10th Annual Design On A Dime Featured Vignette Rooms

Thursday evening kicked off this years 10th Annual Design On A Dime fundraising event at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. This is New York City’s most popular interior design benefit, with tons of talent and designer donations all cleverly creating well thought out various and unforgettable room vignettes with new (donated) merchandise. The merchandise sells for 50% to 70% off retail pricing at the DOAD fundraising three day event. All of the profits from the Design on a Dime event help Housing Works “Get A Room” for homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. You can read more about the Housing Works organization in my previous post, About Housing Works Thrift & Design On A Dime plus also take a behind the scenes peek at how one of the participating designers, Patrick J. Hamilton, created his vignette at another previous event, Charity Causes: How To Get Vignette Set -- And also be sure to see all the behind the scenes before and after pics of this years DOAD event at Mon Oncle, by Rio Hamilton. Living here in the southwest, I wasn't unable to attend, however thanks to social media, here is a collection of just a few faves from this years vignettes, shared via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram during the event...

 Love the Spore Mirror, (part of the Barry Dixon Inc Collection at Arteriors) in this DOAD room vignette designed by Patrick J. Hamilton - The perfect balance of both masculine & feminine created in a space...

 Truly a clever application and even play on words - 'design on a dime'. Attendee Jonathan Legate learned the prints on the back wall were sheets of paper in poster frames. The paper is a gorgeous marble paper from Thailand, available at: Paper Source. (They actually have a location here in Scottsdale!!) Each sheet is 25" x 37" and only costs $8 each. Talk about getting the most bang for your buck - That wall is a WOW factor!

 LOVE the application of the arched mirror, used to create a window within the bookcases, for this vignette...

 

 

 

 

Tamara Matthews-Stephenson (second from left) and DOAD guest Jonathan Legate.

LOVE the fabric wall covering... 

 Director of the Design on a Dime Event, Mel Alvarez (left) with designer Tyler Wisler & his beautiful assistant Paula.

Proud Robin Baron in her DOAD vignette.

 DOAD designer Nicole Gibbons posing in her vignette.

 Michael Tavano Design DOAD room vignette...

 

And last but not least, one of many faves from this year's 10th Annual Design On A Dime room vignette designs... A room inspired by Carrie Bradshaw's Closet - How it would be today...

 

The room started with this GORGEOUS Greek Key wall covering from Lee Jofa, and transformed into...

 

 DOAD room vignette design by Marks & Frantz Design - Carrie Bradshaw Today 

Both photos by Rick Lew Photography

Unbelievable - the talent, dedication and hard work that went into all of the room vignettes and coordinating this special event... Truly amazing! For a complete list of all the designers and list of sponsors, visit Design On A Dime at Housing Works...

 

Design On A Dime - Founding Chair - James Huniford (pictured here with DOAD designer, Robin Baron). 

 Thursday evening may have been the Opening Night Reception, but now the event is open to the public: April 25 & 26... So get out in NYC and shop for a great cause!

Congrats to all and thanks for stopping by!

SIMPLE HALLOWEEN VIGNETTE

Happy Halloween! Hope you've enjoyed your day dressed up as your favorite scary creature, dangerous villain or famous celebrity today for Halloween! It's that one day a year even adults get to play pretend from morning until night. It's also that time of year when we may be drawn to add a little more black into our decor. When I decorated our rental home here in AZ last year, I went all out - from faux potion wine bottles I made for the stoop to skulls & gauze hanging in the entry to sheet covered furniture and a Goth-like dress form on the third floor. I think I went so overboard because the year before, I had to pack us up to move, so I really couldn't decorate for Halloween. Although I did decorate for Halloween inside this year, I kept it minimal: Just a simple vignette on the buffet. Most of the items I used were everyday decor accessories I've collected over the years (mostly from HomeGoods): silver vases, a faux snake tray, a croc pattered glass cylinder vase, a magnifying glass and a pair of tall thin buffet lamps (I switched out from the bedroom). For the Halloween details, I just re-used some of my black crows, black gauze, black chains, plus a fantastic wiry branch I found here in AZ. I also used a black velvet top hat I actually wore last year on Halloween and two thrift store items I found last year: A black feather wreath and a silver framed round mirror...

 

 

Definitely a mix of new and old here: The faux snake skin tray is my newest find from HomeGoods while the two silver vases are one of my first buys from Target Home (back when they had Furio in the late 90s) . They worked great as risers holding the two sparkle skulls (another HomeGoods find, but from Florida 2010)...

 

These "BEWARE" letters I got at ZGallerie back in Florida (2010)

Last year, I hung them on the stairway leaning mirror - This year I hung them off a floor standing lamp, draped with black gauze.

 

 

 

In this shot, you can see the simplified Halloween vignette, on the buffet I did my Mummy & Skulls Halloween entry vignette back in Florida in 2010...

 

 Pinning To the HomeGoods - Happy By Design collaborative pinboard!

The mummy was a fave find from HomeGoods, in Pembroke Pines, FL.

You can read about my other budget friendly Halloween decor, and pin some ideas to save for next year at:

Inspiration To Get Your Spook On

Hitchcock Halloween Hallway

Halloween - Steampunk Style

 Thrifty Treats: DIY Halloween Party Decor

Fall Decor: Tips For Halloween Decorating

Seasonal Changes: Decorating for Halloween and Fall 

 

 Pinning To the HomeGoods - Happy By Design collaborative pinboard!

Simple Halloween Vignette

Black Gauze Runner (BigLots) layered on a White Linen Runner (HomeGoods)

2 Black Sparkle Skulls (HomeGoods)

1 Black Glass Cyliner Vase holding found branch (HomeGoods)

1 Fluted Round Silver vase (HomeGoods) with Black Velvet Top Hat (BigLots)

5 Faux Crows (Dollar Store)

1 Faux Snake Skin Tray (HomeGoods)

1 Claw Handle Spy Glass (HomeGoods)

2 Silver Buffet Lamps (HomeGoods) with Black lamp Shades (Ikea)

1 Vintage Buffet (Miami Thrift Store)

Silver Round Mirror + Black Feather Wreath + Black Croc Box (Goodwill AZ)

 

Happy Halloween!

See you Halloween ghosts and goblins next year!

Now it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas decorating!

Thanks for stopping by...

Note: This post is sponsored by HomeGoods and the Happy By Design project. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.

RENTSAL RESTYLE: FALL REMIX TRANSFORMATION

Even though the temps here in AZ are in the 100's (115 the other day!) I still enjoy changing the look and mood of our home for Fall. I love the light and airy coastal looks for Summer, but I also very much enjoy the depth and richness of black and brown for Fall. To transition our home from Summer to Fall I've made a few simple changes, done over the past weekend while doing Fall cleaning and organizing. Some of the things I've done are: shift most all shell displays to the guest den & loft upstairs, replaced a basket of white flowers for an antler + croc tray on the coffee table, and replaced the blue & white textiles from the living room with brown, black and leopard (plaid to come later). A dramatic difference came when I switched my white lamp shades for black shades I picked up at HomeGoods earlier this year. I relocated the palm tree to the guest den & other indoor plants are now back outside -- faux fronds have been put away until next year. I love mixing metals so switching some cool silver accents for warmer brass pieces works great! 

 

 

Fall Style Tip:

Skip the flowers for Fall and opt for the warm glow of candles in a tortoise glass vase. I got this one at HomeGoods back in 2005, and it still works with my style and mix today.

Fall is the time I also love to bring out some brown glass containers & a tortoise glass vase -- they cast a warm glow for the cooler months ahead. Although I didn't switch the rug this year (as I've done in the past) I did rotate it while cleaning so it won't get to warn on one side. Removing white jackets from books or rearranging room stacks back to black bound books helps to create the darkness in the space for Fall. I've kept the gold mirror gallery focal point behind the sofa (I made last Fall and it works - still luvin' it!) but I did switch the framed fabric and seascapes to wilderness landscapes. I did bring in two branches I picked up on the side of the road here in AZ (back in January) and I'll be adding some Fall leaves to them. Glass containers inside are washed and (sparkle!) now filled with corks I've been collecting (for seven years). I'll layer in two acorn filled containers and a gold pumpkin filled basket to the coffee table later...

 

Relocated palm in basket to the guest den...

 

 

Mixing Old & New for a ReStyle

Brass lamps: Goodwilll 2013 - Books: church thrift 2013 - Shades ('09) and spy-glass: HomeGoods 2012 - Wood statue: Target garden center '06 - Two stud black glass cylinders: Pier One '06 - Buffet: $30 thrift find Miami '06

I cleaned up our front stoop too - brushing off the dust storms dirt, polished the wood door, trimmed back hedges, hosed down windows and purged dried up potted plants (heat here is just unbearable!) We still have some more time before our dust storm season ends, so I need to wait until October to do any major Fall decor on the front stoop -- but at least it's cleaned up (for now). I'll probably set it similar to how it was last year: bark chip mulch, lanterns, leaves, branches, pumpkins and potted mums.

 

Sifting basket from Goodwill - just $3 - relocated from downstairs. Switched out the graphic B&W bed side table lamp shades for solid black I picked up earlier this year on clearance at World Market...

 

LOVE the metallic pillow I picked up at HomeGoods!

 

 

Paisley panels - just 108" rectangular tablecloths from HomeGoods, I used in our dining room in Florida...

Thrift in the Mix
Great addition for Fall Picked up this brass lamp GoodwillAZ earlier this year. I tested the lamp with a bulb in the store, but it didn't work - thought it may have been the bulb - Thankfully it was. Score at 50% off of 7.99 (had shade from other thrift lamp) Branch: found on side of road here in AZ - just need to add some Fall leaves

In the bedroom, I replaced white bedding for B&W stripes sheets, with pillows in red and tribal pattern plus a touch of gold. The only new additions I've added to my restyle are a pair of black shades in the bedroom (I got on clearance at World Market for only $9) and an awesome gold painted linen pillow I picked up at HomeGoods. Simple seasonal decor change can be created with everyday decor items collected over time & thrift. Just using a darker color palette can easily transform your home too, to be ready for Fall... 

 The last area to transform - paint white vases black & gold, and refinish mirror antique gold + add candle sconces...

 

With the Fall cleaning and organizing now mostly complete, I just have some painting projects to do next weekend (hopefully without a dust-storm) and plan a garage sale for October (after I come back from my trip back home, to the east coast - can't wait!). Have you started to prep your home for fall decor? What are some ways you transform your home for Fall?

Thanks for stopping by,