today’s second sneak peek comes from creative director and prop stylist, olga naiman. olga styled for domino magazine on a regular basis and was the event designer for the magazine’s various events over the years. she currently designs spaces for magazines, catalogs, events, restaurants, and is a creative director for a visual brand development business she is starting with communications strategist amy morris this summer. . her home oozes the sort of style that i can only aspire to one day have, so i’ll cut to the chase and let these beautiful images, and olga’s text, do the talking. [thank you to tara donne for sharing these photos with us, you can visit tara's site right here]
[When I moved into this Williamsburg, Brooklyn railroad, I decided I'd spend as little money as possible on re-doing the apartment while staying true to my design aesthetic. Except for the pricey living room rug (vintage Madeline Weinrib at ABC), everything is from flea markets/hand-me-downs/ebay/Ikea : and my goal was to pull everything together and make everything feel like a deliberate choice, not a collection of randomness. I wanted to create an charming, easygoing, imperfect yet intriguing space with each room conveying a different mood. There were no doors in my apartment (save for the bathroom), and I decided to not go to the cost of putting them on. I put curtains onto each doorway instead, and they created softness and provided privacy. The bedroom fits the bed and not much else. Buying a headboard and footboad would have taken away precious inches from the narrow walkway of my railroad, so instead of a bedskirted boxspring on legs situation (felt too formal, too closed in), I went industrial (and cheap!) with these home depot cement blocks. I put a plank of wood on the blocks to provide support for the mattress...but decided the setup needed some glam. The gold painted on 'headboard' poshed up the room and add some glitz to the industrial cobbled together bed....the gold lamps pushed it even more into glam. Yellow bedside table from A&G Merch in Williamsburg (around $250)*Top Image by Ditte Isager]
[The living room was windowless pass through room with the ugliest stucco walls imaginable. I decided to not spend the money on redoing the walls, and hung fabric on them instead, for a rich, Tangiers in the 70's opium lounge feel. I bought the low silver coffee table (around $150) at Butala Emporium in Queens and some pink sarree fabric (around $75) from one of the many saree shops across the street from Butala Emporium. The sleek 1970's chair is from ebay (around $200).....and this couch was the tiniest I could find, 55", that folded out into a double bed. It came from Surprise Surprise in NYC, and was also around $250. I never had good art, but solved the problem by hanging what I did have in an interesting way. *Image by Ditte Isager]
[The Office: The front room + biggest room in the apartment. I spent the most time there working and consuming endless cups of coffee. It faces the street and gets the most light. The middle curtain panel hides a HUGE brown air conditioning unit that was inserted into the wall in the 70's. The curtain could be pulled aside when the air conditioning is on during the summer months. I tacked all my inspiration pictures right onto the wall to the left of the desk, willy-nilly. I bought these file cabinets through craigslist (they were a beat up black) and had them spray painted a fresh apple green. Pink and gold vase from Ikea (around $60). Stainless steel plant pot under the desk is used as paper recylce bin (around $75)]
[The kitchen was big (for NYC) but had no counterspace to speak of. The pluses where pretty 1950's appliances and the nook sink that I prettified with some lace I bought off ebay. I went to home depot and knocked together this open cupboard/countertop which is perfect for preparing food. I filled the walls with Eastern European odds and ends to push the vibe into eastern european granny kitchen, and make the whole thing visually cohesive. The kitchen table is a Saarinen knock-off from Ikea (about $200). *Third Image Above by Ditte Isager]
CLICK HERE for additional, full-sized images after the jump!
[*Image by Ditte Isager]
[*Image by Ditte Isager]
