Sometimes customizing IKEA furniture works

Given the proper lighting, I think something like this could work. Or if you need more openness and less color, remove the back panel altogether. I don't have any firsthand knowledge of how stable these things are. A back panel might be necessary for maintaining structural integrity.


Sometimes, plans don't go as well as expected.
One lantern is cool. Two is less dramatic, but still has sufficient presence. Ten is an invasion. In the case of this photo, an alien invasion. I, for one, welcome our new lightly flammable lantern overlords.

These images lovingly stolen from Apartment Therapy

Trends of 09 part 2

In my mind, the best way to describe this trend is 'plant silhouettes', but I really hate that word silhouettes... I can never spell it right. In any event, the photos will show what it is that I'm talking about:

Mode Wallpaper


TreeBomb Wallpaper


Fern Pillow from Ferm Living


Pine Tree Sticker from Ferm Living

It's a blend of art and nature. However, it's all about the beauty of natural shapes. Keep it simple and it'll work best. Which is to say, I don't like the first two; they seem a bit too busy for my tastes, but sometimes its hard to get a good sense of scale in wallpaper photos.

So readers, what do you think of this trend?


Thanks to:

Desire to Inspire
Wallpaper from the 70s
frivolous necessities(do check this blog out!)

Wallpaper, part 3 of many

Flavor Paper's Vapor pattern is pretty 1970s. On a scale from 1 to Avocado green kitchen appliances, it rates a solid 7. That's enough to be concerned about, but not enough to be wholly indefensible.
Case in point:

Better Living Through Design points in the direction of this kitchen. I like the way the pattern doesn't call a lot of attention to itself, but still does a good job of breaking up the monotony of the cabinets. Compare to this version from the 70s:

The good news is that this time around, we're learning our lessons.
Ugly version of the Vapor courtesy of Apartment Therapy

Back to bedrooms

We have here three different bedrooms.

Apartment Therapy featured this bedroom a while back as part of a house tour. I love it. I can't stop people from using patterned bedspreads, but I can at least point out how to do it correctly. The walls are a clean color, so the bed becomes the focal point of the room: there really isn't a lot competing for your attention. The blanket adds more color and keeps the room from feeling too dark. At the same time, it covers up the pattern, which keeps that from dominating the room too much. This is how you do it, so take note.

And then, we get to these rooms.

What we have on the walls is the graphical equivalent of an acid trip. Often kitschy, full-wall graphics can sometimes take your mind someplace else. Why you'd want to be taken to a place where you think that your face is melting and strawberries are out to get you is another matter.

Padded headboards are for bedrooms. Padded walls are for asylums.

A thought on patchwork quilts

In these winter months, there's nothing like going to bed under a home-made quilt. Except I live in LA, and it is unseasonably warm here. But those of you fortunate enough to not live in LA get to have nice quilts. But don't quite rush out and buy just any quilt, because some of them are uglier than others. Today, the topic is patchwork quilts.
Now wait a second, you say you openly admit that your favored style is modern, sometimes modern of the mid-century variety. How can you reconcile a quilt with that? Aren't you going to pick on all of them?
Yes, I like MCM and modern design. But I'm not picking on these quilts (or any design things) because they aren't compatible with my favorite styles. I pick on them because they're intrinsically ugly. As in, it doesn't matter how you use them, there is little good about them.
Come on, how bad could some of them be?


Okay, you win


There's nothing wrong with a patchwork quilt. However, these quilts are only as good as the patches they're made of. There are some fabrics which ought never have been made. If the quilt contains any of them, it's not a good quilt.

This (above) is a good quilt. It may be a bit lacking in the color and overall impact department, but it's simple. The 'cabin' quilt from LL Bean (link below) has more color and presence, but I'm not nearly as big a fan of the pattern.

My thoughts?
Keep the colors in harmony. If you simply MUST have big and bold patterns, keep everything else restrained. You can always use pillows to accent.


Quilts from Anthropologie , L L bean

Orla Kiely for Target: Yay! (and a little nay)

For Winter 2009 Target is proud to announce that famed designer Orla Kiely will be bringing her touch to Target's housewares department. This is almost old news by now in the design world.
Personally, I'm torn by this collection. I look at a number of elements in the collection and I can clearly see the 1970s reflected. On the other hand... they're just glasses and plates. They're small enough to not have too much bearing on the overall design of the room. Restrain yourself and you'll be fine. And I kind of like the shape of the carafe. And those square plates.
I will say that the brown storage boxes and shoe holders are a no. Brown has been an "in" color for just a bit too long. I also think the apron doesn't look good, but I am yet to find an apron that looks good on me.
This hits Target stores February 1st. Start planning how to incorporate it.
Enough of my babbling, let's look at some pictures:




Photos from Apartment Therapy and Decor8

Black and white, Part 2

Allow me to demonstrate why black and white color combinations work best with another color in the mix: I present the following rooms that Mobileffe is currently showing.


It's not the warmest-looking room in the world, but it still looks inviting. Still, I'm not sure what to think about the glowing rock-like things in the foreground. They might be radioactive.




There's only one other color here. That's all it takes to make this look work. Some warm wood tones soften the overall appearance, and add a nice organic counterpart.
The dog is another design reminder: if your current dog clashes with your decor, you MUST get a new one. (kidding, kidding)






This room somehow manages to be the chemical opposite of Prozac. Maybe it's the fact that the stripes look like jail bars. Even with the TV, this looks like a room in which fun is outlawed.






Thanks to contemporist for the inspiration.

the robins egg blue and brown dilemma

The robin's egg blue with brown is one of the hot combos of fashion, so how does one sensibly incorporate it into home decor? These examples come from Target's Fall 08 line-up, which are sadly no longer on sale, but the lessons from this post remain valid.
This is a very good way to incorporate this color scheme.

the patterns work well... large enough to be interesting, but simple enough to not be gaudy. the other benefit is that the pillows come separately, so you can have one color dominate, and the other accent, or throw in a neutral color to prevent either color from dominating.





This attempt doesn't work.

The problem is that you're locked into the amounts of blue and brown. were it a solid blue, it could provide a nice contrast, but the brown comes in this tacked-on element that doesn't really stay true to the lines of the piece. I also think the drawer pulls are too small compared with the rest of the piece. were they just a little bit larger, the look would come across better. I do like the way they break up the boxiness of the dresser.

One further reason to go the route of the pillows rather than the dresser is that color combos like these are notoriously short-lived: they've got a half-life like a radioactive particle. When trying to incorporate colors that are right of the moment, it's better to go with something that's easy to change. in 2 years' time, that dresser is going to be a two-tone anchor weighing the rest of your room down.
Pillows: Victoria Hagen for Target
Dresser: Dwellstudio for Target