Starbucks Art

I adore Starbucks. No other coffee will do, but it's more than that. I receive superior customer service there. It's a great way to start the day, with a smile and with the inspirational "How I See It" on your cup.

I am also madly in love with the graphic artists that work for Starbucks. If you like graphic art and logos, Starbucks is a visual cornucopia. The Starbucks mermaid is the cutest logo I've ever seen. I'm also in love with their gum tins, their cards, their pamphlets, their cups (see my favorite Starbucks cup here). I've been very noble in exercising restraint when it came to their thermoses. They are so cute I could have had an entire collection!

Here are some examples of Starbucks' graphic art I've collected.

Gum tins. I want to have these framed.

Detail of gum tins.  Here are a few of the cards I've collected.




My personal favorite:
Isn't it fab? I adore it! You can even design your own card at their website. Wouldn't that make a great gift? (link)

Love this coaster. I've shown this before, but it makes sense show it again. This is one of the finest examples of type I've ever seen. I could see this piece rasterized and hung in a dining room in a loft. The dining room, would of course be all white and have a pale rustic farm table like this one:

I'd love to see a combination the Paton S chair and the ghost chair with this table. This is one of my favorite dining rooms of all time. I keep it my inspiration file and think it would be a perfect counterpart to the industrial kitchen I wrote about below. Image from Dwell, May 2006. Sorry for the tangent, that's how my brain works. One thing influences the other. Creativity influences creativity.

To the guidance counselor who talked me out of becoming a graphic designer: I wish I hadn't listened.

To young people everywhere: trust your heart.

To the graphic artists at Starbucks: thanks for being an inspiration!

That's how I see it.

Chartreuse!

Chartreuse is one of my favorite colors.







Urn by Caroline Roehm.

Fenton glass available at ebay. This piece is a little ornate for my taste, but I love it. It would look great with my piece of blue fenton glass (see piece here) and placed on the Starck table light I wrote about below. I would love this juxtaposition of frilly and simple, fine and cheap, vintage and modern. Plus the lighted table would make this piece really pop.

Chartreuse kitchen from Alno as seen in advertisement in Dwell May 2006. Love it with the black and white tiles. Although I'd probably go over the top with this kitchen and paint the wall behind the sink hot pink.

I dig this industrial chic kitchen! It's one of my favorite kitchens of all time. I keep it in my inspiration folder for when I buy a loft. Love the combination of the chartreuse with the steel. Image from Australian Vogue Living September 2000.

And look at the beautiful color scheme, featuring chartreuse and olive from Emma Gardner Design. Emma Gardner is changing the way I think about rugs.

Image from Dwell Magazine, September 2006.

Accessories around my home. The coaster proves that chartreuse looks great with blue and periwinkle (another of my favorite colors). The toy in the middle was a gift from my nephew. Toys have become an important accessory around the house, so they might as well match your decor. This lovely proves that chartreuse looks great with pink and blue. On the right is an old painting of mine done on cardboard. A small amount of chartreuse looks great with pink and orange.

Dresser painted by Midcentury Jo at Desire to Inspire. I want it! Didn't she do a great job painting this? Man I'd love to put her and Kim to work in my place. This is also a superb example of styling.

While I can easily use chartreuse in my decor, I find I still am not very enamored with the color green. There was a time when I was not in love with orange and yellow and could never imagine using them. Could it be the same with green?

I decided to ask the experts at Desire to Inspire. If anyone knows of beautiful green rooms, they will. They are such good sports when you write to them. Stay tuned. Kim said they would do a post about green soon. Can't wait to see it. And I have no doubt that by the time they are done, I will love green.

Lamp Tramp

As my readers know, I am obsessed with lamps. Almost as much as pottery. Just like pottery, lamps are sculpture. In my humble opinion, here are some of the best lamps of all time. Some vintage, some new. Some expensive, some not. Enjoy!

The Cappellini Lamp designed by Marcel Wanders. Image from Tomassi Arredementi.

George Nelson. Love his bubble lamps, saucer lamps, cigar lamps, whether they are hanging or standing - I just dig 'em all. Image from Haus Modern Living.

The Bourgie lamp by Ferruccio Laviani. Image from the MoMA Store. Ahhh. No words. I drool every time I see this lamp.

The Mercer lamp by Joan Gasper and Javier Borras for Marset. Image from Neu Black. I almost had a heart attack the first time I saw this lamp. It caught me off guard while watching the movie "Get Rich or Die Trying" starring 50 cent. I hit the pause button and stared. This lamp stole the show, as cute as 50 is, he ran second to this lamp. I would never be happy until I found out about the lamp. Fortunately through the miracle of Google, I did. Absolutely amazing how the glass is blown over the shade.

The Nesso lamp designed by Giancarlo Mattioli. Image from Hive.

The Fontana lamp designed by Max Ingrand. Image from Retromodern.

Tuxedo Sillhouette Lamp from Vitamin D(esign)

Ild lamp from Lampa.

Table lamp by Philippe Starck formerly available at Target via Stark Ting. I am kicking myself. I should have bought this when it was available, it was priced very reasonably.

Random pendant lamp designed by Bertjan Pot for Moooi. Image from Ylighting.The moonstruck lamp by CB2. I'm sure this is based on a retro design, because I've wanted a moon lamp since I was a kid. I have no idea who the original designer is, but this is one of my favorite lamps. When CB2 started carrying this lamp, I had to have it. I didn't think twice.

These beauties were at various local vintage stores. I adore the white Italian vase. It was very large, and had a gross ornate base that would have to be removed. Not sure what shade you would use with this, but it would also make a groovy vase. I adore the mid-century lamps that look like leaves, and trees with saucers on them.

My favorite lamps of all time are the Akari light sculptures by Noguchi. When I win the lottery, I will have a collection of these. In fact, I can see a large white loft, with a white sofa and nothing else but Akari lamps lined up. Serene.

Image from the Noguchi Museum Store.

The Spirit of the Designer

It's always a good day when I receive the Dezeen newsletter in my email. Dezeen never ceases to fascinate and amaze me. These images were so alluring, well I just had to take a closer look. (link)

Dezeen will be giving away five signed copies of a book featuring the work of Joost van Bleiswijk and Kiki van Eijk. The book is called "About Joost and Kiki" and features the sublime work of photographer Sabine Pigalle. (By the way, these artists' sites are amazing! I will have to do a separate post about each.)

I dig these photographs, even though they are a little creepy. To me that adds to their allure. Because after all, good design haunts. I love the idea of the each piece having a part of the designer's spirit. And it doesn't hurt that the photos are just cool. And oh yeah, I need Kiki's lounger shown above. Fits right in the with the yellow color scheme I've been contemplating. (See below and previous post here.)

One of the commenters mentioned that they'd like to see a white companion volume and I have to second that. Looks like you will be busy Sabine!

P.S. Don't tell anyone about the competition, because I want to win the book.

Color Scheme 3 - Purple/Orange/Olive

I often create rooms in my head around art that I have created. I recently took this photo and am happy with the results. I've imagined many rooms around it. This is just one.

I'd love to saturate the orange and have this image rasterized to make it huge.

Then I'd place it in a room with pure white walls, white floors and a purple sofa.

Image from Marie Claire Maison (I am addicted to this site!) Blame it on Starbucks, but ever since I plopped on one of their comfy purple chairs I have wanted a comfy purple sofa.  Of course the pillows are all wrong and need to be replaced by orange pillows, like these ones from Target.

Don't believe that orange and purple look great together? See previous post about purple and orange, here. 

There's only one lamp that would work in this space and that is, of course, the Bauhaus arc lamp in olive from CB2.

Now for accessories.  The room needs an organic touch. Organic shaped bowls in a pale pink would do the trick. I could see the bowls lined up on a floating shelf. The shelf should be painted the same color as the wall, so that it almost disappears and should be hung eye level from a sitting position on the sofa. That way the forms can be contemplated while lounging.  A joyous meditation indeed. Bowls like these from Marie Claire Maison would work nicely.

And maybe throw in a couple of Karim Rashid sake cups that I wrote about here.  I am always creating rooms in my head. It's great fun, but I'd love to take some photoshop and design classes so I can make the rooms more real.

Color Scheme 2 - White/Pink/Yellow/Orange

This is the color scheme that most matches what I am doing in my apartment these days. Tons of white with accents of hot pink, yellow and orange. The cover of this month's Australian Vogue Living is a great example of this hot color scheme.

Below is a room from the August/September 2000 Vogue Living that I have in my predigital filing system. I wonder if the current cover is this room updated. This is one of my all time favorite rooms.

A large yellow vase would really pop in this room. It should be a fine traditional Asian vase like this one from Jcollector. I love the idea of this fine vase juxtaposed with the rustic touches of this room.

And maybe I'd add a red glass vase and some silver. That may be overdoing it, but I love silver and am dying to experiment with it.

This picture is actually an advertisement for a Hemingway Design wallpaper available at Burke Decor. Dig that groovy silver-leafed dresser! Want it! This would make a great stand for my flat screen TV. As a side note - my regular readers know that I am not a fan of wallpaper. But...well this wall paper is an exception. I think some of my new paintings would look cool hanging on this wallpaper. More on this topic to come.

I've shown you my dining room many times. I would love to add this candelabra from Urban Outfitters (which I've also showed you many times).



I keep watching it, and it never goes on sale. I may have to break down and buy it.


Or, I'd love to add a chandelier. Not sure what is happening to my style. Seems to be getting more girly. If you must have a chandelier, by all means it should be pink. Like this one from ABC Carpet and Home via flickr user Anniebee.




Here is another of my favorite rooms. Generally, I don't like rugs, but I love this one. Image from The Rug Company.


I'd like to take this room over the top. First, I'd swap the chandelier for the pink one above. Then I'd swap the painting for a bright yellow painting like this one. Image from Domino.



Then I'd add a hot pink pouf from Tazi Designs and a couple of yellow pillows from Target. I know I tend to overdo it with Target, but it really is the best place to find lush pillows at affordable prices.




The room still needs a touch of orange. Or maybe silver. What about this fab Buddha head from Bliss Living?

I want it! It's a candle, but I would never burn it. Hmm. Scratch that. Probably too much for this room. Editing is a very important part of decor. Sometimes we have to edit objects that we love.


Here is another room skillfully done in this color scheme. The only thing I would add is a yellow pillow.

Wohn Idee via Decor8.


Lastly, here is a picture of my red sofa purchased a couple of years ago at a vintage store for about $200.00. I know I'm guilty of overpillowfication, as Apartment Therapy calls it, but I don't care. I'd like to add a yellow pillow.

Like these, also from my favorite vintage store.

Of course, then I'd have to have a cool dress to wear when I serve iced tea to the lovely ladies in my yoga class. Because any fab girl knows she has to look as good as her decor. This little number from Lisa Perry should do the trick. And luckily, I have the perfect pair of orange flip flops to go with it.