Monday, October 31, 2011

A LITTLE MORE HALLOWEEN CREEPINESS

Personally, I jump at my one chance a year to play dress-up, but if you're not the type to dress up for Halloween, maybe you'd prefer showing your holiday spirit in a more subtle manner. I'm possibly one of the least Goth people on earth, but I'm a little in love with the designs of Charlotte Burkhart, an Etsian from New Zealand who makes the most gorgeously detailed gothic-creepy jewelry:






Is it weird that I would absolutely wear the earrings at the top with my average black-and-grey work wardrobe?

Sunday, October 30, 2011

SPOOKY CHIC

In the past week's process of trying to get stuff done and go to work while having a nasty lingering cold, I completely forgot a certain milestone...

the delicious birthday cake my blog
totally would have had, had it remembered
its own birthday

This little blog's first birthday! I published my first post on 10/26/10, just before making the move from New York to Boston. 

I don't have any particularly profound reflections on the blog itself, but I do want to tell you all how truly grateful I am for –YOU: your thoughtful, lovely comments; your enthusiastic approval of my humble apartment; your fantastic support of my little venture into getting paid to do something that's so much fun; and your continued interest even when I fail at posting for weeks on end. It's been a stressful year in many ways, not least of which is how my dead-end job has forced me to rethink the career I've been working so hard on for so many years. However disenchanted I become with that, it is so wonderful to have such a warm and welcoming outlet for this other passion. 

With that said, the bigger mark on the calendar right around now is Halloween! We threw a party last night, so I've had Halloween decorating on the brain this past week while I sat home sick and sewed our costumes (we dressed up as Elizabeth and Darcy from... Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was epic.) And I realized that Halloween decorations tend to be among the tackiest of tacky holiday accoutrements. I mean, orange and black – how can that be anything but in-your-face ugly? ....Right? Maybe not so much. Some contradictory evidence...

Christine Halcombe

Lonny

Haynes Roberts

Stacy Zarin

Apartment Therapy House Tour

Ryan Korban via Lonny

Sara Story

Sara Story

What do you think - would you implement this color scheme in your own home, or is it too high-contrast for your tastes? Would you prefer one of these more subtly spooky looks?

is it just me, or does this table scare you too? 

creepy spider lamp. I am terrified of spiders and could never live with this.

Happy Halloween!

Friday, October 21, 2011

ORGANIZING INSPIRATION: OR, WHY I'M NOT AS OBSESSED WITH PINTEREST AS EVERYONE ELSE

A couple of years ago, soon after my interest in interior design took hold, I realized that my quickly multiplying collection of digital images needed a better method of organization than a folder labeled "interiors." I had been hearing a lot about an application called Evernote, intended for capturing and organizing everyday flotsam and jetsam like to-do lists, receipts, snapshots, etc. It had both online and desktop interfaces, and you could sync it among multiple computers and phones. You could separate notes into separate notebooks, share with friends, and tag notes to create your own organizational system. 

I realized that although what I had in mind wasn't exactly the intended use of the product, it was pretty much the perfect solution to my problem. Never again would I have to look through hundreds of thumbnails searching for that one picture with the green velvet sofa; I could simply tag the picture and then be able to pull it up in a heartbeat by searching the keywords I remembered. And perhaps best of all, it would automatically remember where I found the image so I would've have so much trouble tracking sources. S
o I downloaded the application, added the few hundred images I already had saved to my computer, and proceeded to happily clip anything and everything that caught my eye and tag every element that I particularly liked. 

I have folders for interiors, fashion, wedding ideas and even textiles and rugs to use in design boards. I put the designer or photographer's name in the title of the note and tag it with descriptive words (click images to enlarge):



Some are simple nouns and colors, like "coffee table," "wing chair," "red," etc., but I also try to remember to use tags that describe the style of the space or a particular piece in it, like "mirrored," "floral," or "neutral." This lets me find all the images that share a particular piece, like a cow hide rug...


or trends like "chinoiserie"...



My fashion notebook isn't nearly as organized; since it's so much smaller, I just tag things by season (f/w or s/s):



I can organize fabrics and rugs by color and type of pattern (geometric, ikat, floral, etc.)...




And I can't even describe how helpful this turned out to be once we started wedding planning. All the paper goods, dresses, venue possibilities, and inspiration boards from 100 Layer Cake, Once Wed, etc. could be put in one place and tagged so that we could concentrate on one element at a time. And I've added plenty of non-wedding-related things whose color schemes, fonts, or styles inspired me (word of advice, though: never bring a picture of a red carpet gown to a bridal appointment and say "I'd love a style like this in white." They will look at you like you're from another planet.)




So, as you can see, I developed a System. And then, a year and a half later, Pinterest was invented: a sort of social-network version of the same idea. I do think it's a brilliant idea (I love browsing friends' boards and finding things for the blog) but for me it's a little redundant, since I already have a system housed all in one place. But t
here's such an obsession with Pinterest at the moment that I've been feeling like I kind of need to explain my relative apathy! 

How do you all organize and make sense of the visual overload? Do you also feel the need to organize and record, or are you a little more laid back about it? What technology has helped you?


If this post was the most boring thing you've ever read on this blog, take heart: I have some great roundups in store so just sit tight :)

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

SATURATED FALL COLORS

Do you ever feel kind of at a loss for inspiration? I've been doing a lot of design boards lately (for which - don't get me wrong - I am so very grateful!), and in the process of working with dimensions, budgets, and all the other gritty details of actually putting a room together, I feel almost as though I'm skipping the first step in my usual process: sifting through thousands of my favorite images, searching for the right feeling that will inspire a space. So here are some rooms that look and feel like fall, rooms that seem like the perfect places to cozy up after a day of apple picking.


Annie Schlechter

UPDATE: via The Lettered Cottage (thanks Amy!)

Applegate Tran

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Daniel Farmer, William Morris wallpaper

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Atlanta Homes Showhouse

Todd Romano

Todd Yoggy

Polly Wreford (photographer)

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via Apartment Therapy

via Apartment Therapy

via Apartment Therapy

via Habitually Chic


Do you ever feel like you're too busy to be inspired? Which of these rooms would you love most to come home to this fall?