friday fancies / memorial day weekend sandal shopping

I cleaned out my closet this week and with that tossed a lot of worn out shoes I'd been holding on for a little too long. Every year I struggle with finding the perfect pair of sandals with the right mix of style, comfort and versatility, so I wanted to share my favorites for the season. I am really liking the ankle strap flat sandal and think it's necessary to have a brown, black and colorful pair in your closet.

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green with envy / kelly green kitchenette

I. want. this. kitchenette. 

Badly.

Not just because my current kitchen is pretty tiny, but because the kelly green cabinets, white tiled walls and pink swirly handles are uplifting and inviting. Don't you just want to cook or steal whatever that watermelon juice is?

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hump day home makeover / small closet ideas

Having a small closet can be tough. If you don't have the space to store all your clothes, accessories, etc. you can end up with a consistently messy closet and room. I've been wanting to get my closet in order and with the start of the spring season it feels like the perfect time.

At this point we know each other well enough for me to share this with you. Until the other day, this was the state of my current small closet. As you can see, I really wasn't maximizing any of my space or keep it organized. I was also trying to make lot of bootleg storage containers work some of which were left over boxes of items the girl who lived in the room before me used.

 Now, my closet looks like this after taking into account a few great tips for small closet storage.

1. The very first tip I suggest is that you use your closet for about a week or so to see how you are using it. For example, the containers the girl before me had must have worked great for her closet, but just didn't  work quite right for mine. In order to organize my closet, I thought about how I used my closet and what I wanted to get out of the storage.

2. First things first, your readily available clothes, shoes and accessories should be true to the season. Once the season changes, wash and pack away the previous season's garb for the next year to open up space in the active part of the closet. During this time I also look at what items I never wanted to wear that season and get them ready to be donated. This keeps the number of clothes down and also makes you feel better about ignoring that shirt the whole season.

3. Purchase matching hangers to allow for more space on the rack. I prefer the skinny white plastic hangers to maximize space.

4. Organize your closet by tops and dresses. This allows you to open up space below the shorter shirts' section.

4. Find a good shoe storage system. I picked up this 6 cubby shoe holder knowing I needed a place for my larger heels and tennis shoes. In addition to this, I have a hanging shoe rack that goes over the door, and store my boots in a repurposed brown box. I have yet to find a great idea for winter shoe storage and didn't want to invest in a holder for these shoes knowing it would get dirty. An upcycled box at the bottom of my closet felt like the perfect fit.

5. Next, store items at the top in the harder to reach areas that you won't need often. This is the perfect place for the down comforter or sweaters you won't need again until the weather gets cold. 

6. Lastly, I take this for granted in my closet, but if you don't have a shelf above your hanging rack...add on. That has been huge in creating space in my closet.

I also used some left over shoe boxes for extra storage and am still trying to make the stackable shelves I inherited work, but here's another look. 

I really love the look of the front open boxes from The Container Store, but am still trying to figure out what purpose they would serve for me. I'm thinking the could live under the shoe boxes and be the perfect holders for my clutches and belts.

What small closet ideas have you tried?

wine & pizza tasting / nyc vintners

Wine is my drink of choice and something I really enjoy learning about. In college, I took a Viticulture and Enology class that ended with a few tastings of the wines varietals we had learned about that night. My best friend and I showed up every Tuesday night for our 6-9 class with a block of brie. We were in heaven.

Since I’ve been in New York City, I've been dying to take an actual wine course, but working in Advertising can make leaving the office for a 6PM class impossible. This weekend my friend treated me to a wine and pizza tasting class for my birthday at a boutique wine shop in the Financial District, NYC Vintners. I don't usually think of pizza and wine going together, and was definitely pleasantly surprised. Wine and food pairing is a talent envy and the teachers did a great job selecting the right wines to bring out the flavors of the pizza.

Ever thought about putting Boursin cheese on your pizza? Do it. Tonight. Now. This pizza was my favorite with hen of the woods and oyster mushrooms, truffle oil, mozzarella and Boursin cheese. Out of the two whites we drank, I was surprised my favorite with the pizza was the Tire Bouchon Bourgogne with a buttery nose, since I usually prefer stainless steel aged whites like the other white, Gorleri Vermentino we tasted.

The two reds we tasted were what the teacher referred to as "big ass reds" with a lot of tannin, fruit and jam. This is my favorite kind of red that feels like a bit of a kick to your taste buds. Ever wonder why reds are usually paired with meats? The tannin in them does a great job cutting through the fat in foods.

My favorites were the Tire Bouchon Bourgogne (white) and the Abanico Toro Eternium Viti (red).

If you're interested in taking a class at NYC Vintners, you should check out Groupon. They often have great deals on the class. You just have to make sure you plan in advance.

inspiration junky #10

There is really something great about a walking city. On Friday, the weather was so nice outside that I walked the 2 or so miles home from work hopping in and out of shops along Broadway. Anthropologie has some great home decor accents at the moment, and Zara is killing it with their affordable shoe selection. 

Shoutout this week to Justina Blakely for her plant-a-colada planters!! This is one of my favorite bohemian influenced blogs, and a consistent go-to for intriguing imagery of home decor, traveling and DIY. Today she posted about turning coconuts into planters! 

Top Left | Top Middle | Top Right

Middle Left (similar) | Middle Right

Bottom Left | Bottom Middle | Bottom Right

upcycled / bottles to container garden

Have you noticed an influx of gardening DIYs recently? Terrariums, hanging gardens and upcycled container gardens seem to be popping up everywhere. If you've read decor-eat before you know I am obsessed with terrariums, but I am also really into the idea of upcycling where you turn waste materials or used products into something with a new purpose. 

This upcycle project has been my favorite I've seen so far because it solves a problem I'm having with my current plants. The projects uses old inverted bottles that actually water your plants as they need it. With Corley and I living in different cities, there are definitely weekends where my plants go unwatered. Just this weekend, I came home to a near death basil plant that I am shocked perked back up after water (it was that bad). These containers are a perfect solve for herbs, which I love to have on hand for cooking in my kitchen.

Steps here on Design Sponge. 

friday fancies / how to sport horizontal stripes

Happy Friday everyone! I don't know about you but it's been a really slow start to Spring this year in NYC, and I am really looking forward to a weekend of warm weather. This week's Friday Fancies is all about stripes, which I happen to be loving right now. I think Pink Peonies is doing stripes best mixing the pattern with other prints. How cute are these outfits??

Stripes are one of those prints you should choose carefully to flatter your body type mostly when it comes to horizontal stripes. Most fashion savvy shoppers know that horizontal stripes make you look wider while vertical stripes make you look smaller. For apple shapes (larger top than bottom) go for the striped shorts on the left for pear shapes (larger bottom than top) go for the shirt on the right.

shorts | top

Don't wanna mess with vertical stripes? They are super cute as shoes!