styling makes me happy: the west elm parsons desk three ways

you KNOW i love a good styling project. these "how to style three ways" features for the everygirl really take it outta me... but they are so worth it in the end. since everyone and their mother has this white lacquered desks, yours truly included, danielle and i had been talking about this project for the better part of a year. well, thanks to the help of furbish studio, lulu and georgia, design darling, see jane work, junkyard lighting, and of course, west elm, it finally came together! i present "how to style the west elm parsons desk" three ways.

sleek and neutral

west elm parsons desk, west elm shelves (no longer available - similar style here), eurostylelighting chair, lulu and georgia pouf, see jane work calendar, see jane work test tube thingys, junkard light lamp, dayna decker gold candle (it crackles like a fireplace!), sarah and bendrix print, alicia bock paris photo, my own eiffel tower print

glam, pink & gold

west elm parsons desk, lulu and georgia rug, restoration hardware chair, land of nod lamp, furbish studio marbled box, sferra linen napkin (coaster)

 

colorful and bold

 west elm parsons desk, jc penney lamp (no longer available), two penny blue blazer, jonathan adler boxes (no longer available), jonathan adler iphone dock, furbish studio color pencils, biscuit home coaster, lulu and georgia picture frame, jessica durrant illustrations, pencil cup is vintage

there's a WHOLE lot more where those came from. check it out! 

which one is your favorite? i can't decide...

photos by danielle moss for the evergirl

styling by alaina kaczmarski for the everygirl

Belle: The Living Room Rug Debacle

Behold, the transformation of my living room. I am aware trying three different rugs in the matter of a few months is ridiculous and I don't advise anyone do this. But I'm not crazy. I had my reasons. The good news is I love the way this room has come together. And it's nearly finished...

Above you can see the apartment before moving in. A whole lot of beige going on.

You may recall the beige plague was remedied rather quickly. The room transformed with Behr's Classic Silver.

With furniture and art. It's better... I suppose. When I moved in the summer, I brought my living room rug with me, an 8x10 graphic Moroccan flatweave from West Elm that is no longer in stores (see similar style here). I love this rug, but it was just too dark given the sofa and wall colors.

So I perused West Elm for other options and decided on this light, bright, ultra cozy Fair Isle style. Only silly me assumed my brown rug was a 9x12, so that's what I ordered, only to realize my brown rug was in fact an 8x10 and this new fair isle rug was ginormous. Fortunately, so is the room, so I was going to make it work. And I loved how it brightened the room. Tucker agreed.

Then long story short, things kind of went awry, I thought I was going to have to move, and I came to the realization that the ginormous 9x12 fair isle rug would never fit into any other apartment, so I returned it. Only to realize I would not be moving... cool. Doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't be here forever and as I said, the rug was so big it wouldn't fit anywhere else. So I looked to my other favorite rug source, the online retailer RugsUSA. I was debating between a few graphic options, but ultimately decided on this twist of a chevron pattern. I kept my colorblock Stone Textile pillows, added in a fun spotted pillow from Furbish, switched out the art for my simple European prints, and added in a crazy pouf that has a sort of southwestern vibe from Lulu and Georgia... things are finally coming along! Totally neutral but still feminine thanks to the mirrored sconces.

So we have a winner.

SOURCES:
sofa // colorblock pillows // spotted pillow // coffee table // rug // lamp // graphic pouf // art // tray
 // mirrored sconces, candle hurricane, and jute pouf were West Elm but are no longer available

And so you know you'll eventually see my full home tour, complete with sources and beautiful photography, on The Everygirl. Probably in late February! Get excited.

i know it's gonna be alright

as we all know, the past month and a half has been, well, let's just say "down" for lack of a better word. and even in the new year, i haven't been feeling great health-wise. completely worn out, i feel like my body has been fighting something since the ball dropped at midnight two weeks ago. i'm blaming it on all the cookies and wine consumed over the holidays combined with a good dose of stress. i've been trying day after day to get back into my kick-butt workaholic life-is-short-so-enjoy-it routine and mentality, but so far, no dice.

and then last tuesday, this tweet went up:

@hattiesparks

Spotted: @TheEverygirl_ in the pages of Vanity Fair as I wait for my flight at LGA! So cool @daniellemoss_ @AlainaKaz pic.twitter.com/bw3PwoFf

the message popped up in my inbox and i'm pretty sure the next two minutes were spent expelling a high-pitched scream so loud and excited dogs in michigan heard me. then i picked up my phone, dialed danielle, and continued making that noise until i managed to get the words out: "we're. in. vanity. fair! in the actual magazine in print! PRINT!"

true story. funny thing is i had this magazine in my hands earlier in the day while at the dentist, but i skipped right over this to cut ahead to the article on lena dunham.

but i digress. for those of you who don't know. i graduated with a magazine journalism degree from syracuse, and my goal in life since the age of 16 was to work at vanity fair. it's the end-all, be-all magazine in my eyes, covering everything from business and politics to fashion and celebrity. led by longtime editor-in-chief graydon carter, they do it all, and they do it all well. between this and forbes, i'm reminded of what a crazy great year we've had. it gave me the refocus i've been needing to push myself, continue working on the everygirl - a job i love that i created for myself (ahem blog name shout-out ahem), and remind myself that i'm one part of something really special. and i'm really really lucky for all that. no, this bit of press wasn't a magic cure to feeling down, and yes, i've felt still felt a little blue and a lot exhausted since last tuesday (a redeye back from san francisco this weekend didn't help-never again.), but that is our brand and our names in my favorite magazine. and despite the hardships that i've faced the past six weeks, i have to keep telling myself, that's life. sometimes you're up and sometimes you're down. and in the words of miss ellie goulding,

"anything could happen
i know it's gonna be alright."

go ahead. raise the volume, dance a lil', and feel good.

p.s. i found that song from the season 2 trailer of girls, my new favorite comedy, which i wrote about today no the everygirl. check it out!

words worth reading: hemingway on writing

"All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know."

"Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to be hurt like hell before you can write seriously. But when you get the damned hurt, use it-don't cheat with it."

"All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer."

"As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand."

"In order to write about life first you must live it."

– Ernest Hemingway

emily henderson's home office

...and there's a whole lot more where that came from! it's no secret i've been a longtime fan of the design star winner and hgtv styling host, emily henderson (example 1, example 2). so i'm so excited to have her share her career story on the everygirl today! check it out! cholk-full of great advice!


sorry for the radio silence, everyone! things are crazy around this end to say the least. trying to keep my head above water. i will have lots of good posts planned for you in the upcoming days. hope 2013 is treating you all well!

photos by kimberly genevieve for the everygirl

I love a good styling project!

...almost as much as I love Joss and Main. I'm telling you: the flash sale home decor site and West Elm are currently rivaling for who gets to be featured in my home more. A few recent purchases off the J&M include this amazing arc lamp, this grey upholstered bed (shown below), and this retro black wall clock that will soon make its home on my office gallery wall. I'm not a spendaholic - I just have a lot of credit to the site! Referring readers is a glorious thing.

Anywho. Long story short. Danielle and I curated our second sale for the site on behalf of The Everygirl, but even better, they lent us some of the products from the sale to style and photograph for a "How to Style" feature. I styled a brand new version of our "How to Style a Nightstand" and "How to Style an Entryway." And you can shop both looks!

But hurry–items are selling out and today is the LAST DAY to shop the sale!

lamp | nightstand | nailhead bed | gold clock | jute rug

 console table | mirror | baskets | gold sea urchin | pink basket | iron jack | chevron rug

Shop The Everygirl Styling Sale on Joss and Main! Then come back here and tell me what you got! :)

Here's a lil' before shot from the evening before the shoot...

...because I like sharing the "process" of how these all come together. Yes, both shoots took place in my apartment.

photography by Danielle Moss for The Everygirl
styling by Alaina Kaczmarski for The Everygirl