Isn’t this just a fantastic space belonging to fashion designer David Delfin and architect turned photographer Gorka Posigo? The open plan, the loft, the amazing blends of browns and colors and black with white, everything about it. I’ll even take the dog. But, oh, that face. And there is a selection of doll head busts on one cabinet. I have this thing about faces, you see. And doll heads. Not all that uncommon, I imagine. Last thing I want to see when I wake up for a tinkle is a giant face moaning and a whole bunch of dismembered baby heads.

I'll take almost all of it, including the dog.

What do you like about this pretty awesome if I do say so myself space? What would you ditch before moving in?

Images via Yatzer: http://www.yatzer.com/2074_delfin-postigo_house_welcomes_2010

I guess I’ve been a little obsessed with walls and wall art the latter half of this week. So I promise this will be my last post about walls and things that go on walls for at least a fortnight or so. What got me thinking about decorative plates was these decorative plates that used to adorn my grandparents’ walls – they were illustrated with extremely striking images from old Russian folk tales and they were my introduction to stories like The Snowmaiden and Ivanushka the Simpleton. These particularly decorative plates were really very beautiful – I think they were issued by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and were based on paintings by noted artist Boris Zworykin. But even so, when I think decorative plates, my brain always jumps to the dorky commemorative plates that were advertised on TV when I was a kid.

In other words, I have mixed emotions about decorative plates. But after looking around a bit, I’ve found that a plate display can be pretty cool, especially when you’re using cool plates and not weird commemorative plates featuring politicians, baseball legends and dead Hollywood icons. Here are a few examples:

I'm liking the swoop

Pretty!

Fun decorative plate designs by Christopher Paul

So what do you think? Can decorative plates move past their terrible 1980’s incarnations, back to the days when people who just hang pretty plates up in lieu of art or photographs? Or have they been ruined by their association with people who can’t stop buying Franklin Mint products?

It’s so easy to get stuck when it comes to furniture. As in, ‘I don’t need a sideboard because I don’t have a dining room’ or ‘What could we possible use a bench for in our house?’ It’s especially easy when you have a chance to acquire a free piece of quality furniture.

But wait! Maybe you don’t need another dresser, but you’ve been looking for an amazing and different bathroom vanity. Or what you really want is a bookshelf by you keep finding bench after bench. Kitchen tables abound, but no desks… chairs, but no side tables… coffee tables but no desk and hutch combos. That sort of thing. My question is: Why get so focused on what a piece of furniture is? Why not focus instead on what is might be?

I know that repurposing furniture isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but who says you have to do it yourself? Maybe you have a friend who loves that sort of thing and will hook you up with your new shelves, vanity, or whatever for the price of materials plus a little extra. Or maybe there’s a pro in your area looking for some extra work. I mean, come on, check out this sweet repurposed furniture!

Inspired by Holly Golightly's bachelorette pad?

Two different shelving options, two different seats!

(more…)

I am loving the big chunky farmer’s table smack dab in the middle of this otherwise very modern dining room by designer Vicente Wolf! Sometimes I look at my own house and realize that you couldn’t call it modern or traditional or cute or any other thing, really. My house is a mishmash of new and old things I’ve acquired and made over time, and things I’d love to replace but can’t afford to, and I do my best to make everything look nice together. I like how it’s turned out so far, though I’m always changing this or that. So if you’ve ever wondered why I love contrast so much, part of it is that I have to or I’d go crazy!

Contrast = Cool

What do you think about mixing old and new and modern and traditional and maybe something bright and shiny and expensive paired with something awesome you found on the side of the road? Because I love it. To me, a space full of awesome mixed treasures – arranged and chosen with some care, of course – is so much more fun and inviting than a perfectly coordinated and homogeneous space.

Here’s how it works:

Step: Acquire a pile of thick comforters

Step 2: Pile up prettily

Step 3: Cuddle up and sleep

It’s a design by Linda Topic and certainly an interesting bed concept, but the impression I get is that it would only be comfortable until all that bedding compressed into a dense pancake of feathers and fill.

Because this is what happens when a person doesn’t know when to say when to chalkboard paint. Yes, chalkboard paint is the bee’s knees, but let’s all show a little restraint, shall we?

What’s the first thing that jumps out at you about Claire Bingham’s living room (seen on Design*Sponge)? My guess is that it’s the unfinished walls that have been partially stripped of wallpaper and partially painted.

It’s a raw look, for sure, but unfinished walls could be something of an antidote to all the perfectly-styled homes you see in magazines and books. Would it surprise you to learn that Bingham is an interior designer and also writes about gorgeous interiors? My guess is that it takes a good eye to make a half-finished paint job work as an intentional statement.

I’m all for letting the decor in a home evolve over time – I feel you end up with a more natural, real, inviting look that way – but this goes a little beyond that, don’t you think?

I’m all for creating safe spaces, but come on…