I’m not a professional interior designer or anything like that. I just enjoy decorating spaces. When Zooey Magazine expressed their interest in coming over and interviewing me about my decorating choices, I was ecstatic: I spend a lot of time beautifying my surroundings, but somehow almost never get to talk about it!

In contrast to our Brooklyn apartment – a rainbow-licious candyland dubbed “the unicorn house” – our Los Angeles condo is a reflection of my growth. For the first time I feel comfortable to explore things outside my usual spectrum, dig deeper into my inspirations and express myself on a whole new level.

During our chat I discovered that almost nothing we own is new. I have a penchant for things with an old-timey flare, plus I truly enjoy thrifting too much. Flea-markets feel like a mini-vacation to my mind.

I would like to extend my gratitude to Zooey Magazine for giving me the opportunity to share my home with the world, and for the pleasure of working with their friendly team.

Read full article here (Pages 24-27)

Related articles:

Doe Deere’s Thrift-Shopping Guide

Doe Deere’s Guide to Finding an Apartment of Your Dreams

As a long-time fan of the Russian duo t.A.T.u. (All The Things She Said, anyone??), I was ecstatic to learn that the redhead, Lena Katina now lives in Los Angeles and has her own solo project. After a brief lunch, we knew it was meant to be. Lena and her boyfriend came over for Thanksgiving and before I knew it I was invited to design two makeup looks for her new video Melody (a collab with Clark Owen).

Makeup breakdown

One look was a classic ‘siren’ — cat liner, lashes, classic red lips. My favorite, however, was the ‘party’ look that involved lots of blue glitter to match her sparkling sequinned dress. I loved it, she looked like a mermaid!

Eyes: Shoe Addict magic dust + blue glitter
Cheeks: Cosmopop
Lips: Cosmopop with a touch of Golden Ticket in the middle

Clark Owen Feat. Lena Katina – Melody

BEHIND THE SCENES

Doing Lena’s makeup

Lena and Clark during one of their many takes (seriously, I was amazed how many times they sang the song over and over again, for different camera angles — and didn’t even complain once!).

The video was shot in Hollywood Hills, with a gorgeous view of the city.

Follow Lena Katina on Facebook!

Outtake :)

Our garden bunny, I have a feeling he’ll be making another appearance soon :)

Before I go into our adventure, let me brief you quickly on Ana Bagayan. Above is one of her works — she is an intensely talented artist from Los Angeles who likes to paint mermaids, aliens and pretty girls in all kinds of peculiar settings.

Ana stopped by our office for a cup of tea and to meet our beta fish, Fishie Liberace. I was showing her our new nail polishes and we had a bag of shells lying around… so a spontaneous shell-painting session broke out!

We used mostly Lime Crime nail polishes – which are coming out this month — to decorate the shells in spots, gradients and various pastel hues topped with silver glitter. It was so much fun!!!

Finished shells.

“Is this your typical day at work?” Ana asked. Not typical, but getting to be increasingly common. :) Come back any time, Ana!