moving abroad

has anyone ever moved abroad and set up a temporary home? i don't want to bring any furniture, and i don't want to spend a lot of money.  but, i also don't want to live in a bachelor's pad...

in my moving to australia post i found some pretty standard ikea furniture. 

but, these ikea pieces (which are not super cheap in australia btw) need a little inspiration

via full house 

i love the gray walls and teal accessories.  i can't bring any of my artwork to australia, but i do have one of the prints seen below not yet framed- that is definitely mailable!

kips bay showroom via habitually chic

i got the lithograph on a steal via the onekingslane website.  hung over an australian table (similar to the one in the inspiration picture), it might bring some life to the room.

i also would need to do some art on the cheap.  i could copy one of peter dunham's works but in a dark navy or steel color

then, i could bring my billowy steel gray curtains inspired by below... maybe then it won't look like a temporary home after all.  one room down, several more to go!

inspired by

i wish my apartment could get a makeover every season like my wardrobe.  next time we do a home makeover (maybe soon when we move to australia?) we will get neutral pieces so we can change our accents.  below are some of my favorite fall living spaces inspired by some of my favorite fall fashions.

marc jacobs

jcrew

i love little green notebook's makeover of a cup of jo's manhattan apartment

i can't wait until we have more space. 

via desire to inspire

don't you love the touches of plum?

via everything leb

loving the weinrib rug

via flourish design+ style

keith johnson's apartment- we are going to turkey in november and will be shopping the bazaar just like keith!

don't you love the screen?

via little green notebook

via lonny



nathan turner

todd romano

slim aarons

high on my wishlist right now is a photo by slim aarons. 

loved "penthouse pool" in the latest lonny

daydreams

congratulations to misha and vicki!

new mommy and daddy.  i hope everyone is sleeping and daydreaming together.

Moving to Australia

i'm back from australia, and while i'm no where near 100% set on moving there, of course i've already started planning what our home would look like.  it's super tricky since we wouldn't be able to bring much (especially anything with a plug) so starting from scratch with a limited budget is DAUNTING.  thank goodness, for aussi ikea.

here's what i was thinking for our aussi ikea livingroom:

dog vase from raw space in melbourne

of course, some of my favorite things will need to go in the suitcase

getting my art to australia is going to be tricky.  i don't want the glass to break.  i'm inspired by this park avenue apartment in this month's house beautiful.  with some crayons, newsprint and large ikea frames, i could do something similar.  my recent trip to moorea has inspired me to do huge outlines of octopus drawings.  six to eight closely hung drawings like the image below would be a cheap alternative and still make a big statement.

there are many design stores in melbourne, and i'm excited to post about them soon.  in the meantime, has anyone ever moved abroad? any tips?

should i move to brooklyn?

i'm going through a serious period of indecision... namely, where should we go when the lease is up? brooklyn? riverdale? australia? the north shore?

options are always good, but i love a plan and to be a little wanderlust has been confusing.

below are some more inspirational pics representing new places for me.

australia!

riverdale

brooklyn

okay, this is really only the upper east side, which i don't want to move to- but i love the pic!

north shore

brooklyn again (it's been on my mind this week... i can see myself moving back there)

pretty perfect

i wish my life had this closet/office.

image martha stewart?

dreaming of

check out this simple, chic bathroom via brabourne farm

i love it because it's not over decorated (a trap i fall into...). great curtain, too- right?

abstract funky baby

i enjoy designing nurseries for my friends and family (a ton are having babies right now) so here's one for the abstract baby... perfect for a family who wants to keep the gender a surprise.

i like to start with something big to choose the color palette.

i love that this abstract affordable painting has yellows, burnt umber, bright blue, magenta, lavender and grays to choose from!

these buttonwood curtains from anthropologie continue a bold print and pick up the yellows and were designed by thomas paul.

there's a lot going on with these two bright, patterned sort of strange additions to the nursery, so we need to play a little neutral with some things.

first, i can't get enough of this flokati rug which is available in all sorts of different qualities at most major stores

the marlo crib set is available at serena and lily

bring out the lavender with this pouf and of course all other colors are available if this isn't gender neutral

rock baby with the eames RAR rocker (available in a ton more colors)

from jonathan adler

and to pull the look together, some ugly dolls (who by the way, were incredibly generous and gave each of our students an ugly doll the first year of our school)