Nightwood Bed from Design Sponge

Awesome bedroom makeover from Amy over at Design Sponge.

This bed was made by hand by Nadia and Myriah from Nightwood, and shop that creates handmade furniture from recycled and upcycled bits of wood.

I love the mix of urban and country. Industrial and rustic. Oh and the girly to give it some romance. NICE.

There's even a video of the process. If you watch, you'll see clips from my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, to boot. I miss you, BK.

Dining Under Autumn Leaves

Wouldn't it be nice to live this life?

The simple dinner party out of doors. A table, some linens, some place settings, some fruit.

A hat, a velvet blazer and a skirt, some boots.

A pretty setting, nothing fancy, out of doors.

Created by Chelsea over at frolic. And here is even more in this story and some instructions of a few details.
The funny thing is... I could do this. I have the Autumn yard, surrounded by fall colored leaves, I have a round table I could take out, a table cloth and place settings, a bowl for the fruit. I have blazers and hats and scarves and boots and skirts.

The only element I don't already possess are those cool wine colored chairs.

What I don't possess is the energy to pull it all together.

Well. Hm.

Is creating something like this worth the energy output? Are the memories good enough to make the work worthwhile?

Am I just too lazy? It might be a nice reward for a job (all that work) well done. It might make for some nice pictures too.

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.

I'm Running Away to the Circus, If the Circus Looks This Good.

What a beautiful photo shoot. I don't know much about it, but I found it here and was entranced. It's years old, but I don't care. The photographers are here

What can I say? I love the strange, the shadowy, the slightly weird. My mind makes up stories about these pictures. Plus the clothes are pretty cool, too.

Found via Design*sponge

Do You Think I Could Repurpose a LARGE Man's Sweater Into This???

I want this sweater. Or I want something like it. I probably won't be buying it, because another sweater is not in my budget... but I wonder if I could make something like it. For those with bigger budgets, you can go straight to uniqlo and get one yourself. I think I like the gray.

via a cup of jo

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.

Fantastical Carnival-like Wedding. I Wish Eunice Was My Friend

Eunice and Daniel's wedding. So many lovely things about this wedding, found at Martha Stewart via Hello!Lucky , but I think this idea of having a procession/parade leading from the ceremony to the reception with the wedding guests carrying these giant shadow puppets is just a magical idea.

Other ideas that are lovely?
Parasols for the sun
Eco Confetti
Signature Cocktails (I have my own pomegranate punch that I created many years ago)
Coffee Filter Poofs and crepe paper flowers
Dessert Bar
Treats and Candies in little bags
The vaguely vintage carnival atmosphere with lots of fun things for kids or kids of all ages
Her gorgeous handmade dress
The striped sailor shirts for the waiters
Paper crowns

Lovely all around.

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?

Cute Kids Rooms and Musings on My Weird Style

I love this kid's room. It's by Sussie Bell and I found it via Brown Button. I showed it to my daughter and asked her if she liked it. She didn't seem to know what I was talking about. LOL

There's what I get for trying to push my tastes onto a two year old.

But I'm sure when it comes time to decorate her room, she will very happily ask for this flower or that dolly or that thing in pink and when I make a banner with the alphabet or a pillow out of a felted sweater, I'm sure she will enjoy it all.

Of course, that is all assuming that I'm going to manage any crafting and decorating instead of just lusting for things I found on the internet.

But on the plus side, I'm really getting to understand what I like and what elements create that.

I love the eclectic white rooms with pops of color... but I don't like them too white or too shabby chic. Now this is a great, girlie room, for a girl, but in general, I would want something a little more modern and a little more bohemian. I'm discovering I really like white draped furniture, but I like it to have a citified edge to it's funky, thrift store vibe. And that means I like white walls and old furniture, graphic elements, a little bit of black, bolder patterns, worn surfaces, old wood, odd color combos, interesting collections, a few modern clean lines, a smattering of industrial and lots of books.

I will be looking for more inspiration, and someday soon... stuff.

I'm looking forward to it.