Beautiful Balsamo Antiques

It was more than two years ago when I was introduced to Ray Attanasio, one of the owners of Balsamo Antiques in Pine Plains, New York.  For those of you who don't venture out of the city, I am happy to announce they have opened a new showroom in the Interior Design Building in New York.  The space is mixed with the treasures for the home and garden that they find on their trips to Europe including pieces from Belgium and France.  They were actually on their way to Europe to buy more the day I stopped by since the response has been overwhelmingly positive.  Many of the items I was interested in already had red dots on them but don't worry, they'll have a new container to tempt you soon!

Balsamo Antiques

Interior Design Building

306 East 61st Street

New York, N.Y. 10065

T: 212-759-0063

www.balsamoantiques.com

Balsamo on 1stdibs.com

Photos by Heather Clawson for Habitually Chic

Richard Mishaan: Modern Luxury

If you don't live in New York, you might not be familiar with interior designer Richard Mishaan but you better learn his name because you are going to be hearing a lot about him soon. Richard Mishaan's career path has been an interesting one that had him designing woman's fashions at one point and later designing furniture for his store, Homer, which was how I was familiar with him. Tonight, he was debuting his new book Modern Luxury, which with a very chic party at Bergdorf Goodman.

Richard and his ridiculously beautiful wife Marcia are real socialites, not Housewives of New York wannabee socialites, so the party was filled with the who's who of New York. Among the chic guest were Marisa Berenson, Nina Griscom, Mario Buatta, Philip Gorrivan, and Town & Country editor Pamela Fiori who wrote the forward to the book. I brought along my friend Eleanor Banco who works for Teen Vogue since she is obsessed with interior design just as I am obsessed with fashion. I was excited when she brought me the latest issue! I also invited blogger and Rubie Green designer Michelle Adams who I was excited to catch up with. Also on hand was my friend Kevin Isbell, design director for Bilhuber & Associates who introduced me to Allison Caccoma, the interior designer behind the May 2009 House Beautiful cover! Allison used to work for Bunny Williams and Jeffrey Bilhuber and I can't wait to talk to her more about her work soon!

But let's get back to Richard Mishaan. Richard describes his design style as "fusion" and that definitely describes it. I like when a designer isn't afraid to mix things up and not have a signature style but one that fits each interior and client. There is a chic and elegant feeling to all the spaces in his book but they are also all unique which is why the book is so interesting. My favorite quote from Richard Mishaan is "I am both a modernist and a classicist - I believe we can honor traditional style without living in the dusty past." Amen!

Photos by George Ross

Bottega and Bergdorfs

When I die, I want to be buried in Bergdorf's. I don't think the museums give me as much pleasure as this store. Even if I can't afford anything, I just like to go and look and be inspired. If you need to be inspired, then I recommend checking out the new Bottega Veneta home collection on display. It's chic with a capital C. I wouldn't decorate an entire room in the line but it would be great mixed as they did here with the French looking sofa and chairs and maybe some colorful abstract art. It's too bad I don't have a client who can afford anything. Picking out fabulous things for them is almost as much fun as buying things for myself. Actually, it might be better since I don't have to open the credit card bill later. Happy Shopping!

Weekend Finds

Everyone keeps asking me about the Domino sale so here is the scoop. I got up early and my friend Lori and I cabbed it downtown and got on line at 9:00am. At that time the line wasn't too bad but I heard later that it wrapped around the block. We were met by Stefan Hurray who writes the blog Architect Design, his friend Eric, my friend Jessica and man about town this weekend, David Jimenez. Before the doors opened at 10:00am, we were told the upstairs floor had the more expensive items but decided to check it out anyway which is where I found the pair of Asian cups and saucers. It's hard to tell but they are gold rimmed and look old. I made sure they weren't something from Pearl River before I bought them and they have a very cool pattern in the middle that might be my inspiration for a future HC logo. I also bought a cropped black Chaiken jacket upstairs.

Chase Booth and his vintage megaphone announcing the rule for the Domino sale.

Downstairs was the free for all floor of madness! I think most people grabbed stuff and then decided if they wanted it. I snagged the painting in the gilt frame with linen mat above for $40. There were a lot of bolts of fabric, throw pillows and covers in addition to decorative items, books and lamps. David Jimenez snagged a great curtain panel that he's going to make into pillows. We also ran into Tori Mellott and got to catch up with her. It was a bit crazy and none of needed any of the things we bought but it was fun and now we have other reminders of Domino besides are coveted back issues of the magazine.

Waiting patiently in line. Thank goodness it wasn't raining!

After lunch, everyone dispersed so Stefan and I took a walk through the West Village where we stumbled on the Perry Street flea market. The Perry Street flea market is a sort of urban legend. You can never tell what weekend it will be there and you can't find any information online. What's really funny is that I was just about to tell Stefan about the my favorite Carstens drip glaze vase (model 550-16) I found at the Perry Street flea market a few years ago when I looked down and saw the same exact vase! I can't believe I found another one in the same place and I am very excited to have a matching pair! You just never know when it's going to be your lucky day!

56 Leonard Street NYC

O arranha céus - 56 Leonard Street em Nova York dos arquitetcos Herzog & de Meuron irá ficar localizado na zona de Tribeca junto à igreja. Terá uma escultura ao nivel da entrada criada por Anish Kapoor. Desde que foi criado em 1978, Basel, Suiça este atelier de arquitectura tem sido reconhecido a nivel internacional graças às suas conhecidas intervenções - casas, livrarias, escolas, lojas, museus, hoteis, fabricas e estadios. Uma das suas ultimas intervenções foi no Estadio Nacional de Beijing (Ninho do Passaro), China. O Museu Tate Modern, Londres também faz parte dos varios museus onde este atelier esteve envolvido.

Este aranha céus terá 145 apartamentos unicos com um espantoso terraço (T2 a T5), 10 penthouses. Comercializados desde $3,5 milhões a $33 milhões com data de conclusão prevista para o fim de 2010. Mas se quiser saber mais ou mesmo reservar o seu apartamento neste excentrico condominio visite: http://www.56leonardtribeca.com/.