family circle - december 2007

All is Bright: A Festive Holiday Home by Judy Prouty

"Every year at holiday time, Anne and Jonathan Carr's Connecticut home becomes a backdrop for a seasonal display that sparkles with sophistication while feeling totally down to earth. A mother of three children, ages 5 to 10, Anne says her decorating strategy is rooted in modern design, not fussy details. She likes to make a couple of big statements relying on a palette that harmonizes with each room. "I used to do a lot more when the kids were younger," she says, "but I think you can get a festive look with a few easy touches and also save your sanity." Decorating is more than a pastime for Anne who, with partner Connie Dirvin, created the online home design shopping guide Blinkdecor.com. Both her effortless style and her new business sprang from a need to save time and simplify her life. "When you have kids there are only so many days for shopping and decorating," says Anne."

tonic home - 12/11/07

BlinkDecor picks Tonic Home

"A big thank you to Anne Carr of BlinkDecor! Love this Living Room! So much green....my favorite color. Her Holiday decor is so simple and stunning at the same time. How about the christmas balls attached to the oversized boxwood wreath? Or the shimmering reindeer hanging out on that statement coffee table? Want to know what Anne's favorite gifts to give for the Holidays are? None other than the sparkling Mercury Glass Candleholders, (shown bottom right in the photo above) available at Tonic Home. Anne says that her business sprang from a need to save time and money. She began blinkdecor.com in hopes of helping others find great home decor when time is limited. We think she has done a fabulous job!"

miami herald - 11/11/07

20/20 visionaries

"Created by busy moms Connie Dirvin and Anne Carr, Blinkdecor.com is a well-edited, one-stop for design and renovation needs. They do it all – research, analyze and provide links to top e-commerce resources, break down vendors into style categories, list design trends, publish bi-monthly newsletters, and update a blog. Suggested links to shop are Mecox Gardens, Capitol Furnishings and Todd Merrill Antiques, while a few snazzy items are zebra wingback chairs, a French mother-of-pearl chandelier, and the Mongolian fur white bench featured here. The perfect online site for your holiday shopping!"

at home magazine summer 2007

Getting Fresh...

"In 2005, after ten years in town, Connie Dirvin was ready to hunt for a house in Darien that would readily accommodate her growing family and have just the right features to create a backdrop for her design ideas. The search led her to a well-crafted and classic 1927 Colonial, close to the shore and just down the street from her good friend, Anne Carr.

She and friend Anne, on parallel tracks with their renovations, realized nearly simultaneously that browsing and buying online was an efficient strategy for streamlining a project. Thus inspired, the pair developed a business plan to provide design shortcuts for similarly busy homeowners. In the fall of 2006, they launched blinkdecor.com, a guide for the interior design enthusiast, that is already creating international buzz..." – Judy Ostrow

apartment therapy la may 2007

Hot off the blog press...

"Another hot blog is blinkdecor which is written by two renovation divas – Anne Carr and Connie Dirvin and is your "go to" blog for stores, products and designers. And check out Anne's home which is featured in this months At Home Magazine in Fairfield County. What a beautiful home!"

westport magazine april 2007

What's New

"Busy mothers with a passion for modern home décor, Anne Carr and Connie Dirvin launched BLINKDECOR.COM last fall after each successfully completed her own home renovation in Darien. Determined to find unique and stylish resources that were easily accessed via the internet, they created a website for people looking to decorate or renovate their homes in the "blink of an eye." The site features a well-edited mix for the fashionable home, including links to modern, contemporary, antiques, and eclectic vendors." &ndash Christy Colasurdo

at home spring 2007

Turning the Corner

"Anne Carr has a thing for geometry, but didn't know it until recently. From the circular foyer of her 1929 French Regency-style Darien home....the cofounder of blinkdecor.com has filled her home with the rhythms of circles and squares echoing Art Deco and mid-century design sensibilities. The resulting vibe is sophistication, not Playskool.

With the renovation nearing completion, it was time to think about decorating the new space. Anne has been collecting mid-century antiques all along, and to save time, turned to the Internet to find design inspiration in keeping with that vision. Around the same time, her friend, Connie Dirvin, was also completing her home's renovation down the street. In the fall of 2006, the pair launched blinkdecor.com, a guide to online decorating and renovating that features a well-edited mix of modern, contemporary, antique and eclectic vendors organized by category.

"Even if you're not comfortable buying online, you save a lot of leg work this way," Anne says. "The vendors are seeing that their business is going online. As a result they've developed really user-friendly websites," she explains. One of Anne's favorite vendors, Capitol Furnishings in New York City, created the round table in the circular breakfast room." – Valerie Cruice

washington post 02/08/07

CLICK HERE

"You can't actually buy anything at http://www.blinkdecor.com. But its creators see it as a must-view first stop to help online shoppers find what they want faster and with more confidence. The Web site was founded last fall by two "busy mothers with a passion for modern home decor" who renovated their Connecticut homes using online sources. It's an edited list of their favorite home furnishings sites -- some famous, others not. Beware: Many of the choices are high-end. But the site also includes blogs and design advice that is surprisingly helpful and fresh for any budget."

dallas morning news 12/01/06

Blinkdecor.com is a real eye-opener

"Whether you're making over an entire kitchen or just on the hunt for a hip coffee table, be sure to surf blinkdecor.com, which launched this fall.

In addition to the attractive graphics and pretty color palette, the upscale contemporary decorating and renovating resources entice too.

Connecticut moms Anne Carr and Connie Dirvin created the site to help navigate the overwhelming home decor assortment online. Their well-edited site is more like a directory that targets design-driven and Web-savvy shoppers. Information includes company contacts, blogs for renovators and decorators and an "Eye on Design" section that highlights looks from need-to-know labels and designers.

You can't actually purchase products from the site. But you can click on each company's link to browse and sometimes buy. Best of all, next to each company profile the women list their favorite look from the label as well as helpful details including prices and phone numbers. – Brittany Edwards"

designbiz.com 11/30/06

Blinkdecor.com:
Decluttering the decorating resources web

"When Anne Carr and Connie Dirvin began their own home renovations, they knew the process – grueling at times – would eventually come to an end. What the women did not know was that at the end of that process, they would have an idea for an online business that can help people redecorate in the "blink of an eye."

darien times 11/22/06

Decluttering the decorating resources web

"When Anne Carr and Connie Dirvin began their own home renovations, they knew the process – grueling at times – would eventually come to an end. What the women did not know was that at the end of that process, they would have an idea for an online business that can help people redecorate in the "blink of an eye."

BlinkDecor.com also gives visitors access to Blink Ink, a twice monthly newsletter reporting on the latest design trends available on the Web, and to Renovator's Roundtable and Decorator's Dish, two blogs where consumers and insiders can share the design and product tips..."

nytimes 11/09/06

CURRENTS: ON THE WEB; For Those Who Are Long on Style But Short of Time to Shop

"Blinkdecor.com is a fresh, new, edited design resource, a kind of blog-alog of sources made in the image of its creators, Anne Carr, 42, and Connie Dirvin, 44. The two women had careers in finance and advertising, respectively, and then three children and an old house in Connecticut happened to each of them. Those experiences provided an intuitive résumé for an online decorating guide for women ''who are confident of their aesthetic'' but short on time, said Ms. Dirvin... PENELOPE GREEN"

apartment therapy 11/09/06

Currents: 11.09.06

"New design resource: Blinkdecor.com"

dominomag.com 09/13/06

Scrappy Girl Decorates : Big Chill Retro Fridge

"Okay, I know I'm supposed to be picking paint colors for the bedroom and hallway, like, um, yesterday (painter starts next week). But I love this Big Chill refrigerator. We did a Daily Dot about it a while ago, but I'd forgotten about it until I found Blink Decor, which is an online guide to decorating and renovating websites.

If I do a retro kitchen, I think I may have to have this refrigerator."