What's the easiest - and least expensive way - to personalize your look? Painted Fingernails! Nail polish continues to be just as important an accessory as the right shoe or bag, present on almost every single runway. The direction: moody, minimal-chic shades of mushroom, slate gray, and even blue.

-Vogue Beauty Guide

Q: How high should your bedside table be?
A: The same size as your mattress height.

Standard bedside tables typically measure between 24-28" in height (depending on the style of your bed - contemporary beds tend to sit much lower than traditional).  

Not only will an ideal table height make your mornings easier when reaching for that snooze button, but perfectly sized bedside tables will also keep your room in proper proportion.

It's a domino effect.  When your tables are too small, people tend to overcompensate by placing enormous lamps on them to fill the space (creating an Alice in Wonderland look), and when your tables are too large, people tend to place tiny table lamps on them (creating weirdness).  

Both these options will detract from a flowing and "pulled-together" look.  Hope that was helpful - see you next Tuesday for another tip.

I always enjoy seeing one of our pieces make it to the big screen. Production designers definitely seem to share some go-to items with our line, but this is the firs time that our Lucca Chairs were ever featured - and at the scene of the crime nonetheless! Here's a campaign shoot featuring Kyra Sedgwick and Lucca Chair for The Closer.

A good way to budget for a project is to figure how much money you will be spending on each piece. Think of it as the design equivalent of wearing a Forever 21 top with your YSL Stiletto’s and J Crew blazer. Mix High and Low for a pulled together, sophisticated yet fun and stress free look.

Personally, I am a big fan of lists. I like to have a list that covers all items needed. Here’s a peek at how I organize where I would suggest spending your money...

SPLURGE ON THIS:

Anything that you will sitting/sleeping on, high use wood pieces like dining tables, outdoor fixtures that are subject to the elements:

Dining Chairs

Dining Table

Sofa

An amazing mattress

Bedding

Pillows

Silver frames

Crystal

Formal China

Statement Art that is placed at a major focal point

A truly beautiful timeless entry hall table

Statement Area Rugs for formal rooms

A fantastic bronze sculpture

Table clothes and good napkins

SAVE ON THIS:

 Anything that is very much the look of the moment, trendy and funky pieces or things that are far outside your color comfort zone. Spending less on these things will allow you to test them out without buyer’s remorse.

 Accessory Pillows

Wallpaper

Funky and trendy objects

Bookends

Everyday dishware

Filler art (for hallways and bonus rooms)

Outdoor Dishware, table clothes and napkins

Area rugs that will be used in high traffic areas

Mirrors

]]> http://ninapetronzio.com/blog/2010/08/24/tuesdays-tip-where-to-splurge-and-where-to-save/feed/ 0 http://ninapetronzio.com/blog/2010/08/16/tuesdays-tip-cover-it-with-a-console/ http://ninapetronzio.com/blog/2010/08/16/tuesdays-tip-cover-it-with-a-console/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:20:41 +0000 Nina http://ninapetronzio.com/blog/?p=2550 In situations where the back of a sofa faces the entrance to a room, I will often install a console in that space. In addition to offering a more visually appealing welcome than the boring back of your sofa, a strategically positioned console will also: 1. Offer opportunities for accessories 2. Formally divide a room where needed 3. Allow space for additional table lamps ]]> http://ninapetronzio.com/blog/2010/08/16/tuesdays-tip-cover-it-with-a-console/feed/ 0 http://ninapetronzio.com/blog/2010/08/15/houndstoothe-check/ http://ninapetronzio.com/blog/2010/08/15/houndstoothe-check/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 04:29:07 +0000 Nina http://ninapetronzio.com/blog/?p=2540

Bold enough to be the focal point of a room, I used a houndstoothe fabric on this project as the outside upholstery and throw pillows on Plush Home Gatsby lounge chairs.

I love houndstoothe fabric for my wardrobe and upholstered furniture because of its classic nature. There is something both bold and modern about this pattern that I adore and unlike tattoo-inspired prints, houndsoothe won't go away or be featured in a VH1 "What were we thinking?" fashion special five years from now. It was given its name because its pattern resembles a dog's tooth - its name is French is pied-de-poule, which means 'hen's foot'.

Director Kyle Newman has lined up his wife, Jaime King, to play the French actor, but Bardot warns that ’sparks will fly’

Film-makers have portrayed many French celebrities in recent years:  Edith Piaf, Coco Chanel and, most recently, Serge Gainsbourg have all  had their lives re-enacted and rehabilitated on the silver screen.

Anyone wishing to do the same with Brigitte Bardot,  however, had better watch out. The cantankerous former actor has warned  that "sparks will fly" if a US director persists with reported plans to  make a biopic of her – and cast his Hollywood star wife in the lead  role.

"I am not OK with a film about me when I have not been told  about it and when I have not given my agreement to the person playing my  role," she told French radio today.

In an earlier interview, the  erstwhile blond bombshell was equally strident. "A film about my life?  But I'm not dead!" she exclaimed. "They wouldn't dare do it without  talking to me. If they do sparks will fly."

It has been rumoured  for several months that Kyle Newman, the producer and director of  several moderately successful US films, is planning to make a biopic,  provisionally entitled Bardot, in which his wife, Jaime King, would take  centre stage.

However King, 31, could find it hard to convince  her 75-year-old counterpart that she could live up to the legend. "I am  typically French," said Bardot this week in reaction the news that a  former fashion model from Nebraska was in line to bring her je ne sais  quoi to the silver screen. "I never left France for Hollywood nor  stashed my money in Switzerland," she added, for good measure.

"No  one", she declared, was right for the role, whether French or foreign.  "They have their own personalities but they don't have mine," she said.  She claimed not to have seen Laetitia Casta's portrayal of her in Joann  Sfar's Gainsbourg, Vie Héroïque.

Directors of previous French  biopics have come under fire for skipping over some of the more  controversial periods of their subjects' lives: La Vie en Rose ignored  Piaf's activities during the Occupation, while Coco Before Chanel, a  tale of the designer's early years, stopped short of her affair with a  Nazi officer at the Paris Ritz.

Similarly, perhaps, any maker of a  biopic about "BB" would have to decide whether or not to focus  exclusively on her showbusiness career, which ended when she quit the  cinema aged 38, or to follow her later transformation from sex symbol to  animal rights activist and champion of the reactionary right.

The  coquettish star of Jean-Luc Godard's Le Mépris has been repeatedly  fined for inciting racial hatred and frequently makes derogatory remarks  about immigration, Islam and homosexuality. Today, the day after French  Muslims began observing Ramadan, she declared that halal meat had  "invaded France".

Applauding Nicolas Sarkozy and his interior  minister for their recently announced intention to revoke the  citizenship of certain criminals "of foreign origin", she said: "Why  should they continue to be French when all they do is do stupid, scummy  things? … There is a certain dignity to being French." She added: "I  have the courage of my convictions. I don't beat around the bush and I  am about the only one who doesn't in this bloody country."

Lizzy Davies in Paris | guardian.co.uk, 12 August 2010

The biggest mistake that people make when selecting a sectional for their space is deciding on their sectional style (L-Shape, Sofa with Chaise Return, U-Shape, etc..) before considering the actual space it will live in. This is a big NO NO that will lead to a non-cohesiveness lounge area.  

In wardrobe terms, this would be similar to buying a size 10 dress off the rack (just because you liked the color) and assuming it would fit your size 6 body....or the other way around. Like I said...NO NO.

So unless you're cool with a random fraternity lounge area look, keep reading...

A Park Avenue Sofa with a Chaise Return

Here are my top tips on choosing the perfect sectional:

- Let your space should dictate the shape. Invest in a roll of blue tape (or cut up some butcher paper) and actually lay out sectional options for you to consider. Make sure that the sectional doesn't overpower the room and become the focal point of your space. Also make sure you allow for enough space for end tables and a coffee table or ottoman(s).

- Extra sleeping. You may not want to advertise this on Facebook, but assuming one side of your sectional is large enough, you can have it custom built with a queen size pull-out bed for guests.

- Let the pillows pop. Since it's a lot of upholstery, I normally specify solid fabric on large sectionals. Save the patterns and colors for your throw pillows - this way you can switch them when you're in the mood for something new.

- Screen it. If you're using your sectional for a media space, make sure the largest portion of your sectional is facing the television.

- Lay it down. Place an area rug in front of your sectional to add symmetry to your space and complete the look.

An L-Shaped Sectional Sofa is basically two sofas connected by a corner piece

The new Fendi Fall/Winter 2010-11 campaign shot by Karl Lagerfeld. I <3 this.