What's black and white...

Someone recently told me that they asked a child, "what's black and white and read all over?" and they had no idea. I guess kids don't read the newspaper these days. For some reason, I thought about that story when I saw this black and white papered entry. Probably because I also can't answer the question of who designed it or where it's from. Some of the motifs are similar to things I've seen at the Neue Galerie so it might be Austrian or German or who knows, maybe it's in California. If anyone can identify it, please let us know. Until then, I'll be reading the news on the internet like the kids!

Photos by François Halard

The Inside Source: High vs. Low

I was honored to once again be asked by The Inside Source to give my advice on where to splurge and where to save when decorating. This topic was right up my alley since I often mix expensive pieces with eBay and flea market finds in my work. My choices also illustrate my other love of juxtaposing modern pieces like the 1970's abstract painting, which reminded me of a Rothko, with an antique French chest of drawers. I would definitely hang the painting above, add a lamp and turn the piece into a bar!

Make sure you check out the entire article online for more High vs. Low suggestions from Erin of Elements of Style, Kim of Desire to Inspire, Alissa of The GOODS Design, and the ladies of Remodelista. And a big thank you goes out to Marni Elyse Katz for writing the great article and including us all!

There goes my diet!

I just started working on a project that is a hop, skip and a jump from Billy’s Bakery on Ninth Avenue. Needless to say, I picked up a delicious treat for myself after my walk though today. I can already tell that it's going to take a lot of will power not to go there every time I visit the job site! The cupcakes are delicious and the cakes are as pretty as they are yummy! I can also personally vouch for the pumpkin square. Billy's Bakery would also make a great place to pick up some sweets for your Valentine next month. Or you could just treat yourself! You're worth it! Bon Weekend!

Young Designer to Watch: Elizabeth Bauer

One of things that makes me happy are all the wonderful comments and emails that I receive from my readers everyday. A lovely note came on December 31st from one of my readers in France who said, "I love the way you write about other designers without any jealousy, au contraire, you are always so enthusiastic about other peoples work." As we all know, there aren't that many magazines left for designers to have their work published so I consider myself lucky to have a public forum to tell another designer how much I appreciated their hard work or to give a young designer some much needed publicity. I also love giving my design friends a shout out on their accomplishments!

Today I am especially happy to announce that my friend Elizabeth Bauer was named one of Traditional Home's 20 Young Designers to watch! That's a bedroom she designed above! Elizabeth is one of those great people that you meet for the first time, in my case at last year's Design on a Dime, and feel like you've known forever! She started out working for a designer on Nantucket and now has her own successful design firm in New York as well as a fabulous shop in the West Village.

I told Elizabeth that I like to describe her shop as Paris meets Palm Beach which she loved since those are two of her favorite cities! The shop combines her vintage finds with lots of bold patterns and bright colors that look fresh and fun!

Elizabeth is also a member of one of my design groups that we have nicknamed "Decorator's Anonymous." (Hello my name is Heather and it's been four days since my last visit to the D&D!) It's wonderful to come together with other young designers who also work mostly alone. We share great vendors, business advice on things like contracts and billing, and sometimes just vent about our frustrations! As one of the other members joked, it's like AA but even better because we can drink! I encourage everyone to create a design support group in your area!

As you can see from some of the photos of Elizabeth's shop, she has lots of great artwork and accessories that work for design projects or for your own apartment! I hope you'll stop by the next time in you're in the village and if you want to be really nice, you can vote for Elizabeth for the Traditional Home Readers Choice Award! Merci!

Elizabeth Bauer Design

43 Greenwich Avenue

New York, NY 10014

212-255-8625

www.elizabethbauerdesign.com

More Happiness!

One of my readers mentioned magazines as something that makes them happy and I have to agree! Right now, the March 2010 cover of ELLE DECOR is making me very happy! Those blue walls are gorgeous and I can't wait to get the issue see the rest!

UPDATE: I was overjoyed with excitement when I found this issue on sale today in New York and I can tell you that it's just as spectacular as I imagined! It's probably one of my favorite issues in a long time! Hope you get your copy soon!

Happiness

I was catching up on my fashion magazines while I was at the hair salon last night and I kept noticing articles about happiness. This has been a been a big topic of conversation among my friends this year since we all believe that having a positive attitude is the key to happiness and also success! We've all heard that money can't buy happiness, although it might you dress better while trying to be happy, so I was trying to think of the things that make me happy that don't cost any money. One of the main things I came up with is sunshine. There is nothing I love more than feeling the warm sun on my face. I've even been known to cross the road to walk on the sunny side of the street. There is something about dog walkers that make me happy. Well, not the actual walkers, but all those cute little dogs strolling down the street together always make me smile. So tell me, what makes you happy?

Photo by François Halard

Mr. Crown

The dune buggy photos of Jude Law in the Dunhill advertising made me think of The Thomas Crown Affair. Not the 1999 remake with Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo, although I like that one too, but the 1968 original version that starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. While most of Faye's costumes and hairstyles look pretty dated, Steve McQueen and his handsome bespoke suits still look fabulous today. The same can't be said of the short shorts he's sporting above but I'll let those slide since I don't mind looking at his legs! I first saw this film when I lived in Beacon Hill in Boston and I used to love walking by Thomas Crown's house at 85 Mt. Vernon Street. The interiors were shot on a sound stage but also surprisingly don't look that dated either. Wish the same could be said of today's movies!

Photos from Google

More Chic Advertising

Looks like chic advertising isn't just for the girls. Dunhill snapped British actor Jude Law for their Spring/Summer 2009 advertising campaign. So it's a year old, I still have boys on the brain from yesterday's post and who doesn't enjoy a little man candy on a Monday morning! I'd much rather look at him than all those emails that are piled up from the weekend!

Photos via SwipeLife