Happy House: Doggy Decor

How cute is this ceramic Basset Hound? New at Z Gallerie, $39.

Happy House: Way Cool Lauren Canyon Home

I know I just included two images from this project by Ashe + Leandro, but now I have to share the complete Laurel Canyon project. Loving! It's clean, sweet and has just the right dose of bright color and quirky details. Not too much that it's a distraction; just enough to put a smile on your face.

Happy House: White Wall Decor Part 1

After years of feeling anti-white walls, I may be returning to that clean slate, white canvas look of crisp white walls and ceilings. Especially when they're combined with judicious amounts of bright and bold color. I love the way NY architect/designers Ashe + Leandro use that formula to great effect: these rooms feel clean, bright, sophisticated and happy.

Happy Press: May Issue of Martha Stewart

Is Martha getting happy on us? Her latest issue is packed with bright, punchy color. Love it. It's a great switch from her usual sage/beige palette and made me realize how I love full-frontal color. Tangerine, grass green, bright yellow—the works. I especially loved the piece on Trina Turk's Palm Springs pad. Enjoy.

Happy Mission: LA's Best

Angeleno magazine is partnering with Christopher Guy (a way upscale Bev Hills furniture showroom) and LA's Best, a non-profit after-school enrichment program that serves 18,000 kids. They provide on-campus supervision from 3-6PM, five days a week, during which time they do homework, play outside, have a snack and study math, science, literacy as well as arts and crafts. We toured Crescent Heights Elementary School and it was extremely moving. The mag is holding a design competition with the school's LA's Best kids to create a new piece of furniture for the Christopher Guy collection. Christopher and I will be the judges. I ask you, How can I decide? And, How darn cute are these kids? And totally committed to great design!

Happy Stuff: New Missoni Catalog

Is it just me or does all of this crazy color make you smile? I went to the new Beverly Hills Missoni store last week. Yikes. Not so smiley. Real serious (guard opening the door, me feeling guilty before proven innocent), and then real serious architecture inside. More museum than shop, oh, sorry, boutique. Me feeling all matchstick girl wanting a Missoni scarf ($325) and caftan ($930). (Put 'em together and that's a month of preschool for both kids.) But even if the whole scene had a chill to it, once I was back in the comfort of my office and had a chance to look at the stuff online, I felt happy again. Kinda wishing I could afford anything there! Oh well. Another life. (I had to price check some items for a piece I'm doing to the LAT on Missoni: Candles start at $365 and go to $565. Yikes.)

Happy Stuff: Floral Art

Don't these chairs and tables and shelves put a little spring in your step? I love Jennifer McGarigle's floral arrangements and her design work. This is the latest from her Lucite/flower collection. Loving. www.floralart.com.

Happy House: New Lonny Mag

Here's my favorite project in the latest Lonny. It's Ashley Putman's two-story traditional in Houston. Just love the laid-back decor. Not too fussy, feel like I could live there (in that other life where I have a ton of cash...), but am mostly lusting over that kitchen. Lurve.

Happy House: Lisa Borgnes' pad

I spent two hours at Lisa Borgnes' house last week doing an interview for an LA Times story I'm working re: her house and upcoming show at Acme Gallery. She's the woman behind abloomsburylife.com.blogspot.com. I was having a serious, serious bout of house envy. I know it's a way overused word, but her house is eclectic, and the different pieces of the puzzle--Anglophilia, mid-century furniture, fab wallpaper, lots of books, traditional architecture, the occasional wacky piece--were so seamlessly put together. I was having the hardest time with her breakfast nook, where she did the walls in Timorous Beasties' Nettle print wallpaper with a Tartan plaid seat cushion, a totally cute table... But, on the extremely positive side, Lisa is way cool. She's a mom, an artist and fabulous done-it-herself designer, and, best of all, normal. Just fun to hang out with. Here's her house. Look and weep.

Happy DIY: Photo bulletin board

From latest Lonny mag: So want to do this. I have a dinky bulletin board in my kitchen with extremely un-updated photos. I haven't swapped out a single image since I put it up three years ago. Oy. Love this from Laura Day's NY pad for it's massiveness and for that glam turqouise frame.

The Lab: No Money

We're working on taxes today, a reminder of the piles of money that we don't have. Which is tortuous on many levels--particularly the home design front. I'm aching to have one finished room. Our house is a study in partial completion. Nothing is quite done and a lot is far from done. The armchair in my den (pictured), a Craig's List score for $50 (WITH the ottoman) was bought at a time when I thought we'd be able to swing the $500 to get it upholstered no problem. Cut to the recession. Now I'm stuck staring at this really depression South Western-looking fabric that screams Sheraton Four Points, Albuquerque. Right? I'm having a hard time envisioning it as an ode to Vivienne Westwood. Sad.

Happy Talk: 9 By Design in LA Times

My piece on 9 By Design is up on the LA Times site today. And now I'm having a case of was-I-too-snarky-itis? I hope I don't come off as mean. What do you think? Here's the piece. (Their show airs tomorrow night on Bravo.)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2010/04/9-by-design-bob-cortney-novogratz-bravo-show.html#more

Happy Fab: Olya and Charles Brooklyn pad

I'm having a hard time with this one. Serious case of house envy. Can we just talk about the insane layering going on: the art, the furniture, the rugs, (the kids). It's hitting on all cylinders: boho, glam, eclectic, comfy. This is from the Jan 2010 issue of Vogue, and showcases their Brooklyn brownstone. Olya is a former ballet dancer/textile designer (how's that for a hyphenate?), hubs is a photographer. And if their NY house is irritating enough, the article also talks about their second home, an apartment near Red Square in Moscow where they "spend meandering vacations exploring the Russian countryside, where Charles shoots large-format photographs of grand abandoned estates, beautiful and tragic in their dereliction." Hmmmm... Irritating. Highly irritating.

Happy Stuff: Affirmative Traction?

To anyone who's put Post-It reminders in their house to think positively, here's a stylish twist: NY designer Dan Golden, who used to work as a cartoonist, has come out with his New Age collection of rugs. Psychedelic, no? I love the reminders to "breathe" and "be here now" and I think that they'd look great in an all-white environment.