A plate of warm, gooey mac and cheese is, as Julia Child put it, the stuff of life. Okay, so maybe the famous tippling chef didn’t actually say that, but we’re pretty sure she’d have loved the new generation of mac and cheese—in all its sophisticated, flavorful glory—as much as we do. When you’re pining for a midwinter meal that reminds you of home and family time, whip out your cheese grater and fire up the stove, the oven, and even the slow cooker (yes, the slow cooker!). Try our original recipe, or hop on over to one of our favorite blogs for more. White Truffle Oil Mac & Cheese with Lump Crab Our very own Fresh...
As Good as It Gifts
Sure, buying gifts for someone with exacting tastes can be a bit, ahem, stressful, but we prefer to see it as a Mission: Very Possible that we’re happy to accept. So if you’ve got a preppy princess in your life, click this way for some great gift ideas. For the Yogi...
Watch Out
From tote bags to Top-Siders, the types and numbers of preppy accessories are almost endless. But one of our favorites is the wristwatch, not just for the functional factor, but also for its ability to instantly inject a bit of pep and personality into an outfit. And let’s face it: it’s a...
Hello, Yellow!
Yellow is one of the hot colors for spring, and we couldn’t be more excited with all the citrusy, sunny, golden, and amber-tinged choices. Since yellow is also one of the quintessentially Happy Preppy colors, we think now is a great time to give your favorite space an overhaul, with...
The Silk Express
When the landscape outside our windows has faded to dull brown, bony branches and white lawn frosting, we pine for a bit color and organic shape indoors—like the beautiful fresh peonies in this room. Sure, silk flowers aren’t the real deal, but when purchased from a quality manufacturer...
In the Pink
Maybe Valentine’s Day has made us all nostalgic for our girlhood bedrooms, but we’re loving the idea of pink walls as the base for a romantic room. With the passion of red toned down by pure-as-the-driven-snow white, pink suggests gentleness, femininity, and intimacy. As designer Stephen...
And…Scene
We love a room makeover, but even more, we love all the little details that go into it. Have a look at these behind-the-scenes images from Annie’s most recent Woman’s Day magazine makeover, then hop over to their site to see the finished...
A Room With A Viewpoint
What could be better for Valentine’s Day than design with heart? As part of her special Woman’s Day magazine makeover series, Annie redesigned the bedroom of Jennifer Rathbone, a Schenectady, NY, mother of three whose daughter Ila has struggled with neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of pediatric cancer, since 2006. To celebrate the makeover, Pine Cone Hill will donate 10% of online retail sales through March 15 to CureSearch when the promotional code WDCURE is entered during checkout. We chatted with Annie about her inspiration for the space. …and after. Photo:...
View Master
When fashion-model-turned photographer Cassandra Sohn takes a picture, people look twice. Sometimes three, four, or more times, just to make sure what they’re seeing is what they think they’re seeing. Her unique sense of the natural world, blurring the lines—literally and figuratively—between what we see how and how experience it, has formed the basis for an uncommon collection of travel photography and fine art, as well as a new gallery, Sohn Fine Art in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, that focuses not simply on exhibition, but on collaboration between artists. Sohn notes, “I’ve always been really passionate about traveling. It’s...
Pattern Play
When we think of our ideal living room, the first word that comes to mind is usually comfort. It is a living room, after all, a place to kick up your feet with friends and family, curl up with a good book, or sack out for a weekend-afternoon nap. So stiff, formal, and dull are, as Heidi Klum might bark in her Teutonic accent, owwt. This New York City apartment, featured in House Beautiful, gets the easygoing vibe just right, with a decidedly high-brow, global touch. We love the almost-clashing patterns, from bold florals and stripes to ikat and tribal. The stunning ninenteeth-century, red Turkish rug is a fantastic base for a Robert Kime...
Opportunity Knocks
Decorating fans know that pretty much every square inch of a space is visual real estate—it’s a matter of what to highlight and how. But one area that doesn’t get much design love is the interior door, which most of us think of as a transitional element that separates room from room (or...
Grin and Bear It
On a recent trip to Tucson, Annie stopped in Grey Dog Trading Company, an amazing store stockpiled with the finest in Native American arts and crafts from all over the United States and Canada. Annie, animal lover that she is, spied these Zuni bear fetishes, and immediately knew she...
Step it Up
Looking for that perfect pop of color in an unexpected place? This week, we’re taking our cue from the wildly colored staircases at the Uniqlo store in New York City and bringing you a variety of inspirations for these utilitarian, often-overlooked spots that are pretty awesome for...
Passage to India
We’re always on the lookout for unusual sources of color-palette inspiration, whether they come in the form of a chic colorblocked outfit; a lunch salad with greens, fruits, and veggies in punchy hues; or a piled-high bin of Uglydolls at the airport gift shop. Annie shared these exuberant shots from her recent trip to India, proving that even everyday stuff like kitchen sponges, boxes of incense, and paper lanterns can be the jumping-off point for a room...
Mmmm, Pop
Maybe it’s our nostalgia for Saturday mornings spent in front of the TV that made us want to turn cartwheels for this London apartment featured in the September 2011 issue of World of Interiors. Or maybe it’s the glossy turquoise floor, and the cartoon-printed sofa and table. Or the bubbly accents like the balloonlike red smiley face on the Pepto Bismol–colored pedestal, and the life-size absurdist sculpture with pink legs and Playmobil head. Whatever it is, we heart artist Misha Milovanovich’s sense of humor and eye for borderline-clashing patterns and color with a capital C. The walls of the apartment may be white, but...
Carried Away
Traveling is one of our all-time favorite activities, but we’ve never subscribed to the luggage-as-utilitarian-item theory. Why go for a nondescript neutral or stand around for hours at the baggage carousel, praying to the airline gods that that black roller suitcase is your black roller...
Wonder Boys
Where to begin with this prewar Manhattan penthouse, owned and decorated by fashion-industry luminaries Mark Lee and Ed Filipowski and featured in the October 2011 issue of Architectural Digest? Let’s go with the living room, a veritable master class in Nuanced Neutral decor. From the shades of gray, silver, tan, ivory, and brown to the sophisticated textures (flannel, velvet, and Ultrasuede upholstery! Fur throws! A trio of rugged cocktail tables made from selenite and teak!), we’re ready to move in. We also love the how the vintage art is simple enough to complement but not compete with bolder elements like the large, graphic...
Hot Potato
What would a winter meal be without creamy, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth mashed potatoes? Sure, they don’t have a heck of a lot in the way of nutrients, and, depending on how many goodies you put in them, they’re not exactly calorie conscious, but mashed potatoes have several things we love: heartiness, tons of flavor, and endless variations. Oh, and carbs. For a classic take on this cold-weather favorite, we called on Carole Murko, collector of treasured family recipes, locavore guru, and founder of Heirloom Meals in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. As Carole puts it, “There’s something about mashed potatoes that warms the heart...
Block Head
As textile-decorating techniques go, block printing is older-than-oldie, dating to ancient Egypt and Asia. It’s a distinctive touch, especially for the kitchen, where a printed tea towel adds a bit of pizzazz to a space that, unless you’re well-off or supremely handy with power...
App Happy
Although we try to unplug and unwind as much as possible, we admit it: we love our smartphones and the thousands of apps on the market. Whether useful, efficiency enhancing, pretty, or just plain silly, we slogged through the many winter-themed apps for Android and iPhone to bring you this...
Ski Party
If we have to put up with snow for four months out of the year, you can bet we’re going to make the most of it by shushing down the slopes . . . in adorably cozy outfits and with a gorgeous Swiss instructor, followed by hot toddies around the lodge fireplace. So why not take that classic,...
Show Us the Ropes
Sure, we know that rope—that hardware-store mainstay—is good for tons of practical uses, like hauling supplies, strapping down an overflowing car trunk, hanging laundry, and docking boats. But when we see rope, in all its toasty shades and thick-and-twisty weaves, we can’t help but...
Graphic and Novel
When faced with the huge rooms in this Naples, Florida, home (featured in the December 2011/January 2012 House Beautiful), designer Robert Couturier knew exactly what he wanted to do: fill it with large-scale objects and bold (and we mean bold) patterns that take up space. He settled on a classic blue-and-white palette and then went to town, layering textures, prints, and kindergarten-colored modern artwork. We are, in a word, swooning. The living room is packed with decidedly upscale pieces—a sculpted-concrete table, a reupholstered nineteenth-century French armchair, a circa-1950 turned-wood lamp, and a Fernand Leger tapestry. Despite...
Felt Up
Merino wool felt isn’t exactly the happy-go-lucky fabric that comes to mind when we think of quintessential preppy style. But somehow the design gurus at L.A.-based Gräf & Lantz have managed to turn a stodgy winter staple into a line of über-prep tote bags, iPad sleeves, cell...
Eclectic Evolution
Designers are like the mad scientists of home decorating, often testing out their new ideas on their own spaces (and unsuspecting families). For hipper-than-thou décor guru Muriel Brandolini, her Manhattan town house—and especially her living room—has been the laboratory for 16 years’...
Beetlemania
Normally, when we find bugs on our walls, we’re don’t exactly spend the afternoon appreciating them. But this collection of colorful, gorgeous, creative beetle vases made by German artists Beate Reinheimer and Ulrike Rehm and recently featured in the New York Times Style magazine, made a memorable, entirely noncreepy impression on us. The collection, called Schwarm, features 10 shapes and 63 species in individualized glazes. Catch one or sweep ’em all up here. For a subtler approach to insect-inspired décor, try a decorative pillow, a drawing, or a small sculpture. Or make like Cleopatra and drape yourself in scarab...
The Organization Man
If you’ve had a chance to scroll through any of our Cultured Eclectic posts, you’ve probably noticed a theme: we love things. Especially when organized into quirky personal collections. So imagine our giddiness when we discovered Things Organized Neatly, a blog created by the Indianapolis-based (and awesomely monikered) designer Austin Radcliffe. With his gallery of artful images of everyday, grouped items like pencil erasers, dismantled cigarettes, lightbulbs, and even socks, it’s a collector’s wildest, oddest, OCD-est fantasy come...
Tea’d Off
Tea is many things—the preferred drink of the ancients, a source of comfort and warmth, a way to deliver healthful elements like vitamins and antioxidants right into our post-holiday-indulgence bodies, and a connection to cultures around the world. But what we like best about tea is that, as...
Ray of Light
Trends are fun to follow, but we’re even more thrilled when something we love becomes a trend. Sunburst mirrors—one of our favorite ways to incorporate shape, shine, and romance into a room—have been everywhere lately, and we couldn’t be happier with all the choices. Even better:...
Poster Girls
There’s something about a four-poster or canopy bed that brings back old-school romance à la movies like Gone with the Wind. Whether you drape them in billowy fabrics or go for a sleekly unadorned look, four-poster beds can add much-needed shape and architectural detail to a room and create...
Home Is Where the Hearth Is
Quick: name a few things you love about winter. If one of your top picks is hanging out with glass of wine and a group of friends, reading a favorite book while cuddled up in a plush armchair, or getting cozy with a special someone, all in front of a roaring fire, then we’re heading over to your place this weekend. It’s hard to improve on the naturally romantic ambience of a fireplace, but let’s face it: the mantel is prime decorating real estate. Here are a few inspirations to get you started—some of which were featured in Tina of The Enchanted Home’s recent guest post on winter white on Home Bunch, and on Habitually...
Frankly, We Give a Damask
If you’re looking for a way to incorporate more romance into your interior design, we’re about to simplify that job: do it up with damask. Whether on furniture, rugs, walls, or accessories, damask—a time-tested weaving technique that harks back to the Middle Ages and that usually features florals, animals, pastoral images, and royal crests—is a beautifully rich, feminine, and vintage-inspired touch. As these recent posts from the Decorator’s Best blog show, damask looks dreamy on just about anything you can slap a paper or fabric on. Use a tri- or multicolor damask for an Old World look, or try a high-contrast two-tone like black...
Bohemian Rhapsody
Sometimes, things that seem like they shouldn’t go together—lobster and mac and cheese, Missoni and Target, David Hasselhoff and Popsicles (oh, how we wish we were kidding about that one)—make the most intriguing companions. Take this eclectically exuberant room and its out-of-the-box-and-through-the-front-door color scheme of lilac, burnt orange, fuchsia, rust, and ochre. Nope, those colors shouldn’t work together. But they do, and in the most offbeat and amazing way. Annie fell head over heels for the exotic rug, and knew she had to create a space around it. Because the colors of the rug are all approximately the same...
Rugs on Film
Hollywood, we have arrived. This year, lucky ducks that we are, we’ve been featured in two major movies, Something Borrowed (which dressed their bedroom sets in a chipper selection of Pine Cone Hill products) and now The Change-Up, which features not one, but three color-happy Dash &...
New Year’s Resolution
Forget about giving up chocolate, promising to jog before work every morning (in the cold . . . and the dark . . . at 5:00 a.m.), or not coveting the über-fabulous homes you see in Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, or Elle Décor. This year, we have an instant, easy, and totally doable New Year’s resolution for you: try more color. You’ve been telling yourself for years that you’d experiment with an accent wall, install a cheery runner on your stairs, or load up on fun, saturated pillows and vases and trinkets. So what are you waiting for? Take a peek at these exuberant inspirations, and then start small with accessories or go...
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