Happy Stuff: Preppy Glam

I'm loving this new rug from Madeline Weinrib. It's called the Brooke and I love it's preppy/glam vibe. Not cheap. It starts at $325 (3.5 x 5.5) and goes up to $1,400 (9 x 12). And speaking of preppy, how about dolling up your book shelves with this super cool Lacoste books that come out this month?

The New Todd Selby Book

Chez Jonathan Adler & Simon Doonan

K, so this pic is just a wee staged (lamps on your ping pong table)? I really don't care. I love this shot of Jonathan Adler, king of happy decor, at home with Simon Doonan. It's from theselby.com photographer's Todd Selby's new book: The Selby Is in Your Place. I just interviewed Todd last week. I worried he'd be too cool for school and that he could see I'm just a 43-year-old dork on deadline. Not so. He was a sweet heart. Best of all, the book is chock full of amazing design ideas. I admit: At first I had a hard time getting past the fact that every single page is filled with hipsters--hippie hipsters, gypsy hipsters, Euro hipsters, nerdy hipsters, surfer hipsters. A lot of them are holding babies but none of them look tired. I assume they're the kind of people who get babysitters to go to art openings and stay culturally relevant. But I digress: The most important thing about the book is that Selby purposefully picks homes that have DIY edge to them. He told me that he stays away from anything that looks like a decorator was there. Very little matches in these houses; there's lots of stuff thrown together, but lots of idea to steal. http://www.amazon.com/Selby-Your-Place-Todd/dp/0810984865

Designer Watch

I just looked at Amy Sklar's portfolio (www.sklardesign.com) and I love this kids room. Is that tree a wall graphic? I like the way the bird house gives a 3D effect. And that good ole Ikea bookshelf looks great, especially the way she did the books. Amy was a runner up on HGTV's Design Star show.

St Patty Action

It's deadline time, which means no time. So hard to enjoy life because it's all about making that deadline. But we did find time to make GREEN GRANOLA. My science experiment semi-worked. We made Martha Stewart's kids' granola (easy) but we added green food coloring to the molasas. I was hoping that when you poured milk over the cereal that it'd turn green. It turned more pale kakhi/gray. Oh well. But the kids had fun making and eating it and then we wrapped some of it up in green cups, wrapped it in celaphane, then tied with ribbon and attached cut out shamrocks. Didn't look perfect, but we had a good time. And we gave green manicures to neighbors like Ruby on our front porch.

Droog, Part Deux: The Knock Off

ZGallerie has new spring items, and I couldn't help but notice this knockoff. The original is the Rodi Graumans-designed chandelier for Droog (1993), an 85-piece light that was everywhere for a while. Price: $3,796 at unicahome.com. ZGallerie's Loft Chandelier has 10 bulbs and goes for $299. Not lovin'—just sayin'.

All Roads Lead to Ikea

Good story on NY Times Home section today re: an $8K New York apartment makeover (that amount representing the owner's first-time buyer's tax credit). Adam Rolston, Drew Stuart and Gabriel Benroth (of Incorporated Architecture & Design) relied on Ikea, Crate & Barrel, Room & Board and Baker Studio. Not lovin-lovin the room, but check out the befores. For $8K, impressive. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/garden/04cheap.html