A New Livingroom and A Blast from the Past

I just love this image from Skona Helm, a Swedish magazine. Not that I can read Swedish. Luckily we have googletranslate to mangle it into English. And even better, Automatism, to find the article and make more sense of it.

The thing I love most about this, though, is not the Swedishness of it, or the newness of it, but rather because it reminds me quite forcefully of my parents apartment when I was a little girl. We lived our bohemian, Buddhist, revolutionary artist life on the outskirts of Harlem in the seventies, in an apartment building that was condemned just a few years later.

It looked a lot like this, but with worn wood instead of painted floors. And our sofa, the mattress covered in patterned linens and pillows, sat on a door much like this. It was however propped up on cinder blocks. I think if I were to do this look today, which I might, I think I love it, I prefer the wheels. We even had a table that was much like this one, but again, the pretty wood sat on cinder blocks.

We had photographers lights every where, and paper lanterns. And many photographs, since my dad was a photographer and film maker. But behind the sofa, we had an old granny square afghan, possibly the reason why I hold a fondness for granny square afghans and really, really should finish the one I am working on now.

And Awesome Sleeping Porch That I Would Steal For My Office

How much do I want this screened sleeping porch with full sized bed swing? Oh, wow. A lot.

Really, I'm a lazy person who prefers to be reclining.

Wouldn't this be a fabulous place to hole up with a laptop to write that novel that I should be working on? Surrounded by notes, jazz playing in the background. Some chocolate not too far away for quick bursts of energy? The kids off somewhere else, far far away while I work. Sigh.

I found this on Piwackett. She actually knows this woman and gets to visit her and sit in that swing. And the other side of the sleeping porch is pretty awesome, too.

Hey look, a place to paint.

Wabi Sabi Living Room and Thrifting Dream

I love this living room. Adore those old and shabby leather chairs. I wonder if they are comfortable? They look comfortable. I think they redid the cushions... they are a completely different color than the rest of the chairs, which is part of their charm. And that little side table with its sexy shape, and the bar cart, and the make-do book shelf/bench thing on the side. And don't forget the black and white photos with their grid of frames, and the great industrial looking lamps. All good things in my book.

What a great eye for the find and for the composition. I would love to find some of these things in a thrift store or a yard sale. But the question is... if one FOUND these things, would one recognize them for the gems they are? Would one envision how they could make a space?

And by "one" I mean "I."

Found here via Aesthetic Outburst.

Bohemian Style, Cafe Version

I love this cafe. I found it at annekata. She's longing for european cafes, which I totally understand, after my history with Greenwich Village cafes, however... I want to live here. I would love to have this be my living room.

The funny thing is, I was sitting here, perusing my starred items in google reader, and my daughter looked at the picture.

"Two couches!" she said. "I love two couches!"

Then I looked up at my living room, and thought, hey, I totally have room for another, smallish not puffy sofa. And the requisite striped pillows lying about. Good for lounging, and also for fortress making. See? Family friendly. Then I'd be able to get rid of S's hideous pink lounge chair. Yes. Pink.

Yes.

Lounge chair.

I should get cracking on the second couch search.

I finally managed to navigate the Polish (?) site and found even more lovely pictures. I think I could work this whole cafe, not just one seating area. Really indulge my bohemian side. Yeah. Bring on the kaffe.

A Chic Living Room, With DIY Hints

I kind of love Joanna's living room, designed by Jenny of Little Green Notebook. Also here. And don't forget her nursery. Check out that amazing window treatment.

I love how homey and down to earth it is, while also being chic. I could put my feet up here and watch tv, or let my 3 year old have a tea party and sleep over with her stuffed animals.

I like Jenny's idea about balancing the warm and cool colors in a room, which I'd never actually thought about. Also the details that I would never think to pay attention to in my own room.

I also love how she takes old, thrifted or hand me down furniture and slaps a coat of paint on it to make it into something new and stylish.

Of course, Jenny actually knows how to do that right, in fact, she shows us how. Did you know the torn veneer can be fixed with wood filler, a putty knife and a sander?

Thanks for the hints, Jenny. And perhaps this will give me the nerve to turn my old peeling veneer white dresser into a chic teal blue accent for my living room.

Some of Lisa's Favorite Things Are My Favorite Things, Too

Look what you can do with wine crates! I really like them. They remind me of old barns mixed with built ins, mixed with boards/bricks, mixed with barrister bookcases.

I do not know if I will ever be over this fixation I have with wine crates.

via apartmenttherapy

A Rustic Type Bench for Books and Lots of Stuff

Found this picture on Automatism, via Hus & Hem.

What I like here most is the rustic bench. I love those various boxes and containers underneath it for storage, and the piles of books on top.

Add that together with the feminine little granny chair, the masculine leather poof (can a poof be masculine?) and the gathered frames on the white wall... well I just like it.

Love the vintagey, gathered, rustic, utility look of it. It says, "I like what I like and I just don't give a damn about what you're 'supposed' to do." And that kind of attitude always exudes style to me.

How Would You Fake This Room?

Okay, I'm behind the curve on this one, but it just about makes me sick with real estate lust, and there's a bit of a personal connection here, so I thought it was a good thing to post for my return to small and heartfelt (sorry about the absence).

I LOVE. No. I LOOOOOOOOVE this apartment, and it happens to be catty corner to my old apartment on Elizabeth street. I would have been able to look out the window and see this building, the record holder for expensive in the neighborhood.

Okay. Suffice it to say, I will never be able to pay 7 mil for a penthouse (barring a miracle) so, why not think about what it is I really do like about this place.

I love the high ceilings, the wood floors, the clean but cozy lines of the furniture. I ADORE the black trim and all those windows/ french doors. The light is nothing to sneeze at, either. Love the white walls and the warm woods, also the organic feel of the accessories.

If I were trying to replicate this look, without the 7 million dollar penthouse, I might try to find a nice... or not so nice (I like the beat up leather look) black or dark brown leather sofa, maybe craigslist would do, or Ikea. For the coffee table, I think I might something a little more rustic... something like thisfrom Maya*made (who just one apartmenttherapy's best green home design blog by the way [yay Maya!]). But I'd probably like a square top, and maybe all in wood rather than glass.

And let's say I don't have a wall of exquisite windows and french doors everywhere...what is a poor (metaphorically and literally) home design lover to do?

Well, I can't help but think it might be really cool to have a wall of frames lined up as if they WERE french windows... something like this
which I found via littlegreennotebook, and she found via apartmenttherapy, though I don't have a link. I was thinking the frames could be filled with images of anything, but the thought of breaking up a map is kind of nice... almost like you'd be looking through the frames at the rendering of the city. A little google serendipity.

What if the house doesn't have those huge windows? Hey, why not a large work of art. Maybe something suggesting what you might see out the window, that you can gaze at and ponder the nature of distance and time. Like thisby Aisyah Ang whom I love, by the way.

Oh, and thinking about that organic looking lamp, but what if I don't have the chandelier budget and/or lamp? What about this string of tea light holders?
This is by oneblackbird. Don't you just love etsy?

And really, this room is missing books. If a room doesn't have books I just never think it's finished.Oh hey! How about a bookcase like this! The frames of the bookcase are reminiscent of those black painted doors....

Who says you need to have seven million dollars to have a lust worthy home?

Let's Talk Purple and Such

Oh so pretty, found through sfgirlbybay. She has lots of purple there, but this one is my favorite.

Love this living room. Anything with lilacs gets my heart, but also, I love that black chair... although I don't usually like black leather furniture... too oppressive. But this one looks good. Maybe because it's a small chair. I like the patterned rug. I like the piles of books. That's another thing I find calls me. Books. A room needs books in order for it to feel finished. At least for me. I also like the art. A room needs art. And strangely, I really like that radiator. I know everyone wants to hide them, but maybe radiators are nostalgic for me, growing up in NYC. Or maybe I like the graphic pattern. The stripeyness. The industrial feel.

Now let's talk about purple. I really like purple and have found it is great on walls. I used a darker shade than this in my living room once, Benjamin Moore Tropical Dusk. And my kids had a lighter shade from the same paint chip in their nursery. That was an amazing color. So warm and light and fresh. Not girlie at all. I wish I could remember the name of it.

The best thing about those shades of purple were that they were not that purple. They were muted and had a great deal of gray in them. Like shadows. I would definitely use that paintchip again. Maybe not as dark as Tropical Dusk, because that has to fill a need, but that light color was wonderful. Not as pink or as bright as the picture here.

What a Dreamy Room!

Vineeta's done it again. Found something to match my inner vision I didn't know I had until she put it on her blog. Thanks Vineeta.

I love this room. I love the white draped couch (on a side note, I saw a gorgeous white bedspread at the thrift store, but before I could get there, someone else picked it up and examined it. I hovered about hoping she would move on, but maybe I hovered too close and she took it!) I love the collage of pictures. I love the ivy crawling up the wall and the wide windows. I like the spots of red. And I'm not usually a fan of carpeting, but that floor looks so cozy with all the pillows.

Anyway, I would love to live there, even if the room is a bit girly so I'd probably have to limit it to my studio. That's okay. I could handle that.

Image from Debi Treloar Photography

White and Pink? Not usually my thing. But I love it.

Would this image be as cool if it weren't in a 20 foot tall room? If it didn't have that neato worn cement floor or those awesome double doors and that amazing brick ceiling?

I'll tell ya what I like. I like the raspberry couch and the teal next to it. I like the green door coffee table, and the round pottery. I like the ladder turned into shelves and the guitar in the corner. I like the rough edges and the white walls. Again, it reminds me of being a kid in the 70's, growing up a rainbow baby. Ah, the hippie days.


By the way, this is from sfgirlbybay's ode to pink from her Deco files. There's also this one. I could totally see creating a room for my little girl out of something like this. It also makes me want to start collecting striped sheets. I remember a very similar striped sheet from when I was a child, although I believe it was gold and yellow. There was another sheet in green and blue. Am I going on a nostalgia kick, brought on by the loss of Domino?Then there's this one. This is totally not my style, way too formal and girly, but it stopped me in my tracks. I do love the deep rose of that velvet couch, and the black and white peacock painting took my breath away. Something about it reminded me of that scandalous Madame X painting by John Singer Sargent. And the white walls are nice. So is that immense secretary desk.