Sometimes it’s the smallest details that have the largest impact!

This weekend I was reminded of something that I think is genius. Okay, maybe not genius, but it’s something that makes me so happy ever time I spot one in a hotel bathroom. It’s a curved shower rod. I’m sure they’ve been around for a long time, but many of the hotel chains have recently starting installing them. These rods increase your showering space and they completely improve your shower experience. No more claustrophobic showers with clingy shower liners closing in on you!

Installing a curved rod is an easy and inexpensive change you can make at home, too. Inspirations by Moen offers stainless steel fixed and adjustable curved rods in several sizes and finishes.

Visit Moen’s website for all of the details and to find out where you can purchase.

While you’re doing a little bathroom spruce-up, why not indulge and treat yourself to a new shower curtain. Here are some temptations:

India Rose (my favorite!)

Freedonia Shower Curtain, $97 and Lady Lady Shower Curtain, $100

Ah Hua Shower Curtain, $100 and White Devil Shower Curtain, $110

Anthropologie

Flamenco Shower Curtain, $118 and Sundew Shower Curtain, $88
Garnet Hill

Eileen Fisher Home Sheer Linen Shower Curtain, $128

Izola

Venice Shower Curtain, $29

Happy Showering!

—Jennifer Kopf

Technorati Tags: shower curtain rods, shower rods, shower curtains, bathrooms, Moen, Anthropologie, Garnet Hill, India Rose, Izola, Eileen Fisher, curved shower rods

Love This Story? Buzz It Up Here!

Stumble It! Save to del.icio.us Digg Email Facebook

Early summer is a great time to take on an outdoor spruce-up project. You’ll be spending lots of time outside the next several months so why not make your spaces look amazing. Think of your patios, porches, and decks as extensions of your home and treat them with just as much thought as you would any room in your interior.

A great place to start is the floor. For a truly “wow!” before and after project, I love these Snapping Deck systems from VIFAH Manufacturing Company. They come in plank or tile configurations and are constructed of pre-treated non-endangered hardwood. Place them over concrete patios, balconies, garden areas, or anywhere you need to upgrade your look. And, with it’s snap together installation system that doesn’t involve any tools or glue, this makeover is easy enough for anyone to complete in a weekend.

Tiles and planks start at $70/box of 10. They aren’t inexpensive, but the results are worth the splurge!

Visit VIFAH’s website to learn more.

—Jennifer Kopf

Technorati Tags: outdoor spaces, outdoor rooms, decks, patios, balconies, hardwood tiles, VIFAH, makeovers, outdoor makeovers, patio makeovers

Love This Story? Buzz It Up Here!

Stumble It! Save to del.icio.us Digg Email Facebook

Rich, velvety, cool, vintage, yet so of-the-moment, I have completely fallen in love with peacock blue. In homage to my last blog about Couture Interiors by Marnie Fogg, I picked up the latest issue of Vogue at the post office today, gasped when I saw Nicole Kidman’s dress on the cover, and knew that I had to write about the way this hue can (and should) be incorporated into your interiors.

A stunning Nicole Kidman is swathed in a custom-designed frothy silk gown with swirls of different shades of peacock blue, a hue once popular during the Art Nouveau era (approximately 1890-1905), but today is experiencing a massive renaissance in both fashion and interior design. Later in the feature she is shown in a form-fitting jacket and skirt combination, the perfect blend of cream and strut-your-stuff blue (above).

The popularity of this hue, in both fashion and interior design, has surged in the last couple of years, and continues to appear in both disciplines, whether in the spring/summer or fall/winter seasons. It is so versatile that you can use it to create a feminine vibe, imbue a more masculine ambiance, or a family-friendly tone depending on the pattern, color palette and room in which it is used.

This shade is bold and sophisticated, yet versatile enough to complement tobacco brown, burnt orange, black, white, cream, or other hues of blue, such as turquoise and navy. When paired with lighter colors this blue is more tranquil and casual. When fused with a darker palette it provides an ambience of grand hotels and turn-of-the-century libraries.

For example, in the photos, featured here in a 2008 issue of Domino magazine, a brighter version of this blue is used as an accent next to black and white interiors. This combination imbues the rooms with a family-friendly vibe.

In the living room photo from Southern Living (above), the color is featured in a more chic, traditional interior with a peacock blue silk wallcovering that creates a bold contrast to the bone-colored bookcases. The result is strong and sophisticated that is softened with pale, feminine pinks.

If you want to go all out with a deep hue, try painting a powder room with one of the colors above: Galapagos Turquiose by Benjamin Moore, 2. Oceanside by Sherwin-Williams, 3. Blue Lagoon by Ralph Lauren

Or, if your taste gravitates more towards an East-Coast nutical vibe, try the color in a striped pattern, such as in the photo below.

No matter what you decide to do with peacock blue, you can’t go wrong with a jolt of it here or there in your home. My apartment is currently swathed in a palette of browns, deep oranges, and various shades of green, but a pop of this exciting hue may be just the thing to update it for the coming months.

What will you do to update your rooms? Let me know so I can help you put together a home that is a perfect reflection of you and what you love.

Technorati Tags: peacock blue, new blues for interior design, hot design colors, Vogue, Nicole Kidman, Southern Living, Domino magazine, art nouveau, art nouveau blue, new color combinations

Love This Story? Buzz It Up Here!

Stumble It! Save to del.icio.us Digg Email Facebook

Last week, a friend and I got in our Zipcar and took a little field trip to the New York Botanical Garden. The Garden has always been on my New York City to-do list, but I’d never made it up there. I was not disappointed!

Founded in 1891, the Garden is now a National Historic Landmark and it is a true treasure. The grounds host numerous individual gardens including my favorites: the Irwin Perennial Garden and the Rockefeller Rose Garden, which was in full bloom and absolutely breathtaking. There are also hundreds of acres of natural landscape and forest, all with paths that encourage lingering strolls.

We were lucky to see the Moore in America installation, a collection of Henry Moore’s large-scale sculptures seamlessly placed throughout the gardens. It really felt like the sculptures had been specifically created for where they stood. I also loved admiring the architecture of the Haupt Conservatory—the largest Victorian-era glasshouse in America.

A definite stop on the trip was the Shop in the Garden. I’ve been told numerous times that the Shop is one of the best and a great resource for gifts and home accessories. Now, I can totally agree and make the recommendation myself.

For most, the planting season is over, but indoors or out, it’s never too late to fill some pots. Color was everywhere in the shop, and the garden pots were no exception. Here are some I loved (all available on their website):

Ceramic Herb Pots

These small pots add a pop of color to any patio, waterproof, $14

Tom Pots with Holes and Universal Orchid Pots with Slits

Made of terra cotta, I loved the washed white finish of these specialty pots, from $34

Glazed Ceramic Planters

Available in eight colors and a couple of sizes, these ceramic flower pots can be used indoors or out, from $16

Glazed Ceramic Cube Planters

A matte finish graces these contemporary 6-inch cubes, $12

Nova Eco Pots and Vase Eco Pots

Fabulous!! These colorful earth-friendly planters are made of renewable grain husks, resistant to freezing, and are heat-insulating, available in multiple sizes and eight colors, from $6

White Porcelain Pots

While they may look too pretty to use, these delicate beauties are ready to work with drainage holes and footed saucers, $58-$128

Don’t worry if you don’t have a green thumb. Whether shopping for yourself or a friend, there are plenty of other amazingly designed things to choose from. How fun are these?!

Bicycle Basket

Bright green bicycle basket, made of plastic in Sweden, $54

Light Bulb Oil Lamp

Designed and made in Germany, bulb is made of a special opal glass, which looks clear when filled with oil and frosted when empty, $98

Gingko Leaf Tray

Hand-printed fabric is laminated between vinyl sheets to create this pretty handmade tray, $110

Visit the Shop’s website to see all of their unique offerings and the next time you’re in New York, be sure to stop by the Garden.

—Jennifer Kopf

Technorati Tags: New York Botanical Garden, The Shop at the Garden, flower pots, gardening, color, ceramic pots, herb pots, home accessories, bicycle basket, planters, cachepots, Henry Moore

Love This Story? Buzz It Up Here!

Stumble It! Save to del.icio.us Digg Email Facebook

We all have our addictions. My mother (an art quilter) has collected thousands of fabric swatches. My best friend, hundreds of pairs of shoes. My personal addiction is books–seemingly harmless, but terribly unfortunate when it is time to pack up and move apartments.

On this week’s Saturday-morning jaunt to my favorite bookstore (latte firmly in hand) I came across a compelling interior design book by Marnie Fogg, a lecturer in fashion and culture at the University of Nottingham in England. Couture Interiors , $35.00, Amazon.com, examines the relationship between catwalk fashion and architecture, interiors and home design products.

Fogg reveals how the fusion between fashion and interiors is the result of several modern constructs, including the speed of manufacture, consumers who are increasingly more literate in design vernacular, and the dissemination of ideas via magazines and the Internet. Today, trends in interiors change as quickly as the fashions that roll down the catwalks each season.

So what does all of this mean to you and me? Well, take a look in your closet, then look at your home. Do you see a common thread? If you favor a casual, preppy, East Coast vibe, are your interiors decked in dark, clean-lined modernist pieces? If so, consider throwing in a few more bright, classic accessories, you might discover that you feel more comfortable in your rooms.

Or, perhaps your wardrobe is filled with edgy, contemporary pieces in blacks, grays and neutrals. If your home has more flower prints than a Laura Ashley catalog, it might be time to rethink those pink, floral draperies.

In short, it is important that your home directly reflect your personality and lifestyle. If not then you might as well be a guest in someone else’s house. The expression of your personal aesthetic is important, because if you don’t feel at comfortable in your rooms, then you will never feel relaxed. And, after all, what is home for other than maintaining a genuine reflection of happiness?

–By Kate Bailey

Technorati Tags: Couture Interiors by Marnie Fogg, interior design books, fashion and interior design, fashionable interiors, new interior design books, fashion and interior design, fashion design

Love This Story? Buzz It Up Here!

Stumble It! Save to del.icio.us Digg Email Facebook