Bold, daring, and crazy

Nature can be a great inspiration, a jumping off point for furniture designers. One example can be seen in this shelf by designer Floris Wubben. The shelf is a juxtaposition of the strong, solid, and earthy tree forming the side of the shelf, and the light and airy white web-like material forming the shelves. So what's the inspiration behind the shelf? 

A tree fungus.

Ew


Image lovingly stolen from Design Milk.

Is this how to live in 125 square feet?

One of the recent Apartment Therapy posts on small kitchens featured images from a small studio apartment. How small? 125 square feet. Let's look at what you can fit into a space that small.




















I don't like it.

I think it does a great job of illustrating a particular design point of view. I think that if Kristen was in one of those HGTV Design Star white box challenges, she'd get major points for showing her aesthetic in a way that's unmistakeable and visually arresting.

But how are you supposed to live in this space? If you make any sort of accommodation that means you can have guests over and entertain, you lose the visual effect. It feels like a design exercise more than a liveable apartment.

The website Texts From Last Night lets me live vicariously through others' wanton debauchery. One text featured on the site read "I had a dream last night that I had sex with Abe Lincoln. I must stop watching the History Channel before I go to bed."

And then we get to this room, featured on Apartment Therapy.


This is what happened when Tim Burton had a show on the History Channel.

sofa, so (not) good.

Moving away from modern, some are bringing back 70s style because despite all its flaws, it has a homey feeling. We were never perfect people, so why aim for a perfect home? We did the best with what we could, we made things ourselves, and life was still good.

Patterned sofas may be making a comeback. As with any trend, there is a way to do it badly. Yes, different patterns in the same color scheme work together. These patterns are working towards something a bit more sinister. Granted, I have seen worse, but this is (to steal a phrase that YoungHouseLove turned me on to)wayyy to 'matchy-matchy'.

Suddenly, you don't have just a blue and white room. You have the blue and white room. Friends will speak of it in the same tone reserved for exes that we wish we did not have to see again. You don't want that.

bold, daring and wrong, kitchen edition

This kitchen, coming to us courtesy of Apartment Therapy is tonight's Bold, daring and wrong case study. Now is it just me, or does the photo/wallpaper make the room look like its only 6 feet tall? I should probably thank the designer for keeping the cabinet face a light color because anything else would have been sensory overload.
The bench has to go. Small space, awkward layout... yeah, cramming a bench in there is not making cooking any easier. The bench makes me feel like I'm making dinner in an envelope.
A mirrored frame can create visual interest and add a focal point to a room. But only if the frame is reflecting something interesting. Here, it looks to be... more of that print. You might as well have an empty frame.

Happy 50th!

The iconic Barbie doll is turning 50 this year. Jonathan Adler designed a house for Barbie to commemorate this anniversary, but I'm not sure if this is a punishment or a reward. LAist offers the following shot of the bedroom.
















Okay, this isn't a bedroom - It's a harem. It's sultry, even by Barbie standards. (And she ran for president too! shouldn't she have better taste than this?)

I showed this image to the woman I'll be sharing an apartment with next year. Her reaction was "I WANT MY BEDROOM TO LOOK LIKE THAT!" Actually, if you know her, this room pretty much describes her personality spot-on.

such a thing as too bold?

Potentially. Bold and daring design has the power to take one's breath away. Usually, this comes in when you take chances that pay off well.
Sometimes, you make choices that leave a few questions unanswered.

I can appreciate painting the wall with dynamic lines. The colors, I'm not too fond of.
Image lovingly taken from Desire to Inspire



















Apparently, this is the residence of the Sore Loser family