The Secret to getting the Most from the Ruffle Frame Shelf

Taking a brief step aside from my typical tastes in design, I confess that I really like the look of the Ruffle frame shelf from Brocade Home. The lines may be more ornate than I usually like, but the white gives it a really clean aesthetic. Now, someone who's more crafty than me could replicate the look with an old frame and paint.
Okay, fine, what's the secret? You've got a white background, so the lines of whatever you put on it stand out more: this shelf makes things look better. This means the less you've got on the shelf, the better it works.

Ruffle Frame Shelf, On sale, $199.

Purple is the noblest wall color

I'm pretty sure this is the same color that pimp costumes are made of. Yes, it's bright, bold and full of character. It's also ridiculous. All that color theory tells us that yellow and purple are complementary and thus work well together. Correct.

But I've got a competing (and more important) theory I want to test. Near as I can tell, there might only be exceptions in terms of certain patterns. I call it the "Dress shirt theory". (well, right now its just a hypothesis, but hopefully with your input, we'll be able to prove it)



It goes a little something like this: Imagine the wall color (or pattern) in question as a mans dress shirt. Any color or pattern which would look silly should be used only under the advisement of a design professional.
A pastel works fine on walls or as a shirt. Color combinations such as white with brown or blue work fine. And a print with ducks on it makes you my father.

Now, to undo all the negative karma from the bad purple room, here's a good purple room. (Fine, lilac room)

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

Another thing I like

The Kugel chair from Seefelder.
It's modern, but could easily work with an Art Deco style.
I don't know how good your German is, so I've translated it as best I can.
"The chairs are dynamic and yet clear in form. They turn about their own axis (they rotate). The chairs are available in high-quality leather and fabric in the Seefelder collection.

Wallpaper, part 2 of many

Poor bathroom. You could have had it so much better. Too-small mirror and weird metal cabinet over the toilet are hindrances, but bathrooms have overcome worse to become truly great. Then your owner decided to post up wallpaper that is covered in the flarg flower from planet Zebulon 9. (on Zebulon 9, flowers look at you!)
Bathroom, your owner might be an alien.

Casasugar feels that this style might be a bit much for small bathrooms, and should only be used in powder rooms and half baths. I think they're forgetting a crucial detail: it should only be used in powder rooms and half baths that are on the planet Mars.
This image comes from housetohome.co.uk

The Triumphant return of bread

Enough negativity. It's time to embrace the positive. It's time for me to show you a thing that I love.


Considering that I want my kitchen to look something like the above (though maybe a but less fussy and with slightly cleaner lines... not sure I like the window treatments), I must say that I love this bread box from Target




Clean, simple lines, with a wonderful retro feel. I don't even like bread all that much, but this is simply beautiful.