polka spots

it all started with this sofa from Furbish last year....

then the chairs....

then it was this fabric

on these chairs...

but now walls? 

polka spots are everywhere......

and I like 'em :)

(you can buy Thibault Tanzania wallpaper here!)
Office no. 1 Office No 2

yea or nay: chintz

for anyone who remembers the eighties, chintz may be a dirty word. I remember wearing a Laura Ashley dress and pearls as my sister's maid of honour, and my mother fretting because my hair was black, and half shaved, and I refused to remove my nose ring :) It was a moment. I despised the sweetness of those oversized florals back then, and never thought there would be a day where I would be embracing them. But lately, in clean hues, when used with restraint, a floral chintz is looking rather fresh. It started a few month's back, with Anna Spiro's pink curtains, (shown below), then  I saw a fabulous post last week over at I Suwannee featuring Carleton Varney, and began wandering around the house, looking for a spot to tuck some in!

If you'd like to bask in this vibe, a room wrapped in large florals is a brave leap into pattern and colour. Love the idea of using this as an alternative to tile for a backsplash in the kitchen - so pretty!

Not quite ready for wallpaper? Curtains require less of a commitment....

and pillows are simpler again.

(these aren't all chintz, exactly, but you get the idea :)

A patterned chair is a perfect exclamation point to a space.

and if a chair isn't quite enough, then perhaps something larger?

Small bits of chintz can be layered in with smaller pieces.....fabric on a frame? Do that all the time!

Although this is a little over-the-top, I do like the idea of an upholstered/wallpapered lack table...hmmm...

I think the key is to to avoid pairing chintz with country/shabby anything, because it is already such a "sweet" look.  It's the juxtaposition of chintz against clean lined-furnishings and hard surfaces such as mirror, metal and glass that make it modern. 

What do you think of chintz? Could you see any of this in your own space?

photo links:  tile  settee blue rug  ZsaZsa Bellagio  YSL living HamptonsShowhouseGreen wallpaper  porcelain dish  retro layers   yellow sofa  House Beautiful  Albert Hadley  gallery wall  canvas  curtains&lantern  white sofa pillows  Blue curtains  white&gold settee blue pillows  retro chair  floral chair  brown floral chair  black floral chair Cush and Nooks  dining  fabric tablecloth 

Yea or Nay: Patterned Chair Backs

Lauren Liess (Pure Style Home) has designed a room for 

the Design House in DC.

Have you seen this incredible space yet?

I really love Lauren's aesthetic - 

it has such a wonderful combination of rustic and refined and always, always references nature.

This incredible room is no exception.

Grasscloth walls (and ceilings!), seagrass floors, tortoiseshell blinds and linen meet

 in a clean graceful design - seating is maximized with that amazing layered window seat - LOVE!

The simple color scheme keeps the space from feeling closed in (despite low ceilings)
while pops of lush green throughout bring in vibrancy and life,
and prevent the palette from being static.

But even with all this gorgeousness, the thing that most caught my eye was the pair of armchairs -

from Lauren's own furniture line, dubbed the Mad Hatter Chairs :)

Check out the backs - 

Aren't those incredible?!!

It's something I'm liking more and more...

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It used to be more common to see the pattern up front....

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But tucking it behind gives the chair more personality - don't you think?
it's like you are getting to know the chair, there's more than you see at first glance...
and those extra details always make the room more interesting for me.

If you really want to wow,
try doing something like Christine  (Bijou and Boheme) did here -
these stunners would have been gorgeous if she had stopped at the graphic
 black and white upholstery and black lacquer -
but this bold, painterly floral ups the sophistication level even further -
to the top of my love list :)

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Tres chi-chi, oui?

What do you think -
is this something you would do in your home?

and as a side note - THANK YOU for all your responses to my last post! You guys are hilarious!
I have been reading them to D. as they came in over my iphone and he says he is going to take a survey himself - at the upcoming MMA fights in Toronto :)
I told him it won't count because they don't actually care about decor, lol.
Seriously, thanks for all your notes, it brought a much-needed bit of levity to a hard day on friday - x am

Leopard Love

It started in high school.

I found a silk leopard printed scarf and it became my signature bit.

tied in my hair, on my bag, as a sash..

that scarf could have told some stories :)

Oh yes, the knee-length faux leopard coat was so hot in 1999..

moving from the city to the burbs, I still wore it out to the grocery store,

much to our neighbours amusement.

Onward to my first apartment, which looked nothing like these spaces below, LOL.

 My first purchase was a leopard carpet - I was sleeping on a futon, but had my carpet!!

 There is always a few leopard pillows floating about our place..

it never fails to impress me how versatile this print is - 

moving from room-to-room with ease..

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Currently, I am trying to convince D. that the old Chippendale sofa 

sitting in our bedroom could really use a little leopard love..

It may just skip off to the upholsterers one day, ready to be re-invented...

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I like animal prints when used with RESTRAINT- 

they add that bit of kitsch and take the edge off.

Do you use any?

Which is your favourite?

on a side note, I was trying to find an example of a chippendale sofa done up in leopard to sell D.,

and have learned that searching chippendale leopard in google will bring up many results,

 most of whom are male and scantily clad :) 

didn't impress him, for some reason!

til next time..

Can This Paint Change Design?

Does anyone remember those hypercolor t-shirts that changed color with body heat?

Memories of kiosks in the mall heaped with garishly colored cottons

 and people huggingt-shirts to their chests gleefully experimenting..

This trip down memory lane was courtesy of

The Alsa Corperation - 

who are manufacturing a paint that is heat reactive.

It begins as a base coat of white,

with either black or blue eclipse on top.

As the paints heats, it will change from the black or blue color to white!

If you like, you can add a "candy coat" on top of the eclipse paint -

which will result in the black or white becoming the other color you have chosen.

There are also glitter options! (do not, under any circumstances, tell Coco!)

While this is a wee bit gimmicky, I wonder if it harkens to future possibilities..

imagine a room that can change color to repel or absorb the suns rays as we choose..

Energy efficient walls?

There are huge design considerations here as well,

imagine the ability to have different colors in a room dependent on the time of day.

Obviously the color options would have to be expanded hugely,

the current finishes look like something you would find on a bike frame, not a wall -

 but still..

 thoughts?

Oh, yes, and thought you may get a kick out of these options that are floating around..

I see dorm room possibilites..

synthetic snakeskin Please Touch Pillow..

You have all seen this one, I'm sure..

and Shi Yuan also made a fading calendar and interactive art..

Apartment Therapy found this Yala Sofa by Elliat Rich that I quite like -

some people at  Moving Color that are exploring ideas..

and there is a really lengthy article here about the technical side

 if you need to know how it works - I admit I did not read it well.. visual learner :)

Are we going to find tasteful way to use this technology to our advantage in interiors?

Or will it remain relegated to baby spoons and gimmicks?

til next time..