When it comes to all things interiors, we're big believers in the transformative power of the vignette (yes, really). We don't know if you noticed, but they're kind of our thing (see: our entire website). So you can imagine our delight when we hit up a dinner party at our girl, Ruthie Friedlander's NYC apartment one night, where we were greeted by a perfectly prop-styled pad, done up with all the TC signatures—do shoes on books sound familiar at all? While playing with her new kitten, Gracie, who cutely climbed all over everything throughout dinner, Friedlander (as well as her sister, Sara a.k.a Middle - remember her from the CHANEL's Little Black Jacket feature?), filled us in over Thai on not only her new job at The Row, but also the secrets behind those color-coded bookshelves. Get you pen and paper (okay, iPads?), kids!

"I grew up in an extremely literary family. As the daughter of three rabbis, there were always books around. I’m talking Bibles (pun intended.) I have always been told not to judge a book by its cover, but as an extremely visual person, I’ve always struggled with that. I believe a book’s cover is equally as important as its text. Why not take pride in what binds you, book? Why not put effort into your color choice, your font, your imagery? Bibliophiles like myself take great pride in their bookshelf organization. Some do it by author, others by subject. I chose to do what I find most visually stimulating. As a born and bred New Yorker, I have forever battled with space. My current apartment is one open space that screamed for some sort of division. As the owner of more books than one person needs (I don’t mean that), I also needed storage. Enter IKEA Expedit Bookshelves! They enabled me to fill both sides (looking face-on and looking toward the bedroom) and I could build them up as I got more books. Color coordinating and adding objects to the shelves was a natural instinct. It created a rhythm and a design aesthetic that really defined the space. I chose a few accent colors (red, aqua, orange, green) and filled the rest of the blocks with spaces of white and black books. You’d be surprised how many beautifully colored bookbindings there are! Tip: Go to your local used bookshelves to fill up your shelf if you have holes!" - As told to The Coveteur by Ruthie Friedlander