Welcome to Babes in HART – let’s say we just met at a dinner party. How would you introduce yourself?

Hi I’m Anna! I’m an NYC-based rug designer, interior stylist & co-founder of the coolstuff.nyc newsletter. I live in Park Slope with my husband (the other half of coolstuff.nyc) and our puppy, Margot. 

At its core, our jewelry is about personalization — wearing what reflects who you really are and tells your story. That said, what lights you up? 

Color! Community! And really good design!

You wear a lot of creative hats—interior stylist, rug designer, newsletter editor. How do those worlds overlap for you?

As my day job, I work as a custom and collections rug designer for a small to-the-trade rug company here in the city, while coolstuff has grown from a “side project” to a second job. Additionally, I work as a freelance virtual interior stylist to help people style their homes. The three really do interact with each other often - whether that means I’m using inspiration I found for a rug design in a graphic idea for coolstuff, or a project for an interior styling client…or that I get inspiration from restaurants and events that I go to for coolstuff that can be transferred over to my rug design work.

It’s all organized chaos and everything we see always circles back. :)

Your style is wonderfully colorful and full of personality. What are you inspired by lately—colors, materials, moods?

Thank you! I love having fun with color in my home and with how I dress everyday. Living in New York where most people wear all black (especially in the winter), I’m sometimes the only person on the street in full color. 

I’m currently planning my glittery, cozy birthday cocktail party at home and I’m super inspired by a collection of images I’ve gathered to set the mood. I love looking back to nostalgic design and decorations for parties as I get older - a ceiling filled with multi-colored balloons, walls covered in silver tinsel, and trays of chicken nuggets as one of the appetizers.