collecting these images of the movie - and her AMAZING readers have helped her to uncover the mystery behind the textiles, wallpapers and furniture pieces.}

Carrie and Big's bedroom is perfect. I really like the shape of the headboard, and the mix of that gorgeous peacock blue and lilac-grey.

The wallpaper is Cole & Son's Rococo Damask...

And the secretary - which I totally want - is the Hallings from Hickory Chair...

Here is another view of the headboard upholstery. This Moroccan-inspired textile is Kravet's Velvet Gate Tuxedo...

I can't say enough about their perfect living room. The chair, the styling of the coffee table and that stunning blue ottoman...

Heather from Habitually Chic points out how they have interestingly arranged the coffee table books standing up. I have to agree that it looks great - definitely want to try this out at home!

Now, lets discuss that chair. Heather has done her homework and has found the EXACT 1940's chair on the 7th floor of Bergdorf Goodman in NYC! It can be yours for a measly $16,500. You can read her full chair account 'here'.

On to the foyer. I love anything with birds so Katie Ridder's Oiseau paper is a new favorite...

The dining room chairs are upholstered in Lee Jofa's Belgravia...

Lastly, a peak into my dream closet! I love how Big's side is more masculine with a medium brown stain and simple lines, while Carrie's side has a fresh feminine feel with white, beautifully detailed woodwork. This is closet perfection!

Thanks to Habitually Chic and her readers for all of their collaborative detective work!

Nesting

Well it has been another really busy week and what's sure to be another busy weekend is rapidly approaching. And since Saara is on break, with a lot going on in her life, I will share a few more of the happenings with the new apartment. First of all, I am posting a photo of the work of art that I came home to this evening. (Thank you, thank you, Craig the carpenter, I feel that you are owed my first born.) I am sorry that I do not have a "before" of this space, but imagine an oddly shaped, total waste of space, closet. And here is the after!!

Just look at the cut-out he created for the vacuum cubby!!! Ahh, it's the little things.


Next up, are the carpets to be cleaned first thing in the morning. I debated whether or not to replace them but as this is a rental apartment, I decided the expense was completely unjustifiable. Soo, I called up a great little company, Ultra Guard (if you don't have this carpet/stain remover, you must order yourself a bottle online immediately!)

and scheduled an appointment to clean my carpets. Here is the 10 year old oatmeal colored berber carpet as is (with George of course modeling):

No, that is NOT a shadow, that is dirt, silt, debris! eeewww! Check back on Saturday, and I'll post the afters. Let's see just how well Ultra Guard cleans carpets!


Lastly, a little kitchen improvement... Slug has been after me to stop leaving the kitchen cabinet doors open. I've never had this habit before but our cabinetry was missing knobs, and it was so difficult to pry open the doors, that I started just leaving them open!. Cabinets sans knobs here:

Soo.. after shopping around a bit to find knobs that were cheap enough (again, hard to justify spending money on a rental!) we selected these $9.99/box knobs by Thomas O'brien for Target.


And, after sweet talking my husband and supervisor George into helping...

We completed the not-so-difficult, but somewhat-time-consuming task of measuring,drilling, and screwing in the new knobs into our kitchen cabinetry!


and wha-la, kitchen function is vastly improved!

Space Miracles

So Slug (the husband), George (the dog) and I recently moved into a tiny beach cottage a stone's throw from the beach. And I have to admit that while moving is NOT fun, I do love a fresh start, a new set of spaces to conquer, and the opportunity for a fresh color palette - watch for purple and gray living room/studio space to come!

The challenge this week... how to make a 44" x 62" closet function for a 28 yr. old man and a 29 yr. old woman with busy careers and not a lot of time for house-keeping.

Step 1: PURGE and EMPTY the closet so work could begin. I am proud to say that I ridded myself of 2 full boxes of clothing that I had not worn in at least 1 year.

Step 2: Work with Craig the carpenter, to build floor to ceiling cubbies, and create adequate hanging space for clothing. He was able to give us an additional 6' of hanging space by adding double hanging bars in addition to the shelf space!

If you do not have access to a great carpenter, who can help you build in organization, Saara blogged about some great free standing closet organization solutions from Ikea, The Container Store, etc.

Step 3: Cover your ears for power mitre sawing and air nailer working double time to get the MDF boards and hanging bars into place.

Step 4: Well Step 4 would really be to sand, prime and paint the MDF partitions... However, until that day comes, Step 4 was putting the closet back together again.

Professional organizers say the best strategy for effective organization is putting like things together. For example, I have all pants hanging together in one of the partitions, all skirts in another, etc.

The cubbies were a great place to keep purses, belts, shoes, sweaters, etc. organized and accessible. I was even able to get a space for my husband's shirts that need to go to the dry cleaner and a laundry bin.

The space is still small and has to stay organized to work efficiently, but we are really happy to discover that we could make the space work for the both of us without sacrificing our wardrobes or our sanity! Is your closet working for you??