This week features a recipe by textile designer, Amy Butler. Actually, it’s her mother Ann’s recipe! Red Velvet Cake is an old Southern favorite which you can find already made in your supermarket bakery if you are in a pinch…and live in the South. Being from the South, myself, I thought everyone could just walk…
in honor of recipe fridays, i wanted to post these beautiful new placemats from kat at modern-twist. her gorgeous easy-to-clean silicone mats are a favorite for mine because they’re cute enough to use for adults, but perfect for visiting guests of the smaller variety. kids can spill on them and all you have to do…
angela adams has a beautiful new website, along with new totes, tunics, fine art prints, and some lovely new wool rugs (rosa, flora and betty). i love her bold use of color- those bright splashes of blue, green and pink always wake me up from the winter doldrums. click here to check everything out- especially…
there is a seriously delicious “in the kitchen with” recipe coming up this afternoon so i have food and cooking on my mind. ekobo’s new “modulo” bamboo kitchen organizer is a cool way to keep all of your cooking utensils in order. modulo is actually the result of a collaborations between two young design students,…
these days i’m becoming more and more interested in investing in nice, simple things. whether it’s a piece of furniture i’ll hold on to for years, a pan i’ll have for ages, or, in this case, stationery that’s chic, simple and perfect for any occasion. i love a colorful patterned card as much as the…
today i’m thrilled to welcome a new columnist to d*s! i’ve been wanting to add someone to our tiny team who could help with all things floral and garden-oriented so i was beyond excited when sarah ryhanen of saipua accepted my invitation. i’ve long been a fan of sarah’s (and eric’s) work at saipua, a…
this beautiful before & after comes from artist and former scad working class studio intern, christine hancock. christine rescued this old dresser from it’s previous owner who has repainted it with too many thick coats of crackle paint and marble-effect paint on top. explaining that it wasn’t the best quality piece to begin with, christine…
i love seeing a wide range of before & after projects. whether they involve a simple staple-gun upholstery job and a coat of paint or a total gut renovation, it’s always great to see how people transform space and objects. this makeover is more along the lines of a major renovation and comes to us…
this fantastic bathroom redo comes from rochelle greayer of greayer design associates in harvard, ma. inspired by a magazine clipping (below), rochelle decided to create her own lower-budget version of the sunshine yellow bathroom. rather than costly wallpaper, she used a bright yellow paint and blik’s iron vines decals ($60) to makeover the space. i…
dwellstudio is moving in a very different, and very interesting direction with their latest collection, abstractions. inspired by fine art, the collection is a bold new look for the company, which is known for their colorful patterns. their two new patterns, linear and collage, come in bedding and pillow forms and i’m digging the new…
the bouroullecs have been two of my favorite designers since day one. their creativity is endlessly inspiring to me and i dream of one day being able to afford one of their pieces. if only they’d team up with target and do one of those guest collections (dear target, please?). their latest collection is a…
during these chilly winter months, we always like to have a hot beverage close at hand. whether we’re eating at the dining room table, or responding to emails from the couch, or even reading in bed, having a little heat-proof tray we can bring from room to room is a big help. this project is…
in honor of a brand new year, the common ‘material’ for this month’s projects will be a theme: new year’s resolutions! we all make them, we all break them, but you have to try right? this week’s resolution is “waste not, want not”. every few months i purchase my cat a scratch pad from trader…
this fun project comes to us from desiree of desiree haigh photography. inspired by this luxury leather hermes key ring, she decided to make her own version for $12 instead of $195. using a pair of goodwill pants, a hot glue fun and a $5 bag of keyrings, she created her own diy version. so…
i love seeing how inspiration affects people in their homes. this beautiful wall mural comes from d*s reader anastasia of faiella design in san francisco. inspired by an osborne and little textile pattern seen in the hanging light fixture (a custom design by jim misner) this floor to ceiling design is in the foyer of…
this morning’s mini sneak peek is into the quirky world of dutch product and jewelry designer zelda beauchampet. her unique place is actually an anti-squad house. the nature of these homes is that they are temporary (until they are torn down to be replaced by new ones), but they’ve kept zelda moving around to new…
i’m so thrilled to post the third episode of design by the book today! after a holiday break the artists are back in their studios working and in this episode we check in on them to see what they’ve done so far and how they hope things will finish up. our final video with the…
big pieces of furniture may be a little out of reach in economic times like these, but thankfully there are reasonable prices to be found in accent furniture. so my winter intern sam and i decided to put together this roundup of great side and end tables. fun, decorative, and functional, these tables are perfect…
[image via nvrlowdown at flickr] one of the requests that i hear the most from readers is “when are you going to post a manhattan city guide?”. i’ve been avoiding it for years now because it’s such a huge area to cover and, to be honest, not where i spend most of my time shopping…
