9 by Design

This Saturday, my husband was channel surfing and he calls me over because he's transfixed watching a new show on Bravo called Nine by Design. Have I been living under a rock? Why did I not know about the cool, crazy, courageous designing lifestyle of Cortney and Robert Novogratz and their brood of 7?

I'm enamored by people who take risks and live big especially those that are self taught and self made. You've got to have guts to purchase a condemned, mid-19th century brick town house in NYC, gut it and rebuild it with every intention to successfully flip it (oh yeah and you're a rookie when it comes to renovating dilapidated buildings). Thirteen years later (and yes, I did say 7 kids), Robert and Cortney's vision is still thriving and reflective in their current home - a 9,000 sq. ft. concrete and steel townhouse beaming out over the Hudson River in NYC.

Their design firm Sixx Design, create spaces that are big, bold, super cool and clutter free. Like this playhouse in a home in Soho that was once a former gun shop.