Carrie's Brownstone, v.2.0

There were a few audible gasps in the movie theater during Sex and the City: The Movie. Relax, I'm not giving anything away for the four of you who read my blog and haven't seen the flick yet. I'm talking about the response to Carrie's apartment remodel.

The audience, 99 percent female, lived through six seasons of "I had to wonder"-thoughts and watched her type them out on her Macbook in that apartment. (BTW - have fun on Carrie's Macbook Pro here. I'm already addicted.) But in the movie, the gray neutrals and mismatched bohemian pieces gave way to brights and grown-up clean lines.

Casa Sugar interviewed the set designer Jeremy Conway about his vision for the room, and will have more details tomorrow....I'm so hoping they give some insight on Carrie's 70s-inspired mural, which totally caught my eye. I think it says "LOVE" but I only saw the movie twice in a 24-hour period, so who can really be sure? Ha.

Thanks to Casa Sugar we do know that the walls were painted a custom blend very similar to Benjamin Moore's Electric Blue. The Chicago Tribune says the paint, Benjamin Moore's No. 2061-40, is about $45 a gallon. It completely makes me rethink blue, which I previously relegated to little boy rooms and cheesy nautical-themed living spaces.


The coffee table the gals gather around for a shower - how vague of me - comes from the always-intense ABC Carpet & Home. (My two trips to ABC Carpet & Home went like this: the first time, I had no idea there was more than one floor and thought it was full of only chandeliers and Indian-inspired rugs and on the second trip, the elevator was broken and I called it a day at the floor with the overpriced Frette linens.)

Check out the old skool Carrie suite here, where there's also some scans of the Traditional Home issue that covers the apartment remodel. I like their suggestion to find a rug similar to the one at the foot of her bed, especially since it looks more of an eggplant than black and white on second glance. Love these Thomas Paul rugs!


All in all, a great redesign, but I had to wonder...where did her kitchen go? I mean, I know she uses the stove to store sweaters, but a culinary appliance is nowhere to be found!

Ode to Organization

Since January is the month designated for tax preparation, self-loathing, football and cleaning out closets, it's only natural the topic of organizing one's crap has been circulating amongst my friends and family this week.

During these conversations, I've decided Sterilite boxes are absolutely the most ineffective way for me to organize myself. You know, the ones you can stack in your closet and conveniently seal with duct tape when you move? They give you a false sense of organization. You actually don't have to deal with what's inside as long as you can keep stacking, resealing and avoiding. Hi, my name is Brianne, and I'm a Sterilite-aholic. (Hi, Brianne...) I'm really trying to break away from this nasty habit, and I will succeed in 2008.

Since I'm a curator of crap, I've decided to edit my collection a bit. I realized my own personal hoarding habits hit an all-time low when I was cleaning out my closet on MLK day. I had a collections of term papers, insanely complicated scrap booking supplies (they look like you'd use them to conduct arthroscopic surgery), unorganized photos and bills from, oh....2001. This has got to stop. Now that most of the junk is gone, I've been hunting and gathering for an upkeep method that might actually work with my lifestyle, and I think I've come up with a few tips that are universally helpful. These are my three resolutions for this year. Let's see if I actually stick to them.

1. Organization is like brushing your teeth.
It's needed daily, apparently. For those managing a household out there, my sister is raving about flylady.net. It's a day-by-day system of getting your house under control when you're in what they call CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome.) It starts off with just bleaching and shining your sink. I don't have quite the amount of mess a household with children might, but I like the philosophy of taking baby steps, and I'm sure moms that barely have time to shower will, too.

2. Treat my closet like a shrine.
I need to remember my closet contains clothing and shoes - you know that stuff I spend a ton of money on? My closet probably has the most value-per-square-foot of anywhere in the house, so why am I treating it like a red-headed stepchild? Instead of allowing sweaters and dresses to fall off the hangar and possibly meet their demise, I should probably keep it clean.

Anyway, a word about closets - there are a million opinions and preferences of how to organize this space. Lifehacker says to organize your closet left to right with outfits so you won't ever "overwear" anything. In an effort to rid herself of things she never wears, my former roommate Suzie has designed a system which she hangs her hangars backwards, and returns them to the closet the right way only after wearing them once or laundering them. After a month, all clothing on backward hangars goes to Goodwill. Harsh, but effective!

Another site has a four-box system of cleaning your closet that I could have used when I was knee-deep in birthday cards from 1999 and high school swim team shirts. They recommend "Box C" for items you are emotionally attached to, but unready to give up. It says to leave it be for a month, and if you don't use them, give to charity. Real Simple, patron of organization, gives 12 tips from "closet pros" (what a job) and they say "NO more wire hangars!" Haha.

3. Stop buying ugly boxes, or lack thereof.
There's a reason why I am unorganized. I refuse to spend money on shoe boxes or anything from The Container Store, because I'd rather spend it on things that are "fun." But really, if you can't find anything and your place looks like crap, all the Voluspa candles and west elm vases in the world won't make your apt look decent.


So, I'm taking note of Domino's cute ideas to be an organized individual. I especially liked their spread on Rashida Jones' place that showed me if they can make 400 square feet look good, I should be able to get it together. In fact, I think everyone should bookmark their "Get Organized" section. Speaking of west elm, I rather enjoy their canvas boxes to keep my crap calm, cool and collected.

To commit myself to this journey to organizational enlightenment, I'm aiming to post photos of my work. That will hopefully keep me on track, because who wants to broadcast photos of their messy room? Stay tuned...

I heart d*s

Apparently, I'm on a blog-posting roll today.

Last one, seemingly dedicated only to my love of Design*Sponge...how I love thee...let me count the ways.

No one else can make me feel giddy about ottomans and existentially happy about rocking chairs. If you're not reading, start. It will get you going on that early-in-the-year feeling that you're finally going to make your abode say something about yourself. Personally, my two-story Irvine suburban condo is saying "Brianne really likes plain walls" but I'm resigned to it, successfully convincing myself it's that white-washed shabby chic thing.

d*s is home to many a great idea. Grace Bonney and her team seem to scan the universe of shelter mags and blogs that results in a superbly edited collection of cuteness. If you're feeling crafty, check out their DIY section. Don't miss their weekly wrap-up post if you're pressed for time. And if you're traveling to a new city soon, check out their plentiful city design guides. Here come some random d*s photos just to get you going....enjoy!

my friend megan would dig this.

she specializes in loving adorable flowers in small bowls.

is that peony wallpaper? love the lamp.

this console-as-a-desk makes me want a laptop, real bad.

shall i ever get a ginormous collection of books and a non-working fireplace,

this will be the look for me.

cat + anthropologie-like bedding = a good time to me

i have a similar yellow/pink/green combo

in my room, and it seems to work.

How to paint a "headboard"

The new year is all about setting really unrealistic goals for yourself that you might not meet, but they were pretty fun to make. Like "get abs of steel" or "clean out my scary closet."

So I'll just go ahead and qualify my excuse as "I live in an rented condo" for why I can't make use of this fun idea to paint a faux headboard in one weekend. The idea is from Apartment Therapy, which has been giving me design envy for quite some time.


The color pink is pretty intense, but mellowed out by all the white bedding. Plus, I really dig the mirror over the bed. Hopefully you have a nice landlord or own your home sweet home, so you can take advantage of this cool idea.

As if trying to dress like Carrie wasn't enough...

Since I'm just copying CasaSugar for the time being, let's also point out they are giving us tips on how to copy Carrie from SATC's home style. Hey is it just me, or did you ever notice the heinously Southwestern/1980s rug in front of her bed? How did that get in there? And I thought you weren't supposed to put things on radiators? Hmm....this could be my California ignorance talking.

Anyway, they go on to link to products you can buy to emulate the Carrie style. My roommate, who has been dying to find a version of Carrie's muted bedding for years, will be mucho pleased that she waited it out and didn't purchase the $300+ bedding from Anthropologie that she had lukewarm feelings about. I'm wondering if this Calvin Klein collection will do the trick for her.

I so love that they're even giving us an option to buy a faux "Aidan Chair." Recently, they also showed how to get the Miranda Hobbes look, which I think is more suited to my taste. I've always loved her sunburst mirror and am thinking about getting one in the near future. I'm also a fan of her crystal ball lamps. I purchased two very similar versions from Target back in March for super cheap, $35 each! Restoration Hardware, eat your heart out.

Interesting tips! I'll definitely be on the look out for any Charlotte or Samantha "get the look" information.

Shabby Chic, Literally

There are many things I will not do. I will not buy a perfume made by Paris Hilton. I will not put garbanzo beans on my salad. And I will not live in a trailer park...or would I?

For most of my adult life, I've thought the idea of inhabiting a trailer park might be one of the least desirable housing options possible. However, I'm having second thoughts after knowing of a chic couple who bought a doublewide in Malibu, Calif., and after seeing this Shabby Chic-inspired version.

I tend to enjoy a tad more color than we're seeing here, but this 2,016-square-foot residence has got to win the Best Doublewide O' the Year Award. The Kentucky mobile home was featured in Country Living, that has to mean something. I really love all the distressed wood and the black/white, somewhat Parisian theme. I'm actually really surprised the construction of this mobile home can support some intense-looking wall mounts...all the more power to these antique enthusiasts, though!

Really beats plastic yard flamingos and TV trays, eh?