_{Living room by Carrier & Company (Photo: Courtesy of Elle Decor)}

On Thursday evening I had the pleasure of attending the opening of ELLE DECOR’s Modern Life Concept House at the new +Art condo development in Chelsea. The showhouse was comprised of two neighboring apartments with rooms designed by 10 of Elle Decor’s A-List Designers to Watch. Each designer offered their own unique take on modern living and I especially loved the living room, shown above, designed by Carrier & Company and the adjacent kitchen/dining area designed by Katie Lydon. The well appointed spaces flowed seamlessly together and felt fresh, effortless and totally livable. The ELLE DECOR Modern Life Concept House is open to the public over the next three weekends so you can have the opportunity to check it out for yourself! If you’re not able to make it to the Concept House  in person, below are a few photos of my favorite spaces to watch a video tour of the entire showhouse by Elle Decor editor-in-chief Michael Boodro click here.

Here are the details on dates and hours and for more information or a link to purchase tickets, visit www.elledecor.com/showhouse.

Elle Decor Presents: The Modern Life Concept House

May 20 – 22; May 27 – 30; and June 3 – 5

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

540 W. 28th Street

Admission is $30 and all ticket sales benefit Housing Works.

Margaret Russell with A-List Designer Darryl Carter. Photo: Patrick Butler for Elle Decor

In Elle Decor’s June issue the magazine announced it’s first annual A-List which payed homage to 25 talented designers who define the way we live today plus 5 up-and-coming young designers to watch. The 2010 A-List included designers like Kelly Wearstler, Eric Cohler, Steven Gambrel, Charlotte Moss, Thomas O’Brien, Miles Redd, Michael S. Smith  Jeffrey Bilhuber, Matthew Patrick Smyth,  Madeline Stuart, Bunny Williams and many more! Among the 5 to watch were  Jesse Carrier, Oliver M. Furth, Grant K. Gibson, Katie Lydon and Marie Turner. I was lucky enough to get to celebrate the occasion with Elle Decor at a party hosted at the McGuire showroom at the New York Design Center a few weeks ago. All but 2 of the honored designers were in attendance and all of the top names in the New York design industry came out to fete the honorees.  It was a fabulous event set amidst the backdrop of McGuire’s beautiful furnishings and gorgeous floral arrangements designed by Bronson Van Wyck. Above is Elle Decor Editor-in-Chief Margaret Russell with DC based designer Darryl Carter who I was thrilled to see included on the A-List and I had the pleasure of meeting that evening. He was beyond humbled to be included on the A-List and is obviously very deserving of the honor. He filled me in that his book  Below are a few more of my favorite snaps from the night!

Margaret Russell with Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller of Carrier and Company. Photo: Patrick Butler for Elle Decor

Designers Thomas Jayne & Bunny Williams. Photo: Patrick McMullan

About a week after the A-List event Elle Decor also hosted an intimate cocktail party to celebrate Oscar de la Renta’s new upholstery fabric collaboration with Lee Jofa. I was thrilled to attend and was absolutely blown away at the beauty of his fabrics which mirror the elegance and sophistication of his fashion collections. The to-the trade collection includes beautiful ethnic inspired patterns in bold hues inspired by Oscar’s fashion archives. The fabrications include rich wovens, luscious silks and elaborate embroideries and brocades. Below is a peek of the store window of Oscar’s Madison ave shop which features ball skirts made of his gorgeous new fabrics! I also included a few snaps of my own! Designers, look out for the new Oscar de la Renta fabrics coming this summer to a Lee Jofa showroom near you!

Skirts fashioned from Oscar de la Renta’s new fabric collection. Photo: Patrick Butler for Elle Decor

Beautiful fabrics from the new collection