In a Nesty mood


A Home magazine is coming by in a week to photograph my space so this week I am motivated to fix it up a bit. (Understatement!) I have 7 days to finish curtains, hang more art, paint my bathroom and buy matching hand towels. yikes! I am also gonna finish the salon wall in the livingroom.

For inspiration I turned to this gorgeous Salon wall which I found on the cover and in the March issue of Elle Decor (US). It is the library of Ellen Rakieten decorated by Nate Berkus and Anne Coyle and I just love it.
I love the gutsy choice of paint (Farrow and Ball's Off Black) plus the mix of textures + periods such as the ikat pillow paired with the traditional chair. My absolute fave element in the room is the crow painting. I just love it in the white frame especially when contrasted with the big gilded mirror.

This is the kind of cozy room I would gladly tuck away in for a week with a good book.

WOW: Lecture by Apartment Therapy Founder Maxwell Gillingham - Ryan


Ok for anyone in need of career inspiration or motivation I suggest you listen to this lecture pronto. It's another in the wonderful Creative Morning series organized by Tina Roth Eisenberg. (aka swiss miss)

Maxwell Gillingham Ryan discusses in depth the wonderfully circuitous career path which eventually led to launching one of the world's most successful design blogs. Pre Apt therapy he had worked as both a design assistant (gluing glitter on fruit for christmas balls )and an elementary school teacher at the Waldorf school. In 2001 he decided to merge his two passion of Design and Teaching to create his own very unique vocation - an Apartment Therapist. I really love that he merged two worlds - this is always a good recipe for creating something unique and fresh. In the talk he goes on to discuss the growth of the Apt therapy "empire' and shares many of his insights on the power of social media and the future of blogging.
Really inspirational.
ps. As a good accompaniment to this talk I recommend reading his first book Apartment Therapy. Really great - I read it in one sitting.