Enough room for everything.

RuMe Bags: Get it? Roomy bag? Regardless of its size, I'm loving the pattern. Perhaps I would actually remember to bring this lovely tote to the grocery store...

Initially

If you look carefully, you can see letters in each of these monogram designs by Superdeluxe NYC. (Hint, they are in alphabetical order.)

Look at all of the neat things you can buy featuring your initial:



Neat!

I want money (that's what I want)

Would you be more apt to save money if you could stash your coins in one of these cuties??

1. French Money Box - Pear $24; 2. Money Box - Van $48.00; 3. French Money Box - Owl $32.00; all by Three Potato Four

So easy

Don't you just love this easy alternative to a headboard? (From House to Home UK)

Yellow Wallpaper

"The Yellow Wallpaper," a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gillman published in 1891 is the tale of decor gone horribly wrong. (The wallpaper takes on ghostly forms and drives our poor heroine coo-coo.) While it does nothing to improve the reputation of wallpaper as an uplifting design element, it does beg the question: If our heroine had such beautiful papers as these, might her situation have been different?

1. Lotus by Farrow & Ball Papers, 2. Syrie by Studioprintworks, 3. Napoleon by Timorous Beasties, 4. FBW by Walnut Wallpaper, 5. Uppark Leaf (Hand printed!) by Hamilton Weston, 6. Kabloom by Walnut Wallpaper, 7. Novelty at Secondhand Rose

Profiles in Courage #1: Bold Curtains

Sometimes decorating takes courage. Periodically, we'll feature courageous designs for your consideration. Hand holding is available upon request.

Profiles in Courage #1: Bold Curtains by Johnny Tapete

Spring flowers

Spring floral arrangements should be simple. These yellow willow blossoms grow in a profusion along the driveway and they look lovely with the new Orla Kiely table cloth. (I wanted everything in her new collection at Target, but restrained myself and just bought the tablecloth, some coffee mugs, chair pads...)

Daffodils on a country chair by Nicolette Camille.

White tulips on a chair and quince from the window by Petalena.

Gardening With a Plan

Happy first day of spring!

If you are like me, the gardening itch is getting pretty strong. Even though it's still cold and damp, there are enough emerging daffodils and tiny tender leaves to inspire my garden dreams for the upcoming months.

Come April, after drooling over seed catalogs all winter, I'll head to Portland Nursery and fall in love with a few showy but expensive plants. The problem with this approach to gardening is that I end up with a scattershot collection of plants at great expense but not great effect.

But this year I've got a plan. Well, technically it's Better Homes and Gardens' plan, but who's counting. I downloaded one of their plans for a shade garden (the picture above) and will use their plant list as a shopping guide for my trip to the nursery. (I may purchase all of the plants online to avoid the temptation of the nursery.) One of the benefits of using a guide is that it forces me to buy enough of each plant to create a lush landscape, thereby creating a mixture of standouts and less exciting foundation foliage.

The best part of the BHG plans are their use of easy to find plants. For more modern landscape plans, I love Applegate Gardens for their innovative yet more elusive plant choices.

What are your plans for your garden this year?

Welcome to the new annabelle at home!

Welcome! This is the new annabelle magazine with a new format, new focus, but the same attitude.

annabelle at home is the new incarnation of annabelle magazine, the internationally ignored independent webzine. When I started annabelle back in 2004, I was a bored editorial assistant at a sports magazine in New York. I asked my friend Sarah, a Shakespearean actress and frustrated writer to be my co-editor. Each issue had a different theme from modern love to leisure, summer camp to mothers.

Thirteen issues later, I wanted to focus on just one topic: home. I hope that annabelle at home becomes the place on the web for vintage inspired home design and decor.

Let us know how we are doing in the coming weeks--we want to know if you have questions we can answer from where to buy the best furniture in Brooklyn to what kind of plants are best for a shade garden.


So thanks for stopping by! Tell your friends and we'll see you again soon.

Solution: How to organize trash and recycling?

Our small and narrow kitchen makes organizing recycling and garbage extra difficult. To make matters worse, we also have a compost bin that won't fit beneath the sink on account of the garbage disposal and its plumbing. The solution? A multi-bin organizer to tame our waste. The Container Store sells a two-bin version by Simple Human for $179 but I found a similar version for $89.99 at Target.

So lovely!













Here's the before:
















And the after: