Manolo for the Home

I’d like to say that from now on, all my bedding will come to me from DwellStudio. Except I can’t say that, because I don’t have $265 to spend on a duvet cover, and I simply can’t justify spending $80 on a single pillow sham. Yes, that’s one (count it, one) sham, which is just one ‘e’ away from being a crying shame.

But aren’t the linens shown above just divine? I might be persuaded to spend more time reading in bed and less time in front of The Beard’s computer watching Battlestar Galactica if I had a full set…or maybe just one of the duvet covers. All right, so on blah days like today I don’t exactly need a lot of persuading. The kicker is that I have to get up, out of my warm cozy bed, and actually do things if I want to afford the kind of linens specifically designed to keep one in bed!

Ever since I got into sewing–thanks, in part, to some gracious tips left in the comments by Manolo for the Brides readers–I’ve been enamored with all of the great fabrics out there. The ones I like most either have really striking patterns or really vivid colors, so imagine my pleasure when I opened my new Pottery Barn catalog to find nothing but!

Intricate embroidery will cost you, if a lumbar pillow cover that costs $79 is any indication. I’m going to guess it was machine embroidery, which is something the ladies at the sewing center I frequent seem to do without eighty bucks worth of effort. But maybe they jut make it look easy!

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Every now and again I regret not registering for wedding gifts, as the ubiquitous wedding registry represents a way to scale up one’s home. However, at our very cores, The Beard and I are “reduce and re-use” kinds of people, meaning that we both agreed it would be entirely silly to ask for plates, glasses, and so forth when our current stock already overflows into boxes stored in the basement. Still, it’s fun to look and to dream and to collect ideas because someday, I’m sure, all of those things we currently don’t need will finally wear out.

Today I’m pretending that we turned a blind eye to our values and created a gift registry at Gump’s of San Francisco. Here are some of the pretty things I’d pick out for my home:

If you’re going to register, you can throw in as many big ticket items as you like provided you have plenty of low- and mid-range gifts on your list. What are some of the beautifully domestic gifts you regret not asking for on birthdays, holidays, and other occasions?

It’s no big secret that The Beard and I are trying for a baby, which means that I get to spend all sorts of money on sewing supplies and all sorts of time browsing the Intertubes for totally sweet baby stuff. Personally, I’m all about the convertibles. If a crib can become a toddler bed, it’ll still be there when the next baby comes along and the first one is ready to give a big boy/girl bed a go.

Right now, Target has some rad furniture for teeny beans, but that isn’t what this post is about. I just wanted to mention it in case you’re in the market because the prices are right. If it just so happens you’re looking to spend a bit more, then head on over to Modern Tots, a shop catering to the hippest and most modern babies (and their parents).

Er, you might want to round out this furniture from the Ola collection with a few accessories…maybe some lighting and possibly a toy or two, but I’m really digging on the bare brick thing.

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As promised long ago, here are just some of the makings of a colorful, cheery bedroom. While I do like the stark white kitchens and bathrooms, pretty much everywhere else in my house needs to be absolutely saturated with color. I had our paints picked out long before The Beard and I closed on our house, and the first order of business upon closing was to start prettying up the walls. Being that I already knew where my decor was headed, I had no trouble re-purposing what we already had to fit the new scheme.

I did, naturally, have to flesh the whole works out with some fresh things, if only because we were moving into a totally different space…at least that’s what I keep telling myself!

I love the chair, but I don’t know that I could find a place for it in the pale green sanctuary of my own bedroom. But the radio? Bring it on!

Every now and again, my mailbox is inundated with home decor magazines. Where all of them have converged in recent months is in their liberal use of blue. It’s not just one particular sort of blue, either. There are Greenwich blues and icy blues and cornflower blues and cobalt blues. Light greenish blues seem to be dominating at this time, but there certainly seems to be plenty of room for other competing blues.

Did I mention that other than black, blue is my favorite color? There are millions upon billions of ways one can integrate a color into a home decor scheme. Sometimes it’s hard to decide what to do because there are so many options, but seeing what others have done can be all the inspiration one needs. Below you’ll find some blue interiors that will get your creative juices flowing.

The thought of painting a floor never really occurred to me until just now. As it turns out, The Beard and I have an unfinished floor in the upper story of our home and I’m sorely tempted to start laying down color!

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There’s nothing like a nice squishy tosser, as I’ve mentioned previously. In my little abode, throw pillows get sat on, chucked around, used as trivets, gnawed by curious kitties, and taken on long car trips. Huh…maybe that’s why none of mine are stuffed with down and covered in raw shantung silk like the colorful examples above. If your throw pillows lead a far less vigorous life than my own, perhaps it’s time to upgrade to something more refined.

image by scriptingnews

Doesn’t that look gorgeous? It’s the little touches–like funky pillows or an heirloom quilt–that make a space feel homey to me, which is why sitting on any of my couches and chairs usually involves moving a bunch of throws and things. What are the tiny details that make you feel at home?

I’m home a lot recently, which means I spend an awful lot of time looking around my abode with a vague sense of dissatisfaction. We moved in around October 1, and I’m still not altogether satisfied with the feel of the house. I’ve spent many an hour moving furniture and accent pieces from one room to another and back again. When I get dismayed, I just think, “Hey! It’s exercise, right?”

Lately, the focal point of my efforts has been the bedroom. Yesterday, I moved one of the kitchen table chairs into the bedroom. There’s only two of us, which means there’s no reason I shouldn’t spread the chair wealth. Then I went crazy hanging plates, mirrors, and quilts. The dang room still doesn’t feel right.

I’m beginning to suspect that what my bedroom needs is a new bed. A bed that isn’t partly held together with a metal reinforcement bar. A bed that isn’t a thousand years old. My bed is serviceable, but it’s not in keeping with my current tastes. It was once The Beard’s, which could be part of the problem.

A new piece of furniture can re-vitalize a space, provided you can afford the right piece of furniture. In my case, I’ll be spending another day schlepping stuff into and out of the bedroom…

Yesterday we got to peek inside Betsy Johnson’s NYC pad. Today it’s time to have a gander inside Saddam Hussein’s mega-yacht, the Qaddisat Saddam. This $34 million boat, which now goes by the less disturbing moniker Ocean Breeze, can now be yours! Let’s have a look…

The 269-foot yacht comes equipped with bulletproof glass, a full medical clinic, prayer rooms, weapons storage, gold fixtures, marble, fountains, and more. It also comes equipped with decor straight out of the hotel decorators’ handbook.

Again, this is pretty much the set-up I would have envisioned if someone had asked me to guess at Saddam’s taste in interiors.

via Radar Online

A hearty thanks to The Manolo for letting me know that Betsey Johnson’s New York apartment was recently estate of the day over at Luxist. Had he not shared this link, I never would have had a chance to see into this Pepto Bismol world that is currently on the market for a cool $3.6 mil.

This is pretty much what I’d imagine Betsy Johnson’s living spaces looking like if you asked me to take a best guess at describing her digs.