Old Navy

Anyone who's ever searched for navy paint knows it's not as easy as it sounds. A practically perfect paint swatch turns a violent violet on your walls, another looks chalky and yet another slightly brown. Without some guidance, it can be a fruitless and frustrating quest (with far too many hours spent in paint sections of various home improvement stores). Determined to find the best blue out there, I hit the books and came across this:

Benjamin Moore Old Navy. It's paint swatch perfection.

Dialing Up the Draper

Ah the bathroom. While I may dream of a palatial powder room complete with a double vanity, claw foot tub, maybe even a chaise lounge...I am a New Yorker dwelling in a pre-war abode and have some grasp on reality (most of the time). So how does one add some water closet wow to a 5 x 9 marble box? I needed to look no further than to the doyenne of decorating and first lady of fabulous - Miss Dorothy Draper. Her signature style stamp of dull white and shiny black stripes would fit the bill perfectly. A little black paint, a laser level, and a fumes headache that lasted a week, was all it took to Draper-ize the bathroom. An inexpensive interior wow factor. Now all that's missing is that chaise. Dorothy would approve.

Classic Dorothy & my Draper-ized Bathroom

As I Lay Me Down to Sleep

After having my fill of dreary Manhattan rentals with grey-white walls and crown moldings with 64 layers of paint, being able to choose the colors that would adorn the walls was quite a thrill...and also quite daunting. Having determined early on that my beloved pink would grace the foyer, next up was my bedroom. Growing up in the heyday of Laura Ashley - I had little experience with anything that wasn't pink bow-adorned wallpaper. I was searching for something sophisticated, simple and with a little bit of glam. Already the proud owner of multiple pieces of mirrored furniture, my attraction to that vintage Hollywood aesthetic was unavoidable, but I also wanted my bedroom to be soothing. I live on this teensy little side street called Fifth Avenue and while the cars (and M5 bus) fly by just below me, I need the color to feel quiet and cocooned. So to my trusty House Beautiful archives I went - et voila - Benjamin Moore Windmill Wings. It's the perfect pastel backdrop for this gal to rejuvenate and revive. Plus it reflects beautifully of all my mirrored casegoods...now if only I can keep my penchant for reflective furniture under control.