Starring Roles and Greek Urns

As this week has continued, I think we’re feeling such a shift, such momentum for much needed change in the world. It doesn’t feel like ‘business as usual,’ which must be a good thing. More than statues are toppling right about now…

Cheers, Arren


Can we just make up a word here, please? I’m often taken by an interior and the couldntyoujustmovein-ness of how it looks.

This living room is by the fab Eneia White Interiors, and fits that word to a T. Is that a grasscloth ceiling? Be still my heart. Hello to of-the-moment reeded details. Yes! Can we take a gander at those chairs? By all means. And of course, all of those dark-hued accents ground it perfectly.

I don’t think I’d change a thing…

Below, I’m getting more of the feels with this dining room, part of a cool, calm and collected Upper East Side project by White. Check more or her work here.

Photo: Duke Renders

Photo: Duke Renders

Photo: Nick Glimenakis

Photo: Nick Glimenakis


Details, details, details! Hubert de Givenchy once said “Luxury is in each detail,” and it appears that designer Cheryl Luckett definitely knows that to be true.

As part of her One Room Challenge project, Luckett has not only upholstered doors in linen and finished them with antiqued brass nailheads, she has found hardware with the looks to take a starring role in a silver screen musical.

Sourced through Addison Weeks, the Charlotte-based designer mixed a Michelle Nussbaumer Enamel Star backplate with a Scallop Knob for major Art Deco vibes. In a brass and navy enamel finish the stylish result has left me completely gagged.

For even more style (and more nailheads) check out Cheryl’s upholstery collection for Sylvester Alexander here.

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While London-based ceramicist Freya Bramble-Carter imbues her work with a mix of forms and finishes inspired by nature, her recent project, a collab with interior design studio Krokalia, moves in a different direction. Described by Bramble-Carter as a ‘mish-mash’, the pieces combine her organic point of view with Classical Greek pottery. We’re talking inspo from 510-323 BCE.

The urns, vases and bowls, created by Bramble-Carter, and then playfully decorated by designer Pallas Kalamotusis of Krokalia, have such a fresh, handmade feel. Plus, there’s a definite nod to mid-century painted art pottery. More, please!

Freya Bramble-Carter is a member of the Black Artists + Designer’s Guild, a great organization worthy of your support, both financial and otherwise.

Photo: A finished urn and vase

Photo: A finished urn and vase

Photo: Painting in process

Photo: Painting in process

Photo: Ready for the kiln

Photo: Ready for the kiln

A pocketful of sunshine? No, a van full of furniture

The house has been turned upside down, and I've been relegated to a small island in the middle of the living room whilst controlled pandemonium occurs, well, everywhere else. The Ikea installers (hello guys) have almost finished all the cabinetry in the laundry area, plus they've started in on the Besta media storage for the basement tv room and the Pax wardrobe in the bedroom (more info on that soon). Oh, and Rod the wallpaper guy is about to put up the last panel of grasscloth in the bedroom and then he'll be onto the paper for the living room and powder room.

Below is the truck full of furniture that we drove, bleary eyed and very early, out to Tim the furniture finisher to get sprayed. We managed to fit a motley crew that included eight dining chairs, two 2-drawer end tables, a 4-drawer chest and a 9-drawer dresser. We'll have to wait a week or so, but everything will be coming back in either a lovely Benjamin Moore Oxford White or Baffin Island. In the meantime all of our clothes have been relegated to plastic bins dotted hither and yon. Ummm, when will this be over? lol

The uproar continues...

Mucho is happening on the house today (yay). Rod, my intrepid wallpaper guy, has started in on the grasscloth in the bedroom. It's a Gramercy wallcovering available through Design By Color and it's already looking mah-vellous. And Rod, ever the perfectionist, is carefully cutting the paper down so each wall has equal sized panels. Take a look below at the first few pieces up on the wall...

Downstairs in the basement we have the Ikea installers working their magic fitting the kitchen cabinetry into the laundry area. I'd planned out the cabintery last week with the Ikea Kitchen Planner - we went with the yummy hi-gloss Abstrakt white doors - then everything was delivered in super-zippy fashion. Now the work is happening very, very fast. A few hours ago all that was down there was this SmartDispense laundry pair from GE Profile, and by tonight most of the cabinetry will be finished. Phew! Oh, and btw - the latest Ikea catalogue smacked down on my doorstep this morning, so in a quiet moment (lol) I'll be leafing through and dog-earing all my new faves.

And then finally, that last shot is the media room, after we'd gone to town with the Ralph Lauren Paint in Palais Royal (take a look at the before here).