Author: Connor Wilde

Vol. XIX: Catalog Shopping | Outdoor

Boys playing on outdoor sofa with umbrella above

Seating

Rombo Outdoor Green Wrought Iron Loveseat | Rombo Outdoor Green Armchair

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Lounge chair and umbrella

Jenna Outdoor Chaise in Beige | Patio Umbrella with Fringe

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Pillows + Fabrics

clockwise from top left:

Peter Dunham Outdoor Asha Pillow | Peter Dunham Outdoor Starstruck Pillow | Peter Dunham Outdoor Samarkand Pillow | Georgina Performance Fabric Lettuce Green | Burma Performance Fabric Spruce

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Overhead table shot with blue plates

Roundup of accents including planters, plates, a glass hurricane, garden stool, and candlesticks

clockwise from top left:

Aged Scallop Planters | Revere Hurricane | Eternity Garden Stool | Modern Urn | Bronze Poppy Candlesticks | Botanical Melamine Plates

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Three tables

top to bottom:

Calistoga Outdoor Coffee Table | Faux Bois Coffee Table | Terrace Dining Table

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One of a kind finds

Iron Planter Basket | 19th Century French Patisserie Table | Vintage Rustic Green Iron Plant Stand

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Vol. XVII: Catalog Finds Part I

Vol. XVII: Catalog Finds, Part 1

When scheming for a project, it really is all about the mix. Whether it's antique with new, modern paired with traditional or a mix of high and low. And I absolutely love a deal! So I always keep an eye on my roster of “catalog” sources (now they are all online, but I still think of these resources as catalogs!) for anything with good proportions and materials that might be at a better price point than trade-only or custom alternatives to layer into projects or my personal home. This spring, I found tons of great pieces that I wanted to share with you. So many, in fact, that we had to break it down by category! Here are my favorite table finds- coffee, side, accent, breakfast, dining- plus a few casegoods and some tabletop items to style these pieces. Stay tuned for more on lighting, beds, rugs, outdoor furniture and more! Happy shopping!

Coffee Tables 

clockwise from top left:

OKA Dijon Coffee Table Ottoman | Crate & Barrel Travertine & Metal Square Coffee Table | Crate & Barrel Grasscloth Coffee Table

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Side Tables

Side table assortment

clockwise from top left:

West Elm Woven Nightstand | OKA Beauvais Shaded White Table | Zara Home Marble Side Table | Zara Home Vincent Van Duysen Table | OKA Weathered Oak Side Table

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Lamp: I added these to my cart while shopping for this newsletter.

Shop lamp

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Side table: I have these in my playroom at home!

Shop table

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Breakfast, dining, and console tables

Dining and console tables

top left to bottom right:

OKA Extendable Dining Table | West Elm Billy Cotton Dining Table | Terrain Teak Console

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Case Goods

Three case goods

left to right:

Crate & Barrel Oak Pedestal Table | Crate & Barrel Wood Storage Media Console | Crate & Barrel Cerused Natural Oak Wood Dresser

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Vases & Linens

Assorted vases and linens

top left to bottom right:

Terrain Glass + Iron Flare Vase | West Elm Billy Cotton Enamel Vase | West Elm Billy Cotton Placemat Set | Terrain Rattan Urn Vase | West Elm Billy Cotton Napkin Set | Berner & Co Squiggle Vase | Malaika Linens Patio Placemat

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Glassware et al.

Candlesticks, glassware, etc.

left to right:

Terrain Clay Floral Taper Holder | Terrain Etched Daisy Tumbler | Terrain Chinoiserie Tapers | Terrain Speckled Enamel Taper Holder | Terrain Bamboo Food Cover

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Vol. XV: Paint Colors

Vol. XV: Trade Secrets | Paint

I receive so many messages about paint colors that I thought I’d dedicate an entire newsletter to some of my favorite tricks and most requested colors. A big thanks to everyone who provided great paint-related questions to curate this discussion!

Getting Organized

First, I thought about how my office puts together paint schedules (a guide with paint colors, placement and finish for the painters) for our projects. Here are a few rules of thumb we tend to follow: Wall Finish Recently, I've tended to like a matte finish for walls, unless we are painting a room that will get lots of hands on walls like a narrow stair or a bathroom that doesn’t have great/new ventilation. In either of those cases, I prefer an eggshell finish. Test It First The paint color nearly always looks darker on the walls than it does on the paint deck. For this reason, we order larger card samples before selecting a color from the deck and we ask the painter to test larger samples on the wall before proceeding with a color. I’ll also often ask the painter to cut my originally-selected paint color with white, most often either 50% or 75%, so we can see if we prefer a different tone of the color in the space.

Blue entryway

above:

especially in an apartment, a great way to delineate space is by painting the trim, walls and door the same color. | walls, trim & doors: Benjamin Moore Silken Blue CSP-670

•   •   •Trim Not always, but most of the time, we use a satin finish for trim. It contrasts very nicely with matte walls. Ceiling We typically use a flat finish on the ceiling. If the trim in the room is white, we’ll often specify the trim color be cut with 50% white for the ceiling. Sometimes, we’ll paint the ceiling blue to give the room the illusion of more height, or to add a layer of interest to the space. Paint Brands Paint stores that sell Benjamin Moore can mix Farrow and Ball colors. Always test this, though, because sometimes the colors come out slightly off from an F&B sample. Farrow and Ball will not cut colors with white, so we sometimes have to go with Benjamin Moore just to get the right tone of the color. Painters also tell me that Benjamin Moore satin finishes are smoother to paint than Farrow and Ball’s satins.

Paint Q&ALiving room with skirted bar area and white walls, navy trim

above:

two different trim colors in one room–it totally can work! | walls: F&B Schoolhouse White No. 291 | moulding: Benjamin Moore Simply White OC-117 | door frame trim: Benjamin Moore Regent Green 2136-20

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Entryway with floral wallpaper, navy door

above:

coordinating trim with wallpaper–a great way to punctuate a space! | trim & door: benjamin moore washington blue cw-630

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Kitchen with two barstools, white island, green cabinetry

above:

an eye-catching color for the cabinetry anchors the space. | cabinetry: benjamin moore antiqued aqua csp-705
note: you do not have to make the island the same color!

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Living room with green velvet sofa, blue and white art, white walls and trim, jute rug

above:

every now and then, an all-white room is right. one of my favorite whites is shown here in this manhattan apartment and it’s benjamin moore cloud white 967

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Blue and white wallpapered entryway with console and mirror
look on the right here and you see an example of a space without any cased openings

Vol. XIV: Getting Organized in 2024

Vol. XIV: Organizing in the New Year

I know so many people dread the pressure to get organized in the new year, so if you are one of those people, this is your trigger warning :) I, on the other hand, love any excuse to run around the house with a contractor sized trash bag and start purging. For context, I was the kid who loved to clean my room and would spend the whole day rearranging it…! With my love of cleaning out and organizing, I thought to share my process for my new year refresh plus a few things I'm buying to get the job done.

How to start: I quite literally take a contractor sized trash bag and a large Ikea tote from room to room with me. Anything we haven't used in a year, that is broken, or that cannot be donated goes into the trash bag. Anything that can be donated but isn't useful or beautiful to me now goes into the Ikea tote. I often end up filling the tote of donations many times, unpacking it into my car when it gets too full so I can take it to Goodwill. I recommend going through your closets and every drawer while you're on this rampage :)

MAKE LISTS. I keep two clean out lists in my phone: 1. A list of larger scale organization projects that need to be tackled on their own and will require supplies (the playroom closet, the garage toy storage, the kitchen junk drawer). 2. A list of items I need to buy. These can be items I need to replace after discarding (new white tee shirts, new makeup to replace, expired items), or something new that we need to organize or style the space better.

SCHEDULE IT. Schedule times in the calendar to try to tackle the lists. I find nothing gets done without a scheduled time in my calendar. If I have a deadline for measuring a closet and ordering the bins I need, I will stick to it. If not, I could be adding the same space to the 2025 organizing project list!

Cabinet photo

IT GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER. Where you can, empty every drawer and shelf. Even if you put everything back where it was, you’ll probably fold it better or find that the drawer needs to be wiped down. In the pantry, medicine cabinet, and with all beauty products, check the expiration dates and throw away anything that is expired. Even if you think the expiration date is a suggestion, it’s not likely you’ll use it before it is truly expired if it has sat there for this long! TAKE NOTES When going through closets and pulling what can be given away (hasn’t been worn) and discarded (stained, damaged, etc.), I also make notes of what needs to go to the tailor, cobbler or leather spa and when. For instance, if I need shoes for a trip that is coming up, I don’t want to take them until after I get home!

Kitchen sink with flowers

What to Buy

More of these for my garage organizing which is on the calendar for spring 2024!

Shop baskets

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One more of these for micellar water.

Shop dispenser

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More of these because I never seem to have enough!

Shop bins

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(I also love this size!)

Shop bins

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shop clockwise from top:

Plastic rattan basket | Soap dispenser | White plastic bin | Woven basket | Dish towel

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I use these in my kitchen and love the look of them! Need another for my office.

Shop baskets

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Time to replace all of the dish towels in my kitchen! I like them to be consistent because I find it can start to feel junky in the kitchen if you have too many different dish towels, so I’m getting a bunch of these. I wish the red version was available but alas, they’ve been out of stock for a while.

Shop dish towels

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This photo is inspiring my organizing project for our playroom...

See the inspiration

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We’ve entered the Lego phase (please send help) and I love the idea of putting Lego kits into clear zipper bags and in clear containers. I’ll be ordering a Cricut label maker and clear bins.

Shop the Cricut

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shop clockwise from top:

Laundry drying rack | White tee | Cordless vacuum | Collapsible laundry bin

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Time to replace my favorite white tees, found originally through Julia Amory.

Shop tees

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I’m biting the bullet and buying this after running around my house with dust busters the entire holiday break!

Shop the vaccum

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Our laundry room is getting a little overcrowded with the pretty wicker baskets so I’m ordering a few of these.

Shop bins

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Drying racks also need to be replaced every so often, I’ve found, so I’m getting a couple of new ones.

Shop drying racks

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Vol. XII: Holiday Party Tips

Field Notes Vol 12: Holiday Party Tips

This time of year: make it a party. I learned this from my grandmother, who loved Christmas. She would host a big party on Christmas Eve and filled her bookshelves with wrapped presents for all her guests. While it was before my time, the idea always inspires me to try to create similar magic when I host around Christmastime. When we’re having family over for the holiday, I like to get a final headcount a few weeks before to make plans for the table setting, have place cards made (or to make my own with a hole punch and more satin ribbon!), plan the menu, and organize some fun activities for the day. Here is roundup featuring a few of my favorite tabletop pieces to make your holiday entertaining extra special and festive this time of year!

For Christmas Brunch

Christmas brunch product roundup

shop top to bottom:

Salad serving bowl for a crowd | Tablecloth | Salad servers | Rattan thermos | Linen cocktail napkins | Dinner plates | Linen hemstitch napkins

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French toast recipe

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Citrus salad recipe

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My Favorite Tablecloths

Tablecloth collage

shop top to bottom:

Simrane Azar tablecloth | Simrane Swati tablecloth | Parterre Green Liesel tablecloth | Simrane Karraqa Ecru Rouge tablecloth

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