“She was a Jewish Girl, I fell in love with her…”

…Arrrrriiieelllleee…

So. Remember a few weeks ago when I posted that I thought I might have been a gay bon vivant in another life because my love of ridiculous design? Well, one of my long lost loves from College email’d me afterwards and said, Bailey! I am your Gay Bon Vivant!

Her name is Arielle, and besides being the most beautiful alternakid I know (she used to dress me in her black skinny jeans and skull accessories in college, kind of like barbie in reverse since she was typically replacing some pink dress item that I was already wearing), and she has a seriously rad first apt which she was kind enough to share with us over here at Peppermint Bliss!

“My apartment is in the Financial District. My parent’s live on the upper west side so it’s essentially the furthest point I could have moved away from them in Manhattan, but they come over all the time and I still see them a lot. I moved into my apartment with ZERO furniture. I had fantasies and some ideas about what I wanted my apartment to look like, for example I knew I definitely wanted a black chandelier somewhere and high heels on display, but mostly it was just a concept of “grown up girly den”. I wanted pretty and feminine without being uber-frilly girly and hints of old hollywood glam mixed with cool contemporary. The most important thing was that I wanted my apartment to be a direct reflection of my interests, personality, & personal style.”

“The only fixture we had to replace was the one where the black chandelier is. I was lucky the fixture placement was ideal and we didn’t have to bother with setting up any wiring. Fortunately, my dad is pretty handy and was able to switch the fixtures without too much trouble.”

“The collage in my foyer when you first walk in is the bulletin board from my childhood bedroom – over the years ive collected everything from every stage of my life, concert tickets, pictures, even my GW graduation tassle is on there. It’s a great conversation piece and even still i find new things to stare at and look through”

“The sofa is a sectional from Crate & Barrel. The arc lamp is from CB2 – I knew I wanted some kind of arc lamp in my living room I love the way it looks. I fell in LOVE with this apartment when I was first shown it. I actually fell in love with this entire building when I was first introduced to it. After seeing a lot of other apartments, I knew nothing compared to this building.”

“When we started to decorate is when the specifics started to fall into place. My couch was the first big item of furniture that I picked out because I knew I wanted a sectional. I also knew i wanted to keep the main elements fairly neutral and clean so it would allow me to dress the rest of my apartment up with accessories, plus allowing for easier shifts in style if I ever want to redecorate. Hot pink, turquoise, and yellow soon became apparent as my accent colors for an otherwise black & white cave.”

“Since it’s a rental, I didn’t want to bother with painting any of the walls just to paint them back whenever I moved out. Wall decals were an immediate alternative idea. Finding the perfect one(s) took a little bit more time, because I had a really specific idea of what I wanted. I was so happy to find these two on www.areaware.com (if you’re over seas they have the same selection over at www.domestic.fr/). It’s replications of these girly drawings called Fafinettes by my all time favorite graffiti artist Fafi. I have a coffee table book of Fafi’s work so people often flip through the book when on my couch and make the connection.”

“Dining chairs from Camilla House. The Audrey Hepburn & Marilyn Monroe only came in the white color, but the other two you were able to customize their upholstery and color. I chose the black frame, see-through  PVC chair back, and one upholstered in black PVC, the other in hot pink PVC. Armchair from Camilla House. Again, I chose the black frame and white velvet upholstery. There were a few different options to choose from.”

“The paintings are really fun and go with my “girly den” kind of theme, the text is what make each painting. The first, with the woman walking in front of the 3 men, says at the bottom “She seemed to nod to all the world in a dim, queenly way.” The one above the couch has a woman looking at a man and the text says ” ‘I’m looking for a man,’ she said ‘Know any?’ “. I like that they reflect my apartment looking girly at first glance but when you read the text it’s kind of more empowerment and strong woman man-eater type than anything else. The artwork was ordered from Fabrice de Villeneuve in Quebec, Canada.”

“My bedroom is special in that it’s all white, black, or mirrored glass with only lavender as an accent color. I think it came out really pretty. Every store I went into I looked at in a whole new light, even Target! My focus completely switched from clothes, shoes, & bags to all things home furnishing. My mom told me that was me becoming a grown up. It was so much fun to go into stores and look at what objects I could picture in my apartment space. The internet is great for inspiration. Urban Outfitters has some really cute accessory type things (jewelry organizers, candles) and I loved everything in Brocade Home (where I got my bed spread).”

(I love what she did with her shoes here, turning a lack of storage issue into a fab display!)

“I like to think that my apartment says I’m stylish, feminine, fun, cool, edgy, and that I have some AT-TI-TUDE!”

I would definitely agree. Arielle’s style isn’t for everyone (it is definitely for me and my inner gay) but I think regardless if you are glam like her, or more shabby chic, she has some great ideas for how to make your rental reflect your own personal style! What do you think?

(Confused about the title? It is from this song by Dean Friedman called Arielle that I used to sing to her)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGFW9jCFml4[/youtube]