Maison 24's Casa B

It was freezing today in New York it had me wishing for warmer weather so what better time to showcase the fun Hampton house of Allison Julius and Louis Marra, the fabulous sibling owners of Maison 24. They both used to work for Jonathan Adler and you can definitely see his influence in the photos that were originally published in Hamptons Cottages and Gardens magazine this past summer. (Note to self: see if I can persuade them to send me a free subscription so I can stop stealing, I mean borrowing, them from work!)


The home is named Casa B after Allison and Louis's dogs, past and present, so everything is monogrammed with the letter B including the entry rug. The umbrella stand is from Maison 24.

I love the mirrored console and Chinoiserie stools in the living room paired with a large round vintage mirror.

The focal point of the living room is the 18-arm hand blown Italian glass chandelier and the interesting vintage chairs were found at Gustavo Olivieri Antiques in Wainscott in the Hamptons.

The table and chairs in the dining room are from Jonathan Adler, as is the Meurice chandelier which I thought was vintage. The dinnerware is from Versace.

Orange is my favorite color so of course I love the headboard in one of the two master bedrooms. The coverlet is from Jonathan Adler and the lamp, bedside table and funky phone can be found at Maison 24.

Classic Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chairs and ottoman create a chic seating arrangement in the office. The desk lamp is from Homenature, one of my other favorite stores in the Hamptons.

The other master bedroom has a West Elm headboard, Restoration Hardware bedding and Jonathan Adler pillows, oh and a Louis Vuitton suitcase. So jealous!

A Hamptons home wouldn't be complete with out a great backyard and pool. I absolutely love the cabana! Tres chic!

And who wouldn't want to sip a cocktail while lounging on an inflatable swan in the pool!

Even the exterior of the house is cool, just like Maison 24, but then again, I expected nothing less!

Tired of your bare walls? Then you gotta check this out.

Aaah ... I love a hack that gets everyone in the family moving. Pinot, Dita and their two girls had a weekend of fun creating this wall art.

Pinot writes, "We decided to decorate the wall of our new apartement with a wall painting (mural). We choose mix media, poster paints and Ikea fabrics."

What they did brilliantly was cut and paste Ikea fabric and then outlined them with poster paints. It's not tough to do. The results are delightful and is a great way to brighten up a wall.

See more of Pinot and Dita's fabric wall art. Don't miss the video too.

Habitually Chic Boutique: Maison 24

When we were in the Hamptons a few weeks ago on an installation we walked by the most amazing home boutique on our way to dinner, Maison 24. Of course it was closed so we pressed our noses against the glass trying to peek at all the amazing treasures inside. Luckily, we finally made to the shop a half hour before closing on our last night and it was even better than we imagined! The only way to describe the atmosphere is if Kelly Wearstler and Kanye West opened a store together. It's full of fabulous furnishings and accessories and it was so fun to meet one of the owners, Allison Julius. Allison opened Maison 24 with her brother Louis and when you read about their childhood on the website, you will realize that they were destined for stylish futures. (Their photos are cute too!)

Right now, you can't order online but you can call the shop to buy anything you see and you'll get an extra 15% off. Happy Shopping! I also hear they may be opening a store in Manhattan too! Oh, and be sure to check back tomorrow to see the fab home that the siblings and their families share.

Floating billies

I love this one. The Billy bookcases take on a new lightness when hung on the wall. Also, furniture off the floor is the way to go for me. Makes cleaning so much easier, eh.

Karine Schenkeveld and Erik Roscam Abbing from Rotterdam, The Netherlands turns a $59.99 bookcase into a fancy designer object. They tell me, "All we did was cut off the bottom part of the vertical elements underneath the bottom shelf, mount nine steel L brackets per bookcase to the wall (three per fixed Billy shelf) and mount the Billies on to them.

Pretty simple, but everyone thinks we had them handmade for us. Some people are worried that they'll come off the wall. But come on, there are 18 (!) 8cm (approx 3") screws per bookcase, and the load is almost completely vertical: no problem."

Behind the Windows

David Hoey, Senior Director of Visual Presentation (the man behind the windows) of Bergdorf Goodman, was too busy to speak with me before I posted the photos of the gorgeous windows but last week he took time out of his exhausting schedule to give me the scoop on what it takes to put these amazing creations together! Enjoy!

"We have been insanely busy for three weeks installing five separate banks of holiday windows. We don't hire an outside company to design or install holiday windows for us, as most of the other big stores do (except Barneys). This is an in-house project through and through. We have only this store to worry about. No secondary stores or corporate rollouts. This allows us to attempt these "couture", one-of-a-kind installations and to work on them to the nth degree. I have a staff of five, but also many devoted freelancers, artists, and stylists who make all this happen. They take a year and half our resources to get ready."

"By now you may have already seen the windows. The theme on Fifth Avenue is "The Seasons" (aka "Calendar Girls"). This year I was going for a truly hallucinatory effect. Like a cross between a trip to a natural history museum and a trip down a rabbit hole. I hope we managed this. We also indulged our penchant for purposely over stuffing the windows with props, antiques, inside jokes, and incident. We love that this maximal effect startles people. The porcelain bird collection in the "Spring" window took more than two years to acquire piece by piece at antique shops, fleamarkets, and ebay."

Work in progress.

The first of many layers.

"There are banks of windows on other streets which are never mentioned by the press. We are very proud of the Men's store windows on 5th Avenue this year." I am definitely going to have to go back and take photos of the men's store soon and thank David and his team for their amazing creativity, hard work and dedication. Their windows are always my favorite for their over the top fantasy and I hope everyone who is able stops by to see their magic in person!

A window on 58th Street

A window on 57th Street

A window on 57th Street

A window on 57th Street

Holiday Sale Time!

Seems like every store in New York is having a huge sale and now there are fabulous holiday sample sales including Lulu DK. I might have to stop by and pick up some holiday gifts...for myself and others! See you there!

Decoupaged wardrobe

Plain jane wardrobes are aplenty at Ikea. But that's nothing a little paint and decoupage can't fix. Here's a sweet one from Brett, an upgrade of the Stranda.

She first painted the frame with two coats of high gloss paint over primer and then decoupaged wrapping paper on the door panels. The final touch were door pulls from Anthropologie.

Click for more instructions on Brett's decoupaged wardrobe.