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I used to do a 5 Best Things column on Fridays, but when when I realized all those great moments were captured on my iPhone each week and shared through Instagram I thought I might as well call it was it is. So welcome to #Instagood Friday, a recap of a fantastic week!

A little snow on the pups started the last seven days.

Made Mango-Carrot cake from the April Better Homes & Gardens for a certain someone’s birthday.

The George Washington Bridge looming above. Again, more snow.

My placecard at the Lark-Vineyard Vines luncheon at the Chatwal in NYC.

The amazing Chatwal lobby. I can’t wait to go back and stay there.

Amy Dragoo introduced me to Billecart-Salmon champagne this week and I’m hooked!

I finally got to hang out for the evening with fellow stylist Karin Lidbeck Brent. Cheers!

A feature I styled and that Michael Partenio shot for the April issue of Better Homes & Gardens. Design by Casey Chesky.

My holiday amaryllis finally bloomed!

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You’d think with all this snow we still have on the ground in New England that I would be completely over white at this point. Obviously not. I was looking through some old photos earlier this morning and stopped on this particular house I styled for New England Home magazine about five years ago.

Michael Partenio shot the house, which is located on Martha’s Vineyard. It was a blue-sky, blustery day and these grasses danced like a school of fish around the base of the structure.

Inside, interior designer Maureen Griffin Ballsbaugh bathed the whole house in shades of white offset with bits of black and dark woods. This is the first floor living room.

It’s an upside-down house (to catch water views), so the main living spaces such as the dining room and kitchen are on the second floor.

I brought a bunch of Jill Rosenwald pieces with me to put throughout the living room. This reminds me how much I love her work.

Check out the sunroom, located just off the kitchen. Can’t you imagine coffee here in the morning?

The bedrooms are a sea of cozy white. Because of the layering they look so warm and inviting!

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I confess, I sometimes use books for the covers. Trust me, it’s hard to style a coffee table or bookshelf with Kindles and iPads so in styling photo shoots I go old school paper. Read more about it on the New England Home blog where you’ll see my post.

Design by Jeanne Duval. Photo by Michael Partenio for New England Home

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Perhaps it’s comparing apples to oranges, but on today’s New England Home blog I match the Best of Group dogs from Westminster Kennel Club’s annual competition with the work of certain interior designers.

Did Nate Berkus fall in with the herding group or toys? Are Tobi Fairley and Amanda Nisbet non-sporting or working? You’ll have to click here to find out.

photo by Laura Moss

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When interiors start to feel a little drab this time of year go for fresh green. As I show you on the New England Home Blog today, just a few sprigs can go a long way to brighting up a room.

Photo by John Bessler for Better Homes & Gardens

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Yesterday on the New England Home Blog I shared some of the shops I’ve been in this week that are decorated for the holidays. Some of my favorites were The Drawing Room in Cos Cob, Connecticut; Maynard Greenhouse in Old Saybrook, Connecticut; Kelley Wholesale Flowers in Boston; and J. Seitz in New Preston, Connecticut. All are independent, family-owned alternatives to big box shopping this season, and I hope you’ll support them!

For a link to the full post, click here.

While you’re in the Christmas spirit, check out some of the great window decorations on Connecticut-based kitchen designer Rebecca Reynolds’s blog too. She’s been posting great pics from across the country.

I’ve also been enjoying the spirit of the posts at The Buzz Blog and the gift and wish lists on Elements of Style, and the tabletop designs on Coco + Kelley. Now if it would just snow two feet so I’d be house-bound for a few days to read more! Happy Holidays!

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I shoot a lot of houses on Nantucket. As expensive and sometimes as difficult as it is to get out there it is always worth it. Nantucket boasts some of the most spectacular homes and vistas. This is a house I’ve actually shot twice—once for New England Home and again for Traditional Home. But I never tire of seeing it.

Here’s the 40-foot-long living room shot in two ways.

Michael Lupino for Traditional Home

Michael Partenio for New England Home

The dining area was a little more similar. Notice I had to use less expensive Irish Bells in the New England Home house, but I don’t think it hurt the look.

Michael Lupino for Traditional Home

Michael Partenio for New England Home

There was truly only one way of shooting this master bath.

Michael Lupino for Traditional Home

Michael Partenio for New England Home

But there were other spaces each magazine decided were more important for their readership. Traditional Home for example wanted to see these cool built-in bunks for the kids (don’t you love the lanterns on the wall?), while for New England Home I had decided that it was more important to see to angles of the master bedroom.

Michael Lupino for Traditional Home

Michael Partenio for New England Home

Michael Partenio for New England Home

As you know I can’t resist a good laundry room or kitchen. What made me think of the house in the first place was that I saw that someone had pinned this kitchen on Pinterest. It’s amazing how many things I’ve styled turn up there.

Michael Lupino for Traditional Home

Michael Lupino for Traditional Home

A huge shout-out to the design professionals who created this incredible space. Lyman Perry Architects and Elizabeth Corker Interiors.

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“I didn’t have anybody, really, no foundation in life, so I had to make my own way. Always, from the start. I had to go out in the world and become strong, to discover my mission in life.”
—Tina Turner

I am so thankful for the people I have in my life who support me. My family, my friends, people I haven’t even met. I can’t imagine how much stronger I would have to be without their constant love that buoys me on good days and bad.
Tina Turner turns 73 today. She is the epitome of strength and character. She had something in her that carried her through those bad times. She had faith. It tells me I need to trust in my faith as much as I trust in my friends and family.

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Last Thursday night’s New England Design Hall of Fame was an amazing celebration of the incredible design talent in our region. Seven new members were inducted into the elite group. They include:

Lyman Perry
Morgan Wheelock
Kathryn Herman and James Doyle of Doyle Herman Design
Heather Wells
Nannette Lewis
Bruce Beinfield

I hope you’ll have an opportunity to check out their work.

Yesterday on the New England Home Blog I shared some photos from the evening. Those of you following me on Instagram and Twitter also got a taste of what the day was like—lots of practicing and polishing the introductions I wrote for the inductees while having my hair and makeup done.

This year’s dress was a vintage black column with vented sleeves that I found at B. Johnstone’s in Kent, Connecticut. Check out their Facebook page to see what other vintage finds they have available. Owner Bartley Johnstone, a former fashion designer and Parsons grad (Marc Jacobs was one of her instructors) picked out an antique belt to go with it that was reminiscent of the baroque look Ralph Lauren put on the runway for fall.

My favorite hairdresser, Dean Mellen, did my hair for the evening at Patrice Vinci Salon in Boston. In the past I’ve done up-dos, big curls, waves, whatever, but this year I chose to go sleek.

I’ve used a number of makeup artists over the years, but last week scheduled a Mac appointment on Newbury Street. The girls there also work at fashion week in New York and did an amazing job considering what they had to work with. I even tried false lashes for the first time and am hooked!

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I’m thrilled to share with you the cover of the fall edition of New England Home Connecticut that I styled and that photographer John Gruen shot. The interior design is by Karen Quinn of Washington, Connecticut, an amazingly talented designer who is also a bright and entertaining presence on location.

I have to say that it didn’t take much to style this particular shot. The hands were there, just repositioned, the books rearranged, the hosta leaves plucked from the garden and placed in a vase I brought from home, the little bowls from J. Seitz pulled from a nearby bookshelf (the coffee table, floor lamp and sofa are also from there), and just positioning the furniture in the right spot in the camera. The Hermes throw was at the other end of the room and while I’m not one to put that particular throw in that photo just because it is Hermes, it works here and is very much in keeping with the style of the house. I told John I wanted the angle to be low and intimate as if we were sitting in the room too. I think he did a marvelous job.

Here’s a link to the images and story on the New England Home blog.