Inspirational Interiors #1

Photos of the Metropolitan Building, Long Island City, NY

While styling a photoshoot in the Metropolitan Building in Long Island City, NY, I took some photos of a few different areas of the interior. I love the variety of architecture within the building, from elegant to rustic. The second floor (pictured above) feels like an old colonial mansion, where cocktail parties would be held to the sound of violins, where women in floor length pastel dresses trimmed with lace danced with gentlemen in three piece suits.

Inspired by the photos, I created an mood board for a modern interior.  An antique whitewashed dresser with gold handles and an antique gold mirror are juxtaposed with a modern pastel zebra rug and printed ottoman. An antique inspired chair reupholstered in mint green adorned with playful pillows bring together the feel of old and new. The color palette of white, grey and mint green keeps an airy antiqued feel while a pop of yellow adds to its modernity.

Apartment Inspiration - Bookshelves

   
I was given a kindle recently, and while I find its slim design easy to keep with me in my purse wherever I go, and while it is very convenient for reading on the subway, it's just not the same as a book.  Yes, I can highlight things in the kindle, but I can't flip through the pages and see the notes I took, I can't feel the weight of the book in my hand, or easily see how many pages I've read as opposed to how much more of the book I have left. It's also strange to get used to only viewing one page at once, rather than a double page spread, as unimportant as that may sound.  Flipping back to something I read a few pages earlier becomes significantly harder.  I think it would be convenient for novels, that are only read once and then put up on a glorious shelf (like these!) to be displayed as some kind of trophy wall of books that have been conquered... but most of the books I read tend to be ones that I read over and over, that are useful, that I like to reference back to, and there's just no match for the physical book in that case. Or art books!  One day I will have a wall of books on art and design.... and these could never be captured on a kindle.

Giving Thanks

One of my favorite things about returning home for Thanksgiving is the bus ride from New York to Rhode Island.  Life moves so quickly here in the city, and it's become too easy to stay in constant motion, a state of perpetual exhaustion.  To enjoy four uninterrupted hours with nothing else to do but listen to my headphones and let my mind wander as I watch the world go by outside almost feels like a guilty pleasure.   Truthfully however, it is in those hours that I am able to come up with my best ideas, when music and landscape directs my thoughts, and I see and hear things in a way I am not able to when I am rushing around the city, my mind always 10 steps ahead of my feet.

This Thanksgiving was everything it should be, full of family, friends and good food.  I feel so grateful for all the amazing people who I am surrounded with, and am constantly overwhelmed by their generosity and kindness.  I am so appreciative of the time I've had this week to sit and think, to let my mind wander to places it doesn't explore in the city.  How can I recreate this feeling year-round?

The Philosophy Behind the Cards

Oyster Handmade Stitched Paper Greeting Card

There's something so special about sending and receiving snail mail, isn't there?  In this age of technology, where a message, tweet, or status update can be conveyed in an instant, its rare that we take the time to hand write a card and drop it in the mail, knowing it won't be received for days.  And when we receive a card, there's a lovely moment of anticipation and excitement when we open an envelope, not knowing exactly what we'll find. 

Now imagine if every time you opened an envelope, the card was so exquisite and visually pleasing that it was just as much of a gift as the thoughtful note inside.  Imagine the thrill and the joy of a beautiful message paired with an equally beautiful card!  If a message is so important, or has so much thought behind it that we (or someone else) has taken the time to write it out by hand and put a stamp on an envelope and mail it... doesn't that card deserve to be something that we keep, not just throw away the way that we do with so many easily forgettable and easily disposible Hallmark cards?

The Wonderful World of Oyster!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Oyster!  The idea for Oyster began as a small grain of sand, a constant thought in my brain that has been rolling around, and growing larger over time.

From the time I was a child, I have been involved in and interested in all kinds of art and design. At age 11, I started my own jewelry company and sold seaglass earings to a couple local stores in my hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. By 12, I had become obsessed with fashion design and interior design, drawing clothing and designing furniture, and rearranging my room twice a year, complete with floorplans of where each furniture item would go. In my free time I would draw, create sculptures out of found and recycled objects and collages from patterned paper and magazine clippings.