Stripes!

I was prowling around Anthropologie and — zowie! — these new striped upholstered pieces caught my eye and knocked my socks off. The Bertram chair is a tribute to Paul Smith with it’s trippy stripes and fine tailoring. The Striped Kilim sofa is as crunchy as the Bertram is sleek. Bands of delicious fuchsia, red, green, and black.

 

What is it about stripes? Whether they are bold or reserved, stripes just mix-it-up so well with other patterns.  Here’s how a few other retailers and designers are doing stripes.

 

TOP, Tim Clarke sofa, LA TImes photo; CENTER TOP, unknown; CENTER BOTTOM, Jay Jeffers Gentleman Bedroom in the 2007 San Francisco Decorator Showhouse; BOTTOM, Black & Spiro

 

TOP, Anne Coyle Interiors, Bond Street Banquette; CENTER + BOTTOM, Tim Clarke

 

TOP, The Designers Attic blog; CENTER TOP, City | 1st dibs; CENTER BOTTOM, unknown; BOTTOM, designer Kristen Buckingham

  Kate Spade’s Stripes: TOP, flagship store adorned in luscious stripes; BOTTOM, Striped Twitter page

Fun striped household helpers, Alice Supply Co.

 

Thanks Paul Smith, for covering virtually everything with your signature stripes.

These stripes underfoot are my very favorite Paul Smith designs. Available from The Rug Company.

Octopi are floating by…

Maybe the octopus will replace the owl / mushroom / peace sign of 2008 or the birdy-anything-and-everything of 2007 or the coral-that-wouldn’t-die of any year previous? If this is a trend, I welcome it. The octopus is more elegant and weird and magnificent than cute little fungi or silly hoot owls. It’s nature’s freak show with flourishy tentacles and erotic contours. And, yes, I could easily live with a huge framed octopus on my walls. So, will you embrace octopi? 

 

Anthropologie has octopi popping up in each of its categories. Their Amelie sofa features navy upholstery fabric overwhich a huge octopus is embroidered in crewel. French artist Nathalie Lété designed the crewelwork and her octo-art appears on the De Vincennes dinner plates. The store also is selling a magnificent Tentacles ring and tangled octopi float in repeat on their Octopus Garden Wallpaper. 

 

Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Natural Curiosities is an illustrative page-turner. Each sumptuous rendering is stranger and more beautiful than the one before and there are plenty of satisfying tentacle-clad creatures .

Natural Curiosities, inspired by but not connected to the Seba book, is an art wholesaler selling octopus prints and little tabletop sculptures to Mecox Gardens, Atlanta’s Armour & Company, and other retailers. 

FROM TOP: Ocatavio Print in Armour & Company store and owner’s Jayme Leffler home; Octavio Print in saudi blue; copperplate 1826 engraving of Octopus by Lord Bodner

The New York Public Library wants us to make art from their extraordinary collection. Two fabulous zoological engravings of octopi are available from NYPL and range from $30 for a 10” output to $275 for a 40” print.

Fall Colors

The last couple of days have been glorious here in Atlanta. Bright blue sky and leaves in full color. It’s my favorite time of year. Somehow I stumbled upon this leaf photo which { as a graphic designer who relies on Pantone colors } made me smile.  

  

From Wikipedia 

Then { as a graphic designer who would rather be an interior designer } it naturally got me thinking about fall colors in interiors. Not the somber olives and Colonial golds of my mother’s autumn-toned den. The individual colors haven't changed, but these color combinations are fresher and cleaner. Or more saturated and dramatic. 

 FROM TOP: Gentl & Hyers; Uli Schade; Mark Lund Photography; Grant Gibson

 

ABOVE: Mark Lund Photography

 

 FROM TOP: Uli Schade; Paul Whicheloe Photography; unknown; Pennyrounds blog

 

TOP + CENTER, Pennysround blog; BOTTOM, Paul Whicheloe Photography

 ABOVE: Paul Whicheloe Photography

ABOVE: Paul Whicheloe Photography

 

ABOVE, designer Kristen Buckingham

 

TOP + CENTER TOP, Jamie Drake; CENTER BOTTOM + BOTTOM, Decor Pad

Katie Lydon

Londoner Katie Lydon designs beautiful interiors in and around Manhattan. Her interiors are somehow both vibrant and calm. Each possesses a healthy mix of fine antiques with modern art with upholstered pieces and the effect is classic. The thing that caught my eye is her ability to edit — no extraneous anything. Very nice.

{ Images from Katie Lydon Interiors }

List Love from LA

Sparkershop threw down the gauntlet. She asked that I comb through Los Angeles’ Craigslist to see what I could come up with. Well, there’s plenty of riches to be found on LA’s list. Overall, there are more high-quality items, but prices are higher too. Here’s some LA List Love for you, Sparkershop.

Navy lacquered baker occasional table with thick glass top — $500

Z Gallerie chrome lamp — $40

Giulio Beach from Design Within Reach — $600

Antique French side table — $200 

Authentic Knoll chair — $50 

H.D. Buttercup sofa — $400

Cute white lamp + shade — $70

Saarinen knock-off table — $100

Modern desk lamp from Lampa — $65

Embossed leather-covered parsons table — $595

Large wall clock — $5

Chrome and glass table with casters — $75

Fun contemporary table — $200

Four mid-century vinyl chairs — $425 / set of 4