REDECORATING TIPS: Bring new life into your apartment

/
living room 2

Toss the junk - most of us have no idea how much we accumulate all year until we start to de-clutter. Clearing out small bits and pieces you don’t need will help your home feel fresh. Donate or sell furniture that you’ve had for a long time that doesn't particularly work for your space anymore. It might be hard to part with pieces that hold sentimental value, but once you get rid of them you won’t look back.


Consider unconventional layouts to create more space - create clusters of seating rather than spacing furniture out against a wall. This will give you more room and opens up the space for entertaining while keeping your seating area intimate. Adding a console table behind a floating couch or moving a chair from the living room into your bedroom will make both spaces feel larger.

Move smaller pieces of art and furniture from room to room is a great way to refresh your space. Re-organizing art, mirrors, and small tables or lamps will give the room new life.

Reshuffle rugs - rugs can easily create the illusion of less or more space and light in a room. If you re-shuffle area rugs around your apartment you will see each rug in different lighting and colors will pop. Use a large rug in the living room to make the room feel larger (don’t worry about not fitting the back legs of your furniture on the rug). 

Fine-tune the lighting - lighting can easily make or break the feel of the apartment. Maximize the natural light by using sheer window treatments or shades. Fluorescent lighting can almost make a person feel uncomfortable. Use soft lighting and dimmers when possible to give the room a warm feeling. Lamps will also help create an inviting atmosphere.

Fresh coat of paint. Enough said.

living room redecorating

BDDW. Hands Down, Favorite Furniture.

/

I am a huge fan of interior design and love to stage apartments in my real estate life. When I think about my dream home, I visualize it with a collection of BDDW furniture. Their handmade pieces are each a work of art and I admire the creator and designer, Tyler Hayes. He built a small empire of design, starting with woodwork and moving on to art, sculpture, and archery! The style is very sleek and unique with handmade touches that add value to each piece. 

The first time I heard of BBDW was when I was invited to their archery competition and Weenie Roast in 2014. My friend, who’s an incredible woodworker, invited me to join him at BDDW’s annual archery competition and the practice took place in the Soho showroom. It was filled with eclectic and creative individuals with their own unique style and haystacks were filled with handmade bows and arrows and placed in front of the targets. Upon entering, I grabbed a plate and loaded it with the selection of locally sourced charcuterie and cheese and locally brewed beer and wine, while I made my way around the gallery. It’s the most beautiful furniture store I’ve set foot in and it’s worth going to just for a peek. 

After becoming very interested in BDDW, I knew the Weenie Roast in the Hudson Valley was going to be worth the day-trip. Oh and it was! It’s hard to sum up, but imagine a huge mansion sitting on acres of land in Upstate New York, when the leaves are peaking their color change in Autumn. Then add a huge barn filled with art, furniture, vintage motorcycles, a handmade ping pong table, and couches overlooking the land. There was a large open fire outside with endless potatoes being sliced into fries and tossed into a handmade fryer several feet long, weenies were in abundance, and to top it off, there was a king-sized table topped with vegetables and cheese to feast from. Archers were competing, I was eating, while others were aiming their arrows at the $22,000 credenza in the field that the winner would take home. I love BDDW. Enough said. 

Underwater Sculptures Creating New Coral Reefs

/

UNDERWATER SCULPTURE

Jason deCaries Taylor is an award winning underwater photographer, famous for his dramatic images, which capture the metamorphosing effects of the ocean on his evolving sculptures.

In 2006, Taylor founded and created the world’s first underwater sculpture park. Situated off the west coast of Grenada in the West Indies it is now listed as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic and was instrumental in the creation of a National Marine Protected Area by the local Government. Following on in 2009 he co-founded MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte), a monumental museum with a collection of over 500 of his sculptural works, submerged off the coast of Cancun, Mexico; described by Forbes as one of the world’s most unique travel destinations. Both these ambitious, permanent public works have a practical, functional aspect, facilitating positive interactions between people and fragile underwater habitats while at the same relieving pressure on natural resources.

His art is like no other, a paradox of creation, constructed to be assimilated by the ocean and transformed from inert objects into living breathing coral reefs, portraying human intervention as both positive and life-encouraging. His pioneering public art projects are not only examples of successful marine conservation, but works of art that seek to encourage environmental awareness, instigate social change and lead us to appreciate the breathtaking natural beauty of the underwater world.

During the summer of 2014 Taylor submerged “Ocean Atlas” in the Bahamas, which is currently the largest single underwater sculpture in the world measuring 5 meters high and weighing over 60 tons.

He is currently based in Lanzarote part of the Canary Islands working on a major new underwater museum for the Atlantic Ocean.