SHELTER Sets: Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer

Relativity Media (2011) Jordana Beatty, Heather Graham Set Design: Cynthia Charette, Don Diers I have never seen this movie, but the images on the Set Decorators Society of America (SDSA) website captured my attention. The look of this film is the work of production designer Cynthia Charette and set decorator Don Diers. The designers took their inspiration from the Judy Moody books written by Megan McDonald and its black and white illustrations, drawn by Peter H. Reynolds. Image: Suzanne Tenner Adorable house, even more adorable to me if the door was orange and the shutters leaf green. Image: Ken Haber I could move right into this living room without changing much. I could even stand the wallpaper, but I would need a richer, spicier rug. That sofa is a dream; the color, the comfy shape, and well, come on - it's velvet! I like that the furnishings used were from a myriad of sources; Pottery Barn, Home Goods, LampsPlus Crate & Barrel, Target, CraigsList and even local thrift stores. Image: Ken Haber This pass-thru shows the eclecticism of the decor, with the whimsical and graphic grandfather clock and the folksy, hand-painted secretary desk on the other side of the entrance. Image: Ken Haber The kitchen is a room where I might make a few more changes. Love the floor, not the rug, Change out the table and chairs for a round wooden table and black Windsor chairs. I would also exchange the chandelier for a old-time surface mounted light fixture, remove the quaint wallpaper, and paint the walls a nice cake batter yellow. Image: Ken Haber Here is their imaginative take on a thrift/antique store. Check out that orphaned old teacup car and the seven foot tall legs! I want to go to there! Images: by Suzanne Tenner, Judy Moody Productions and Ken Haber. Set Decorators Society of America website

More Pink!

 

 Another Joan (Collins) with a thing for pink!

While You Wait...

for real content, look at the pretty-pretty:

 
Tom Leighton

Image: Part of Tom Leighton's portfolio, image first seen on Desire to Inspire here.

Glamour Shots

I love the combination of this curry yellow color and the blue. I've had these pictures scanned for months but it wasn't until I pasted them in this page that I realized they each had this combo. As you know, I love painted furniture. I just feel it brings so much character to a room.



I love the bench seat of the sofa, no need to fluff and wrangle cushions when you get up.



The touches of red are great. Lately, I was thinking my apartment needs more touches of the yellow and purple thrown around.

Images: Glamour magazine, July 2008

Anthropologie, give some credit, ok?

I just received the latest Anthropologie catalog and from the very first picture I thought I knew where they had set this photo shoot. However, there was no information within the catalog to confirm. I'll have to search the Web for that, but before doing that, here is my guess:

An architectural masterpiece designed by Mexican architect Luis Barragan; Casa Gilardi, in fact? With maybe a few shots of his Cuadra San Cristobal too?

Check out the shots:


Compare them to pictures of his work and it's pretty clear to me. In fact on page 13 of this July 09 catalog there is this quote "Any work of architecture which does not express serenity is a mistake" by none other than guess who? So why not give the location; the incredibly gorgeous location, credit?

I have been a fan since I was a freshman art student in the late 80s. I actually heard of him through a great book that I bought, Casa Mexicana that had pictures of his buildings, his own home, and the homes of many others, including Frida Kahlo and Robert Lopez (aka El Vez!).

Images: Anthropologie July 2009 catalog

Rex Ray at Art.com!

Acapulco Two

Oh to have money to buy art for my walls..... However, if you have a little dough, why not fill your walls with the fabulous work of Rex Ray available at Art.com?

Thanks for mentioning this, Jessica!

A Space Created In Nature And of Nature

Note: Originally published at the 2Modern Design Talk blog. When I think Spa I usually think of cedar wood steam rooms, neutral colors, and stacks of white towels. You can imagine how surprised I was to see this spa-like hotel in Austria. Known as Rogner's Bad Blumau, this wellness spa and hotel is an architectural fantasy with colorful and amorphous shapes forming it's city-like landscape. 

Designed by the late Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, his vision was to create "life in harmony and in harmony with nature." All I know is that he created a delicious box of treats for the eyes and other senses. More examples of his beautiful work can be found here. Two of their thermal spa offerings. The Augenschlitzhäuser or "slit-eye" apartments and the Arcades. A detail of Stammhaus or the main part of the hotel, which includes Reception and the administrative offices. All images shown are from the Hotel's own website.

Fourth Annual Fall Color Contest

I have been checking out Apartment Therapy's Fourth Annual Fall Colors Contest. The only concession this year is that I'm not reading the comments. It's amazing how rude people can be about someone else's home and I want to avoid that type of negativity this time.

Here are three entries that I just love; not neccessarily because I think they are the best in their use of color but because I could easily see myslef happily living in any of these homes. I wish these contestants; Rachel, Janice, and Noodle, the best of luck, and I also warn them to take any negative (and rude!) comments with a grain of salt.


Rachel's Bungalow of Bright Ideas in the Midwest



Janice's Color My World Beautiful in the East



Noodle's Mood Matching Colors in the Northwest

Images: Apartment Therapy (duh!)

Squint!

From my 2Modern Design Talk post:

The Selkirk chair

Squint furniture company founder Lisa Whatmough is a former artist. Her mix of period furniture like Victorian chaise lounges and comfy stuffed sofas and chairs with contemporary and vintage fabrics is eye-opening and has a cozy feeling. She started out making these as custom pieces, but now they are available made-to-order. Interestingly, "Each design is priced individually depending on the final mix of fabrics used." Therefore, they are made-to-order with a custom pricing structure.


The Simpson - front & back


The Chicago - front & back

Squint is available internationally through Squint, Liberty , Designers Guild, Lane Crawford, J Roaman , Barneys New York, and AADesign Museum in Seoul.


The Canterbury, Highgate, and Victorian Chaise styles.

Too much?

Okay, I saw a quilt set at Target a while ago (it's not available online) that I kept meaning to write about. I kept talking myself out of it 1) don't have the money 2) not a necessity 3) may not work with my room and 4) I could make it myself if I really tried. However, the big reason was that I had a problem buying something for myself just because I liked it.

I always checked on it when I was in a store and it was never there in the full size only in twin. A few weeks ago I ran into Target right before a storm broke out and lo and behold, they had ONE, in the size I wanted, and I had a lot of time to talk myself into buying it.

However, it then sat in it's Target bag in my living room for the last three weeks because I couldn't take it out of the bag. Well, I did today and I need your help.

See... this is my headboard and my desk area across from the bed,

both using a fabric composed of rainbow color stripes which do happen to be the same shades used in the quilt, but...is it TOO MUCH?



LOVE how the shams look though!



I do have a problem with how much hot pink there is as I have never been a fan. I think the lavender pillowcases have to go too, again too much of a pink feeling.



I think I have made a decision, but please let me know your opinion, because I just don't know anymore! Thanks.

Mid-Century Art Glass*

Note: Originally published at the 2Modern Design Talk blog.



Mid-century furniture has made a return over the last few years. We now can appreciate Eames, Le Corbusier, Saarinen, Bertoia, et al. The furnitures style with its new fluidity and curves was the artistic focus of decor. It was a big change from the fussier and heavier designs of earlier years. But what about the accessories, the background items that "dress" the room?


25" tall floor vase and 11" tall table vase

The 50s and 60s introduced new shapes and colors in decor with ceramics and glass. Some glass work falls under a category called art glass. One style of art glass that I admire is known as the "swung" glass vase. It is created with a technique where hot glass is held by its base with a special tool and swung in a circle before the glass cools, therefore, pulling and elongating the mouth of the piece.

I used to see art glass at thrift stores all the time in the 1980s. They come in great rich shades of blue, red, amber, green, and purple. Almost all of the American glass manufacturers were based in West Virginia and some of the names to look for are Blenko, Kanawha, Morgantown, Pilgrim, Rainbow, and Viking.

Blenko

The most well known one would be Blenko, whose pieces now fetch huge prices and exhibit in museums around the country. Their design control and color artistry is amazing. Purchasing a Blenko would be an investment. However, if you cannot afford one, there are many gems to be found at your local thrift store or neighborhood yard sale. It is true that some people do not know what they have; you might get lucky.

*Forgive the lame title, my brain was fried.

Can I make it work?

A few years ago I saw a lamp that I really wanted on sale. The above Colette lamp from JCPenneys. However, I made roadblocks for myself;

Did I want one or two?
Could I justify buying two?
Would they go on sale further?
Which color did I want, orange, yellow, or green?

This went on until they went back to their original price, which I couldn't justify spending at the time. They never returned to a sale price and then sold out. I have regretted it every since.



Every lamp I've seen since (see above) has been $100 or more over their regular price, some even four times the price! Looking back, I most definitely should have bought it at either price.


The lamp would go next to the bed on a blue nightstand.
New situation: Target has a sale lamp in a similar shape, available in white with a black shade. To make this the lamp into one I would be happy with, I will need to change the shade and spray paint the lamp base. The price is $30.

The question is: should I? If not, will I regret this too?

Help!!!

Color Your World

1. Couch finally has new pillows, 2. Yard Sale Night Stand and Goodwill Lamp, 3. new sofa, 4. the guest bed, 5. New cabinet, 6. from otrasventanas, 7. Farm-fresh table., 8. Dinner Party, 9. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

A Few of My Favorite Things

• Amber glass and red "swung" glass vases (also known as "pulled" glass)
• Beaded fruit
• Rehabbed and repainted sofa
• The over-the-top gold bureau
• The color orange

And above all, true funky decor!

Photos of Cynthia Rowley's home courtesy of marie claire magazine.

Gene Meyer: Then and Now

More from my scrapbooks and more from HG magazine.




These photos are of designer Gene Meyer's studio as featured in HG magazine, sometime in the '90s. The first picture above is of his incredible inspiration wall. He was quite famous then for his distinctive men's ties and, at the time of this shoot, his colorful silk scarves. In the photos above he has used them as curtains and to cover his furniture.

While not as white-hot as he was then, Mr. Meyer is still putting his great color combinations and love of pattern to use in wonderful ways.


A design he and his brother did for a friend's kitchen (with Benjamin Moore's Caribbean Blue Water and Kelly Green paints)


This business card case ($61) at Unica Home.


These Gene Meyer Rugs available at Modern rugs.

Photos courtesy of HG magazine (date unknown) and the corresponding linked sites.

Images from my scrapbook files:

The home of Jacques Kaplan and Violaine Bachelier
HG magazine, 1992



I love their skewed version of "French Country" with the unexpected color combinations and the boldness of the colors themselves. I also love the vintage icebox and the cow painting.

These images are from the years I personally thought House & Garden (HG) magazine was at its best; in the early 1990's.

SHELTER Sets: "I'll Be There For You..."

Recognize this room?

Do you recognize it now?

The One Where Ross Finds Out

Yup, it's Monica and Phoebe's --> Monica and Rachel's --> Chandler and Joey's to finally Monica and Chandler's huge apartment in New York City. Hmmm, the only person who never lived there was Ross...

Looking back at these pictures I don't think I ever realized how many different colors were in this apartment. How had I not noticed that the kitchen windows, ceiling, moldings, and lower cabinets were bright turquoise blue and the upper cabinets were yellow? The only thing I did remember was that the mismatched kitchen chairs were painted, and now it seems in the same yellow and a different shade of blue.

The hallway which led to the dark plum bathroom ended at a green closet door (the "secret closet") while the walls of the hallway and all other living room walls were a strong lavender color. How did they get away with that, without it looking like a carnival house?

Well, I guess to many people, it did look like a carnival. It was meant to show young women finding their style by using family hand-me-downs, thrift stores, a little DIY, and every once in a while splurging on actual antiques.

Key details for this look:

• Aubusson rug, probably bought at a thrift shop that did not know how much it was worth

The One With Barry and Mindy's Wedding

• TV console constructed from an actual antique buffet
• Lavender walls with molding that sometimes looked blue and at other times a very vivid purple

• White vintage refrigerator
• Pink tiled counter and brick-lined kitchen walls
• Decorative plates attached to the brick walls
• Blue-green painted window frames and molding in the small open kitchen
• Kitschy vintage fabric used for the kitchen, living room windows and as a sink skirt
• Mix-matched chairs either painted in different colors or unified by being the same color

Trivia: You know that little frame around the peephole? It was a mistake, not a design choice, it was originally a mirror that hung on the door that someone accidentally smashed during filming. I think it turned out to be the most iconic object in the whole apartment!

This apartment; the funky colors, feminine furnishings, and the use of large vintage florals make me think of these clippings that I have of designer Betsey Johnson's apartment in the late 90's. Not a bad style muse, huh?

*Some details and first picture from this article in STYLE at HOME magazine. Article was excerpted from Sitcom Style by Diana Friedman.

**Betsey Johnson home shots from Metropolitan Home magazine, May/June 1997.