nadja lavin has had a whirlwind year and a half. in july 2008, she got married in berlin, moved from germany to cambridge, massachusetts in december 2008, moved again -into this apartment – in the summer of 2009 and had daughter helena louise in september 2009! whew! nadia is a textile and interior designer. she currently works primarily with screen printing but also enjoys crochet, embroidery and drawing. somehow, she’s managed to keep up with it all, – and create a home that’s bright, happy and family-centric! {thanks nadja!} -amy a.

[I had been living in Cambridge for 7 months when we moved to this apartment. It was the first apartment that we got together to live in as a family - I was 7 months pregnant at the time. So decorating the space meant bringing together both our lives while at the same time preparing for our daughter. I wanted the house to feel very easy - with inviting places to sit, lounge, lay, nap, roll around on the floor and play. I was inspired by the simplicity and density of material and color of a Bedouin tent - pillows, blankets and a good rug on the floor. All the textiles are in a pallet of strong colors that work well together. There is a mix of old and new pieces - things I brought from Berlin, things my husband had from his childhood in Chicago, and the toys and things that belong to our daughter. So everything had to be brought together in a way that wouldn't look like a stall at the flea-market.]

[photo above: The rug and striped pillows in the living room are wonderful vintage pieces from Marrakech we got via Berlin from our friend who has a beautiful space, Elgarafi, where she sells all kinds of things she picks up on her travels. The circles and two black shapes on the mantle are nadjamueller. The watercolor is a piece by Berlin artist Jonas Lipps.]

[photo above: The crocheted lampshade is nadjamueller. The poof is one of my pieces and is a work-in-progress! I found the coffee table at Reside, a great vintage store in Boston.]

[photo above: Dining area: The black lacquered table is vintage. The black chairs are by Konstantin Gricic and the artwork is Alexandra Kolb, - an AMAZING photographer!  The lampshade is nadjamueller. There is no electricity in the ceilings so as a work-around all lamps have to be attached to a socket on floor level!]

CLICK HERE for the rest of Nadja’s peek!

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i know it’s not DIY day yet, but i loved these wall decoration projects too much to wait until wednesday. photographer stephanie williams recently shot a lookbook for clothing company ruche that involved creating all sorts of playful backdrops for the clothes. though the final result was a clothing shoot, stephanie loved that the backdrops were so easily translated into fun home decorating or party details, that she sent over a link to ruche’s blog where they actually teach you how to recreate the look (paper flowers + book wallpaper/shelves) in your own home. so if you’re looking for some fun home, party, or diy wedding decorations, click here to check out ruche’s how-tos online. thanks to stephanie for the tip!

[photography by stephanie williams, art direction by mai from ruche]

one of the people i was really delighted to work with on the d*s book was artist kathy dalwood. kathy has an amazing home that will be shown in full in the book, but she also produces really stunning concrete figurines, plaster friezes, and concrete urn sculptures.

i’ve always had an appreciation of classic sculpture, but i really love when more traditional designs are mixed in with something that feels more contemporary or rough. so kathy’s concrete figurines are a favorite of mine. inspired by her collection of 18th century-style porcelain figurines, kathy decided to use concrete to cast the pieces and create a rougher, miniature version of the original. i love the rough surface of the sculptures, due in part to the texture of the raw concrete- it’s such a nice, modern contrast to the sort of “fancy” feel of porcelain figurines.

kathy documents the process of creating these beautiful figurines, friezes and urns on her studio blog, where you can learn the backstory of each piece and watch as it comes to life. her latest series of figurines, shown above casted in plaster, had unexpected objects (like castles, doll house accessories and fruit bowls), cast and added to them like costumes. i really love the way the way the material picks up all of the detail of those materials and adds an extra bit of playfulness to the pieces. you can check out all of kathy’s pieces on her studio blog right here, or contact her via her main website to discuss commissioning any of these sculptural works from her. and stay tuned for a little sneak peek of her home in the coming months before the book comes out!

good morning! it’s grey and cold in brooklyn this morning (i think i got spoiled by that sunny 70 degree saturday, argh) so i thought i’d kick off the day with some colorful new pieces from thomas paul. thomas’ spring 2010 collection is full of colorful pillows, table linens, and my favorite- a series of shawls with bold graphic prints on them. ac and i just booked a little anniversary get away to miami so i’m already on the lookout for coverups and that octopus print would be so cute- especially when my pale skin starts to demand relief from the florida sun. the full collection is going out to stores now so stay tuned for these new pieces in shops near you soon. in the meantime, you can check out thomas’ current collection online and contact them for information on the new line right here.

my mission for spring has been to fill my house with as much greenery as possible. my cut flower obsession (while it still exists) is slowly being replaced by a hankering for potted plants i can tend to on a regular basis. i’ve been eyeing these woolly pockets for a while, which allow you to plant and hang flowers without installing something more heavy duty on the wall. i especially love the idea of painting an accent wall, like the image above, and using that to set off the plants inside. so i think i’m going to bite the bullet and try one of these suckers out. so as i head off to find some new plants for hanging, i thought i’d leave you with these beautiful woolly pockets- maybe they’ll inspire someone else to create an indoor garden this weekend. i’ll see you on monday- until then, i hope you have a great weekend and check out the links from this week’s highlights below:

• must-read posts of the week: outstanding in the field
• sneak peeks:rosetta santucci,  heather chontos, zoe of cloth clothing
• new city guide: milwaukee guide
• under $100: table lamps
• biz ladies: first time funding-what is it and how to get it
• living in: coal miner’s daughter
• diy projects: sewing notions display art, from inspiration to reality, pinecone fire starter, ikea blankö woven jute table, sewing 101: making a duvet cover
• before & afters: jayne’s chair + lara’s kitchen, maria’s chevron wall + liz’s fabric wall, nia’s desk + setteenia’s desk + settee
• we like it wild: stawberry/chocolate wreath centerpiece
• small measures with ashley: diy natural stress reducers
• in the kitchen with: stacy newgent’s apple dumpling recipe
• artwork: new: ashley g “i’d rather be” prints, playing with pictures: the art of victorian photocollage, MET security guard collages [update: by jonathan hull], the heads of state: travel posters
• misc: new: flowie 2010 tea towels, bell jar table lamp, steamline luggage

Grace stumbled across Indianapolis-based food photographer Stacy Newgent’s work a couple of weeks ago and we were immediately captivated by her portfolio.  We were even happier when she said she’d share her grandmother’s recipe for Apple Dumplings with us! We hope you enjoy this as much as we did- Happy Cooking! -Kristina

About Stacy:  Stacy is a freelance photographer living in Indianapolis, IN. Although she shoots a variety of subjects she am happiest photographing food and restaurants for cookbooks or editorial assignments.  Her blog can be found here: Swell Photo Blog.

CLICK HERE for the full apple dumpling recipe after the jump!

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[image sources, clockwise from top left: tongue in cheek, tourism bc, thorny pup at flickr, the daily green, join my candle team, prevention.com]

There are certain times in a person’s life that are characterized by stress. Waiting to find out if you landed that job you’re seriously hoping for. Going into labor. Wondering if the person you pine for returns your affections. Navigating morning rush hour traffic. Driving steeply, and precariously, downhill in the Badlands of South Dakota when your car’s brakes begin to burn and you find it very, very hard to keep from careening over a cliff (nothing like a cross-country road trip to provide a lifetime’s worth of thrills and almost spills!).

Lately, my life has been riddled with stress. It’s good stress, but stress, all the same. I’m closing in on the publication my first two books, I’m working through three days worth of photo shoots on the third, and I’m almost at the finish line of the fourth, due this coming Monday. I’m a bit stressed, frazzled, fatigued; so much so, in fact, that my left eye has been twitching, for, well, months. It has become my “tell.” If I reply when asked how I’m doing that I’m totally chill, feeling great, etc., and yet you witness my left eye twitch, you know I’m not giving it to you straight. The eye won’t lie.

To keep the right eye from also twitching, and to continue forging ahead until all of the jobs are done (as well as continue to be a lovable, compassionate, empathic, and engaged spouse in whose company my husband would like to remain-not to mention, be able to stay awake to make it all the way through Lost ), I’ve been partaking of a wide variety of do-it-yourself all-natural stress reducers. All of them tried-and-true, I thought that for today’s Small Measures with Ashley I’d share my tension tamers with you, in the highly likely event that you might someday encounter some stress of your own.

CLICK HERE for ashley’s stress relieving diy recipes after the jump!

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i’m a fabric girl, so i can rarely pass up a new fabric collection. this new series from mokum textiles in australia called ‘moderne‘ has a great mix of patterns inspired by the 20s. i’m really partial to the brown colorways in the collection, but you can click here to view the full collection (and read more about its inspiration) right here. thanks, rebecca!

ac was out with friends last night so i spent a good chunk of my evening geeking out on the web. and, as if i needed another reason to love the new york public library, i fell in love with it all over again last night while i poured through their digital galleries. i spent the majority of my time in the arts & literature section, oohing and ahhing over the ‘ornament and pattern: pre-victorian to art deco‘ gallery and was totally overwhelmed (in the best way possible) by the butterfly and pattern pages. if you’re looking for a little friday morning (or full weekend) inspiration, click here to check out the nypl’s digital galleries.

*you can actually buy the images in print form (framed or unframed) by clicking the “buy” icon above each individual image!

To celebrate all the warm weather we’re having and the beginning of Spring this week, we decided to make a living wreath centerpiece for a sunny weekend brunch party. This is also a fun project for DIY event centerpieces because you can make them well ahead of time. You can use any small plants of your choice that come in in 6 packs or 4″ containers available at your local nursery. We used Sequoia Strawberry plants, a viney chocolate mint herb, and petite clusters of our favorite honey smelling Alyssum in a “pastels” mix. Because of the way this wreath is planted (unlike hanging wreaths each plant is not individually wired onto a moss frame and given time to root) it is best used laying flat on a table as opposed to being hung from a ribbon. It should last about 4-6 weeks if watered every few days and gets bright indirect light. You may also choose to replant the strawberries and mint into pots or your garden when your wreath outgrows its shape.

CLICK HERE for the full wreath centerpiece how-to after the jump!

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