Our Fall Newsletter

Natalie Weinstein, Allied ASID, IDS, is an accredited designer, acknowledged business leader, entrepreneur, author, media personality & motivational speaker. Her interior design firm, Natalie Weinstein Design Associates, has been creating lifestyle changes in homes and public spaces, decorating for countless clients since 1973. In 2001, the Natalie Weinstein Home Decorating Club was launched to guide "do-it-yourselfers" with a little help from a pro. Uniquely Natalie, a quality furniture & accessory consignment boutique was opened in 2014 to give every shopper an opportunity to create a beautiful home no matter what the budget.

For questions, please call 631.862.6198.

A Designers View of Fall 2020

By Natalie Weinstein, ADIS, ISD

To my dear friends

& family,

As the New Year begins, our best wishes come your way. May the year be filled with good health, family blessings and peace.

Warmly, Natalie & her team.

Decorating Matters & So Do You!

Fall is a great time for starting a design project, but remember the holidays aren't far away. Plan, select and finalize for Spring kitchen and bath renovation. Shop now for furniture and accessories which can be ready for you when you're ready to entertain.

Classy and classic Chippendale style furniture transformed this dining room with quality furniture from Uniquely Natalie Quality Consignment.

Give the gift of a beautiful home by purchasing a Gift card for a future consultation with Natalie for

ONLY $195.00.

We’ve made it to Fall – a season different from those we’ve known in the past. We’ve grieved for those loved and lost and those we will never know in what is now “the new normal”. We’ve been through a season of seeking masks, sanitizers and toilet paper – and social distancing has become a watch word. We’ve been sequestered in our homes with those we love most or all alone. We’ve made ZOOM, Amazon and Wayfair richer and we look back on the way things were with a new appreciation.

The entire world has now come to a better understanding of the words “safe haven” – home – the place we have been spending more hours than ever anticipated. I, as a designer, have, for over four decades, created homes and work places that empower and nurture people. I’ve always humbly believed that my work has changed the lives of those I and my team have touched. That’s why I continue to do what I do, because the time we are living through has made my work ever more important.

Since March of last year, our homes have changed as we have – whether in large or small amounts. Working from home adults and stay at home children have required needed accommodations. Individual work spaces had to be carved, the kitchen has become the family hub, “play time” is a needed indoor activity and our backyards have become our “stay-cations”.

Interestingly, the housing market has exploded as city dwellers are moving East on Long Island and buying up everything and anything and the money people have spent on travel, new cars, and clothing has now been filtered to home improvement.

The interior designer has now taken on a pivotal place in the wake of home improvement. People are re-examining the need for our services – whether for a full service “do it from start to finish” project or as consultants for “doing it yourself”. These consultations, I have discovered, are safely and easily done through face-time or ZOOM with great results.

For a veteran designer like myself, we have now been contacted by many wonderful clients who have called me back to face lift, add on and transform their existing homes, or design new purchases. As a full services firm doing renovation as well as decoration and kitchen design, we have the pleasure of helping those we have worked for in the past while we are welcoming new clients daily.

So what are the things to do in your home in the Fall of this year? They can be assessed on your “wish” and “needs” list by their importance to your quality of life for the short term and the long term. Many more of your wishes can come true, because of much lower interest rates for lines of credit, re-mortgaging, and borrowing money. Why would you consider doing this when money is everyone’s worry? The answer is clear. Your home is the one constant in which it is always wise to invest. It is the place that means everything to you and your family – physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The challenges of creating personal space and public space in our homes today may be a little different from in the past, but the goals are the same. We all want and need to feel safe, comfortable and happy in our surroundings, & our home is that place that leads us to our better selves. We can watch and worry about the world, over which we have little power – or – we can make our world – our home – that better place for us.

Condo Living & Its Popularity Today

Natalie Weinstein, Allied ASID, IDS

Condo living, today has become a popular option for Long Island homeowners in many walks of life. This was not always the case when “suburbia” began in the late 40’s and early 50’s. The Levitt expandable homes led post war New Yorkers to move out to the boondocks seeking the American dream of the little house with the white picket fence around it. Times may have changed, especially in the past several months as our homes have become, more than ever, our safe haven – but, the trend to moving out to Long Island has once again turned the housing market into a tizzy.

So when did the condo lifestyle take hold and why – and why has its popularity grown over the years? In the 70’s, land developers who were building rental apartments saw condos as the “apartments of the future” where the clustering of this housing style left room for amenities like clubhouses, exercise and game rooms, pools, tennis courts and putting greens. This concept enabled buyers to live a “home-like” lifestyle with reduced taxes and mortgage payments as well as manageable maintenance charges that would cover lawn care and snow removal, among other things.

The early condos were pretty basic and attracted a younger buyer who used it as a stepping stone to a single family home purchase. The condos today, however, have “grown up”. Some interiors are larger than free standing homes and contain many amenities inside as well as outside.

So now, who’s buying? It seems – everyone! After the baby boom, a senior boom occurred on Long Island and seniors, by the droves chose to stay on Long Island in more affordable housing, tax – wise, seeking the feeling of a country club lifestyle while staying close to friends and family – and the builders saw the trend and answered the call.

As a designer who made the move to a gated condo community some 20 years ago, (not an over 55) when not as many were available on Long Island, I have personally experienced the trade off of leaving my lovely 4500 square foot secluded home on 2 acres with larger rooms and more storage for an easier lifestyle . My backyard is the same size it was then, however, now I share it with 24 other families!

So can a condo really feel like home? As every designer knows, and I, from my own personal experience, creating a warm inviting comfortable living space can occur anywhere. And – moving – which can seem like a near death experience, forces us to clean up, throw out, organize and get a plan.

Looking back on the many happy clients who have chosen condo living on Long Island for its freer, easier lifestyle and sense of community, I know it has transformed our region’s demographics. Seniors can afford to own and stay on Long Island and young marrieds and young families can reach up to home ownership affordably.

In our ever changing world – the one constant is that place we call “home” and condos have become home to so many, enjoying a quality lifestyle unimagined here not so long ago. They are here to stay and happily, because of them – so are Long Islanders!

Kitchen Photo Above: An updated kitchen in a North Shore condo community. Designed by Natalie Weinstein, Allied ASID, IDS, Photography: Jack Ader, Images for Presentation

Learn More About Natalie Weinstein