The perfect grey sofa...

The perfect sofa...
It's such an intense mission to really find the right sofa for your home. There are beyond so many sizes, shapes and colors it can be so daunting. If things were my way, I would have a different sofa every other month, I just love so many different ones. When committing to the perfect for my new digs I really don't even know where to begin. When I spotted this room, I felt my heart skip a beat. The story behind this living room (I read it a few times over) and this lovely grey sofa is so fun and seriously one of the things I love so much about design and decorating. The story of how other peoples homes evolve, etc.
This sofa and pair of art deco glam chairs really had me over the edge. The homeowner really must be such a chic person.
images via cotedetexas

Fresh apartment inspiration...

All I can do is think about...
new apartment decor. It literally is an all consuming obsession, I've got no shame to my game. As you all know, I have been thinking of a warm and neutral living area but when I saw this little living room...I might have changed my mind. This adorable living room is mostly neutral with splashes of pastel color and gold. I am really into this look right now.
Look at the hardwood floors. I can't get over the beauty of all the gold fixtures in the kitchen either, thats some mighty good looking hardware. I wish my new landlord would let me have at the plain fixtures in my new kitchen. Ugh, the joys of renting...
 
I really enjoy this little office nook. Small enough for this space yet ample desk and eating area. Notice the brass pineapple figurines. Just like mine. Love those little cuties! I kinda want to create something like this in my new space.

images via achados

10 things that rocked my world this week...January 26

1. This week started out so well. This beautiful gold mirror with little stud accents really warmed my soul. Has me on a little gold rush...

2. The flu. I got smacked down cold with the worst flu of my life. Seriously, this time I have been dizzy and lightheaded. Absolutely awful. Here is just a little snapshot of my bedside table decor this week. 
 3. Doors. This week I went to sign the lease to my new apartment (I'm moving to the upper east side). On the way to my new landlords office I came across this door and it just really struck me. The magic of that green, purple and brown combination was killer. Loved it.
  4. The Inauguration. This was the first year that I actually really watched it and I loved it. Did we all watch Beyonce? I don't care if she was really singing or not, but I could not take my eyes off of fabulous emerald earrings. Hello Amazingness. 
 5. Despite my sickness I have been slowly packing things up around the house and doing a whole purge of things. While moving things around, I saw my lovely brass pineapple bookends in a whole new light. I love when that happens. 
 6. the Lion. Had an amazing dinner at this restaurant called the Lion. The food was fantastic and the decor was absolutely out of control. The art on the walls so curated so well. I must find out who designed this place. We need to grab a coffee. 
 7. Found my dream sofa on Craigslist. Unfortunately, I was a little late to the party. I felt a small tear fall down my cheek. I wanted this girl for my new place, baaaaaad! 
8. Blush pink. The best color ever. Especially in roses. Hands down. My favorite flower. These beauties really cheered me up this week. 
9. The work in progress is often just as beautiful. Isn't this so true in life; in relationships, in decorating, in businesses, in anything we do. This little quote just touched my heart. 
10. This magnet. I love when people give me Jesus swag. I, for one, love all religious paraphernalia around the home. Crosses, virgin marys, all of it. This magnet is the only magnet on my fridge and it basically sums up how I feel about Jesus. "Wow!" 

Finalizing new apartment paint colors...

As much as I love New York City...

 this weather is just a little too cold for my preference. Right about now I am seriously missing the sunshine, is it springtime yet? As I brave this winter weather and prepare to settle into my new digs, I can't help but think of making sure my new living room is cozy and warm. Think buttery soft warm walls and completely creamy and neutral seating pieces and then topping that off with a bit of golden glow. This look is right up my alley.

I'm thinking something like this collection from Farrow + Ball...
images via... here + here

On a glamorous bed rest...

New York is absolutely freezing right now and I am having an affair with my bed. Unfortunately for me, I'm under the weather (the flu is the worst). So, what else is there to do but daydream of how I will work out the decorations in my new apartment, right? A lovely and calm bedroom perfect for freezing cold weather will absolutely do...

Thoughts of light gray, warm creams and lush lavenders are dancing in my head. Not sure if its because winter is a cool season and cool pastels are inspiring me so. 
What do we think? Which one is your favorite?

images via this board.

Secret of domestic bliss #71...Antiques; the good wood

It's official. I am becoming an upper east sider this next month. Finally found an apartment that fits all my favorite furnishings. I have grown out of my adorable little studio so quickly but its going to be so hard to let it go. I have so many wonderful memories here. The upper west side will forever have a place in my heart. At first I was considering parting ways with all of my furniture and just getting all new pieces. However, there is one that I will never part with and that is my beautiful antique wood dresser that was my very first furniture purchase here in NYC. It's made so beautifully and will live with me forever. I am convinced that no apartment or home is complete without a beautiful antique wood dresser...
Above is my gorgeous wood beauty. Scored her for $100 and I have been in love with her ever since we first met. 
While for a minute I was contemplating painting my antique dresser in a vivid lacquer my gut was absolutely resisting it. I have to allow the woods  natural beauty and pattern to shine. Sometimes natural beauty is so much better. 
Each of these photos is from Lonny Mag (ever filled with mad decor inspiration), where my favorite photog Patrick Cline gets the details of each of these gorgeous wood numbers so perfectly. Every piece inspires me so much for new looks for my space. Definitely gotta get some fabulous mirror to sit atop my lovely antique.

images via lonny magazine

10 things that rocked my world this week...January 19

 1. So, slowly my adoration for photography is growing. The iphone has so many amazing photo apps like snapseed that I am absolutely obsessed with (I do realize there is much more to photography than an iphone, I am just clueless so for me...baby steps). I'm turing my friends too, now they send me great shots all tricked out with cool filters like this one of me and 
My doors. I love them. At this point my friends enjoy taking shots of me in the streets in action. Many accidents have almost happened. All in the name of my love for these doors...


 2. Beyonce. Gotta love this woman, she is all for girl empowerment. I am not a feminist or anything, I just really love women getting together and encouraging and supporting each others success. There is more than enough to go around. My girlfriend Dallas, took this shot and it literally rocked my world. Who run the world...girls!
 
3. Success Workshops. After many, many emails from my E-Book and lots of consideration I have decided to take my workshops to the streets. People ask me for small business success coaching all the time. I find it so fulfilling to help people find their gifts and put them to use and make their dreams come to life. What's better than doing what you love and being successful at it. So now I am holding small workshops (email me for deets) for my peeps in NYC (in the pic, a personal trainer + health coach, an event planner and a closet stylist...ready to take their thriving businesses to the NEXT LEVEL) and by popular demand...an online course coming soon (march)! Stay tuned! 
4. People Style Watch. I am not a fashion girl by any means, I wear the same clothes all the time but this magazine is my favorite in terms of styling. It is BEYOND an honor to be featured as decor expert for them. I get giddy like school girl to give my humble decorista two cents. Especially for a mag I adore. This just made my week. 
5. Speaking of metallics. I am in love with this adorable sconce and the wall color combo. My new apartment, YES I FOUND A NEW APARTMENT! FINALLY, I have got to use this wallcolor in the kitchen. Done and done. Gold and teal. Hello. 
 6. I went upstate to visit a client this week and aside from the iced coffee in winter, the bright and bold color of leathers used on the seats in the train just added to my happiness that morning. Inspired me for bold color leather seating, gotta figure out how to use that somewhere. 
7. Oh Bar Six, my new favorite west village eatery, your decorations were adorable. Especially this gorgeous turquoise and black distressed vintage wood cafe table. Ooh la la. I loved every moment of my lunch. 
8. Golden lions: These all stars just killed me this week. So incredibly good in gold, these lions serve as little door guys at TBN studios. Yep, the christian channel with the big hair lady. 
 9. My local thrift store window display this week was just astounding. The wall color, the abstract artwork, the studded sofa. Everything was such perfection together. 
 10. This pretty much sums up who I am and what I believe in, what I stand for.  I aim to make the most of my life put it to good use every single day and make some kind of difference in the world around me.  This made me cry a little. Good tears of course.
BONUS:
my little music bonus...this song is kind of like exactly how I am feeling this week...my workout JAM

Weekend decorating...book styling

Today I went to see a new clients home a little north of Manhattan. I was mesmerized. It's been so long since I have really understood what life was like outside of apartment dwelling. It was absolutely refreshing to put my design brain on inside of a huge home. 
One thing I noticed the most was the interesting placement of books. While most of us New Yorkers have shelves of books that was intimidate more suburban librarians, this couple had only enough books for the most beautiful displays. It reminded me how beautiful big coffee table books can be when not overdone but simply just because they look beautiful...

Of course I love all matching jackets like this stack of pretty white ones, but I am also a huge fan of removing the jackets to unleash the beautiful binding. More often than not, underneath that jacket lies beautiful metallic fonts just waiting to be adored. This weekend why not try and switch things up and play a little with your book collection, you might have a whole new look. 

all images via this pinterest board

Lessons I Learned from Lonny...

I love what I do. Have I mentioned this lately? I am constantly getting emails asking for my advice from young students or those who want to change their careers and get into interior design. What's the best way you can learn how to develop your craft? 
My answer is probably one of my favorite pastimes, research & development. Practice decorating your own space and use it as a laboratory. The other part, indulge yourself obsessively in books and magazines in your field of choice. Continue learning. This last issue of Lonny, really did that for me...

LESSON #1: I was so inspired by the content in this issue, I really feel that I learned a few new things, actually old things but looking at them in a whole new way.
In these first two photos, I'm noticing the magic of white chairs with black legs. Separating the pair on either sides of the sofa makes for a really open and symmetrical look creating the perfect conversation space. 
LESSON #2: Busts and statues still are ultimate accessory for areas where you don't know what to put. When in doubt, throw one in the mix and let the magic unfold.
LESSON #3: There are a few essential pieces for the new stylish bar cart... A fabulous wooden antique  sideboard + a cherry blossom chinoiserie screen + sterling silver serving trays + gorgeous glasses. There you will have a winning combination.
LESSON #4: Horse art is happening! It is still some of the most stylish art I see out there. Groups of them together make for such sweet swagger. 
  LESSON # 5: Collections are cooler as clutter when displayed in color groups! Say that a few times fast. 
 all images via Patrick Cline for Lonny magazine

My latest muse...Athena Calderone {via Harpers Bazaar}

Lately I have affections for Brooklyn. There are some amazing doors and amazing places to shop for vintage furniture, great restaurants, etc. So, when I stumbled up this completely hip interior designers Brooklyn abode, I almost fell out of my seat. Athena Calderone is a designer AND blogger, HELLO, love her! This kind of NY edge is right up my alley. How ridiculously amazing is this Brooklyn bungalow...

I love how modern it is and I love the large windows, too. Bright sunlight is essential for me in any space but in this space in particular it makes everything just shine. Especially in this outrageously gorgeous kitchen. I also am a sucker for using gray in any space, oversized art, pops of gold, tufting, eccentric lighting, and pieces that mix white and wood. 
images via Christopher Sturman for Harpers Bazaar

How to live chic in New York...Lonny Magazine style

As most of you know, my obsession with the doors of my wonderful city just had me on one...I. cant. stop. Every time I snap a photo of a new door, my imagination runs wild with what could be inside these incredible apartment spaces. Every once and a while someone has their drapes pulled back and you can see inside and gaze at the lovely decor. I love this, but hank goodness for Lonny mag, who gave me a glimpse inside one of the most fabulously decorated NYC apartments I have seen in a while...

An ultra fabulous gal Jessika Goranson, tricked out her upper east side apartment with some serious panache. Layers and super chic accessories make this apartment all about the details. I really love the way she styled it up. First. WALLPAPERED HALLWAYS. I think it's such a good idea. In my own apartment I painted my hallway with stripes, it makes the whole area seem bigger. 
POPS OF PINK. Her style is pretty feminine but its not too over the top. This pop of pink is perfect, don't you think?
 She styles things up really well and has a collection of dogs and little figurines would that make any true traditional decorista swoon.
 
 
 Alas, a perfectly decorated hallway for New York City and a collection of horse art, that just seals the deal. So very upper east side and so very swanky. Fab job Jess.
images via Patrick Cline for Lonny...

10 things that rocked my world this week...January 12

1. Emerald. Not only is it Pantones color of the year but it just happens to be my current color crush. This amazing Michael Kors python clutch just had me at hello. A little pricey for my budget for a clutch, BUT...I'm still in love with it...

2. Vision. I started this week off right by creating a vision board/goal list for 2013. Getting all excited about the things I can do this year just gives me THAT much more drive and focus to continue chasing after the things that I am passionate about. Feels good. Do you guys make vision boards???
3. My doors of New York. Obviously, I am obsessed and was beyond excited and honored to have been named by Glitter Guide as 1 of the Top 20 favorite instagram accounts to follow. HUGE DAY for me.  It was like my baby won a beauty pageant or something...lol. 
4. Blue. I cannot help but be beyond obsessed with tranquil blue walls mixed with red. I just cannot get over this look right now...So good. 
 
5. Agate wallpaper. Yep. This custom wallpaper is going up in the Stanley Furniture showroom at Las Vegas Market and I'll be helping them throw a huge bash in honor of the big reveal. Like their facebook page for updates and photos of the final finished look. 
6. Top 10. I made Top 10 Interior Designer blogs of NYC along side Jonathan Adler, Bunny Williams and DesignSponge. I still can't believe how AMAZING this honor is. Woop Woop! 
7. Red chairs. These barstools just moved me on a whole other level. glossy. metal. gorgeous. bright red. They were so stunning at dinner, I could hardly concentrate on my food. 
9. This adorable little bust in my clients apartment spawned a whole renewed obsession with busts and now I am on the hunt for an oversized one for myself. 
9. Birthday memories. On my special day one of my favorite + bestie bloggers (Crystal G of Rue Magazine) sent me a photo of my birthday shot we took 2 years ago when I first moved to NYC. Such a fun night to remember and so fun thinking back on those days. My birthday this year was all about counting blessings for me, not counting candles...#watchout32!
 I literally want to cry when I think back on my past 2 years in NYC and where I am now. Amazing things. Amazing memories. Amazing experiences. I am so blessed and so incredibly grateful for everyone in my life and for every single one of you who reads my musings and supports what I do. There are no words to describe how thankful for you I am. XO
10. I always love to end with a good note. In this case...several good notes. We all know my affections for Jesus. These adorable boys, For King + Country, love Jesus too, haaay. This song rocked my world. 

Secret of domestic bliss #70 ...Busty

The other day I was shopping in an old bookstore and I found this amazing book from the 1970's and it was all about home decor and trends. It's so funny how decor trends just always come back around again. I'm all about trends that never end and busts are definitely one of them. This year, I think I am going to add a bust to my apartment. A large, over the top, fabulous bust with total panache...

I especially love them propped up in a fireplace or near a window so it gets to be almost a focal point. 
They look so good in any style of decor, everyone needs a bust, don't ya think?

images 1//2//3//4//5//6

office space of the day...an artists abode {Olatz Schnabel}

Through the years of writing about design, I have learned so much about my own taste. Each season I have new and different looks that I would classify as "my own style", yet with every emerging new year I look back upon past articles and see styles that I fall in love with all over again. The bedroom of Olatz Schnabel and her artist Husband Julian has captured my heart all over again...
turquoise walls + pops of red + wooden secretary + black and white photo collection =
domestic bliss
for the rest of this beautiful home...

I have never seen colored walls done through a home like this one. The blue walls in this bedroom are absolute perfection. I have used this color in a bedroom before and the client still raves to this day. The color is topped off with a gorgeous exotic rug. It's so important to use modern rugs like these, they are so on trend right now. I also adore the kitchen, the mossy green is fantastic especially next to the black and white tile. Genius.
Black and white checkered tile in the bath is also killer with the copper fixtures. Such eccentric lighting  as they have thrown in is key in this kind of home. Beautiful.
This last photo is my dream. A beautiful outdoor space for morning coffee conversations. Swoon.
images via NY Times

A BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY...from Sheaffer

 It's been such an awesome day, isn't every birthday? Another year older, another year wiser. So today I've teamed up with Sheaffer to host a birthday giveaway!
 I will say, one of my main essentials as a business owner, decorator and blogger is a notebook and a pen. My Sheaffer fountain pen is my absolute newest obsession.
So, I am giving one away to one of you amazing readers because you are the best readers in the world! 
 To do fabulous sketches, write thank you notes and your to do lists...
 Okay, so here are a few little details for the giveaway...
Leave a comment below telling us how you plan to use your Sheaffer fountain pen.
That’s it! For extra entries (leave a separate comment for each):
Like Sheaffer Pen on Facebook.
Follow Sheaffer Pen on Twitter.
Tweet “Enter to win a @Sheaffer_Page pen at @TheDecorista"
Giveaway closes at 12midnight EST on Friday, January 11, 2013. Winner will be contacted by email within 24 hours of close.
This giveaway is open to US residents only.
Happy Writing! 


office space of the day...secrets of success

Glass desk + pops of yellow + pair of french chairs + beautiful flowers + journals =
domestic bliss
This year I have switched things up a little bit in my home office. I have cleared out all the clutter and am working from an entire new place & perspective. Also, in my business, I have added a whole new branch of services in addition to my designing. I will now officially be consulting and coaching other businesses in our industry on business strategy and growth. It's making me really gear up this year and take things to the NEXT LEVEL. 
So, its essential that I be very proactive in how I do things. First up, setting goals and visioning out my year in 2013...
It's so important that we set goals, not just yearly but daily, you know?
In fact, I am getting a new journal for 2013 & I can't decide between these cute ones...