before and after by Grace Bonney 47

Before & After: Minneapolis Attic Makeover

I am an experienced horror movie watcher. I was hit with a wave of both pride and embarrassment when I logged onto my Netflix account and every single “suggestion” for me was a gory or creepy sci-fi horror film. I’m too scared to investigate why I like those movies so much, but for today, I feel it qualifies me to officially declare this attic “before” the perfect horror movie setting. I can easily imagine a number of terrifying people (and things) occupying this space. Thankfully photo stylist and film maker Matthew Stenerson came along and decided to give this space a new life. Working with his friends, Ryan Fall, Jake Zontelli and Nadia Haddad, Matthew transformed the attic of his 1901 South Minneapolis “farmhouse” duplex into a beautiful bedroom and office. The full details and more photos are after the jump– this is definitely a project that went from scary to stunning. xo, grace

Photographs by TJ Thoraldson

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entertaining by Amy Azzarito 19

Spring Dinner Party + Grilled Fish Recipe

Santa Barbara Photographer Nancy Neil’s home has remained one of my favorite peeks I’ve ever worked on. There was just something about the rustic family home that tugged at my heart strings. As a frequent wedding photographer, Nancy works with a group of talented Santa Barbara folks. She and chef Ayda Robana decided to create a lakeside dinner party to ring in spring. Ayda created a well thought-out menu that centered around local seafood and farm-to-table ingredients. After creating the party, the group spent the evening talking about their big dreams for the season while eating and sipping passion fruit cocktails. If you’re inspired to host your own springtime dinner, we have the grilled fish recipe and the floral how-to after the jump! -Amy Azzarito

See the grilled fish recipe and flower arranging tips after the jump!

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interviews by Maxwell Tielman 12

Interview: Isabelle Palmer of The Balcony Gardener

Photo by Andrew Montgomery.

Starting a balcony garden or, in my case, a fire escape garden has been on my to-do list for years now. Growing up in Buffalo, one of my favorite things about spring and summer was watching flowers bloom in my family’s front yard. Once the tulips and daffodils began rearing their colorful little heads, I knew that it was officially spring. There’s something peaceful and beautiful about sitting out on the front porch on a hot summer day, watching bees move from flower to flower and listening to the subdued hum of life happening. Although I’m not sure a fire escape garden, small by definition, would match the lush beauty of a full yard, I’ve been desperate to recapture some of this green, summertime romance in my Brooklyn apartment. The only problem: I don’t know the first thing about gardening, let alone gardening for small spaces.

Enter Isabelle Palmer, Balcony Gardener Extraordinaire. The author of The Balcony Gardener and proprietor of a garden supply company of the same title, Isabelle has made a name for herself by providing easy and concise lessons to aspiring urban gardeners. Based in the UK, Isabelle is familiar with the pitfalls that face many a container gardening enthusiast, especially those working in four-seasoned climates. With her relaxed, go-with-the flow approach, clever tips, and talent for creating stunning urban gardens out of underutilized spaces, Isabelle Palmer shows that balcony gardening is not just rewarding, but totally accessible. Isabelle was kind enough to talk with us about her own balcony garden and some of her favorite gardening products— just in time for your own balcony garden planning! Check out the full interview after the jump! —Max

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before and after by Grace Bonney 38

Before & After: David’s Blue Floors

We’ve been feeling the color blue in a BIG way lately. From my Current Obsession with indigo to Amy’s Past & Present on the history of the color, blue has definitely been our color of the moment. So when I saw this makeover from David Ledger in Long Beach, I was hooked. David just redid his kitchen/dining room floor in a beautiful range of blues. In addition to redoing the kitchen’s cabinets and hardware, David removed the existing flooring until they hit the subfloor. After evening the floor, he created a slatted floor design (using tempered masonite) that used seven different colors. He’s still finishing the moldings around the edges, but I couldn’t resist sharing this in it’s 90% finished form. Those colors are just so pretty. There are more photos and the full list of blue paint colors after the jump. Thanks to David for sharing this with us! xo, grace

*If you have a makeover you’d like to share with us, just shoot us an email at submissions [at] designsponge [dot] com.

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sneak peeks by Amy Azzarito 43

Behind the Scenes: Amy’s Home

It’s hard to put into words just how happy I am about this post and the reason we’re writing it today. I’m happy for two main reasons. First, Amy has written a tremendous book, made a beautiful home and has lived an inspiring & courageous life. Second, she had stood by and supported me through more than I can describe and it is with great pleasure that I get a chance to celebrate and support her in such an exciting stage of her life. Amy’s first book, Past & Present, launched last month and we’ve been anxiously awaiting a big story that officially hits stands today: her New York Times debut! If you pick up a copy of today’s paper you’ll see her smiling face (and beautiful living room) looking back at you from the Home & Garden section. In a story entitled “Some Assembly Required”, writer Penelope Green shares Amy’s story, from her close-knit family beginnings in Arkansas to her dedicated pursuit of multiple graduate degrees to her inspiring home, filled with a mix of objects that all have incredible stories. It’s been an honor, and continues to be, to work with Amy and to see my friend and co-worker celebrated in such a big way truly makes my heart- and everyone’s here at D*S- fill with joy.

Amy’s full (19 slides!) home tour and story are in the NY Times today, which you can view online or in print. We aren’t allowed to reprint photos from the Times so instead we turned to our wonderful in-house photographer, Max, to document Amy’s home so we could share it here today, as a companion to the big story. I’ve watched Amy’s home really turn into something special this year, with a lot of hard work, antique hunting and craftiness. From the hauling of an epic Roman wall medallion home from Brimfield to the careful curation of a beautiful grouping of antique seascapes, Amy’s apartment is not only full of inspiring objects and furniture, but it’s also full of love. We’re all so proud of her and hope you’ll check out her article online or in print. And a big thank you to Amy and Max for making today’s special Thursday sneak peek possible. xo, grace

All Photographs by Maxwell Tielman

Image above: Can you see that divot in the right side of the sofa? This is where I sit to work when I’m not at the Design*Sponge office. The rug is from West Elm, the coffee table from BluDot, and the sconce is from Schoolhouse Electric. My mom made the floral needlepoint pillow when she was younger. It was pretty tough so her aunt helped her finish. The seascapes are vintage.

Image above: I turned my ugly brown Billy bookcases into beautiful looking built-ins following instructions from Little Green Notebook. (Note: Painting Ikea furniture is not fun. It took many, many coats to turn those brown bookcases white!) A huge part of my design library is at the Design*Sponge offices. I kept my favorites at home to reference when I was working on Past & Present. I also have a large collection of children’s literature.

Image above: My parents gifted me this vintage library table when I graduated from Library Science school. The photograph is by Leigh Merrill. (She was a photographer working as a pool cleaner in New Mexico. Before cleaning the pools, she would photograph them. The series is here.)

Amy’s full home tour continues after the jump!

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diy by Jessica Marquez 26

Embroidery 101: Running Stitch + Ombre Summer Scarf

I’ve really enjoyed getting to delve deeper into specific craft skills this year, and this month we’re keeping things going with an Embroidery guest series by Jessica Marquez of Miniature Rhino. Over the next four weeks, Jessica will be teaching us an embroidery stitch and a DIY project you can complete with that stitch. We’ll be learning to do a backstitch, satin stitch and French knot, but today we’re starting with the running stitch. The running stitch is a simple but beautiful stitch that is the base for a huge range of sewing projects, including (but not limited to) hand-quilting, mending clothes and embellishing fabrics with decorative details. Today Jessica is using the running stitch to make a simple summer scarf that you can make over the weekend. I hope you’ll enjoy the how-to and stay tuned for next week’s embroidery project! xo, grace

About Jessica: Jessica Marquez is the California-raised, Brooklyn-based maker behind Miniature Rhino. She recently released her first book, Stitched Gifts: 25 Simple and Sweet Embroidery Projects for Every Occasion with Chronicle Books. She teaches embroidery at Purl Soho, Squam Art Workshops and The Brooklyn Craft Camp. She is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in Imaging Arts. You can find more of her work at her blog and Etsy shop.

The full how-to continues after the jump…

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