An East Village apartment by the Novogratz - A home with a vintage and scholarly air...

I'm sure most of you by now have heard of the designer husband and wife duo the Novogratz after the widespread popularity of their Rizzoli book, "Downtown Chic". Well, Rue Mag was awesome enough to feature one of their latest projects, a friend's small three bedroom, 1 bath apartment in the East Village. It has a sort of vintage, masculine vibe, and I also feel like the space has an academic feel to it.

Not only did they find the perfect rug, they found the perfect *rugs!  Layered vintage oriental rugs give the entire space an "old study" feel.

I'm seriously crushing over those gilt bamboo chairs

The Novogratz used paint to accent certain architectural details

Wall mounted, open shelves like these are a great way to make the most of limited space.

Gotta love french doors for the bedroom

What do you think of this East Village apartment?

All images via Rue Magazine

*disclosure: this post is in partnership with theperfectrug.com

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Autumn Inspiration Boards! Fashion and Decor

I think fall is undoubtedly the best season for fashion. And where there is fabulous fashion, fabulous decor is not far behind. Here are some looks that I am crushing on

Sources, clockwise from top left: Bebe Button Front Coat,  Lamp: Ikea, Valerie Chair – Samantha Drew via Rue Mag,  Floating Feather Ornaments – Dwell Studio ,  Thro Mongolian Lamb Pillow, A&B Home Branches Mirror

Clockwise from top left: Vintage Oushak Rug - Jayson Home & Garden, Ali Kahn Autumn Mix Fringe Earrings , Metal and Glass Cabinet - Haute Look, Crosshatch Decanters - Dwell Studio, Elan Turtleneck Sweater - Ideeli

Loft Coffee Table - One Kings Lane, Invicta Rose Gold Ladies Angel Chronograph Watch - Ideeli, Bellora Round Rug, Chloe

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Antique rugs from around the globe (lots of eye candy!)

Few items can make an impact on a room like a rug. They do, after all, sometimes take up the most physical space, and can take up the most visual space as well. If you're lucky enough to start designing a room from scratch, a lot of designers will recommend you chose a rug first, and then pull colors from your chosen rug to use in furniture, accessories, etc.

 I have never been lucky enough to get to start a room from scratch, but I do know how hard it is to make a bold rug work with furniture and decor that you already have. See my struggle and solution here. I love my oriental rug (from Iran) so I made it work, but I would have loved to be able to chose furniture after purchasing the rug as opposed to making my already existing furniture work with my beloved rug.

While my rug is not an antique, and I'm not lucky enough to own any antique oriental rugs (yet), I do like to peruse rug galleries with treasures from all around the globe.

(All of these amazing rugs are from the Nazmiyal Collection in NYC.)

 Here are my favorites from countries around the globe:

From Morocco:

I absolutely adore the textures in these Moroccan rugs ...

...and the colors!

Beauties from Isreal

Click on these to see enlarged versions - the detail is amazing.

How amazing (and unique!) are these vintage rugs from the Caucasus regions?

The below are from Spain

*disclosure: This post is in partnership with Nazmiyal Collection

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