I fear the design world is singling me out for ridicule

According to the folks at casasugar the new hip trend for 2009 is mushrooms. Things with a general mushroomy shape or pattern are in.

Please, don't do it. For my sake, at least. I truly dislike mushrooms on a magnitude that is hard to understand. Suffice to say I would rather have a dentist attempt surgery with a backhoe than eat a mushroom.

However, in the interest of showing just what I'm going up against, check out casasugar's picks

Kickin' it old school

And now, a brief history lesson.
the inspiration for this blog is two-fold: First, I must give MASSIVE amounts of credit to James Lileks and his book Interior Desecrations. (Buy it!) Seeing just how ugly interior design was has made me aware that this must never happen again. My aim is purely humanitarian. But if I make a few bucks off this somehow, that's cool too.

This brings me to part two of inspiration: Pottery Barn Teen. I have a love-hate relationship with that branch of the company. Well, actually, I just think that some of the stuff they sell is really ugly.

Which brings me to the product which caused me to start thinking about all this:






















Technically yes, it is a couch. I know it looks like a bunch of cushions that were stolen from a hobo camp. We also have the rug to deal with. Yes, that is a rug, and not a bunch of used mop heads that the janitor at Pleasant View Elementary threw out. Please, shag rugs were only good until you spilled stuff on them, at which point they could never be fully clean again. And please don't tell me that you're buying them for the ironic value: Irony only works if the thing in question was originally good, but has since fallen out of favor. This is like being ironically racist.



And you can still buy the couch here. I'm pretty sure the charcoal gray is the color in question.

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.

Elle Decor Jan 2009: A deconstruction (part 1)

I'm not an avid reader of Elle Decor. By this I mean I have never actually read the magazine, and was not fully aware of its existence. So when I was directed to their website, I was pleasantly surprised. They focus on the same kind of design that I like, so I'll half-heartedly consider subscribing, then remember that I'm a poor college student.

On to the magazine.
The hot trend for the month is Black and White. It's a powerful, dramatic combination of colors. A little bit goes a long way.
Here's an example from Design Sponge
this headboard is good.








But when you see the rest of the room in context, the effect is a bit overwhelming

The red wall almost makes the room work, and it adds a great deal of much needed warmth. Something to keep in mind is that the black and white combination can get very cold very quick.






Second thing to consider is to keep it clean.
Consider these 3 patterns:










The middle pattern has a clean aesthetic that the others don't. And because of the stark contrast with black and white, design elements are emphasized: clean designs look cleaner and busy designs look busier.

Keep it warm, keep it clean and don't over-do it. Those are the 3 keys to making this trend work.

Inspiration

Now this is not a recent photo. This is from the horrible 70s. However, it's being used to illustrate the idea of covering the walls with fabric, as an easy way to It's an inspiration.

Really, the only thing this pattern is inspiring me to do is go drive out to the country, find a field of flowers and DESTROY ALL OF THEM. This fabric has ruined an entire species of plant forever. Even looking at it makes my allergies flare up.

In all fairness, the idea is sound. Please look at Monika's Post at Apartment Therapy for tips on how to use this technique.

EEP!

With this blog, I will try to point people against things that are rather ugly, but at the same time, I want to point people towards things I like.
which brings me to this pillow.

I love it. It's funky, its got great color, and it's got that perfect mid-century modern look about it.

You can get one at bettyjoy.co.uk

Or check out her blog at http://www.bettyjoy.blogspot.com

Bathrooms of 2008

In lieu of actually looking over all the bathrooms of the world and finding examples that properly reflect the times, I've decided that commentary on the tastes of others is much more satisfying. This is not to say that their personal opinions are wrong; they're just (in my opinion) bad. Consider me the devil's advocate for home design.
So, without further ado, I present a counter-analysis to some of Desire to Inspire's favorite bathrooms of 2008


If Satan's cathedral had a master bathroom, it would look like this. There really isn't too much wrong with the bathroom until you get to the paint. That color, that sheen, and the juxtaposition with the blue floor just goes to show you that it only takes one thing to ruin a room.







If you tried to play 'one of these things is not like the other', your head would implode. Now, I know that nobody in their right mind would attempt to assemble this bathroom for the real world. (Well, David Lynch might)
I like the red cabinet, I like the juxtaposition of the sink and mirror, and I'll tolerate the tiles in the bathroom. I just don't like the combination of those elements.









Tip: Using mirrors can help make a small bathroom look bigger. Painting the walls this color just makes it weird. It's like you polished the entire 1790s so hard the finish came off.














I cannot in good faith allow this wallpaper pattern to propagate. While the color is nice and works with the other tones in the room, it will age gracelessly.