Rent Free! Interiors Edition
Letting my two worlds collide!
Some things in life are just so closely related, they’re practically the same thing. My favorite example is interior design and fashion. I have worked on the sales side of interiors for 13 years now, and I’ve had the honor of working with incredible design firms here in NYC. I’ve absorbed so much from my clients and projects over the years, so I can’t help but think my exposure has informed my sensibilities when shopping and getting dressed. For today’s post, I had the idea to narrow in on one of my all-time favorite designers, Elizabeth Roberts, and take inspiration from her projects that live rent free forever in my mind to go window shopping. Many moons ago, when I sold custom door hardware, I worked on a few projects with her firm and they were definitely some of the highlights of my career to date. Let’s get to it!
This project had me at hello many years ago with its blue kitchen cabinetry. This shade is one of my all time favorites for both clothing and interiors- see below for how this project inspired me to paint my singular bedroom door at my old apartment in Brooklyn.
For this imaginary shopping trip, I knew I wanted to use the blue color of my dream pants from Nili Lotan. This is the year I will finally go try on a pair and see if they’re meant to be, but I love how they look on other people. I’m just not sure if the inseam will be long enough for me.
wrote a great post on them here, and wore them so well in her outfit round up last week. For the touch of red, I used this pair of sandals I’ve had on my “shoe” notes page for months now. The color combo is literal perfection!
BTW I put an asterisk next to the items I own throughout this whole post, for clarity! I also included my rings in each flat lay because I never take them off and I have a weird thing where I want them in every outfit haha.
P.S. The GAP big shirt in the collage above is one of my favorites! I posted recently that I was brave enough to wear it on a cross country flight with my kids, and I just want to take a moment to share that it remained clean for the WHOLE TRIP! I even wore it twice as a beach cover up. The GAP gods are smiling upon me!
My old apartment in Greenpoint! My husband and I lived there for 7 years (2013-2021)! It was a tiny one bedroom, and we somehow made it work until my son was almost 3. You can see our Murphy bed reflected in the mirror in this pic actually haha. Yes. Once my son was born, we let him have the bedroom and we slept on a Murphy bed in our living room, with the refrigerator acting as our headboard haha. This blue door always made me feel happy - a testament to the power of color.
I don’t wear a lot of pattern, but I am obsessed with wallpaper. This room is no exception- the floral wallcovering and teal millwork paired with the offbeat yellow in the artwork.. I would die for this to be my dining room. No notes!
I went to my “obsessions” tab on The Real Real for this one, and found this Doen dress which really just captures the essence of this room. Someone buy this dress please!!! It appears to be sold out on the Doen site, sadly.
I’ve had this Chan Luu bag on my mind for a while, and it was back ordered so it kept me from ordering. But it’s back in stock and I don’t know if my little weird bag loving brain can hold out. Just like the art in the room above, this bag brings an unexpected vibe to the super feminine dress and it really works.
P.S. again - these burgundy Madewell sandals are SO comfortable, I’ve been reaching for them constantly. 10/10 recommend!
This project was featured in the NYT back in 2014 but it feels like yesterday that I pulled every single image as inspiration for my own home. I can’t believe that was 11 years ago!! This sofa in particular ignited my love for sofas upholstered in a pattern. That color!
Finding an exact match to the sofa proved to be difficult, but this top from Veronica Beard is CLOSE! Then the ball earrings are a nod to the object on the mantel, and I love how the turquoise plays with the jade green.
This shot below is from the ERA website, not the NYT article, but it’s the same project (different room). I’ve always loved the use of the black and white sheepskin here so my brain immediately went to these Mansur Gavriel black and white woven flats. They’re so fun!
Another one that has inspired me in my own home! One of my goals for this year is to photograph my house and do a tour post, so I promise you’ll see eventually. But for now, I think I found the perfect bag to bring inspiration from this kitchen to an outfit!
Right?? This outfit is so good!! I pulled in the wood tones from the countertop into the bangle set (fun) and the blackish/navy cabinets got interpreted into this navy top (which is now on my immediate wishlist).
I’ve always loved the little framed print in this room, and I actually found a $6 download of it on Etsy!
I saved the best for last? Ladies and gentleman, the home of none other than Ulla Johnson. If you click on nothing else today, please do yourself a favor of looking at her house here (the AD article is paywalled, darn!). Elizabeth’s firm also did the Ulla Johnson store in NYC which is another beautiful place i highly recommend visiting if you’re in the city.
Obviously, I had to source an Ulla dress!! It was so hard to pick ONE because I love them all. But ultimately this one below captures the movement of the wall hanging and I had to go with it. Then came the fun part of scrolling for accessories- I can’t think of a better way to spend my Thursday night honestly.
Color theory tells us purple and orange are in harmony with each other, and it’s one of my favorite combinations. I have a book I refer to when I’m painting, and this is one of my go-to pages:
One of my best-selling prints on the site Artfully Walls was even inspired by the above page!
Well, that was a fun way to stretch my creative mental muscles- I even squeezed in some handwriting practice! I know you’re probably here because you like to read fashion/getting dressed posts, so I hope this wasn’t too much of a departure!! As you can tell, I’m a bit obsessive about design in general, and interiors are no exception. I would love to incorporate that side of my interests into this newsletter a bit more, but please tell me your thoughts! Yay or nay?
Until next time!!
Emily 🪩
I knew this was going to be good when it started out with a picture of the Olsen Twins! Your apartment blue door is everything. The floral Doen dress and the wallpaper. All so epic. Please make this a series.
I loveeeeeee an interiors inspo / fashion hybrid post!! So many brilliant ideas and I love seeing your talent for both fashion and design converge in one place!! 💙