Several months ago I decided to invest in stepping up my apartment’s game and now I’m ready to tackle the incredibly small dining area. I’ve finally chosen a table, chairs/stools, the decor accents, and just now decided to paint one of the walls purple. Not a loud purple, but something soft and subtle. Soothing and calm – perhaps one of the plum-y options shown above. We’ll see how I do – wish me luck!

I love love the holidays–especially Halloween and Christmas–and always go a bit overboard with my decorating. Right now, we have a screaming ghost that flies across the living room ceiling, a hanging skeleton, lots of cobwebs, spiders, crisp fall leaves, and glittery bones all around my house. And candles. Lot of candles (even more than usual). We also have gauzy ghosts drying, which we sculpted using cheese cloth and liquid starch last night. And I also just ordered D.L. & C.‘s large black skull candle and gold skull candle snuffer today (on gilt of course) after admiring them for years.

From Vogue.com’s APT with LSD feature on Devon Radziwill. I’ve been wanting a good zebra skin for so long now that it hurts, and Devon just has layers of them on the floor of her living room loft. And her coffee table? Love. Sigh. Oh, and she happens to live on the same block as one of my favorite stores in the entire city – De Vera. One day, Casey, one day…

Slices of Lauren Santo Domingo’s apartment are up on Vogue.com now. I must admit that her home isn’t exactly what I thought it would be like and that I really like the above hippo bar and her collection of glass jars. She also has 2 art pieces modeled after her dog (which is kind of amusing) and one happens to be by Lego artist Nathan Sawaya.

Love the door knob, poor paint job and all.

Fragrances, notecards, Kidrobot, and a good luck charm. Btw, the lucite box is from cb2, retails for about $20 and I want 6 more.

A few of some of my precious shoes…

Too many scarves. Unhung pictures. My favorite gladiator sandals from H&M.

Me in my new, huge, fabulous mirror from Ikea. Dare you to find a better one for under $100.

Another Kidrobot (I’m obsessed), my lone Marc Jacobs python platform, some books – sci.fi. mostly.

Last but not least: the Panda trash can from the Container Store. Money well spent.

I would love to show you my new couch, but unfortunately, we were sent a blue one when we ordered brown so that (and perhaps bits and pieces of the rest of the place) will have to come later on.

Balmain‘s ridiculously chic (and expensive (and sold-out)) Leather Motorcycle Jacket

Prada‘s practically perfect Over-the-Knee Boots

Mr. Wiggles Sculpture | Black Edition, 2008, Tara McPherson at KidRobot (of course)

Barneys’ Rhino Bookends – although there isn’t enough room on my shelves for the actual books themselves, so I don’t know how this would ever work…

West Villiage Loft by Daniel Frisch. High ceilings, a suspended library above the kitchen… just needs some good artwork and huge walk-in closets.

The very violet quilted Amalia Bag by Lanvin (although I’m really crushing on Lanvin’s entire handbag collection a ton right now)

While cover headlines such as BEST Bargains, NEW Bags & Shoes, and Affordable Luxuries didn’t really deliver (not that I expected them to), I was simply swept off my feet by the Fashionable Life feature on Max & Lubov Azria’s gorgeous Los Angeles home.

Everything about their home is stunning from the custom laser-cut chrome floral garlands hanging from the ceiling of one room, to the dramatic chandelier that cascades directly into a petrified-wood table. I wonder that maybe, just maybe, if I click my heels three times and repeat “There’s no place like Max & Lubov’s fabulous home” I might just end up there one day…

Anyway, the thing that is most extraordinary about their 60-room manse is perhaps the fabulous use of color – there are bright yellow walls, vibrant orange and red accents through out the home, and Max even has the fabulous Paul Smith rug that I’d die for in his office. Signature A accents also decorate the home, along with sunburst mirrors collected from around the world, which give the home its name: La Maison de Soleil. See below for a bit from the article written by Marshall Heyman and more images take by photographer Douglas Friedman:

The home’s aesthetic is part Jonathan Adler, part Philippe Starck. A huge orange horse stands in the living room, while giant replicas of an apple and mushrooms lead to the pool. The pool house has its own Turkish hamam, while three peaceful gardens — one Japanese, one English, one French — line the property.

“There’s a sense of humor about the place,” says Lubov, adding that she was inspired, in part, by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland: “[Home] should be magical; it should be fairy tale.” Indeed, Max agrees. “I think I have the best house in the world,” he says.