What's New at Design Trade in the Strip District

April is the time when new fabrics are rolled out by the most discerning fabric houses. Interior designers were invited to Design Trade in the Strip District to preview the new collections. It was a festive and inspiring time!

 

My favorites were from opposite ends of the decorating scale. Classic and clean versus edgy and quirky.

Thibaut showed some crisp traditional fabrics with a twist. 

By the way, we were so inspired by the butterfly paper above we decided to  use it in a little girl's bedroom as an accent wall. 

My other favorite from the Spring Market preview was a French company,  Élitis. Sometimes highly textured, sometimes three dimensional, and sometimes completely out of scale.  Just fantastic. Their coverings work in both  both comercial as well a residential environments.

See you,

Christina

New Colors from Ducduc

Ducduc and their sister company, The New Traditionalist,  has revamped their finishes for their children's line of furniture. Once a custom request, now a standard option,  colorful finishes are offered on their cribs, changers and children's bedroom furniture. The range of choices makes decorating a baby's nursery or a child's bedroom a colorful experience! I visited the showroom in NYC to check out their new offerings..

A sneak peak at the new catalog..

A great twist on a traditional changer/dresser...

Modern cribs get more color..

A simple kids desk..

Love this transitional crib...

More color for a baby's changer...

See you...

Christina

Girls Style- British Style

London is the center of attention right now!  Queens Jubilee, the Olympics and the Doherty trip celebrating our son's graduation. We made our plans to go to London  during one of those really dark days in February. I never really thought about London in the context of the Summer events. Wow, now I realize how sparkling it will be at the beginning of July. British style is all the rage! London is the" it" city. This week I started working on a little girl's bedroom,  that will celebrate one of England's finest  home decor exports, wallpaper. We will use this English wallpaper below with the pretty pink flowers. Interestingly, we would like to mix in some contemporary pieces which I think would look great with this paper.

I love how the British mix their patterns and use wallpaper as a staple in rooms.

Designers Guild is always over the top with layering of patterns from ceiling to floor.

Betsy Johnson from Elle Decor UK.

Other British bedrooms...

Celebrate British Style!

See you,

Christina

Cowhide Monogrammed Pillows

These beautiful pillows are custom made for Cici Crib in the most beautiful hand dyed cowhide. It is an heirloom pillow that can work in a luxurious baby's nursery to a super chic tween  bedroom. Or a nice splurge for a master bedroom or living room.

 

Our sample for the shop..

See more about them in our online shop at http://www.cicicrib.com/browse.cfm/monogrammed-cow-hide-pillow/4,447.html.

See you,

Christina

Visit to Bebe Chic

I got a chance to visit one of my vendors that make so much of our beautiful custom  children's bedding at Cici Crib. Located directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Bebe Chic is just one of my favorites. Each piece is made locally and with such care and quality. I am always excited to open up the box to see how our vision was translated. Our current look is made by Bebe Chic..

Her very efficient and organized workroom...

Some inspiring classic fabrics ...

Creating very classic bed skirts...

New looks being put together..

Some customers prefer quilts to duvets. An example of their quilting...

I picked a fabric for my new Spring bed...

Can't wait to see how it turns out.

See you... Christina

Highpoint Part II

This is a story of two vendors. I saw them on the same day and they couldn't have been more different. Visiting  Bevera Design House, I felt like I was at my mother's dining room table raking over all the new acquisitions she had purchased at the latest auction.  I think I could have spent all day there sipping tea and chatting about their collection.  A very personable and inspired group of artists that sell a very well curated group of products and art. Each piece in their collection has a real story behind it.

I particularly liked the work of Rebecca Szeto. She took the thorns from the lower branches of  rose bushes and created Kiss. Not only  do the thorns make a statement, but notice how the shadows cast another element to the piece.

Szeto also recycled her old paint brushes and created little personalities. Just as a side note, the brushes below are sitting on a console made out of  discarded NASCAR parts.

From there we went to see the Lily Pulitzer Home collection. What a complete difference. Like going from an intimate theater production to Broadway. A sharply produced commercial production that was just  fantastic.

The entrance was inviting.

The collection was so Palm Beach sunny. It was too bad we couldn't get much more from the showroom staff as they were pretty indifferent to say the least.

Below is a jewelry and lingerie station . Can you believe how useful this is..

Talk about storage. Looks like an "ordinary" Lilly Pulitzer ottoman.

But no, shoe storage as well..

The spirit was bold throughout the showroom...

Lily is a major fan of pink and green. A favorite decorating palette for a girl's bedroom..

It was a fun day at market! See you...

Christina

Warhol and the Poodle Part II

We finally got some good pics of the client that had the Warhol in her little daughter's room!  See  first post. Just to reiterate, her daughter was moving into a big girl's bed and the mom wanted to make her room a little more hip. The mom didn't want to change everything about the room. She already purchased the big girl bedding.  The window treatments and some furniture would remain as well.

The first thing we did was remove the chair rail. No more crib. A big girl bed was in order.

The little coffee table was custom sized so the little girl can use it as a table with her little chairs.  The chairs also have double duty as a step stool to get in  and out of bed.

The  sofette fits nicely in the space.

She needed a pretty, but bookshelf for all her favorite things...

A real pop of pink make it oh so sweet..

But her most favorite thing is the poodle lamp!

See you..

Christina

A Ray of Sunshine

When I was a little girl, my favorite color was yellow.  Bright, sunshine yellow. A customer wanted to put a little zing in her daughter's bedding to fit her personality. She wanted it to be simple with a splash. We chose  Serena and Lily's  classic bedding in berry with yellow marni euro shams and a great bolster made by Bebe Chic.

A touch of yellow is just so lovely. Love these rooms...

Lily Z Designs

Palmer Weiss

See you...

Christina

Vintage Crystal lamps for a little girl's bedroom

Crystal boudoir lamps were very popular from the 1940s-1960s.  They can be  the perfect touch for a little girl's bedroom. They make some reproductions today, which for the most part are made of plastic. The vintage lamps are twinkling crystal. At Cici Crib they make a transformation from dusty, rusty lamps to beautiful table lamps. I take the lamps apart, replace old pieces and CLEAN them. Then they are sent out to be rewired. Finding the correct shade is a whole other story. The lamp bases are too big for chandelier shades and too small for most lamp shades. Eventually we find the correct drop and have them custom banded in pretty colors.  Tons of time and love are put in before they reach their final destination.

The lamp below is trimmed in one of the most beautiful calm lavender  linen from Rogers and Goffigon. It is going into a nursery that  I will photograph shortly.

See you..

Christina

Nursery for a special baby girl

I got a call from a dad who wanted to do a surprise nursery for his wife and new baby daughter. Both mother and daughter were having a bit of a rough go, and were in the hospital when he called me. I could hear his worry and love for his family over the phone. His wife admired a little girl's room, that I had decorated and blogged about.   There was no one to make design decisions. He wanted a nursery like the little girl's bedroom and it had to be pink. Be positive and move quickly forward. We got much of the room together in 6 weeks.  It was entirely custom. A huge feat, which I must really thank my vendors for making such accommodations. It was a nursery that would grow into the little girl's bedroom.  The changer would be very temporary. They needed adequate storage and a comfortable glider to feed the baby.

This was the room before...

I decided not to wallpaper the entire room, as the wall's quirky angles  would hinder the look of the paper. We did one wall. It looked like an outline of a house. Perfect. I chose a sunny yellow crib to welcome the little one home.

This very traditional armoire  looks a bit more transitional, when we added the lattice fabric.  It will be nicely centered against the wall when additional muscle arrives. It is a solid piece.

So sweet...

It was really a very rewarding job. Baby is just thriving and I've gotten to finally know the lovely mom.

See you...

Christina

The sofette

I posted about a little girl's bedroom  I was working on in April.  It was the room with the poodle lamp. I will show it shortly, as we are still waiting for a few key items. Mainly the  poodle lamp itself.  Backordered since April,  the waiting is driving  me crazy. We also needed  a very small sofa. Not really a loveseat, more like a sofette. Something so very petite, but can fit an adult as well as a child.  There are really no little sofas out there that work for a child. Why is furniture so oversized??  We liked the Jonathon Adler junior lampert sofa. But the dimensions are for a child. It is tiny and very uncomfortable for an adult.

So we changed the dimensions, and angled the seat to make it more comfortable. We had it made by a great workroom in Mount Vernon, NY. I got a little tour of the place. From carpentry to upholstery a piece which starts out on paper comes to life...

So many interesting custom made pieces. Much of their work is for hotels and restaurants...

Then there was our sofette..

And finally in the room. Perfect for a little girl and her mom...

See you... Christina

Girl's bedroom with lots of Flair

A mom asked me for help in finishing the decorating of her daughter's room. She already purchased the furniture and some fabric and wallpaper. Now she asks me to make it all work. This can be a very difficult task and  sometimes it can really work out smoothly. Her new furniture  is fairly modern, but the new wallpaper is pretty traditional. Here are her items. The top piece is the wallpaper and the fabrics below the wallpaper  are all very raspberry.

I chose some  fabric, trim and carpet to pull it together. The new carpet to me is so very important. The client is  unfortunately on the fence about it.

I would really like to use this lamp that I did for another customer. This client loved the lamp. She described it as a girl in a ball gown..

I chose some additional pieces that would complement the client's pieces.

A great ball chair...

And a nice bench for the foot of the bed...

There is a dressing room that is sandwiched between the bedroom and bathroom.  It is somewhat small and has a built in vanity with a green marble top.

It is a great little space that right now looks so ordinary. I want it to pop. Like opening a jewelry box of fun little  trinkets. I want it to to be Dorothy Draper inspired. I chose this crazy fun  wallpaper..

I love this Frances Elkins chair

It's definitely an interesting and challenging project. See you...

Christina

Traditional with a Flair

I have been working with a lovely  client who subtly shows her refined Texas roots and her flair as a jewelry designer.  We have been working on her daughter's room. The design is a bit in the transitional phase. The toddler is quickly moving into the world of a big  girl. We planned for a future bed, nightstand and desk. For now it works for her age. She loves to sit and  read with  her mom on the double glider. She loves her crib. And she loves her dollhouse. We wanted a timeless design that the little girl could grow with. The carpet is a delicate pink and green lattice by Schumacher.

There was much discussion about the window treatments.  The client wanted very soft formal treatments. We exactly translated her wish.  I so love the chandelier that was chosen. When she saw the electrican putting toThe client had to take out her jewelry making tools to put it together. It is perfect.

For the window treatments, we decided on a  Hinson & Co. fabric and splurged a bit on the Schumacher trim.

We did a fairly large bulletin board that will eventually hang  over a desk.

I love the pushpins the client found. Made from vintage earrings...

The bookshelf was custom Newport Cottages.  The metal fairies  that flank the venetian mirror are vintage. I am not sure where the fairies came from. Maybe they were a part of a weather vane.  I purchased them from an antique mall in Ohio.  It is the unexpected element in the room.

On the bookshelf are crystal lamps from the '50s. We purchased the vanity tray on ebay. It reminded the client of her grandmother. The vintage  porcelain southern bell is actually a music box.

For now it is room for a little girl. I will take more pics of this room as it evolves into a room for a big girl.

See you..

Christina

Warhol and the Poodle

It is true that our tastes change over time. I am seeing more clients that would like to refresh their current, relatively newly decorated rooms. The rooms are currently traditional, but they would like to make them more transitional. Add more modern. Give the room lightness. Add something that is unexpected. Ok the last sentence is my theory.  My current client has a little girl that is growing out of her crib. The nursery was very traditional. We will have to keep some of the furniture from the nursery.  Her  crib bedding, named Greta,  was from Serena and Lily. All very lovely.

The pink in the Greta bedding is a bit dusty. It is a tough pink to work with, since it is hard to find complementary pink fabrics.  The old decorator made a valance out of the same damask pink fabric and the walls are also the same pink. Lots of pink!

Realizing how difficult the pink was to match, the mom bought the complimentary sheets for the big girl bed in the same Serena and Lily pattern.  Called Gracie, Serena and Lily has since discontinued it.

So now, my job is to change the nursery into a little girl's bedroom  and add a modern feel to the space. So lucky that this Gracie bedding  can easily harmonize  with some modern elements.   The mom also  bought this fun Andy Warhol print that we will use as inspiration.

For the bed, I would like to do a high headboard upholstered in white faux patent leather.

I found these pillows at the last gift show that will add a little sparkle to the bedding. They are so delicate and sweet. From one of my favorite companies, Sivaana.

At the end of the bed I would like to put this upholstered  brown and white linen storage bench .

We will keep the nightstand.

I found a crazy fun lamp to put on it.  We may change out the shade.  But how fun is it!

We will keep the simple white dresser

And add this mirror.

A nice bookshelf is needed...

A loveseat will sit underneath the Warhol with a very cool fixture

I wish I could blink and it would be done. How easy that would be....

See you...

Christina

Art created from children's shoes

At the intersection of Main Street and Maple Ave, in Armonk,  is an incredible frame shop,Framings. Every work day, I stop at the intersection before turning into the parking lot for Cici Crib. Yesterday, I couldn't keep my eyes off of a large piece that was in her shop window. Cars behind me honked. So I quickly turned and parked and marched right over to Judy and Carter's jewel of a shop.  Not only are they some of the nicest people I have met, but also some of the most talented.

Judy told me she completed this project  for a designer. The designer had saved all her daughter's shoes and Judy created this long shadowbox. I think it is about 12 feet long. I can imagine it will be hung in a bedroom,playroom, really anywhere..

It is so sweet. It really tells a story from the parent's excitement of having a baby girl to her first walking shoe, a ballet slipper, a trip to Disney World  to a the last shoe, that perhaps the little girl picked out. A black rugged hiking shoe.

I hope the Mom keeps the shadowbox. Fast forward 25 years.. Wouldn't it be nice to see in her granddaughter's nursery.....

See you..

Christina

Honeysuckle bedroom welcomes the new year!

A gutsy pink called Honeysuckle was named 2011 color of the year by Pantone. Ok I am kind of puzzled by the name, honeysuckle, but I will go with it.  It is a color that is very familiar at Cici Crib.

A room that I worked on is almost complete. It is for a little girl who loves pink.  I believe in creating rooms that grow with the child. The little girl is lucky to have enough storage space in her double closet. I just added a little bit of style to the room. Even the inside of the lamp shades are swathed in pink to create a little glow.

We  reupholstered the tufted bench in a faux pink croc..

The window treatments are sheers with touch of sparkle, to keep the room light and airy. The vanity is anchored by the custom bulliten board.

The bulliten board is covered in rasberry linen.  An inexpensive starburst mirror serves 2 functions...

The wall opposite is long and framed with fashion prints.

Yes it is a pink room, but not too overwhelming. Just sweet as honeysuckle...

See you..

Christina

Final day at the flea market

It was the end of a very busy weekend due to our jewelry show. Overall, pretty disappointing.  Lots to learn on doing trunk shows... I came home from work last night to find my son James and his friend  pleading to go to the Sunday market. Teenage boys willing to get up at the crack of dawn to go shopping ??  How could I say no.

This morning we started out in the freezing cold, on a day I didn't expect to find much. Season has ended and dealers are just getting rid of stuff. Who could believe it would be such a fantastic day. Once at home, we got to rake over our treasures. The boys purchased binoculars, a very special coin and an army mask from desert storm.  Not exactly Cici Crib merchandise, but it made them happy.

I so love the vintage table I purchased. Thanks Miles for schlepping it to the car.  I will eventually have the base painted.  James' friend asked me what color will the table be. Maybe hot pink, I said. He burst out laughing.  James added, my mom is a girly girl. Ok, maybe I am...

But how nice is this table in a little girls room with one of Cici Crib's mid century inspired modern lamps on it.

Everyone loved this sled, definitely made in the 1960's, when space exploration was all the rage. Space Rocket XS-17 Orbit Control.

Loved the graphics on the wooden base.  A great piece of wall art. So I did, what you are not supposed to do to a collectible. I took it apart.  All the extra parts will be saved. How fantastic would this look in a play room or boys bedroom wall...

A vanity tray and container for a very fancy little girl..

And this lamp, I just couldn't let go. An architectural melange of styles. Never the less, it is a great castle. It is ceramic with a wooden base and top. Took forever to clean up, but now looks perfect.  I could see Jonathan Adler getting inspired over it. It could go either in a boy or girls room..

I want to line this peach crate with burlap and use it for display purposes.

Loved these kitschy girl pictures. Their hair is made out of yarn.  They made me smile. Something so charming about them..

A weekend that started out a touch disappointing, ended on a very light note.

See you..

Christina

Touch of Aqua

Mom of 2 tween girls needs to update their bedroom. Everyone loves the aqua, but not in huge doses. The Mom and the girls loved  House Inc.'s  new collection.  House Inc., creator, Annette Tatum, delicately layers  fabrics in such a casual way.  For a room that could have touches of modern, but  is pretty firmly traditional, Annette Tatum is for you. Her combinations are just lovely...

The  fabric they chose the bedding...

Now to integrate the aqua with the pink that is scattered throughout the girls' bedroom.Found great inspiration in House of Turquoise...

Love Toby Fairly's  room as shown in  The Neo Tradionalist.

It will all come together...

See you..

Christina

It's getting chilly.. Think Plaid!

Ooh it is getting a bit chilly outside. We haven't turned on the heat, but as I write, I am wrapped up in my plaid, cashmere throw. It's cozy warm.  Classic plaids are used in many ways. We see it everywhere in the decorating world. On tables..

On light fixtures...

In bedrooms for both girls and boys...

As wallpaper...

On sheep, oh my...

Plaid at Cici Crib has taken a calmer tone.  New in the shop this week is a little toast to  the   Burberry plaid baby...

Delightful little burps and bibs...

Coming soon are  hooded towels and crib bumpers trimmed in the signature fabric.

See You ...

Christina