Girl, You Trippin

When it comes to home decor, I have 2 basic rules: 1. Form should follow function and 2. Everything looks better with a couple coats of gold spray paint. I generally shy away from pieces that are quirky for quirky's sake and stick to the basics, items like gold panther cocktail tables (see rule #2). However, every once in a while a clever design crosses my radar that is perfectly simple in it's design yet evokes an element of the surreal that screams please take me home and love me forever.

Pike Bergmans' voluminous bulb would make a perfect reading light for Salvador Dali while Thelermont Hupton's Blown Up lamps are geared up to send any hippy into an acid trip nightmare.  I really wish he'd called them Dog and Lamb On a Stick, though.  

A-hoy hoy, Andre Breton calling!  Le Telephon from Sunday land makes me want to give 1920 a call alerting them that, almost 90 years later, their predominate art movement is still alive and well.  Perhaps I could even award the surrealist forefathers with this Best In Show Mirror by Phil Cuttance?  Or maybe I could extend my ridiculously long list of things to do by adding knock this sucker off somewhere near the top.  Wouldn't it look divine in my new bedroom?

While I do not condone trompe l'oil Tuscan frescos (never, ever!) I would be delighted to spend an evening with friends around Vanessa Su's table.  If we could figure out how it works.

After dining we could retire to the lounge for cocktails and all fight over the Today and Tomorrow sofa by Lila Jang:

I believe Erin showed you this before, but who doesn't want to see it again?  

Twists and turns seem to be all the rage in the surrealist furniture trend:

I love how Pablo Reinoso's Aluminum bench is typical on both sides with a seamlessly woven center creating just enough interest to remain thoughtful without being overwhelming.  On the less practical side is his Melting Thornet chair, which, admittedly, would rock on my porch.

If your littlest family member expresses interest in a drug and art induced lifestyle at an early age, you may want to jump start the revolution with this (ahem, $5,600) Accordian Dresser

Always the purveyors of trippy home furnishings, the ladies of Front Design have a dresser built to satisfy even the most ADD among us

The (cleverly named) Changing Cupboard rotates it's facade at regular intervals to constantly reflect a different pixel pattern.  Don't believe me?  Watch the first ever video posted on Design Crisis:

If your concerned that the cupboard may throw you into convulsions, you can still bring the drama while remaining static:

The Anne table by Gareth Neal cleverly hides a queen anne table inside a basic square structure, perfect for the (am I about to say this?) transitional home.

And now that I've used the term transitional home, I think it's best for me to quit for the day.

Hair of the New Year's Dog

Good morning, kids and Happy New Year!!!  If you find yourself reading this through blood-shot eyes, I'm hoping it was one of the following picture perfect aperitifs that did you in:

Now, even though you may have left your house to ring in the new year that does not excuse you from being design-minded at all times.  No matter how many cocktails you may have imbibed, I pray to all things holy that you were never seen with an unsightly tall-boy and instead, had one of these:

1.  Champagne glasses by Michael Anastassiades (psst, check out the showcase section on his site)

2.  Champagne to go by formstark (do you think that will fit in my cup holder?)

3.  Inside Out Champagne Glasses designed by Alissia Melka-Teichroe available at The W Hotel Store

4.  Veuve Clicquot Globalight available at The W Hotel Store  I'm really not sure how this works (who has time to read pesky descriptions?) but I'm sure you would have been the bell of the ball had you been caught carrying it last night.

5.  Piper Heidsieck Champagne bucket and bowl designed by (are we getting sick of him yet?) Jaime Hayon

6.  Veuve Clicquot and Porsche designed Ice Cube (hopefully this comes in other colors, unless, of course, you have something to prove)

If you found yourself at a big-fat-open bar (lucky you) hopefully your hostess fully comprehended the importance of appearances and chose one of the above in a larger scale:

Piper Heidsieck champagne design by Jaime Hayon

Can you imagine the conference call where this little gem was thought up:

PH:  So, Jaime, you know that bucket and bowl you designed for us before?

JH:  No

PH:  Well, we're worried that a few people may actually be able to afford it, so we're going to need something a bit, um, bigger

JH:  You can't pay me in champagne any more

PH: Right, anyway, we want it bigger. And with a lamp.

Ok, that was the stupidest imagined conversation ever.  But really, a lamp?

Moving on.  If you're the type of person who completely overhauls your decor according to season, then you surely would have needed to impress your guests with this:

Veuve Clicquot Loveseat

Had you planned accordingly, your new years could have looked like this:

Don't you love advertising?  These people really capture my lifestyle.

If you aren't much of a drinker but still wanted to be in the Champagne-y new years spirit you could have jetted on over to London to enjoy this:

Portrait, Installation by designers Fredrikson Stallard for Veuve Clicquot.

I guess those lights are supposed to conjure up the image of champagne.  Pop Quiz:  How many of those lines do you see after a full bottle of bubbly?

And finally, if sparkling wine just ain't boozy enough for you, I hope you tried these:

Cointreau Pearls infused with Strawberry and dropped in Champagne

um.  hells yes.

So, what the hell does all of this have to do with interior design?  Nothing really, but I'm sure after a few sips of today's post, you may find the courage to paint your dining room that hot shade of electric pink you've been considering.

Bathroom Bling

What better to repost on Christmas than a diamond encrusted toilet and a dancing Miles Redd dressed as Fred Astaire? These are a few of your favorite things, right? In honor of Karly's solid gold bathroom, may it rest in peace, I present to you an array of scintillating bathroom selections, a panoply of golden goodness, a display of dazzling diamond denizens so fine and blinding you may need sunglasses lest your retinas pay the ultimate price. Although, honestly, I'd rather my retinas than my wallet pay for this:

Yes, the diamond encrusted toilet from designer Jemal Wright goes for the low low price of $75,000. Yet, despite its obvious glamor, I don't really know that I need my latrine to be encrusted... it sounds unsanitary.

Let's face it. In today's world of luxury and commodity, hygiene is commonplace. We've really got to elevate the bathroom into a space worthy of our capitalist desires. Enter Lam Sai-Wing, Hong Kong jewelry mogul, and his palatial estate replete with a 24-karat solid gold bathroom:

Apparently he recently started melting it down and selling it off because the global economy is, quite frankly, crap, and now gold is crazy valuable. Thus his golden sink is worth a goose or two. But he says he's keeping the toilet no matter what, and I can't really blame him. It seems warm and oh so soft when compared to cold hard porcelain. Do you think they make gold potty paint? Can you imagine what my dear hunny bunny would say about that?

I bet he would like these diamond encrusted faucets; he's such a sucker for gadgets. No, a toilet does not qualify as a gadget.

Maybe it's just the marketing and slick photography, but I can totally envision these gleaming white gold faucets in my house. You know, right next to the mountain of diamonds I keep on my bathroom sink. Oh wait, this line of bathroom accessories is "strictly for those with the taste and means to enjoy such an exclusive pleasure." Guess I'll just take my bucket of lime and head to the outhouse -- but not without my roll of colored toilet paper from Spanish Portuguese supercompany Renova. It's only four times as expensive as regular old Charmin, but it comes in always stylish black.

Ahhhhh, that should leave me feeling fresh as a daisy, maybe even singing in the rain Fred Astaire-style like my favorite buddy Miles Redd in his most amazing mirrored bathroom, which was featured in Avenue Magazine:

Now that is the bathroom I want! But is the top hat included?