Thursday, September 16th, 2010
I can’t believe how quickly a month passes when you’re busy! I just got hit with a fresh wave of inspiration in my mailbox: House Beautiful AND Elle Decor! What’s a girl to do? Why share with you, of course!
You know fall is just around the corner when you start seeing pumpkin recipes. This pumpkin cupcake with maple frosting and toffee topping was too luscious to resist sharing. Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) always offers up such tempting recipes.
I love this feature: same desk, four different designers’ take on furniture and accessories. Just goes to show how diverse my style is: I like all 4, depending on context. Which would you pick?
This room grabbed my attention immediately. The drape of the linen at the end of the sofa that puddles on the floor so nonchalantly. That blue grasscloth wallcovering. The vintage screen hung on the wall to bring in pattern. The way the PK22 chair in wicker with steel legs references the texture of the sisal floor covering and the tripod floor lamp. And then the animal hide layered over the sisal under a dark coffee table. Such a well layered space. Love it.
I love the way they showed this airy bedroom in a triptych layout (though it’s a bit difficult to capture with a seam in the middle of the magazine). The finishes are all ethereal feeling, especially with those curtains on the desk wall framing a piece of art like a view out a window. Plus it’s fun to learn more about the designer, rather than just the clients (at least from my perspective). I think the client and their needs and personal style are so vital to the final product, but the designer always influences the outcome, no matter what.
And if we’re going to talk about designers with personality, it’s so appropriate to transition to this kitchen, by none other than Jeff Lewis, the star of Bravo TV’s “Flipping Out.” They time these things perfectly across multiple media platforms because I was able to watch the episode of “Flipping Out” where Jeff met with the House Beautiful team and all the sponsors to lay out his concept for the kitchen while I held this article in my hands. They approved it on the spot, which I could tell just by looking. I think he did a really nice job, and it’s interesting how he incorporated rooms around the perimeter of the kitchen. Be sure to check out this article if you can’t make it to Rockefeller Center to see it in person (anyone want to sponsor a trip to NYC for yours truly to see it? Worth a try.)
There were lots of interesting photos in this magazine I scanned right away, but I’m trying to keep myself to a limit on these, so you’ll have to pick up the magazine to discover them for yourself!
Tags: bedroom, cupcake, desk, Flipping Out, grass cloth, House Beautiful, Jeff Lewis, Kitchen, linen, October, PK22, pumpkin, sisal, tripod lamp
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Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Here is my confession (for those who didn’t already know this about me): I am a magazine addict. It is so difficult to walk past the racks of shiny new glossy magazines and resist their siren call. So you can imagine how difficult it is to hold out at an airport with all that time to kill before my flight!
To help my willpower and wallet (or not, depending on how you look at it) I subscribe to a lot of magazines. The rationale is that it’s cheaper to pay a reduced fee to have all the issues magically appear in my mailbox each month than to sporatically buy 3 or 4 issues a year at the bookstore/Target/Walgreens, etc. Then when I’m tempted buy a glossy magazine with pretty pictures promising me new design inspiration or the best burger joints in town, I can remind myself in my head that I have stacks of magazines at home waiting patiently for my attention. Usually that’s enough to help me walk away.
But then the flip side of that is that I do literally have stacks of magazines to be read each month. I get through most of them rather efficiently each month, but the design magazines always seem to have to wait a couple of months to get my attention. So when a new issue of House Beautiful arrived today I had a moment of joy when I spotted it’s bright, colorful cover amongst the pile of boring mail. Which was quickly followed by dread as I realized it would be ages before I got around to actually reading each article (skimming does not count for me).
Then I had a moment of brilliance. I should start a recurring column here that features my 3-5 favorite pages from the newest design magazine, which I will post THE DAY IT ARRIVES. Now do you see the brilliance? This will force me to stop, flip through the issue, and find great content to share with you while it’s still on the news stands and accessible. Since so many great design magazines have been forced to shut their doors in the past 2 years (House & Garden, Domino, Cottage Living, Southern Accents, Metropolitan Home - the design magazine I discovered at age 15 that got me hooked in the first place, etc.) it’s more important than ever to support the remaining design magazines. So keep an eye out for each new post since you never know what day I’ll get a new delivery of design inspiration in the mail. And if I cave in and fall for a gorgeous magazine at the book store, I will post that too (my weakness will be a gift to you).
I hope you all enjoy this new project along with me.
So here are the images that grabbed my eye in the September 2010 issue of House Beautiful:
Like I’ve mentioned in the past, a small bathroom can handle a bold wallpaper. I love how this marbleized paper was mixed with a 1940s French metal mirror and balanced by the paneled white walls and vintage marble sink.
The breezy, worn quality of this room is so peaceful. The texture of the chunky sisal rug against wood floors, old metal and worn wood is so visually interesting even though it’s a very monotone palette.
What caught my eye in this photo is the quatrefoil mirror over the bed. This would not be nearly as eye-catching if the designer hadn’t framed the mirror is a slightly darker paint color than the main wall color, and further highlighted it with a loose mural of ivy in off-white around the darker paint color. Not to mention the piles of books at the foot of the bed look so inviting in this cozy room.
What a bright cheerful room! I have always loved apple green and chocolate brown, and the designer handled these earthy tones with such a light hand that they almost feel breezy. All the natural light pouring into the space doesn’t hurt either. Don’t miss the free form pattern of lily pads and flowers painted on the white floors. A bold but fun choice.
Finally, I always think it’s fun to see how people really live. So this profile of designers and the sofas they own and how they live in them is fun. I think the black couch at the bottom looks just like one of Alexander Wang’s chairs in the Black & White color palette post. I love the high back and sides of the banquette in Liz O’Brien’s office with those colorful pillows. I sat in a off-white sofa upholstered in a fabric like sheep fur with a high back and arms in a showroom in Chicago 3 years ago and I still fantasize about it. There’s even a sofa that was originally from Crate & Barrel that was reinvented through reupholstery (I hope you don’t have to learn that lesson yourself: there is a reason some sofas cost more and last longer.)
Now go pick up your own copy of House Beautiful and find your favorite images!
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Tags: Bathroom, bedroom, chocolate brown, dining room, green, House Beautiful, living room, magazine, paint, quatrefoil, sofa, texture, white, Wood
Posted in Hot off the Press | 8 Comments »
Colleen Fox Slack | email: colleen@colleenfoxinteriors.com | phone: 612.868.0348
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