Tag: <span>decorating</span>

how to choose a bookshelf
Which bookcase should we put here?

Between the expansive blank wall and the stacks of books in our living room, it’s pretty obvious we need a bookshelf. Now the question is . . . which one? Á la our Rug Runoff, I’ve selected a handful of my favorite bookshelves and I’m hoping you can help me pick the one that will work best for our space!

Things to Keep in Mind
Positioned directly across from the front door, this bookcase will essentially be the first thing guests see when they walk into our home (no pressure). That said, it should blend with the room’s decor but make a statement on its own. Plus, it’s got to comfortably fill out this 70”w x 108”h wall with ample breathing room on the sides and enough height to draw the eye up.

The  Contenders
bookshelf from jayson home and garden
Rockwell Bookcase
Without being matchy-matchy, I love that this crisscross-piece from Jayson Home and Garden has a similar look and feel as our bricklayer’s coffee table. At 36.5”w x 84”h, the reclaimed wood and metal unit is one of the taller and narrower options in this group, leaving a good amount of the wall exposed on the sides (not sure if that’s good or bad but it’s something to consider).

metal-frame bookshelvesLeft Bank Bookcase
This option from Vivaterra is Mike’s favorite for its straightforward-industrial look and for me, the exposed rivets and gray-washed wood shelves have a raw Parisian charm that could win me over.

contemporary bookshelf from wisteriaNaturally Beautiful Bookcase
From Wisteria, this 53” wide casegood would practically fill the whole wall but a bookshelf that feels more like a built-in could be a nice effect. . . . With pretty wood spindles and an X-back, it would play on the updated-traditional elements in the room like the sofa and fireplace.

bookshelf design from fakturaScala Bookcase
This white and black metal bookshelf may seem too modern for my home but imagine it with bamboo shelves and a silver frame . . . it could work perfectly. Faktura Design makes this piece in a variety of finishes and materials and can even make the 70”h good taller for a couple hundred. I love that these cantilevered shelves act like bookends in the center and have a look like nothing else on the market.

Which bookcase is your favorite for our home? Please cast your vote in the comments below!

Finds

wall-decorating-ideasWhen you move to a new home, it’s amazing to see how a fresh space can give your same old things a whole new look and function. A wonderful example of this is Michelle Adams’ new apartment. She is known to most as a founding editor of Lonny Magazine and an acclaimed textile designer, but I’ve always known her as submission #2 of the Happy Chic Home Contest. She entered her former NYC apartment into this contest that designer Jonathan Adler and I hosted on my old blog Design Daily back in 2008. We gave her 3rd place, though if her new apartment design was in the running . . . it would have snagged the gold.

Featured this month in Lonny with a lovely addendum on Decor8, Michelle’s new home is more than double the size of her former 325-square-foot abode. One would think this would be a good thing but she says handling the extra footage was one of the hardest parts about the redesign. Her old furnishings weren’t enough to fill the space and their compact design solutions weren’t necessarily needed anymore. Needless to say, she tackled the challenge head-on with smart shopping decisions and very clever rearranging.

Michelle Adams’ Design Scheme in Her Old Apartment
living-room-design-ideas
shelving-arrangment-ideas
headboard-ideas

Michelle’s Design Scheme in Her Extra-fabulous New Apartment
For the most part you can barely recognize the original pieces in this sophisticated new space but look a little closer and the reuse is inspirational.
new-livng-room-design-ideasA jute rug and a white linen sofa still anchor her living room but the ostrich wallpaper and yellow zigzag curtains bring her furnishings to life.
A long credenza is one of those luxuries that her former pint-size pad could have never afforded, but now she can use it as a grand display for her favorite accessories. This snakeskin tray used to be tucked on a bookshelf; now it’s glorified as a sassy bar tray. The tortoise-pattern lamp was once relegated to the corner of the living room and today it illuminates the details of her art and accents.
headboard-ideasYou may recognize these bedside tables from the former living room design–they were pushed together to make a coffee table. The headboard is exactly as it was but set against a charcoal-colored wall, it becomes that much more dramatic.

With a few moves under her belt, Michelle says, “I look for versatile pieces that can be reinterpreted in each apartment I move to (and eventually HOME!).” I don’t know where she’s off to next, but I know she’ll turn her things into something wonderful all over again.

Lonny photography: Patrick Cline

Projects

living-room-decorating ideasPretty without the pretense, our goal was to make our living room the most inviting space in the house. It’s the first room guests see when they walk through the door so it had to look polished but, once first impressions are out of the way, the idea is to get comfy.

living-room-decorating-befoLiving Room Before
Maroon damask and gold accents set the tone for a formal and “mature” space. And I wanted nothing to do with that. The architecture of the room with its cove molding, 19th-century fireplace, and plaster ceiling medallion already said that. What it needed was some soft, contemporary touches to counter it.

Living-Room-decorating around the fireplaceLiving Room After
These 1940s French chairs are the sassiest and most sophisticated thing I’ve ever purchased. Asymmetrical and curvaceous, I love that they command attention but I wasn’t going to let them take over the room. To balance the space, I paired them with their polar opposite design: the nitty-gritty bricklayer’s table. The steel box formation and reclaimed-wood top bring a touch of boy to the semi-girly decor.

living-room-decorating-framesWindow Frames
Since this is technically a railroad apartment, I liked the idea of adding more windows in the center of the space. These 12-glass compartments provide no extra light but the subtle reference and the photo storage is unbeatable. (See how we turned old windows into picture frames here.)

living-room-decorating-tvMedia Center
For optimal television viewing, the most logical place to put the TV would be over the fireplace—but I couldn’t bear to do it. I didn’t want a black hole of a plasma and the back of a sofa to be the first thing you saw when you walked in the room. To remedy this, we placed the TV on the same wall as the front door so guests could take in the full space before arriving at the inevitable electronics–and my fabulous Matisse cabinet. The delicate leaf-cutouts  lighten the large piece of furniture and its compartments are perfect for favorite tchotchkes. The prints, above, are the latest addition to the house and were a year in the making, so I’ll save that explanation for a later post.


Living-Room-DecoratingStress-Free Chic
Though the frilly chairs may fool you, this is one tough living room design.  The chocolate brown upholstery on the Grayson sofa, the indoor-outdoor Le Poeme rug, and a distressed coffee tabletop can all handle a party without a scuff.

Going Forward
Still in need of window treatments, mantel art, and a bookshelf, this living room–and apartment–is a work in progress. From the projects that make the house run a little smoother to the accessories that make us smile, decorating has become a lifestyle that we won’t be done with anytime soon.

Projects

gold lightingIf you don’t already know about Barbara Cosgrove’s lamp designs—let me tell you—they are gorgeous! I’ve been eyeing her work for a few years, but now I have an apartment pretty enough to warrant such chicness.

By description, an all white lamp doesn’t sound all that exciting but a high-gloss porcelain base and gold leaf-lined shade—that thrills me to no end. Modern but feminine, this lamp spoke to me; especially when I imagined it cuddled up with my 1940s French chair of the same palette and sass.

bedroom lightingAt the time, I didn’t realize my love for extra tall table lamps. But Mike did. He saw this 26″ piece towering above the crowd and, without much struggle, convinced me to get it. I was a little nervous about the height but seeing it in our bedroom, I feel like it brings a sense of importance to the light and the whole space (note: wall art, coming soon).

Barbara Cosgrove mostly sells to boutiques but a ton of her lamps, and the ones I purchased, are available at DecorInteriorsUS.com.

Finds