I want to pay a little tribute to our loft on 31st Street. We've been here for 4 years, and are sad to see it go. Many of you are wondering, why are you leaving?!? Here's the real deal: they sold our building and the fees the new landlord wants to charge doesn't work out for us. After we realized this, we thought about the country house we'd been talking about buying for over a year now and decided to just do it. The thought of being outside of NYC gives me a panic attack. I've lived here, the center of the universe, for 13 years. I find driving a strange activity, because I'm perfectly comfortable walking wherever I need to go. I love island living, so we rarely leave our little island of Manhattan. As you can imagine, a house outside of NYC is a big cultural and lifestyle change for us. But we are ready, I promise.

Our loft on 31st Street was a big change for us at the time. We took a calculated risk by moving here and it took us for the ride of our lives. When we moved in, it was a white box with a pipe sticking out of the wall for the kitchen. We had to do everything from the kitchen to the bathroom, and build walls for the bedroom and office area. From a decorating standpoint, I decided to take huge risks. Four years ago the idea of painting your walls black was cra-zy. But I told myself if we don't like it, you can always paint over it.

Then we were sitting in our half finished place, and I asked William, 'What if we did a light fixture with 100 light bulbs?' Since the space itself was so industrial, we believed in keeping true to the space, and decorating and designing the space to keep its soul. At the time, furniture stores (save Restoration Hardware) were not making anything industrial, so I had to hunt at unconventional places. The scale of the furniture was important to me, and we had to go extra large so it felt right in the space. 

I believe every experience in life teaches you something. Here's what our loft on 31st Street taught us:

• Make sure the architecture lends itself to the design style you choose. The industrial loft vibe in here was flawless, but if I did country modern, it could have gotten strange (fast).
• Take risks. If you have some crazy idea, do it. The stuff we thought was crazy turned out the best, like the black paint and 100 bulb light fixture.
• If you are getting a place in NYC, anywhere. Find out who your neighbors are so you're not woken up in the middle of the night by the FBI and NYPD. True story.
• Be ready to let it go. We're selling a lot of the furniture and items in here because they don't fit our new home. It's heartbreaking a bit, but we'll create something amazing in our new space.