Ceramic Pendants

These lovely ceramic pendants are by Michelle Swafford. White, geometric forms, perfect in their simplicity. I want them all!

Blogging - Elle Decoration UK Edition

Elle Decoration UK never ceases to inspire me. The March 2009 issue was no exception. Of course I've been loving pink and orange together for a long time. So when I saw this page I swooned.

Look at that! Fuchsia, orange, red and brown! Hmm, this may be a good color combo for my new brown pillows. Gorgeous.

After seeing these beautiful colors, I just had to put a brush to canvas. I was compelled to experiment with these colors. This is what I came up with. I adore stripes. I mix my own colors, and I wish the pink were just a tad paler.

Here's the painting with my new pillows. Wish the sofa were fuchsia! My living room won't stay this way because I must have yellow. It's so fun to experiment with color, and canvases make it easy. I have a radical idea for the small sofa. Stay tuned.

I want to paint everything

I want to paint everything in my apartment. Chairs, bookcases, pottery, the floor, everything! I want to cover everything in a fresh coat of paint. You've seen my cute little dining table many times. It was assembled from three pieces I found on the curb. This weekend I considered painting it orange. Here's some orange inspiration. Hope you enjoy!

Flickr user BGLewandowski.

Flickr user Kumatora.

Knack Studios. If you love painted and repurposed furniture, then you must check out this site. I am green with envy! That's what I want to do when I grow up.

Flickr user Rodsta.

Flickr user The Shopping Sherpa. I don't remember doll house furniture looking this good when I was a kid!

Flickr user Misty Garrick Miller.

Flickr user Leo Reynolds.





Flickr user fishflix.

Well, dear readers, what do you think? Should I paint my dining room table orange? Maybe I should just paint the top orange and leave the base white?

Pottery Jones

Happy Friday! Have you had a stressful week? I have! How do we do what we do? How do we keep going? Apparently humans are very resilent. Everyone in America is burned out and stressed out. Most are either over-worked or out-of-work. Both states suck!

Let's take a little break from all that stress and contemplate one of my favorite things. Pottery. In fact, the only thing that makes sense to me these days is art. And to those artists who earn a living with their craft, I salute you. You are part of the solution! Because I believe art can and will save the world.

Okay, I know, enough words. Ahh, pottery in simple forms. Nothing better for the senses. Here are a few of my favorites, some have been featured before on this blog. Hope you enjoy.

Sophie Cook. Sophie is probably my favorite contemporary potter. When I win the lottery, the first thing I will do is order one of her vases. Pottery is an incredibly tactile experience, and I long to hold one of these beauties in my hands. I love her work so much, that I would move to the UK to work with her.

Sara Paloma.

Nancy Bauch.

Whitney Smith's pomegranate vase is one of my favorites. And now she has some ethereal works in porcelain. I adore Whitney's blog, an honest account of an artist's life. As an artist myself, many of her entries resonate with me.

Frances Palmer.

If you follow my blog, you already know my decorating philosophy. Accessories make the room. In fact, you can have just an air mattress in the room, as long as you have a silky pillow, a fabulous lamp, a great vase, a beautiful painting. That's all you need to make a room. This week we've looked at lamps, vases and pillows. This weekend will be all about painting. I am planning to pick up a brush this weekend. My day job has been killing my spirit, so I desperately need the canvas, and I guess I will rescind my vow to quit painting.

Happy Friday! Stay tuned, hopefully I will have some new work to show you.

My City

I was planning a pottery post today. Only seems right since I posted about pillows and lamps this week. Instead, I'd like to show pictures I took today while walking around at lunchtime. Cleveland is one of my muses. An unlikely muse, to be certain. For some reason, Cleveland and its detritus look great to me in extreme angle and heavy saturation.

There's plenty of bling.

And partial mannequins.

I love reflections.

And architecture.

Pottery tomorrow, I promise.

Michelle-O

Today's edition of GO GIRL! once again features the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. Ms. Obama is arguably the most intriguing woman to grace magazine covers in years. I, for one, am happy to see her incredible presence replacing the trite omnipresence of movie and pop stars.





Ms. Obama is on the cover of Oprah magazine, the first time anyone other than Oprah has graced this cover. And grace the cover she does. Oprah pales in comparison. Obama absolutely shines in yellow and orange, two of my favorite colors for spring. And if that wasn't enough, she adds a fabulous acrylic belt, showing off her trim shape.

You've all seen Domino's regular feature called "Can this outfit be turned into a room?" Well, this outfit can definitely inspire a room. Based on this outfit, I thought I'd design a happy, energetic breakfast nook for Michelle and Barack to share their fresh-squeezed orange juice after their morning workout. I could see the first couple joking with each other in this nook, just before smooching as they go to their respective busy days.

And wouldn't their day be off to a great start in this cheerful room? Of course the first couple should have the finest table ever designed, the Saarinen, image from Italydesign.com. Philippe Starck ghost chair for Kartell, image from Unicahome. Panton S chair in orange. Image from High Brow Furniture. Yellow vase from Habitat. Fab painting from Love Art by Kim Smith.

Michelle, thanks for being an inspiration! You go girl!

Lamp Tramp

As promised, today is all about lamps. My readers know that I adore lamps. Almost as much as I adore pottery. In fact, nothing makes a room more than a fabulous lamp. If you'd like to see the best lamp designs of all times, see my previous post. Without further adieu, here are some fabulous lamps. Hope you enjoy!

Ebay. Aren't those shades too cute?




I adore this pink frosted glass lamp. Looks like it might be vintage. Although, I would probably use a larger shade. Lamp shades can be so difficult to find, and can often cost more than the lamp. This image is from Emily's apartment at Apartment Therapy. Check out Emily's place. She has great taste, and has done her studio with a soft and restrained hand. Here's another lamp from Emily's apartment.

I love it. Speaking of the proper shade, I am in love with the long shades that I've been seeing in decorating magazines. They must be custom, though, I've never seen a tall shade in ready made.

This is one of my all time favorite lamps. From Abigail Ahren's lovely home on Designspongeshop.

Another of my favorite lamp's is in Kim's home.

Great lamp, great shade. Kim already knows I have first dibs on this lamp if she sells it. And if you haven't seen it yet, you must check out Kim's new kitchen. It's truly one of the finest examples of East/West fusion that I've ever seen. I can't stop talking about it to my friends! Look at the fabulous lamps Kim chose for this kitchen extraordinaire.


Damn. Makes me want to cook and that is a miracle. Watch the evolution of Kim's home on flickr. It is more fun that a reality show. And her six house guests will crack you up. (Link to Kim's flickr here. Link to Kim's kitchen blog here.)

Now how cool is this? A purple lamp from Miss Kitty Kat.

Image from her delightful blog, Pink Friday. I will be adding her blog to my blog roll.

Here are a few lamps I photographed on my exploration of the City the other day.

Orange lamp! Love it!

I love this one! I could see this in an all-white loft, hanging over a primitive farm table surrounded by ghost chairs.

And look at this beauty. It has that Bohemian-Asian-Moroccan vibe doesn't it? It's tempting me greatly. Above three images photographed at DuoHome.

How cool is this? Reminds me of an opium den. I could see this one in the middle of the floor, surrounded by Moroccan poufs. This one is at my favorite vintage store. And that leads me to an exciting announcement.

The owner of my favorite vintage store (which I have yet to reveal its name) has graciously allowed me to photograph his home! I will be posting soon. Stay tuned.

My apartment - for today

Below I discussed the influences for my apartment. I want simplicity. Open space. White, with touches of pink.

My office/dining area with new pink curtains. The new curtains are too, too wonderful. One day I'll deal with that cord mess, but for now I really don't give a shit. I'm just ecstatic that I have a nice computer.
Don't look too closely. The rug really needs cleaned. I may be carrying this love of imperfection a little too far.

I rearranged my pottery and added some surprising gray pieces. The use of gray is as surprising to me as is the use of brown. I also added a pop of yellow. Yellow goes a long way, so only a small amount is needed.

My sleeping area. Low to the ground and carefree. My idea of Bohemian. And man is that piece of art glass sexy.
When arranging this weekend, I did something a little unusual. I left the walls empty - and I like it. I love the sparseness. I am contemplating some new, simple paintings. These thoughts will carry me through my stressful work week.

I've said it before. I wish I could paint these floors white. But even more than that, I wish I could afford a new, modern very simple home. Oh well.  My home is humble, but I love it.  Stay tuned. Tomorrow we will talk about some fabulous lamps.