Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 450

Open or Closed Storage in the Kitchen?

I recently signed the lease for a new apartment, and I'm thrilled that it has an enormous kitchen (by New York standards anyway). But for all the space it has, there is very little storage. It has too tiny cabinets over the sink, which will be for everyday dishes, and a cabinet that has the sink in it (not exactly sure what is going in there yet).

So, I'm going to have to figure out something to use as a pantry. I just can't choose between open and closed storage.

I could do something like the ...

Pottery Barn: 10 Storage Favorites

Spring makes me want to get organized and work on lots of projects around the home, what about you? I was looking through the Pottery Barn catalog this morning and thought I'd pull together a Spring must-have list of 10 Storage Favorites that may lead you to some great things that you can order and enjoy for a more organized home. Here are my 10 picks.

1.  I love the idea of a coffee table as more than a functional piece but also as a space for creating a beautiful display beneath glass...

A Moveable Feast: An Introduction

Hi, Bookies:

My name is Yolanda Wikiel. I've had the opportunity to grow up with Real Simple, first as an assistant when the magazine launched, now as a staff editor 10 years later. I work primarily on fashion stories, so you can only imagine how many bras, bathing suits, and pants I've squeezed myself into over those 10 years in search of the best-fitting ones to feature in our body-type stories. One year I'm pretty sure I pulled on more than 200 swimsuits to weed out the doozies. And you...

Cute Easter Cupcakes

Tired of dipping hard boiled eggs in dye? Sure, it's the classic kid-friendly Easter activity. But you've done it a dozen times. Change things up this year and make these adorable Bunny Cupcakes with the kids this weekend. Definitely tastier than the eggs! 

 

Easy step-by-step (including printable template) found at Skip to my Lou. 

Happy Easter! 

 

"Wear" Your Wallet with Wallets2Wear

This is a "I-just-had-to-share" product! 

The bracelets/wallets from Wallets2Wear are the fashionable answer to stashing your necessities (credit card, cash, ID, key, or even just a lipstick) without having to carry a purse. 

How do they work?

On the inner side of the company's elasticized multi-strand bracelets, sports wristbands and watches is a small pouch for carrying a credit card, ID, standard key, and five or more bills of cash (or use your imagination and suit your needs: tuck in a...

O'Brien & Schridde Frames

Yesterday on decor8 I highlighted "Coastal Chic" style that is a little shabby, a little country, and very coastal -- think California and Sydney cottages washed with light, linens, lots of white and beautiful blue tones. You can see two cottages that I spotlighted here to get a sense of what I'm referring to. Below is a glimpse, this is from Maria's home in California -- she authors the Dreamy Whites blog and imagine this -- she has a husband and 5 children who occupy this very white, very c...

How to wrangle all those business cards

This pile/bag of business cards is my private shame.

In this pile are business cards I have dutifully collected at conferences, meetups, receptions, cocktail parties, lunches. Trapped in this bag are new friends; publicists; bloggers, and potential vendors and possible clients. I know I should enter them into my address book. I advise my clients and others to connect with new contacts through LinkedIn.

Instead, I bring them back to my office and do nothing. Nadda. Zippo.

So now, I have a p...

Geox's Limited Edition Empire State Building Shoe

Since New York City is the fashion capital of the world--it's not a surprise that this city filled with shining lights, massive buildings and the ability to make your dreams come has inspired so many.

Geox, the Italian shoe company (famous for their shoes "that breath") used New York City as its muse when creating their new limited edition shoe for Spring/Summer 2010. It's modeled after the most famous skyscraper in the world: The Empire State Building.

Now that's shoe! And yes--they...

How Perceptions of Choice Affect Health and Happiness

In the new book "The Art of Choosing," Columbia business school professor Sheena Iyengar discusses how to make better decisions. In addition, Iyengar demonstrates that perhaps the most important choice an individual can make is how she chooses to mentally frame her circumstances.

The Art of Choosing includes the results of a decade-long British project known as the Whitehall Studies, which followed 10,000 British civil servants age 20 to 64. It found that although higher-paying jobs came with ...

This April Fools' Day Don't Be an Uncluttering Fool

I'm not the biggest fan of April Fools' Day. Sure, there are a few gems to be treasured each year (I'm loving Google changing its name to Topeka and Whole Foods poking fun at itself), but for the most part it gets old after I've stumbled upon three or four pranks. Instead of writing a fake news story or trying to pull one over on you, I thought I would talk about when I've been a fool with uncluttering and organizing. Think of this as "learn from my mistakes so that you don't have to make...