Food EyeSwoon Unplugged:

Coconut Panna Cotta with COLLAGEN Inner Beauty Boost

Food:

10 Delicious Spring Recipes to Taste the New Season

Off to the farmer's market we go!

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10 Delicious Spring Recipes to Taste the New Season

Every Single Paint Color in Athena Calderone’s Brooklyn Home

Design:

Every Single Paint Color in Athena Calderone’s Brooklyn Home

How to Find Unique Vintage Vases + Vessels

Design:

How to Find Unique Vintage Vases + Vessels

The Story Behind the Iconic Rope Ceiling in Athena’s Amagansett Home

Design:

The Story Behind the Iconic Rope Ceiling in Athena’s Amagansett Home

Food Eyeswoon Kitchen:

A Light & Airy Carrot Cake Trifle Recipe With a Hint of Spice

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A Light & Airy Carrot Cake Trifle Recipe With a Hint of Spice

White Beans & Citrus Roasted Fennel

Food The Bite:

White Beans & Citrus Roasted Fennel

Blood Orange Loaf Cake

Food The Bite:

Blood Orange Loaf Cake

Kimchi Miso Grains with Spring Vegetables with The Beauty Chef

Food EyeSwoon Unplugged:

Kimchi Miso Grains with Spring Vegetables with The Beauty Chef

CB2 Gwyneth Boucle Chair

CB2 Victoria Black Vase

Crate & Barrel Mota Closed Wood Bookcase

Blend Interiors Chic ‘Arcade’ Wrought Iron and Shearling Side Chair by Design Frères

Necessary Objects

These items may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using this link.

Living The Essentials:

My Must-Have Kitchen Essentials

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My Must-Have Kitchen Essentials

Easter DIY: How to Make Cute “Hatching” Egg Succulents

Living DIY:

Easter DIY: How to Make Cute “Hatching” Egg Succulents

How to Make the Swooniest Pin Boards

EyeSwoon TV Design Therapy:

How to Make the Swooniest Pin Boards

The Ultimate Food Lover’s Gift Guide

Living The Essentials:

The Ultimate Food Lover’s Gift Guide

the Books

Live Beautiful

From celebrated design expert Athena Calderone, a look into how interior designers and creatives decorate their spaces. Click here to order today & snoop our upcoming book tour events!

Peek Inside and Order Your Copy

Cook Beautiful

Where design meets food, where culinary tradition marries food styling, where home chefs become experts.

Peek Inside and Order Your Copy

@eyeswoon

Calling all botanists....

We all know my heart is tethered to a seasonal branch, however the clean up and changeover is the bane of @vcalderone’s existence. So my botany question is this — can any experts recommend a dramatic and sculptural bonsai-ish tree that can live on my kitchen island?
FYI — South facing & all glass

Early rise with my favorite pup in my favorite chair in my favorite light surrounded by my favorite objects.

@tucocalderone

The coziest sleeping nook get’s a refresh!

Here the thing about a guest room — it’s really just for sleeping! Besides indulging in the comfiest bedding imaginable, all you really need is a cozy corner like this!

Chair @sarahellisonstudio
Plinth Milo Baughman 70’s
Rug Moroccan vintage

S P R I N G B O U N T Y

Happy Easter 🐇

BTS and details from the spring tablescape in #CookBeautiful. I love the simplicity of using seasonal vines and veg, like purple artichoke and flowering dill, as the decor. How are you setting your Easter table tomorrow?

Photo @johnny_miller_

Where does inspiration come from? One of the most commonly asked questions of a designer but the answer isn’t always quite as simple. When I embark on a new project, I engulf myself in research and visual stimulation, diving into books on furniture, fashion, and art throughout history that could serve as the impetus for the design direction, color palette, or architecture. This is how I stumbled on the “crazy idea” for the woven ceiling in my Amagansett home. In a bid to design a space that could serve as a grounding force and seaside reprieve I gravitated towards humble, utilitarian textiles, soft edges, and time-worn objects that would add textured patina and warmth to my family home.

I arrived at an unlikely source of inspiration: rope. It all began with an obsession for the iconic Jørgen Hovelskov harp chair. From both a material and motif standpoint, I was drawn to the ingenuity, simplicity, and complexity of the Danish designer’s cording and weaving. From there, rope quickly became a rapturous fixation and I curated a binder of imagery using the utilitarian material—think spools of vintage rope, primitive rope, leather gymnast rings, and an exhaustive section of Scandinavian rope and woven cord chairs, including the harp chair. I wanted to use the utilitarian and natural, tactile material of rope in nonlinear ways.

When I shared my love of this rope detail with famed modernist architect and neighbor, Paul Masi of @batesmasi at an early design meeting in 2009, he returned the next meeting with unique, handmade models that detailed his vision for a woven rope ceiling. GENIUS! Using the most basic hardware-store three-quarter- gauge manila rope (you know the kind you find at every Home Depot ), Masi proposed weaving the rope between the wood beams and engaging the Danish cording detailing in places with functional purpose, like to the sculptural @rogangregory dining pendant and as a screen in the bathroom.

This kernel of inspiration would be the catalyst behind the design and palette of the entire home.

Hop over to eye-swoon.com to read the fully story by @sacha.strebe and see images of the team of local fisherman and sailers navigating the installation

DEEP in a very exciting design project this week. Continuous thoughts on form, materiality, and contrast — three paramount tenets within my design philosophy. Also three repetitive themes that have been revealed to me overtime when I act on instinct with vintage choices and pairings. Distilling them to their core is an exciting challenge!

The new neutrals 🤎

Sunday Swoonery

In honor of spring we are offering 30% off our handcrafted, dramatically oversized, large footed bowl. A versatile and sophisticated pieces in collaboration with @beaurush

Available on athenacalderone.com — enter ACSPRING30 discount at checkout.

Before you approach any design project, there's one thing you need to consider: intention. Every part of your home from the color palette to the furniture you invest in, right down to the materials and surface textures you choose should be carefully considered. If you're struggling with this process and need help getting clarity, follow Signe Bindslev Henriksen of @spacecopenhagen’s lead. The architect and designer asks herself two questions with every decision: Does this piece move me? Do I absolutely have to live with it?

It's evident from the thoughtful design and art choices in Henriksen's Copenhagen apartment that she only chooses pieces that speak to her viscerally: "You should be able to say in a split second whether you like something or not." This is an interesting sentiment to consider when thinking about the dialogue in your home—choose pieces that have a voice and then imagine them in conversation with each other in the space. Let there be tension, juxtaposition, and contrast, too but overall the pieces should sing in harmony, providing layers of visual interest and intrigue.

In celebration of Live Beautiful’s one year anniversary, this week we continue our unveiling of unpublished pages.

Hop over to eye-swoon.com to read our special rapid fire interview and curated collage designed by Signe and be inspired by her dramatic tonal contrast and thoughtful restraint.

Photography by @nicole_franzen for #LiveBeautiful Story by @sacha.strebe 🤍

Much like the beautiful lining on a coat, the hidden details of a room are what I love most about design. When you dissect each room of my Brooklyn townhouse, there are concealed layers that aren't always immediately obvious to the eye—but they all amalgamate beautifully don’t they?

As a visual storyteller, I relished in the opportunity to reinsert the ornate traditional architecture and old-world style into the late 1800s Greek Revival which had been stripped of much of its original details. A huge part of that process was collaborating with the plaster aficionados at @kampstudios to bring back the sculptural detailing and texture into the space. But perhaps the most transformative consideration for each room was the paint. In the same way I obsessively searched and deliberated over every piece of décor for this home, I was just as committed to finding the right shade of white.

In fact, I'm fairly certain that “what is the color white on your walls?” is one of my most requested DM’s. But, here’s the thing—the white that I have will most certainly not work in every space. My advice when choosing paint color? Look at a range of colors, buy some sample shades, get out your paint roller, and give it a test on a few walls that get sunlight from varied directions, checking it at various times through the day—morning, noon, and night. I would also suggest photographing the wall too so you can really figure out which one works best for your space—more often than not, the one you love on paper won't be the one that works in your home.

So, today I'm sharing every paint color from every room in my Brooklyn home on www.eye-swoon.com to help you on your own paint journey. Good luck and have fun!

Photo @selliottphoto

Yesterday I was featured on @secondlifepod. I share my non-linear journey and struggle to find my creative self. I talk about fear in figuring out what I was meant to offer this world, insecurities surrounding education, and debilitating self doubt that ultimately caused me to give up on every creative path I endeavored.

I also talk about college years, early NYC nightlife, and how travel was the catalyst that eventually led me to food and design in my 30’s. I touch on finally finding the courage to push past my fears and sit with the uncertainty of the unknown — allowing myself to suck and being ok with it because that’s where the learning begins.

But a funny thing happened after my interview with Hillary Kerr. That old self somehow crept up on me as I convinced myself I failed at the interview. The night after we spoke, I tossed and turned in bed thinking about all the things I didn’t articulate correctly. The next morning I immediately emailed the producer declaring how vapid all of my answers were. I even went as far as re-recording certain responses and begged them to edit them in.

That ultimately didn’t happen and I was horrified to have ruined my opportunity to tell my story on a podcast I always hoped to be a part of. Well, I WAS WRONG. I just listened to the pod and it is honest, raw and truthful — covering parts of my story that have never been told. Clearly I have a lot of self-acceptance work to do — still!

The greatest lesson here is that we are all hard on ourselves at times, sometimes we hide in the shadows and sometimes we step into the light. So remember to be gentle with yourself and empower and praise those around you.

Thank you @HillaryKerr and @livcap

Image @victoriahelyhutchinson

Loved this opportunity to restyle my bedroom in an all neutral palate. As always I love playing with composition. I tend to begin with symmetry and then break it.

Here, I anchored the space using the symmetrical iron and travertine side tables by @blendinteriors and with the centered artwork by @galerieground from my girls at @kampstudios. But then I styled all of the decorative objects to break that matchy matchy formality, offsetting the overall composition.

Where can your create cohesion in your designs at home and where can you insert the unexpected?

Upper walls and ceiling Ammonite
Lower wainscoting Wevet
Both by @farrowandball

Butterflies. Still. And forever.
Happiest birthday my lover @vcalderone

My heart breaks witnessing the racism and unjust hatred towards the AAPI community. I am sending all my love to the victims and families of the recent Atlanta shooting and the entire AAPI community affected by this horrible act of violence. I stand in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. We need to unite against all forms of hate and racism. Volunteer, educate yourself on the history of anti-Asian racism, speak up, amplify their voices, donate, share their stories & support AAPI organizations.

Please join me in supporting the below organizations, and tag any additional accounts / resources in the comments.

FOLLOW
@stopaapihate
@aafenyc
@aafederation
@aapiwomenlead
@apichachc
@cacf
@cpc_nyc
@mekongnyc_
@Oca_nyc
@caaavnyc
@napawf
#StopAsianHate

Donate + Support:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-aapi-community-fund

https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-hyunjungkim-to-support-my-brother-i

https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/support-georgias-asian-american-community/

https://www.advancingjustice-atlanta.org/aaajcommunitystatement

Graphic copy credit: @kimsaira @annie_wu_22

My beloved chopping block in collaboration with @bcmtco is now exclusively available on www.athenacalderone.com

These maple beauties are hand-crafted in upstate New York and made to order with a 4-6 week lead time. More info on AC.com

FORM + FUNCTION
When beauty is engaged with our utilitarian my swooning heart goes pitter patter. For some unknown reason a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing paper town holder has eluded me for many years. Enter @thewoodenpalate’s brass inlay beaut — hallelujah!

We are offering an exciting worldwide giveaway and discount code in our newsletter. Details to enter in today’s stories.

Has a sexier bathroom ever existed? I think not!

In celebration of Live Beautiful’s one year anniversary we will be sharing exclusive, unpublished pages on Eye-Swoon.com each Wednesday.

This week we peak inside the home of enigmatic style icon @jennalyonsnyc who thankfully does not adhere to any design “rules”. Hop on over to the site for a special rapid fire interview and curated collage as you indulge in her revelatory and eccentric style. You’re welcome! 🤍

It’s a warm winter light and branchy shadows kinda week.

A dead tree has never made a room feel more alive! And... it’s black olive 😉

Playful. Poised. Pulled back. 🤎

A quiet corner

Photo @victoriahelyhutchinson for @zarahome

I believe in the power of beauty. And fantasy.

How I wish to travel again and one day experience a Chanel Runway show in Paris. But until then I will gladly play dress up — put on a smoky eye, wear my cherished Chanel blazer, and watch the @chanelofficial show at home. #CHANELfallwinter Even T is loving it! 🐾

Testing, testing 1. 2. 3. 4.

Love a beautiful branch. Love a vessel.

If there is one thing I’ve become known for it’s my fondness for decorative branches. I’m constantly finding and creating beauty at home and one of the places I keep coming back to is nature—it’s a continual source of inspiration for me. A few clippings, twigs, stems in a vase is incredibly transformative and can make a space come alive, instantly.

I often spend hours getting lost in the hunt for unique vases and vessels so today, on eye-swoon.com I've outlined a few tips and tricks, along with some keywords I use when perusing vintage relics on Etsy or Chairish. Enjoy the hunt, trust your eye, and find something unique.

Many of you also asked where I source my branches — if not in my own yard I go to the NYC flower market on 28th street. These equities are Magnolia and the vessel is @zarahome

The recipe for ME.
Equal parts food and design with a lil’ bit of fashion on the side. Basically, More Than One Thing and proud.

Thank you @voguemagazine for sharing my spring rhubarb galette in your Vogue 100 newsletter.

Image 1 captured by @stephania_photography and wearing @rosie_assoulin @baon

Image 2 captured by @johnny_miller_ and a favorite shot and recipe from #CookBeautiful

Sometimes I find myself working from the oddest corners of my home — I think I just follow the light! 💫

In the same way your affinity with a piece of art deepens upon learning the meaning behind it, so too does your connection to an interior when you discover the storytelling that’s woven into its design. This is how I felt when I first walked into the 1950s Cape Cod home of Robin Standefer and @stephenalesch. The creative minds behind @roman_and_williams_ and @rwguild married Montauk’s raw and earthy elements with an artfully collected and modern spirit. It is, as I wrote in Live Beautiful, “deliberately considered yet so disarmingly casual.”

So, in honor of Live Beautiful’s one year anniversary (today!), we’re diving into the archives to celebrate the beautiful homes and the people who live in them.

Each week on www.eye-swoon.com we will be sharing curated collages designed exclusively by each homeowner along with rapid-fire questions that didn’t make the book’s pages. We hope you will relish these very personal moments and be inspired to live beautiful in your own homes (and lives), too.

Photo @nicole_franzen

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