Moving along....slowly

Hey guys - sorry to be MIA but there is some movement on the apartment front. Beni Ourain left and I put simple cream wool sisal down in living room. It is much simpler and gives a cleaner backdrop for the furniture I think...

Got this insanely heavy cool vase at Marshall's!

Still gonna paint this chair black or white

Still not sure about orchids here but loving everything else...

The desk area has not changed too much, though I got a new black hardback shade for the brass lamp...

Now the reupholstered desk chair, side chair, and armchair will be back in about two weeks, so that will make a huge impact. Then I really only need to do art for over the sofa and solar shades on the windows and either a bench or stools or poufs in that huge space in front of coffee table. Then pretty much done with living room!
In the bedroom I got in the parchment Augousti chest...

I love it but the mirror is changing and the styling will change. There is no outlet there so I can't have a lamp (ugh), I need a new rug and art (dogwood branches!) in there and then pretty much done with whole apartment this round. Can't wait to get the art up as it really makes the whole space. One of my fave parts of designing is taking and editing the photos at the end.
My friend Katy is coming in from Mexico tonight so the rest of the week is going to be spent going out to dinner and relaxing - catch you later!
E

I am a rude copycat

We all know that everyone copies everyone else. The people who are doing insanely lovely but simple work (such as the polka dot painting by Damien Hirst) must know that every Tom, Dick and Harry out there is copying their piece for their own home. I do not condone this usually, especially since neighboring designers often copy pieces in my store. I get very self-righteous, and call it plagiarism and shoplifting, and every other nasty name I can think of.
But when it comes to art, sometimes I can't help myself. The only things I want to collect and spend big bucks on are the things I cannot even imagine doing myself. When someone has created a completely new process of painting (like my love Susan Dory), or something is huge and has a multi-step process (like the Longstreet photo branches I am getting one day for my bedroom) then I want to buy it. But if the artist lives in another country, does not show in a gallery in my area, and I think I can reproduce it fairly well, I will probably give it a try.
Case in point: Natasha Law is the sister of Jude Law and I think that is mostly the reason she gets so much press in England. Her pieces are gloss on aluminum, and really large simple line drawings with pop art colors of women in various states of undress. I am not impressed by them enough to try to buy one, but I thought I could do a few on paper for my own apartment for fun and to fill wall space until I can buy some art I love. These are the ones I am trying. Will let you know how it turns out!
E

Bi-Polar Design Friday

On this Friday, I am thinking of going Bi.
Two-tone furniture, people! I have always loved the look of chairs with a solid body and patterned cushions, like these...

And I have always loved R&Y Augousti exotic skin furniture. I sell them in my shop and I also keep samples of their materials so that I can do custom pieces for clients.

So now I am going to combine these two things like chocolate and peanut butter! A two tone Augousti coffee table using ivory stingray on the outside and the peacock pattern on the inside:

Ok, it won't be a complete one of a kind since we just did it for a client - but it will be only the second of its kind in the world and bring some much needed pattern into my white/cream living room now that the patterned Beni is gone... what do you think?
(P.S. Takes 7 months to come in, so will be using the cypress/lucite table for a while yet....)
Happy weekend!
E

Thursday Thursday Thursday

Don't really know what to say today - my mind is all over the place. Here is the yellow dress that I sent back to Zara now being spotted on all the fashionistas...

I do love the color - guess I am going to have to hunt it down and get it again....Also, remember our undying love for this hallway?

Well, I don't have a hallway or white walls but I found a mirror very similar to this on Ebay - HERE - and someone should offer them half what they have it listed as and add the quartz poster from Etsy:

Wouldn't that be a great homage to that space? As inspired by the wonderful work of John Dickinson, seen below in the loft of Leila Rose....

I am planning my next purchase - the Arthur bench by Oly...will put it at the end of the bed or in front of one of my West Elm lacquer bookcases...

Hope your week is going swimmingly... Peace out.

E

zara goodies

These things are on Zara right now. What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation????
E

posters

I am obsessed with these black and white posters by Etsy artist Debbie Carlos. They are printed on a plotter, which is used to make architectural drawings, so they have such a unique look! Wondering if one of these would be good over my sofa....
E

rash decisions, inc

Goodness - even if I think about something for six months to a year, when the decision is made, I sometimes feel like it was such a rash and unplanned thing! Do you ever feel like that? So once I decided to sell the Beni Ourain rug, of course someone contacted me about it right away I had some regrets. What is really bothering me is the large piece of dark wood that is the coffee table. So I should have kept the rug and done a creamy table - maybe parchment or painted grasscloth. Oh, well. The rug is possibly going away in the morning so here are shots of where we are now - memories for later....what a process in this crazy apartment!
E

Painted this Biedermeier chair white