It's Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Christmas

What smells more like Christmas than cloves and oranges? Okay, maybe pine does, but it's a darn close call! I don't know about you, but I'm getting in the spirit with some classic orange and clove room fresheners. If you've never made them before, do yourself a favor!

1. Wrap up an orange with string like you would ribbon on a present, leaving nice long tails.

2. Tie off those tails into a loop for hanging.

3. Push cloves into the orange around the string so it doesn't slip off.

4. Push lots of cloves into the orange however you please.

5. Hang up and breathe deep!

Bless this House: Entertainment Center

I love rearranging furniture. It breathes a whole new life into a room and costs nothing! Now, if you're thinking, "I would, but I just don't think my furniture would fit or look good any other way..." Cut the crap, sister. I have spent the entirety of my adult life in minuscule NYC apartments, and I have a TON of stuff. And I still rearrange on the reg. Even when I think there's no other way, I push some things around, and BAM! Who knew?

The point is, the last time we rearranged, we took things to a whole new level. It literally blew my mind how great the new arrangement was and how not possible I thought it was when we started. One product of that rearrangement was the Entertainment Center.

It isn't an entertainment center the way you might think of one. It's more like a quick and dirty, rental apartment solution to the ugly electronics we can't live without.

We just clustered them all together! Why didn't we think of it sooner??? With the aid of nothing but a little bitty end table and a simple shelf, we transformed what used to be a smattering of small eyesores into one larger, more acceptable piece of "furniture". That typewriter really did a lot. I couldn't stand the sight of that cheap, ugly keyboard until it was paired with a lovelier set of keys.

With love,

Bless this House: Color Palette

I have a color obsession that I just can't seem to break from.

I tore this image out of a fashion magazine and pasted it into my inspiration book back in 2006, while still living in the college dorms at Pratt. There was something so irresistible about it, I kept coming back to it.

Those paint chips are from my first apartment. Without consciously connecting my color choices to this image, I chose them precisely, only realizing after all was done and painted that the dress had inspired it all.

Ralph Lauren Beach Yellow and Behr Wet Coral

The living room an incredible shade that balances on the precipice of warm gold and chartreuse, the kitchen teetering between coral and salmon.


Then, in my current apartment, after a lengthy back and forth with my roommates, we finally agreed on a color for the communal space.

Behr Mesa Sunrise

Look familiar?

It's close, but ever-so-slightly muted. It feels a little more warm, a little less brilliant. Comforting.



And then I painted my bedroom. I swear it's a different color...

Behr Fervent Brass

Also less bright then its predecessor, a little mustardy. It has a classy, European study kind of feel.



And of course, we just ordered Real Milk Paint in Yellow Ochre for our bedroom in Northampton. And I'll admit, I've got my eye on their Butternut Squash, but we did choose Moss Green for the living room. Branching out, I am!

With love,