[Today we're launching a new column inspired by the talented women that inspire all of us here at Design*Sponge. Our goal is to celebrate their incredible style and talent and perhaps introduce them for the first time to a younger generation of artists, designers and design-enthusiasts. Stay tuned for posts on amazing women, past &...
I’ve been awaiting this peek for quite a while. Ever since we saw a little of the spectacular transformations that Tara Mangini & Percy Bright accomplished on this 1915 Philadelphia row house (See Before & After: Percy’s Home Transformation Part 1 and Part 2), I was anxious to see the entire home. The couple has exquisite…
We’ve had lighting on the brain lately. Our new Design*Sponge office came with huge fluorescent hanging lamps that we avoid turning on at all costs. So Kate, Grace and I have been hunting for something cool and functional. While I don’t know if these pendants will cast as much light as we need, they certainly…
In honor of this month’s navy theme on the new Design*Sponge Pinterest page, I was inspired to go through the Sneak Peek archives and hunt for navy in homes. I tried hard to stick to navy and not get distracted by teal or cornflower, and there was a lot of turquoise that didn’t make the…
Webb Bland is an automotive photographer — he shoots the press release photography of pre-production cars for brands like Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat. This New Orleans shotgun apartment actually used to be the home of Webb’s brother, but when his brother moved in with his fiancée, Webb took over the lease. Webb had plenty of…
It’s been a busy and exciting week here at D*S, and the best has most definitely been saved for last because tomorrow, Kate Pruitt flies into town! She’s joining Amy and I in the office for two weeks while we work on tons of DIY projects for the site, as well as some other fun…
I love maps, and the older the better. I absolutely adore giving reproduction maps from the New York Public Library. It’s seriously my favorite gift for nearly any occasion. Moved to a neighborhood in Brooklyn? A reproduction fire insurance map. Just got married? A map of your honeymoon location. I can come up with plenty of…
Amanda Wright and her husband, Daniel, have lived in this home in Cary, North Carolina, for nearly four years. Though the house is flanked by two cities and several highways, the huge windows in the great room provide panoramic views of the forest behind, giving the home a secluded mountain hideaway feel. In decorating the…
Before joining the Design*Sponge team full-time, I spent my days at the New York Public Library. It remains one of my favorite places in the city, and my former colleagues at NYPL Labs have been doing some amazing things. Their new project, the Stereogranimator, launched just last week. If you’ve ever spent time looking through historic photographs,…
I’m a sucker for anything with a little history. So these punch box valentines inspired by the 1940s party games are right up my alley. When artist Lea Redmond of the World’s Smallest Post Office spotted the game Parlor Coo Coo on eBay, she was inspired to create a modern handmade version. When it was time to…
It was a sad day for my skinny jeans when the Momofuku Milk Bar opened a Williamsburg location. When it comes to cookies, the world can be divided into two kinds of people: crispy vs. chewy. I fall decidedly into the chewy camp, so the Milk Bar was extremely dangerous. There was the cereal-milk ice…
Illustrator Holly Wales and artist Stephen Smith of NeasdenControlCentre moved into this converted live/work space that was once a print finisher’s factory in October 2011. They fell in love with the home’s south-facing windows, which allow them to watch the sunrise and sunset and see planes taking off and landing across London. The apartment also…
I may not know as much about wine as I would like. In fact, I usually prefer to pass the wine list to someone else. (I’ve been trying to rectify my wine-list phobia with Drink This: Wine Made Simple.) But there’s one thing I know for sure: When at home, always decant the red wine….
In decorating her home, prop and fashion stylist Rosy Strazzeri-Fridman is guided by the “Personal Museum” decorating philosophy of fellow stylist Sibella Court (see Sibella’s peek and Toolbox feature), who says, “For me, a home is like a museum without the signs saying ‘Please Don’t Touch.’” Rosy’s museum just happens to be a Queen Anne…
When I moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, seven years ago, my favorite store was located just around the corner from my apartment: a women’s boutique named Canary with a men’s store, Oak, across the street. It quickly became my go-to spot, and I would frequently pop in just to chat with the girls working in the…
Gregory Beauchamp likes to say that his home in Venice Beach, California, is a stone’s throw from the ocean — but only if you have a good arm. With his penchant for oranges, reds and browns, Gregory likes to channel a sort of city version of 1970s off-the-grid living, but where the hippies would have…
I think if you took a vote from the d*s team, stripes would rank pretty high on the list of all time favorite patterns. They are so easily incorporated into every style of decor and just add the perfect little pop of color. I searched through the Sneak Peek Archives to find my favorite examples…
I’ll spare you the obvious comparisons to earrings (just know that I’m really holding back here!), but in my mind, there’s not a room in the home that could do without a little chandelier magic. (Full disclosure: my very first column for Design*Sponge was about chandeliers, so I’m a little sentimental about the topic!) In…
It may seem premature to be writing about bike bags, but here on the East Coast, when the thermometer hits 35 degrees Fahrenheit, it feels like a warm-up. Just last weekend, on a super cold New York Sunday, I bought a new bike (Surly Cross-Check) from Bicycle Habitat. I had been visiting this particular bike…
This is a little embarrassing to admit, but around this time every year, I start checking the times for the sunrise and sunset. (OK, I’ll be honest — I pretty much start checking right after the Winter Solstice.) When the dark days get me down, there’s something comforting about watching it get lighter for one…
