hit me baby one more time

Great design starts with a clean slate. The good news? Getting rid of what you don’t need is an easy and free way to enhance your home life. In this episode we take you behind the scenes of our primary bathroom purge (calling all shampoo hoarders!). We also tackle listener questions on wallpaper, coffee table styling, and faux plants. But first and foremost, we opine on the very “undesigny” topic of Britney Spears. Come for the Britney, stay for the design.

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podlights

wisdom from Mrs. Paranjape

There were so many great takeaways from last week's chat with acclaimed Nashville designer, Lori Paranjape.

Photo: Mrs. Paranjape

Advice we've already started employing? Have confidence in your designs and resist the urge to second guess.

the bathroom purge

Not all home upgrades break the bank! We loved this article in The New York Times about small home projects that can improve your life.

Photo: Jacob Snavely | Design: Toledo Geller | Source: House Beautiful

The featured suggestions inspired us to tackle our primary bathroom, and get rid of the many unused shampoos and products accumulating in our vanities. The result? A huge (but free!) improvement in our daily lives.

for the love of wallpaper

As self-professed "wallpaper junkies," we get questions all the time about the line between "just right" and "too much" when it comes to pattern on pattern.

Photo: Trevor Tondro | Design: Tilton Fenwick | Source: House Beautiful

Our answer to the when is it too much question? There is no magical formula, it's all about personal style and gut instinct (aka, we know it when we see it!). Case in point: the designs of the super talented Tilton Fenwick duo, whose patterned interiors strike the perfect balance.

coffee table styling

At the GUSSIE we are firm believers that a"coffee" or "cocktail" table is one of the most important features of any successful room.

Photo: Eric Piiasecki | Design: Katie Ridder

When it comes to styling your table, a stack of books is a "do," but make sure they are in the same size and color ranges. Also, feel free to change colors based on the season. We love burgundies and browns int the fall/winter, and blues and pinks in the spring/summer.

If you really love a book but the colors don't work with your current sitch, try taking off the book jacket - sometimes there are hidden gems underneath!

Finally, if you plan to have multiple stacks, don't have them facing all the same way. Turn them so that people sitting or standing at different angles of the room each have a front-facing stack.

Other go-to styling components? Small sculptures for scale variation, a brass tray or bowl to add some glam, candles, flowers or greens (can be faux if really high quality).

What about coasters? For Susannah: a must. For Pamela: a don't. Agree to disagree!