Mood:  chillin'

I imagine if I somehow ended up with a house that had more space than I would ever want, I would completely indulge my fantastical decorating ideas, like having a large room with only one chair and a side table.  One of my other decorating fantasies is to have a series of drawing rooms like the rooms in Edgar Allen Poe's story The Mask of the Red Death (movie).  If you aren't familiar, the story is about a rich man's party in the middle of a plague.  The eccentric host has a twisting maze of drawing rooms done each in a different color.

Blue (Trinity Nightclub)  and Purple (HGTV)

Green (Domino Mag)and Orange (Gites De France Bed and Breakfast) 

White (Seattle Homes) and Violet (HueInteriors)

All culminating in the final Black room(Studio Annetta).  I would probably forgo an extra purple shade and go for something like:

Yellow (Monet's Dining Room on Apartment Therapy) and at an all mixed up (Apartment Therapy) at the end just because I really like this room.

This post was all inspired by Cildo Meireles' Red Shift room at Tate Modern(Apartment Therapy).

Mood:  chatty

I have a cunundrum.  My dustpan is broken and after months of use the duct tape that I used to mend it just isn't cutting it--actually my husband got fed up with the duct tape mended broken dust pan and demanded a new one.  Everytime I come up with one of these necissary replacements, I have been trying to fill the void with something that I will enjoy looking at and using no matter what it is for--and something that will last.  I'm just tired of constantly replacing, causing more waste, and not really liking the stuff I have to use weekly.  So I decided to replace my dustpan with a metal dustpan that will last for all eternity and never need to be mended with duct tape and eventually end up in a landfill somewhere.  And since it will last forever--I want it to be really awesome.  This smiley dustpan from Dulton is the perfect fit for my dustpan void.  Unfortunately it is only available through select stores in the UK and even then, from stores that restrict their shipping to inside the country (the UK country, that is).  I don't know if you know this, but I don't live in the UK.  In fact, I live so far from the UK that my purchase would be considered an international one.  Am I making no sense at all? I will never get to have my smiley faced metal dustpan because I have a dustpan need right now, and I will end up buying a forever lasting metal dustpan that does not smile at me.  Sigh.  

Mood:  happy

 Tresserra's Librería Prólogo is a serious library bookshelf--for those of us library folk who want to take our work home with us--yeah, that'd be me (Bookshelf).

I love how Jo Meesters Studio apholstered this shelf in recycled blankets--though it might not be the best shelf for heavy book storage, I wouldn't want to cover it up that much anyway(Apartment Therapy). The Tim_Tim at FORMvorRAT would solve my tiny space apartment-with-no-entry-way problem.  I am dreaming of this now (Contemporist). New Hampshire Dresser at New England Lifestyle is the kind of storage I've always wanted for my dining room/eating area/kitchen--oh, just anywhere--though, I wouldn't always want it in white.

CB2s Axis storage unit solves the argument between consol table and end table by wrapping around your furniture (Apartment Therapy)

Mood:  happy

One day, I will have so many submissions and sales pitches falling into my inbox that I will deny half of them.  That day hasn't come yet, and like I said before, Boca Do Lobo is a worthy company of my shilling.

This angular and asymetrical table is a prototype for an addition to the Limited Edition / Large Emotion collection that Boco Do Lobo just unveiled recently.  It looks to me like an alien limb precariously tilted on its base, and at the same time like a tree--if trees grew up to be tables naturally.  True to form Boca Do Lobo will probably use fabulous, rich materials to build this, or maybe they will be coated in bright, laquerey slick colors like the Coolors collection. 

Additional color options have me really hoping for some solid tone laquerey goodness.  This would pop so much amidst any decorating style that it'd be a shame to relegate it only to a dining room area.

Mood:  happy

I have come upon another first in Bean history:  I have been marketed to in order to market to you lovely individuals, and I am all too happy to do it since this is very shiny beautiful stuff.  I have ogled Boca do Lobo previously for the inventive and yet sleek and stunning combination of design elements in furniture.  Now I get to show you Boca do lobo's Limited Edition / Large Emotion collection.

Mood:  happy

I love looking at beautiful furniture, and since I've decided that Curbly is one too many social networking sites for me to handle, I'm going to forcibly share with you instead.  I kind of feel like round-ups are cop-outs, though, I suppose, its more for the chance that you'll see one or two things you like and will follow them to blogs and shops beyond.  Sounds good right? 

The terrible thing about online decorating news is that so much new stuff is absolutely un-gettable because it is new and fresh in another country.

Francesco Rota's collection for Paola Lenti (via Apartment Therapy), Alcove Collection (via Design Milk),  Schoolhouse electric replicates over a hundred light fixtures using original cast iron molds.  (via Apartment Therapy),  Boutique sofa at CIBONE (via Design Milk)

Empire rocker from fawn&forest (via i suwannee via the SCOOP), Octopuss by Nathalie Lete (via Apartment Therapy), Jaroslav Jurica's wall mounted drawers (via Apartment Therapy via Dezeen),  WIS Design’s Decades chest of drawers (via Inhabitat),  Tom Dixon's new collection (via MoCo Loco),  Shelves from Primative (via Apartment Therapy)

So, now you know I like tall things, and colorful things, and odd storage, and that if I got my way and could guiltlessly refurnish my whole house I would be living in something akin to a fabric candy land.

Mood:  celebratory

I have to admit I don't pay much attention to the emailed newsletters that frequently populate my inbox.  I have moved on.  I have been converted to RSS feeds and aggregators.  And I have missed out to some extent because one day long ago I subscribed to the Jonathan Alder newsletter.  It was a smart move.  Even though his shop and products are healthily covered by most every design blog online I had not seen these, and these are fabulous.  The hands are fabulous, and the pets from his menagerie collection are fabulous.  

Mood:  chatty

Suspended furniture at Better Interiors (via Apartment Therapy)

Bathtub couch from Reestore (via Inhabitat)

Ditte Hammerström's couch (via Style Files)

Bokja's collection of reinvented furniture (via Decor8) 

Coffin sofa from CoffinCouches.com (via Boing Boing) 

My beautiful backside sofa and princess daybed by Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien (via Apartment Therapy) 

Patchwork covered sofa from Squint Limited (via Design Milk) 

Zen Daybed at  LivingSpace (via Apartment Therapy) 

Naoko Kanehira's Cushion Sofa (via Apartment Therapy) 

I do already know that this is not a couch, but its captivating just the same:  Sit Bag Suitcase Chair from MayBeDesign (via Apartment Therapy) 

So this was obviously not a practical sofa shopping trip of the mind, but if I had the money I would've had a hard time picking just one of the above.  In the end, what is being shipped to me is very practical indeed--at least it seems so.  I am very excited and will tell you just how awesome the Either or Convertible sofa at Urban Outfitters turns out.

Mood:  quizzical

It's no surprise that I, once again, will be extolling the wonder of things that are more than the things they are.  I do so love built in surprise and function and decoration.  So, today we are looking at awesome tables that are more than they are/or appear to be. 

Vase table from Paul Loebach (via Design Milk), and Play coffee table from BCXSY (via Apartment Therapy). 

Sheep from Itay Ohaly (via MoCo Loco), Daydream coffee table by Yu Zhao (via Apartment Therapy).

Mood:  bright

While I fantasize over the perfect way to redecorate my office area at home, I often leave out the facts that the room also serves as a guest bedroom and band practice studio, as well as additional storage for the house.  So, what follows are dream pieces for if ever my office was only my office.  

Read like a book:  Aluminum desk at Cole Scego Design (via Boing Boing), Eames Aluminum Management Chair, Cubistorus at Art. Lebedev Studio (via Apartment Therapy), LA Scavenger found these awesome swivel chairs. 

Or I could have an otherwise empty room and just live in a desk house from  design-mong (via Boing Boing Gadgets). 

Mood:  happy

In case you  haven't noticed yet, I love stuff that looks like other stuff while filling a purpose.  I especially love happy and interesting things that fill a purpose.  I like to think that I'm not one for decorative collecting (though I have a lot of stuff), but I do also think that the everyday objects that I use, that anyone uses, should be interesting and make us smile.  These are things that would make me smile:

Read like a book:  Ceramic Greek coffee cup at Uncommongoods, Memo plate and mug at Fishs Eddy, Virginia Sin paper/porcelain plates, Glass bottles at Lekker, Beaker glasses at CB2. 

Mood:  cool

I am often the last to get the latest gadget.  So much so in fact, that the latest gadget for me is three or five gadgets old for everyone else.  But I love furniture that incorporates multi-functionality and gadgetry.  So I love this concerto table from lovegrove & repucci.  The unusual shape for a dining surface and its slick and thin lines are visually appealing already.  Added to that is the stow-away area for an office (laptop) workspace, and the fact that it is an iPod player (I would have to upgrade my old shuffle).  But wait, there is more!  A drawer in front (honestly, I thought this was some kind of iPod friendly keyboard when I saw it, but no those are silverware handles) for cutlery.  See pics below for storage spaces.

 

Mood:  bright

Plano Series by buroJET.   I imagine this would not be constantly comfortable, but as a piece of wall art that could serve double duty in a party pinch--it is ingenious.

180 table by Ontwerpduo. This is really double duty, I promise.  The top on this table flips upside down, so you can choose between the centerpiece or no.  Maybe it would be easier to just put a center piece on the table and then take it away, but I love this anyway.

Fusion table by Aramith.   I never thought of owning a pool table, although I have bunches of fun playing, because its such a large piece of furniture with a super specific purpose.  Problem now solved.

ODDA guest bed by IKEA.   (via Apartment Therapy)  Personally, I don't think the ODDA looks like much, but with awesome new fabric upholstery and a paint job it would be one sweet seat that could also solve the guest bed problem in a small apartment.  Provided you are not entertaining a couple.

Kitchen for small spaces in ten years by Antoine Lebrun. (via Apartment Therapy) Not only a two tiered space saver, but the plants clean the cooktop, filter water, and make soap when the unit is closed?!? 

Mood:  happy

David Wiseman's collage chandelier looks like a forest dripping from the cieling.  I imagine this in color.

Though a bit more traditional in form, the incidence plexi chandeliers have a kind of color pop that makes them special.   And Light Brite Neon's chandelier would look awesome in a high ceilinged basement. 

There is very little I can say about the Pulsatilla chandelier and the Bisbiglio d'Amaranto by Adam Wallacavage at the Jonathan Levine gallery.   I just sit here and drool.

Mood:  cool

I am very much interested in the type of design solutions that not only offer more space management capabilites but allow you to hide things away, that maybe were never before able to be hidden.  Industrial designer Aaron Tang came up with an ingenious way to put away a staircase, which would work beautifully for a multi use space, or a multi family house in providing a larger living area and more privacy as well.  Though it may not be too great for people with little babies or dogs or, perhaps, those who sleepwalk.  It reminds me of something from a Bond movie.  I imagine it leading to a door instead of a landing though.  How cool to have a door up in the air like that with no real visible support until the stairs are pulled out.

Speaking of stairs, I am reminded of this great idea to make them useful for more than just walking up and put a drawer or two in them.  Its like that show about finding the hidden storage space in your house (can't remember what it is).  via Spluch.