Monday, January 31, 2011

INSPIRATION: LIVING ROOM

As promised, I've collected some of the images that inspired me most while putting together my apartment. If anyone reading also reads other design blogs you've probably seen a lot of these already.* Although this is our second apartment, it's the first where we really had the resources to do what I wanted, so there are a lot of oldies-but-goodies that have been stuck in my head for a couple years!

First, images that inspired the overall feeling of the living room, with some explanation below:



by rows, starting in upper left:
[1] A simple, uncluttered living room in neutrals with a fantastic rug by Kelly Wearstler.
[2] Nate Berkus' design for his sister's apartment. This is one of my all-time favorites (mmm, grey and gold) and a fantastic use of a small space!
[3] Deborah Needleman's apartment, another longtime favorite - actually, one of the first rooms I fell in love with after buying my first decorating purchase: the Domino book! I love the pops of color anchored by light neutrals, the way the room is divided into several areas, and the french chairs with that clean-lined sofa and coffee table. 
[4] Oh, Nate. His own living room, with a fantastic b&w rug and a big piece of typographic art...
[5] Another Domino favorite. Even though it's a bedroom, I was inspired by the lamp with its interesting silhouette, b&w rug, and the use of robin's egg blue mixed in with that bold black and white (more on that color later).
[6] From a house tour on La Dolce Vita that (I thought) had a perfect mix of girly glamour and mid-century lines.
[7] I know it's a bathroom, but I love that grey and white palette with gold and black accents. Estefanía Carrera and Alejandro Fauquié, also via La Dolce Vita.


I knew I wanted Panton S chairs, even though I already had an antique dining table, and I found plenty of backup for the combination:


[1] here via Luphia Loves and [2]: Panton S chairs with antique tables
[3] Tia Zoldan and [4] Jen Altman: I love the contrast of those solid legs in natural wood with sleek, light colored chairs


I love color, but I tend to be afraid of actually using it. I'm working on it! But in the meantime, I promised myself I wouldn't make my living room entirely neutral, and one color I unabashedly love is robin's egg blue. My love for it started, again, with the Domino book and some other blogosphere classics:


[1] Domino
[2] Domino
[3] Miles Redd
[4] Domino


Although those images are all a few years old, the color certainly hasn't gone out of favor. Pantone's color of 2010, anyone? I've been loving darker peacock and brighter turquoise shades like these:



[1] Jonathan Adler
[2] Who says bathrooms can't inspire living rooms? I love this design board by Kyle of Knight Moves.
[3] Brian Watford
[4] ? 

One of my biggest design pet peeves is the superfluity of bookshelves that have hardly any books on them. We have a lot of books. Our old apartment had seven Ikea Billy bookshelves, and they were all full. If you look closely at the images of our current bookshelves, you might notice that all the shelves actually have two rows of books on them. These bookshelves were inspiration not only because they look like they belong to people who actually read, but three of them are not built-in!


[1] ?. See, putting the sofa in front of the bookshelves isn't completely crazy...
[2] Domino, one of my favorite libraries.
[3] ?. Design magazines don't like bookshelves that don't go up to the ceiling. I mean, I understand why - but for those of us who have high ceilings, I like this look.
[4] via I Suwanee


I know that painted campaign furniture, antique chests, pagodas and sunburst mirrors aren't exactly groundbreaking anymore, but these elements stuck in my mind long before I actually found them for myself.



[1] Jenny from Little Green Notebook's painted campaign wall units – mine are the largest thing I've ever painted and I'm lucky I could just follow her instructions word for word!
[2] ?
[3] Lonny
[4] Melanie Turner

phew. And that's enough pretty pictures for the day. Bedroom inspiration tomorrow!

*N
ot to mention a lot of zigzag rugs, foo dogs, turquoise, bus scrolls, and prominently displayed bar trays. I never claimed to be original...

No comments:

Post a Comment