Flattery will get you everywhere

Can you think back to the biggest compliment you ever received? Many people value their intelligence, others their humor, some their beauty. But for me, I feel great flattery when someone recognizes my ability to merchandise. Whether its a friend's party ensemble, my mother's look for a Fall Hamptons wedding, a room, or my own outfit, I take great care in the details. (A compliment that hit home and still brightens a bad day was when my college sorority sister Christine, a girl who does not mince words, told me she loves to read my blog because it's 'like a little dose of Christina everyday.') Only recently I told my Husband which of his early words to me several years ago hold this prestige.

After the first time he visited my apartment (my very first apartment in Manhattan mind you) my Husband commented to his friend on the decor, and was overly impressed by the interior that greeted him upon his ascent to the 13th floor of the Buchannan. (This was a guy who, at the time, believed the term 'interior design' constituted a foreign language, and was content to reside in a basement apartment in Connecticut, complete with faux wood paneling and furniture reminiscent of an upscale nursing home.) The space was barely 300 square feet, but not an inch of the studio was unattended to. For a budget of about $1,500 I manged to furnish the apartment, floor to ceiling, in white and black wood with accents of cranberry from Pier 1 and Crate and Barrel.

Unfortunately, after our premarital consolidation 2 years ago, many of my prized pieces found their way to good will (thanks to the lack of abundant space offered by the City, and that timeless institution known as compromise). Now that we have embarked on the second phase of our lives together, I am eager to commence the inevitable apartment purge and new furniture binge. Purchase number 1 was a flat screen TV where What Not To Wear will come in crisp and clear, like a freshly pressed white cotton button down (as will the endless football games my Husband will fight me for the remote to watch). Next on the wish list is this supple sofa, this dining set (so we can host our friends and use all those wonderful wedding gifts) and this TV stand to display our fabulous new gadget. We were lucky to receive all the bedding from the Donna Karen Essentials collection, (in pewter) and can't wait to actually use it to update and modernize our sleeping space (yes, our 'sleeping space' since we do not have an actual bedroom. The joys of City living on one salary!) The final product will be a comprehensive scheme of mahogany, beige, brown and pewter (masculine in color, yet soft in fabric choice and shapes). Hopefully at the end of this project, the first people to grace our sanctuary will offer sentiments similar to my Husband's first glimpse into my world that seemed to reel him in for life.