The Big 1-0-0-0!

I'm excited and freaked out and just the tiniest bit emotional to announce that today is Design Muse's 1,000th post.  Our 1,000th post, people.  I've been cheesing all day just thinking about it...in fact, I even brought in cake batter rice krispy treats to work in celebration.

Since the big 1-0-0-0 calls for some reflection, I got to thinking about my favorite posts over the last few years.  Turns out we've gone through a lot together, you and I.  We've powered through design overhauls and the re-organizing of the blog itself, survived a salon opening and reveled in the excitement of starting a more hands on design business, had some sappy moments (prime examples here and here), mourned a national tragedy, and had a blast doing everything from throwing a Breakfast at Tiffany's themed party to actually having breakfast at Tiffany's.  So!  In lieu of my usual Working For The Weekend links, I decided to use today to count down my top 10 favorite Design Muse posts of all time.  Let's take a quick stroll down memory lane, shall we?

10. Disney Princess Makeovers: I've gone back and laughed at this post dozens of times over the last few years.  It's a personal fave, plain and simple.

9. Crafting with Maps : This short series was a lot of fun to put together and really turned out beautifully.  Ideas that don't cost much and make a fun statement will always top my list!

8. Vintage Beretta: This post is filled with hilarious pictures of outfits I "designed" when I was a kid.  It's ridiculous and laughable but it's always made me smile for a handful of reasons.

7. Gabees Lip Balm: I'm so enamored with my Dad's many "Most Interesting Man In The World" hobbies, so when he named part of his empire after me I was smiley to say the least.

6. My Bedroom and Living Room Makeovers: These particular before and after posts were high points for me for very practical reasons, but even years later I'm still thrilled with how they turned out.  It was important for me to learn first hand that a little bit of re-decorating changed more than just my space, it changed my disposition.

5. Best Day Ever: I'm excited to continue this series in the near future because we had such a great time putting together our first post.  They're sometimes a challenge to orchestrate but I'm determined to make personal style posts a regular part of Design Muse soon and very soon.

4. Project Pep Talk: This post will always be very close to my heart as it centered around a really special present I made for my partner in crime.  It took some time to orchestrate but it was worth every second!

3. Banana Nutella Bread and Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies: When it comes to Foodie Files, these two recipes tied for my favorites...though I think we can all agree the real winner here is Nutella.

2. Amazing Race-Cation (parts 1 and 2): By far the coolest thing I've ever done.  Period.

And my #1 favorite post of all time...

*drumroll*

Table For Twelve Tuscan Night: A breathtaking night and precious memory...up there with my favorite evenings of all time.

So there you have it!  I enjoyed writing (let's be honest...almost) all 1,000 but these 10 have a special place in my heart.  I wish I had words to tell you guys how grateful I am for your willingness to keep coming back and allowing me to share my adventures with you.  The fact that even one person out there would find what I have to say interesting is so humbling to me.  Thanks for showing up and engaging...we've built something pretty cool together, don't you think?  Here's to at least 1,000 more!

Before & After: Our Living Room

I was browsing through old posts today and realized the holiday chaos totally interrupted our before and after series!  I started telling you about our massive three-day redecorating marathon but only got a chance to show pictures from one room (which you should absolutely check out if you haven't already).  In all actuality, we did just about every room, so gather 'round cause there's much more to see.  Our re-worked living room area was one of the biggest success stories of Operation: Redecorate Everything.  We cleaned, organized, adjusted the layout, switched out the color scheme, bought new decor and introduced an entirely different vibe to the space.  Now, every time I walk in the door, I want to do a happy dance.  And sometimes I do.  Check it out for yourself...here's the (admittedly messy and cluttered) before:

And the beautiful, wonderful AFTER:

It's like a brand new place, right?!  I don't even know where to start when it comes to favorite pieces...the West Elm lamp, curtains and pillows make my heart skip a beat, the countless Anthro accessories are crazy pretty, the Max&Bean books add style and substance, the Z Gallerie painting is exactly what I was looking for and the World Market furniture anchors the whole look perfectly.  I'm just thrilled with how it all turned out.  What do you guys think?!

Extreme Home Makeover: My Bedroom

About a month ago (nearly to the day, in fact) I took on a pretty big renovation project...four rooms, top to bottom re-design, with a three day deadline on the vast majority of the work.  As I quickly discovered, there's a reason people don't typically do things like that...cause it's insane.  Fortunately, I had an amazing can-do accomplice (my Mom) and a particularly strong attachment to the space (as it was my house) so we made it work.  Every room turned out beautifully- more lovely than I even imagined they could be- and I'm excited to finally share pictures with you over the next few weeks.

Now, for the disclaimers.  

1) Who knew photographing interiors was so tricky?!  If not for the genius of my sweet friend, Nina, I wouldn't have a blessed thing to share with you today.  She worked every angle of the (somewhat oddly shaped) room to capture the best possible snapshots.  If only you knew the balancing acts, wall sits and near hair-burning experiences involved in getting these pictures (darn those candles), you'd love them all the more.  

2) The one thing I was ill-prepared for has, of course, come back to get me.  I didn't think of taking before pictures 'til the rooms were already in a pre-renovation state of disarray.  That being said, there are a few things I wish I could blame on the makeover that...well...I can't.  The single drape hanging in the window, for example?  That looked exactly that way for a year or more (I know- terrible, right?).  The blank walls and general lack of decor?  That was pretty standard as well.  The only thing you can't really see in the picture (since it's covered in clothes) is the bed.  Other than that, you get the idea.  Bad, bad and more bad.  

But the after on the other hand...well...see for yourself!  I'm just crazy about it.  

A few of my favorite things are:

*The color!  We're Benjamin Moore girls to the core and used their Aura paint (our favorite) in Rendezvous Bay.  For whatever reason it photographed very gray but the true color is to die for gorgeous.

*The bedding we found at Anthropologie.  Those little notes you see?  They're honest to goodness love letters collected from a vintage shop in Brooklyn.  Can't even begin to tell you how much I love that.

*The recycled dresser.  We replaced the knobs and voila!  Brand spanking new.

*The personal touches...this- above any and everything else- is what makes a room.  Between the bottles of my family's homemade wine, the cigar boxes and the mini art wall filled with things that remind me of my family and where I grew up (Beretta ribbon, a picture my Dad drew, etc.), I couldn't forget about the important things in life if I wanted to.  And that makes me happy.

Although I'm sure I'll continue to tweak the space over the next few months, I'm over the moon delighted with how far it's come so far.  Sooooo....what do you think?

Before & After: My NJ Chambers

When I graduated from college my parents bought me a present they knew was right up my alley- a brand new room.  New furniture, new bed, new light fixtures, new decor- and to top it off, they handed me the reins and gave me full decorative control.  It was awesome.  I was about halfway through assembling my dream room when I accepted a job in Miami, Florida and the project came to a screeching halt.  And there it's remained- stuck in limbo for four years.  Tragic, right?  Well something finally snapped in both my mother and I this last week and, despite the fact that we had more on our to-do list than quite possibly ever before, we managed to give my old room a tiny bit of much needed attention.  With a little help from the Lillian's Paintbrush crew, we had the space painted and reworked in less time than it takes to watch a Harry Potter movie.

Due to the time crunch, we got all our key pieces from Pier 1 and Target (AKA 'ol faithful).  I love the color of the pillows we chose, but my favorite touch is the mini-gallery of photos from our Breakfast at Tiffany's Table for Twelve...it compliments my oversized Audrey picture brilliantly.  I think- all things considered- it came together quite nicely!  You like?

Before & After w/ Lillian's Paintbrush

It's really amazing what a touch of design savvy and a little paint and can do.  Check out how the crew at Lillian's Paintbrush transformed this room- it's a brand new space!

The ceiling is my favorite part.  I mean seriously, to-die-for-gorgeous.  Here's a close up for you...

Like what you see?  Wanna see more?  Check out Lillian's portfolio by clicking here!