What to do, what to do with a Greek key rug… It’s a popular pattern nowadays, though I’d wager it’s never fallen out of fashion in any major way. This pattern, also known as a Greek fret or meander, is not one pattern, but rather many, because it’s just a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif.

To answer my original questions, here are a few things you can do with a black and white Greek key rug:

Er, I realized after the fact that the second and fourth pic are different areas of the same room. Still good for ideas, though!

(Images via: 1, 2/4, 3)

I have to say that I am all at once inspired and mortified by this amazing girls’ room put together by Christina of Full House – inspired because oh em gee she did everything for less than $250 and mortified because I’d started to feel like my daughter’s room was coming together just a little bit and good lord it certainly is not in comparison.

I cry that I was not born with the gene that lets some people do amazing things on a tiny budget. But to all of you I say if you’ve got it, flaunt it! You can see how Christina did it here at Little Green Notebook!

Mod? Modern? Retro? Reproduction? I just love it when can’t tell just by looking whether a piece of furniture came off the assembly line yesterday or some forty years ago. That’s precisely how I feel about the Hara armchair. Designed by Giorgio Gurioli for Kundalini, it’s described as a “bio-energetic” seat (which means goodness knows what when it comes to furniture).

I just know I dig it. The Hara armchair comes in white, black, orange, red, chocolate, beige, aquamarine, light green, and my fave, bougainvillea. It’s suitable for indoor or outdoor use, since it’s made of lacquered fiberglass treated with UV-protectant. Did I mention it costs the big bucks? Think $4,500, plus shipping.

You’d think they’d hook you up with free delivery!

I’m not really sure how owls became a thing, but here I sit on a couch decorated with owl throw pillows. Maybe I’m getting a little zany in my old age – please look away from my sock monkey kitchen chair pillows – but I can’t help but love animal inspired decor. Once upon a time that would have meant a leopard print chair, but now it’s more likely to mean a framed quilt patch featuring stylized songbirds or a pint glass with an elephant on it.

So how cute is all this?

Owl throw pillows in a living room via Dwell

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How awesome is this room from lakbdesign?

Love their design philosophy:

every child needs a special place at home, a place where they can learn to be alone, can have “away” space from the rest of the family, but children also need comfortable gathering spaces, where they can play board games or video games with friends, or where siblings come together to create a lego village. lakbdesign children’s spaces. easy.fun.perfect.done.

It’s the little details that really make this room for me – the elephant wallpaper… the disco ball in the corner… the zither (which is both pretty and fun).

When I was growing up, money was extra tight and my immediate family had no real eye for design, so my room was what I could make of it, which wasn’t much. Sure, there are those amazing seven year olds who manage to out-decorate the pros, but I was not one of them. That’s part of why I’ve been spending lots of time on my daughter’s room – I want her to have fond, happy memories of her childhood space.

So do like me and DIY it:

Isn’t this retro Jones & Co wall clock to die for?

I believe it is the Jones & Co Boxy Clock, which as you might have guessed from the lovely reflections in the photo taken by a certain booyaa, is made from glass. I am in serious coveting mode right now!

My house is starting to look a little bit like Roma Interiors as photographed by Carlo Gianferro, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. His portrait series captures the inner lives of these super interesting people (who I’d occasionally see when I lived in Germany but never actually interacted with) by focusing on their homes… and what homes they are! Admittedly, some of them are a little busy for me, with too much “antique furniture, tapestries, paintings, religious images, china, staircases and mirrors” for my tastes, but you have to love the colors. That’s what I meant, of course, when I mentioned my own home. No tapestries there.

You can see more images from Gianferro’s portrait series at his web site, but I wanted to take a moment to share these because I am just in awe of the colors in these homes (and you have to see the one living room that contains very little furniture, but has an absolutely amazing hardwood floor).

How cool are those kitchens? Or the curving pink living room wall with the surprising insets of… stone? Bricks? And while I’m not a huge fan of tiger murals, I’m in awe of the frame paneling color choices! I’m not sure if it’s just the photo, but it looks like the ceiling yellow is lighter than the wall yellow, yum.

One of my favorite bits from the movie Funny Face is the Think Pink! routine. And seriously, I’m a huge sucker for pink, more so now since having a girl baby. Not, mind that I set out to pinkify her life – but everyone else in existence apparently did. Now that I’m finally working on her room, I’ve chosen a deep pink, black, and white scheme, mainly because it’s solid, girly palette without being immature, and as a combo, it never has been terribly unpopular in my lifetime so it won’t look ridiculously out of date five or ten years from now. Pink can be babyish, of course, but it doesn’t have to be.

Here are seven sweet examples of how one might use pink inside and outside of one’s home, with not a single nursery in sight:

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Orange needs no introduction! Bright and cheerful, but also a little maddening,orange is a power color. How often do you see around you? You might be surprised at how readily you answer – it’s hard not to notice orange whether it’s the paint on a wall or a single accent piece in an otherwise colorful room. It’s a playful color, and creative, too, though some people find it too overwhelming to take in anything more than limited quantities. How can you use orange in your home? Here’s some yummy orange inspiration to stimulate your creative juices!

Under the cut, you’ll find plenty (more…)

Imagine you could pull any room from any house or flat and replace the same room in your house or flat with a snap of your fingers or the flip of a switch. Too bad life doesn’t work that way, but it sure is fun to design a whole new house in your head! My current dream house boasts a lot of white, bright colors, and a baby pink clawfoot tub, mmmm.

(via – a way too cute blog!)

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(via – which is my new fave blog)

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Now, if you have a minute or two to spare for little ol’ me, post a link to a pic of your dream rooms!