Welcome to Swatchbook (The Blog). Before we delve straight into satisfying your (ok, our) insatiable craving for all-things interiors, we thought we’d start this out with a little introduction, a glimpse into our personal design worlds. And by “worlds” we’re referring to our compact, edited-but-imperfect apartments. So:
REAL WORLD: What is the one thing in your apartment that you’re most proud of?
ALLIE: I’m ALL about family, and this table lamp was my grandma’s. After swapping the dated traditional shade for a tall drum version, it looked more at home in my mid-century modern space. (And now I feel as if my grandma is quietly watching over me whenever it’s on.)
MOE: This cool coffee table. My uncle made it back in the ’70s. Turns out, parents were dying to get it out of the house after living with it for 30-or-so years—yay for me!
FUTURE WORLD. What is an item you’re saving up for in real life?
ALLIE: Every piece of furniture Oly creates is a piece of art in its own right. I dream nightly of buying their large Pipa cocktail table for my living room.
MOE: A new bookshelf to replace a sagging, sideways, blond-wood Ikea one. My vision is to tie the coffee table in to our antique-y pieces with this one rustic-industrial one from VivaTerra.
DREAM WORLD. What’s an item you’re obsessed with that you’ll probably never own?
ALLIE: Two words: Gold. Gnome. I’ll never get over my love for Philippe Starck’s side table – and my boyfriend will probably never get over his disdain for it.
MOE: Graffiti pillows from Lovegrove & Repucci! These match nothing that I own. But they’d make me feel like a total badass.
Swatchbook 
Fantastic + fun!
Love the site, I am looking for some mediterranean decor ideas for my office. The problem is if I wanted it to look like the convention and vistors center for Greece, I would go to my church’s bookstore.
Hope all is well
Allie:
I knew your grandmother (Maxine) well and she had fabulous taste, as do you and your mother! I remember her home and she was very forward thinking with her creative ideas – I remember that lamp in her home and it’s looks great with your new shade. Good luck in this endeavor!
Maria