My living room - for today

Here's a picture of how my living room looks today.  I love being surrounded by hot pink.  I'd love to have my sofa professionally reupholstered.  I'd love to paint the walls hot pink, but it's a rental.  I'm on the look out for a hot pink lamp, but I might have to settle for a can of spray paint.

I love my new genie vase from CB2!

In the pink, two

Sometimes I think I should devote a blog entirely to pink.  I love it so.  I just can't get enough.  It makes me happy, and it's always been that way.  Especially hot pink.  I just can't live without it.  And I feel as if it's part of my mission to bring as much pink as I can to my readers.  So in honor of that mission, here is another pink sofa for your viewing pleasure.

Isn't that sofa darling?  I love the orange polka dots.  I love pink combined with red.  I love pink combined with yellow.  Image Jan Rundgren by Purple Area.

In the pink

This weekend I had the pleasure of going to the mall in Troy, Michigan.  Simply put - it's huge.  It extends across a four lane highway and has a sky way complete with people mover connecting the two malls.  It was packed.  I was in shock.  Cleveland has nothing like this.  And I kept wondering why.  Now, I'm not usually a mall person, but people were plopping down lots of money.  In Cleveland when we want to shop, we leave the city.  And that's a damn shame.  Sorry, I digress.  This is not a post about Cleveland politics.  This is a post about pink!  I was so excited to see the store of the fab Betsey Johnson.  I've written about Betsey on this blog (see previous post here).  I love her apartment!

I had to go into this shop.  The dresses are adorable, but I was taken by the decor.  The sales clerks thought I was odd, because I was busy looking at the  lovely pink walls.  The lovely pink flowered curtains covering the fitting rooms.  The industrial looking benches with flowered plastic pillows.  In other words, I could live there.  Because I just can't get enough pink.

Cabin Fever and a Strange Little Alcove

My new apartment has a lot of strange little alcoves.  You may remember the one in my kitchen, where I store my dishes.  I live in an attic apartment, which accounts for all the strange angles.  The cupboard doors in this alcove were non-functional.  You could only get them open a crack because they hit the ceiling.

 

Since I've been spending more time at home due to the freezing weather, I finally got around to this project.  Here's what the area now looks like, with the doors removed and shelves painted.

All the boring details are below, if you are interested.

Here's how it looked with the doors removed before paint.  There was water damage.  I used Kilz to eliminate the stains.

I usually prefer flat paint, but since this is a kitchen I chose a high gloss paint.  High gloss is easier to clean.  The color is by Behr and is called Blue Jewel.

The counter was a bumpy ugly mess that was difficult to get clean.  I decided to cover it in contact paper.  I chose a faux leather look from Home Depot.  Contact paper is hard!  I had a heck of time cutting the corners.  But it turned out pretty good.

Then there was the problem of this ugly pulls.  Anthropologie has a great selection of pulls and knobs, but there is no Anthropologie locally and I was too impatient to wait for a mail order.  I searched all over town for knobs.

I finally settled on these ones from World Market.

I'm fairly  pleased with how the alcove turned out.  I'm not that good at DIY projects.  I get good ideas, but execution is a problem for me. 

I filled the shelves with white dishes.  I like the way they pop against the color.  I'd like to put one more small shelf above the top shelf, but that's beyond my skill set.  So I'll probably buy a tall piece to balance it out.

This beautiful coffee pot from Le Souk would fit in nicely.  I'd love to have it.

Inspiration every where - store display

I love creative store displays.  They provide tons of inspiration.  Here are some great ideas I saw at Pier One the other day.

I love this idea.  I have a few cute scarves.  They are great accessories and satisfy my need for luxury textiles and provide a pop of color.  I never would have thought of pairing them with beads.  But after seeing this mannequin, now I will!

I'm not usually a fan of embellished lampshades, but I love this one!  It's simple, elegant and chic.  I may steal this idea.  What about you dear readers, do you love store display?  Have you ever gotten an idea from a display that you used in your decor?

Inspiration every where - at the record store

Inspiration is every where.  Here's some inspiration I saw recently at a record store.

Hooray for upcycling!  This cute purse is made of 45s.

The floor was covered in album covers.  It was very durable because it was covered with high gloss polyuerthane.  This would be so cool in a teenager's room or a musician's loft.

 

 Cute art installation at vintage store. 

I want this sofa

dear hot pink and orange.  no matter how hard i try, i cannot get over you.  image designspiration.

if i had this sofa, i would wear matching eye shadow.  image fashion is on.

Happy Valentines Day!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, it means the world to me!  Enjoy your day.  Stay tuned for more inspiration.  xxoo  Image via the great Banksy.

Pottery Jones

In honor of Elsa Rady, I'd like to show the work of two extremely skilled ceramicsts.  I believe their work is influenced by hers.  The first is Justin Teilhet.  Justin works miracles with porcelain.  These sensuous shapes would look fabulous  in modern decor.  The thin, long necks of his vessels evidence his skill.  Providing an unexpected twist on his shapes, are the round vases with just a tiny hint of a neck.

Second is Jeff Nimeh.  These vessels are amazing in their beautiful simplicity.  I've said it many times - pottery is a tactile art form.  I long to touch these vases.

4/12/11:   I received a very kind email from Jeff Nimeh thanking me for mentioning his beautiful work.  He informs me that he was, indeed, influenced by Elsa Rady's work.

RIP

Today as I was updating my links page, I discovered that Elsa Rady passed away on January 29, 2011.  I was in shock.  I had just been preparing a pottery post and I was contemplating  her influence.  She is one of the most influential ceramicists of our time.  Her influence is evident in so many ceramicists' work.  I'm sure her work will be talked about for a long time in art schools.  I am saddened at the loss.  Rest in peace, Ms. Rady.  You will be missed.  The obituary is here.

Tangerine Dreams

My dear friend Haley and I were sitting at a coffee shop recently perusing Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz's wonderful book, Emotional Rooms.  I know, I know, I've been writing about Benjamin too much lately, but I just can't help it.  His rooms are too sublime.  Haley picked out the following room as her favorite.

She loves the citrusy walls.  Her favorite colors are tangerine and yellow.  I love how the white furniture and accessories pop in this room, it looks so clean and fresh (I want that tall white decanter).  Turns out Haley was onto something without even knowing it.  But design is like that isn't it?  It's largely an intuitive process.  It seemed like serendipity when I read that tangerine is the color of the month on HGTV's blog.  This got me to thinking about tangerine.  Not just any orange, but a more romantic, mysterious, sweet shade of orange.  What a great color for spring.  It can be used in so many ways.

These tangerine lamps look great combined with the aqua dresser.  Image HGTV blog.

This beautiful quilt would make any room look like Spring.  Available at Urban Outfitters.

Isn't this chair and foot rest gorgeous?  Love the shape.  Love the color.  A great pop in an otherwise neutral room.  Available at Room and Board.

Swoon.  I love me some Jamie Drake.  He's one of my favorite designers (along with BNO).  No one does lilac better (as I've said before, see previous post here).  I love the pop of the soft tangerine chair and the lamp shades.

I love this tangerine settee.  Image via HGTV.

Love the accent wall.  Love the simple bedding.  Image Atelier Ligia Casanova.

Love the lamp and pillows.  Image Deluxe Rooms.

The colors in these rooms make me insanely happy.  I adore the color scheme of citrus, lemon, pink and fuchsia with generous amounts of white.   Image Brett Design, Inc. via The Zhush.

Style forecasters are also predicting tangerine will be the big color for lipsticks this Spring.  I love it.  Muted tones can be found for the girl who prefers a more natural look.  Neons are available for the more daring.

Okay, it's not orange, but it is neon - which is also big this Spring.  I couldn't help but show this fab lip color.  A hot pink in a flat tone.  I love it.  I've been getting a little tired of my glittery lipstick.

Generally, I don't care for one shouldered dresses.  They look incomplete to me.  But this beauty is an exception.  Love the draping of the fabric and the various shades of orange.  Looks almost like an updated sari.  I also love the bracelets.  It seems obvious to me that the fashion world will once again be influencing interior design (and vice versa) this Spring.  Images  Fashion is On and Lipstick & Marzipan.

Pantone Colors of the Year

By now you already know that Pantone's color of the year for 2011 is honeysuckle.  It's been all over the blogosphere.  No need really to mention it, except that I'd like to keep a record of it.  I've been extolling the virtues of pink since I started blogging.  Sometimes I think I should have devoted a blog entirely to pink.  It's been my favorite my whole life.  Pink has had a difficult time being taken seriously.  Some think it's too girly.  But it's not true.  Pink can be used in a thoroughly modern way as I've demonstrated many times on this blog.  It goes with every color and it looks good on everyone.  I'm really happy to see pink getting its due.

I didn't realize that last year's Pantone color of the year was turquoise.  Another of my favorites.  Indeed these two colors would look great together.

Excuse me, I need to go grab a paint brush....

Color Obsession: Sage

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you already know of my love affair with color.  I used to decorate my apartment in all white, and I still really love all white interiors.  But ever since I got a taste of using color, I'm addicted.  I can obsess about a color for days, and it brings me great joy.  I've been obsessing about lilac a lot lately, which led me to think about sage.  Sage looks great with lilac.  Sage is such a beautiful, versatile color.  It evokes images of nature, it can be used with cool or warm colors.  Here are some pictures from my inspiration folder.  I'm sure you will agree that sage is a very beautiful color.

This is one of my favorite rooms of all time!   I adore the undecorated, almost careless way  this  room is styled.  This is harder to pull off than it looks.  Whenever I attempt carefree decorating, it just looks messy. I  am completely smitten with the Finn Juhl sofa.  It's one of my favorites and it looks great in sage.  The sage  sofa looks fab with the pops of lilac provided by the rug and pillow.  Image from Domino.

 

This beautiful room is from the Crate and Barrel catalog.  I adore the sage chairs coupled with the yellow sofa.  Look at that gorgeous fireplace!  This is my fantasy fireplace I'd like to have in my fantasy atomic ranch.  It's simple and not overdone.  Love the white subway tiles, and I love starbursts over a mantel.  Beautiful pottery display on the mantel provides continuity with sage and yellow being repeated.

I love monochrome collections in simple shapes.  I adore this collection of sage McCoy Floraline pottery.  Simple objects gain power when clustered together and still remain uncluttered looking due to the consistency  of the pieces.  Image from Cottage Style magazine, Fall/Winter 2010.

These beautiful gourd lamps look great in sage, and look great paired with the Chinese buffet in aqua.  Works very well in this earthy dining room.  Image Cottage Style, Fall Winter 2010.

Here is an example of sage being used in a light and airy room.  Sage is a great neutral and a pop of it fits in almost any color scheme.  I love the blue curtain panel paired with the sage panel.  Image via the Designers Guild.  BTW - have you seen their new line of sofas?  I love all of them!  I need to do a post on them.

Another light and airy room, also one of my favorites.  I love the low scale of it and the use of color here is amazing.  Sage throw, gray rug, yellow and lilac pillows.  Colors you might not  think of combining.  It works because of the white walls and the fact that pattern is kept to a minimum.  Image Elle Decoration, April 2010.

Sage and blue pop in this beautiful rug.  A cool contract to the otherwise warm room.  Image Atomic Ranch, Spring 2006.  (Can you tell that I am doing a lot of magazine reading while being home bound?) Fab painting by Judy Gittlesohn.

I am in love with these ottomans!  They look fabulous with the black and white rug.  I'd like to have four of them.  I'd do a cute Moroccan influenced seating arrangement in the alcove in the front of my apartment.  It's fun to dream.  Today my dreams are made of sage.  Gorgeous ottomans available from Etsy user Fabulous Mess.

Cabin Fever, Part II

Remember the hanging lamp from CB2 that I've been coveting?  Although it's fairly reasonably priced  for a pendant lamp, it's still not in my budget.  But I had to have a hanging light.  I picked up this rice paper lamp at World Market for $5.99.  I love it!  I may do a cluster of these.  The cord doesn't look great, but those hooks were already in the ceiling.  Hey, it's a rental.

 

Looks sorta like a flying saucer doesn't it?  I still really hate the mirror tiles, but like I said, it's a rental.  I've been craving textiles, so I picked up a couple of blue panels from Target.  I adore the luxurious feel of textiles.

I can't get over this beautiful room by Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz from his book Emotional Rooms.   This is the epitome of luxury.  I would love to drape fabric in my apartment.  I think it would work well since the ceilings are low and there are several alcoves.  Also, the apartment is cold, and this would warm it up.  I'm thinking of making my living room into a bedroom, and turning my bedroom into a studio.  I love the idea of not having to unpack my paints every time the creative impulse strikes.  Better yet, I love the idea of being able to close the door on the mess.  I must comment about those lamps!  They are so gorgeous they are about giving me a heart attack.  I think they are Murano glass.  If I ever saw these in a yard sale, there is no way I could pass them up!

Turning a Negative into a Positive

Since leaving my home is an impossibility, I decided to pull out my paints.  Maybe I don't want to quit painting after all.  I was recently stung by a gallery owner who told me that my paintings are not compelling.  I took that hard.  Seeing my hurt feelings, he tried to explain that people prefer realism to abstract.  After I licked my wounds, I realized that's a matter of perception.  While I deeply appreciate the raw talent of people who can paint realistically, I find abstracts very compelling.  They are an act of creation and creation is compelling.  I find abstracts to be very visionary.  I find  it fascinating to contemplate the infinite potentiality of abstracts.  And there you have it, too many words.  Art just is.  It doesn't need to be explained, it's highly subjective.  I'd like to humbly offer my first works of 2011.  All are as yet untitled.

Untitled 2011, 24" x 24", acrylic on canvas.  This is a classic example of not knowing when to quit.  Sometimes I just love layering paint on a canvas.  This work is interesting to me because it's very textural. 

Is it just my dirty mind or does this kinda look like a butt?  I am always seeing various pieces of anatomy in my paintings, and it is purely unintentional.  I am just a conduit for the canvas.

Untitled 2011, 12" x 12" each piece, acrylic and spray paint on canvas. I need the sun, so had fun playing with sunny colors.  I was trying to make these works look like tie dye.  I think I'm onto something here, I intend to experiment more with spray paint.  I need a studio so I can be free to make a mess, and I want to experiment with very large canvases.

I decided to frame  a couple of my prints from my Pink City series in frames I bought at the dollar store.  I think they look pretty good.  What about you dear readers?  Are you snowed in?  Are you using the opportunity to work on your home?  I'd love to hear from you.  And as always, thanks for reading.  xxoo