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moving day

rzakoura — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 01:34:44 +0000

anxious. overwhelmed. stressed. melancholy. no, this isn’t an advertisement for zoloft, it is my current mood, five days before we move from our brooklyn heights apartment to our new home in park slope. i am a bad mover – dramatic, uneasy and nervous – but i’m not turning to a pill to assuage my nerves. instead, i’m calming myself through chocolate and nostalgia. reminding myself to take a page from the berenstain bears’, my old fluffy childhood pals. “would brother bear like it? would he find new friends? he wasn’t sure until he got there.”

a room with a view

rzakoura — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:52:37 +0000

the bedroom should be your sanctuary. what do you see when you look out your window? i am one of those fortunate new yorkers to see our (private) garden. in my immediate view is the ever changing vine attached to the window. i love watching its seasonal evolution – from bare (winter), to a lively green, to autumnal hues. i do love my cozy garden, but i wouldn’t balk at a jaw dropping view like this. can you imagine?

knight cat

fleurs

rzakoura — Sat, 08 May 2010 18:18:34 +0000

spring is in the air, a perfect time to fill your abode with flowers. not to mention a bountiful time thanks to mother’s day. my husband and i just bought 3 bouquets and voila, instant beautification!

photograph from 79 ideas.

sanderson wallpaper

rzakoura — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:34:01 +0000

internationally renowned interior designer and decorator, sanderson celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. to mark this significant occasion, they’ve launched nine new ‘vintage wallpapers’. a sample of their fantastic prints is below:

the juicy leaf

rzakoura — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:52:54 +0000

on a recent la visit, my husband and i found a great gem on abbot kinney in venice called the juicy leaf. with the help of owner, felix, i planted a succulent in layers of small stones in a cylinder vase. he carefully wrapped it for my plane ride and i am currently enjoying it in my home. the juicy leaf also hosts planting parties – and if a store opens in new york as felix hopes, i will be on that bandwagon.

charley harper

rzakoura — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:16:54 +0000

charley harper’s paintings have appeared in nature-oriented magazines and on posters for many conservation-minded organizations. his work lacks “fuss and feathers” – minimal realism as he calls it. “i don’t try to put everything in, i try to leave everything out. i never count the feathers in the wings; i just count the wings.”

i’m crazy about his work and would love to hang a piece in my home one day. it is perfect for a kid’s room – or mine if i could convince my husband that a possy of possums would enhance our bedroom.

spring centerpiece

rzakoura — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:17:18 +0000

diy from blomsterverkstad

the selby

rzakoura — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:30:06 +0000

the selby features creative people in their personal spaces. todd selby launched the website in june 2008 with photos of his friends’ homes, and quickly received requests from around the world who wanted to be featured on the site. it got so much recognition that selby now collaborates with the likes of nike, colette and new york times magazine.

i’m posting some of my favorites – from top to bottom: upstate new york, los angeles, manhattan and paris. if you close one eye and squint the other, the los angeles home is reminiscent of our catskills rental. lovely.

frosty the gnome

rzakoura — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:25:37 +0000

cozy kitchen

rzakoura — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:25:51 +0000

i’m off to whole foods to prepare for the holidays. christmas eve dinner goes a litttle something like this: bread, cheese and olives to start, brisket, brussel sprouts and this outrageous, pumpkin pie from city bakery for dessert. christmas morning (if i’m able ingest anything), we’ll make pancakes. additionally, i plan to make cookies during the holidays because my husband loves them (and i love to sneak a little raw cookie dough). after all is said and done, i will need dental attention and time at the gym.

i’m enjoying cooking lately. if you’ve been following along, my latest creations include potato latkes and challah bread. if i had this gorgeous kichen featured on blomsterverkstad, i’d probably never leave. i dream of a cozy kitchen, with a fireplace, built in shelves for cookbooks, plenty of workspace and a hopeful lab nipping at my feet.

vanity

rzakoura — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:07:23 +0000

i love the idea of a vanity – a sweet little dressing table to display pretty perfume bottles or a vase of flowers. it has less to do with vanity, and more to do with having a personal, private space to reflect – figuratively and literally, in the mirror. i don’t have one because of space restrictions, but plan to have one in the future. in the further future, i would love a vanity set up like this beautiful photograph from decorpad. a gorgeous get-a-way right in my home.

insert your feet here

rzakoura — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:41:44 +0000

etsy’s modern cottage renovation is the perfect inspiration for our new bearsville cottage. our rental comes furnished, but a girl can still daydream about cozy rugs, boggle and taxidermy. i can’t wait to cozy up next to the fire with a mug of hot cocoa and book of poems by henry david thoreau (read: us weekly).

mantra

rzakoura — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:43:10 +0000

i love the idea of creating your own art and pairing it with real pieces. similar to wearing a h&m sequin skirt and a chanel bag (sort of).

this photo from desire to inspire is a great example. framed statements on cardboard look chic, and of course “make tacos, not war” are words that we should all live by.

jack o.

rzakoura — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:31:07 +0000

floral door

rzakoura — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:58:00 +0000

a sweet door courtesy of atlanta bartlett. i can’t decide if the adorning flowers are a welcoming sign to enter or a declaration of privacy for whomever is inside.

dream house

rzakoura — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:46:45 +0000

i never understood the power of inspiration boards until my husband and i noticed how similar our apartment resembled the magazine tears of interiors that he had collected. as we have begun to dream of a getaway home in the catskills, an inspiration board might just bring it to life. i think this photograph by mark scott will be the centerpiece. cozy, warm and inviting, i’m putting it out there right now. yes, publish post.

pretty in (neon) pink

rzakoura — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:51:02 +0000

i saw the most fantastic piece of art at voos furniture in williamsburg on saturday. a neon acrylic ‘love’ light box. i am completely drawn to it, but it doesn’t fit my home aesthetic. later that evening, however, i looked around my bedroom and realized that i am a pink girl. take inventory: rug with hot pink paislies, mexican hot pink bedspread, keep calm and carry on poster (a variation in red), print of a tree in a pink motif. nevertheless, i remain pinked out for now, and am posting the love lamp so it can live somewhere, if not in my room.

guess which came from our garden?

rzakoura — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:10:58 +0000

the smallest and sweetest strawberries! the rest, and no less delicious, are courtesy of the borough hall farmers market. my husband has put so much time and energy into making our background a beautiful space. it’s filled with flowers, herbs and even a few edibles (check out the cuke!) when you realize the market is closed and you forgot to buy parsley, the solution is right outside.