Annie Elliott Design
Greater Washington DC
This is the bar of a Philadelphia restaurant called Marathon on the Square (it was Diner on the Square a million years ago…gravy cheese fries then, preferably at 2:30 a.m.; basil & pesto sandwiches now, preferably at brunch if you can get a table). I love the way the concrete countertop is pretty raw: you …
I’m not usually a fan of the “accent wall” – a distasteful, ’80s term to begin with. I think that people who fear color sometimes think an accent wall is a good alternative to painting an entire room. It usually isn’t. Done thoughtfully and with restraint, however, articulating a single wall with a different color …
I absolutely love rugman.com, and if you’re a client of mine, you can skip this entry because you’ve undoubtedly heard this all before. It’s a leap of faith to buy a rug online, to be sure, but Rugman’s prices make it worth the risk. And naturally, the more you do it, the more skilled you …
Black and white rooms go in and out of fashion, and they’re coming back in now (thank you, Kelly Wearstler). But they’re hard to pull off in real life – in rooms you actually want to spend time in – because the effect can be so sterile.Pair black with rich creams and taupes and a …
Flush- and semi-flush mount ceiling light fixtures – not chandeliers or pendants – generally fall into one of two categories: nondescript or hideous. Thank goodness for the well-priced Dakota ceiling fixture by Minka Lavery. It’s neutral enough to be labeled “transitional” (did a more non-committal design category ever exist?), but it’s elegant without being distracting. …
Ikea. Does the very word make you cringe? I understand. I’ve been there. When I moved off-campus in college, my friends and I thought Ikea was the greatest. Inexpensive. Sleek. Disposable. Sure, the putting-it-together thing was kind of a hassle, but a few friends, an Allen wrench, and a six-pack made it kind of fun. …
Well, guess what. I’m here to say that it might – might – be time to revisit Ikea. Especially if you have kids, a mudroom, a home office, or a weekend house. Or all of the above. A few months ago, a colleague of mine (a fantastic professional organizer, Nicole Anzia of Neatnik) dragged me …