Hot off the Press: Elle Decor September 2010

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Time for a new issue of Elle Decor to drool over. Here’s my favorite pictures from the current issue.

This is a cool column that Elle Decor does every issue: it focuses on one area of the house and pulls together examples of these spaces from previous issues.

I love books. I love shelving. I love the different ways you can mix books and decorative objects together on shelves. My parents are both librarians by training, so it’s no surprise that when I was a kid I turned my own book collection into a library (complete with checkout cards in inside pockets – remember those? – and library cards which I passed out to all my family members.)  I don’t follow the Dewey Decimal system in my own library, but I definitely group by subject matter. How would you find anything otherwise?  Color coding your books is a recent trend, and it can look great, but I like to find my books with minimal effort.

I think this feature shows a nice mix of traditional to contemporary libraries.   Notice how artwork is hung directly on the shelves in the bottom two photos.  

What a peaceful bedroom. I’m not always interested in leaving a room white, but this is a great example of how to do it well. Love the texture and color of those bedside lamps. Simple clean linens are unfussy. But it’s the photos over the bed that pull me in every time. I like that it’s a collection of images, and they are a nice size for that wall.

What a great kid’s room! The colors are bold but yet they don’t overwhelm since pattern is used to tie the colors together. The big basket with lacrosse sticks, golf clubs and hockey sticks is a great example of how to corral their gear. This basket was probably used for toys when they were younger and easily transitioned to gear as they picked up new hobbies.  Plus I love the transportation map on the wall! (I’ll never forget my background in transit planning.)

What a gorgeous kitchen. The palette is restrained and it floats like an island inside this massive Miami house.  The textured tile on the outside of the walls adds some interest and frames the kitchen. I really like the use of wood paneling on the back wall to break up the white cabinetry without using two finishes on the cabinets. And the toekick on the island is extra high and looks like it’s stainless steel, which is a neat touch you don’t notice at first.

Finally, I like the arrangement of artwork in this living room, which ties the color palette together (with that purple-pink-black painting).  I like the finish on the cabinets in the kitchen and the fun colorful rug they added which really adds fun personality to the space (in a non-permanent way). And how adorable is that dog bed?!

What shelter magazines do you read? Are their ones you’d like me to feature? Just wondering. Have a great weekend.

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Tags: bedroom, bookshelf, dog bed, Elle Decor, kid's bedroom, Kitchen, library, purple, rug, stainless steel, tile, Wood
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