Silver Is the New Gold.

Oh, you heard me. I've been thinking that silver's getting a bad rap on the 24K-clad pages of our beloved Design Crisis. Okay, maybe not a bad rap so much as completely ignored. Uh-huh, talk to the hand, silver. Well, silver's feelings are hurt. Gold is an attention whore but silver is not the homely stepsister. Not today anyway. Today is silver's day to shine. Greetings D. C. junkies, I'm Hello Gorgeous, former advertising copywriter and blog raconteur. I was heavily into retail both in home and fashion but home is really where my heart is. Now, onto the glittering goodness.

The Grand Entrance Hall by Randall Beale and Carl Lana, Kips Bay Showhouse '07, House Beautiful

Foil-covered wainscoting? How clever. How Warhol-esque. You know you've been looking for just the right symbol of your disdain for the bourgeois ethic.

The only thing more fabulous than aluminium foil-covered paneling is a slinky, Medusa-like mercury glass chandy, compliments of the room next door:

If you are not into tentacles sprouting from your ceiling, you may be interested in a glistening wad of balls (oh, don't be coy; you know who you are).

The silver ball chandelier from Graham and Greene appears to have nipples, which would make it porny perfect for this blog but, alas, I believe it's an illusion and is merely cut glass detail.

Speaking of nipples and porny perfection, Dancer by Jimmie Martin. Perfect if you're looking to give a special room a certain luster.

More traditional tastes will love this sunburst mirror from 1st Dibs. (Perhaps if we call it mirror flambe, Raina and Molly will like it. :-))

It would go perfectly over this carved marble fireplace flanked by the incredible edible Arne Jacobsen silver egg chairs.

House Beautiful

Edible, maybe if you're this guy:

Jaws, James Bond circa 1977

You'd like to be a fly on the wall of that room, you say? Rob Wynne's oversized ode to Kafka might be just what the Orkin man ordered.

Photo New York Times 

How can I let this post go by without a shiny horsey for Karly: heigh-ho silver, away!

Italian art glass pony from 1st Dibs

 

And it wouldn't be a post by me without a lustrous deer head.

From worldbuyers.com

I am undecided about these Sau-sage chairs by Jimmie Martin. Half of me likes them and half of me doesn't.

Will somebody please put this lamp on a table between those two chairs? Because crocky looks like he may need a dog morsel or two for lunch. From the land of overpriced fug, Vivre, $2500.

If you are still suffering from delusions of market grandeur, behold the bull stapler for dazzling office dreamz. Ironic that Bullshizzle should be the symbol for Wall Street, no? Vivre, again.

And finally, a bit of gratuitous room decor compliments of the silver-tongued Silver Fox himself:

Just turn on your TV and add him to whichever room you wish.

See? That wasn't so bad now, was it? In fact, I'll bet you're thinking that silver's quite the hot commodity after all.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed by Jim Cramer Hello Gorgeous on this blog are solely HG’s opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Karly, Erin, the staff of Design Crisis, its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by HG on television, radio, internet or another medium.

When Pigs Fly

Are you pissed these days? Well, I'm totally teed off. Who do those AIG mofos think they are, spending all my (our) money money on fancy getaways and million dollar bonuses? Hell to the no. I really think The Beatles said it best:

Have you seen the little piggies Crawling in the dirt And for all the little piggies Life is getting worse Always having dirt to play around in.

Have you seen the bigger piggies In their starched white shirts You will find the bigger piggies Stirring up the dirt Always have clean shirts to play around in.

In their sties with all their backing They don't care what goes on around In their eyes there's something lacking What they need's a damn good whacking.

Everywhere there's lots of piggies Living piggy lives You can see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.

In the interest of keeping this post design related, I'd like to point out a new trend, possibly influenced by the overwhelming greed exhibited by jerks like these: Pigs.

I think Hannes Grebin is on to something here with his piggy bank, Fat Rosie. She does look a lot like former AIG exec Martin Sullivan, pictured right above her.

Tim Flach Photography

But really, I hate for all pigs to get a bad rap just because some A-holes are methodically destroying our entire economy for their own self interests.

It's ok to like this adorable silver pig clutch by Etsy seller, Tsurubride. It's cute. Perhaps some of that bailout money should go towards purchasing it for me... Would that make me a piggy, too?

And then there's my favorite Piggy Bank -- cast from a real pig that died a natural death -- by Harry Allen, available at Design Public. Oh, I just want to hug him, and squeeze him, and name him Martin. Or Hank. Or Edward. Really any of the AIG guys will do as a namesake.

Send a clear message that gluttony and greed are in fashion with this Oink Pillow from Etsy seller, Bumblejellydesigns.

Or you could really get into the piggish mindset with this Hair Hat from dearly departed designer, Nagi Noda.

While some little piggies may have gone to market, this little piggy stayed home. The Hey-Sign Felt Rug is available in a few different shapes, but I am digging Le Cochon the best.

Perhaps it would be nice to make the piggies fetch and carry for a change. The Pig Table by Front Designs would be happy to hold your watered down well cocktail or light as a feather wallet for you.

Catherine Ledner's idea of barnyard fun is pink and frilly with flowers on top. Who says that pigs is dirty animals?

Meanwhile, Belgian artist Wim Delvoye has some decidedly less orthodox ideas about how to treat pigskin. Harbinger of things to come for scam artist cum jailbirds like Bernie Madoff? Let's hope the AIG swine head in the same direction.

Thanks for letting me vent, friendsies. I'm going to leave you with one tiny parting shot, courtesy of Pan-Dan. It's so good that I'm just going to post the link right here.

White Up My Alley

Down here in Texas, I've been craving what you northerners have been taking for granted for months:  some snow days.  Last week, the hubs, Matt, my brother, Davis, his friend, Tom and I finally got our fix:  5 days in snowy Vail Colorado.  I got to walk in honest-to-god snow and see my breath when I dared to step outside, it totally ruled.  My trip also inspired this post of all white goodness.  I'll bore you with some vacay pics first, then we'll move along to view the stuff you're here for:  decor porn

Tom, Davis & me about to make our first run of the day.  Note my big mug of chai, which I am rarely seen without.

Me, Matt, and Davis in our exceptionally fancy goggles

I monitor as Matt and Davis scrape 10 inches of overnight snowfall off my aunt's car

K-dawg in front of the stable where aunt Darlene's horse lives.  Please keep in mind that I'm wearing, like, 45 pounds worth of snowboarding gear, which hides my teeny tiny 13 inch (approx) waist line.

Ok, no one likes to look at other people's pictures so I'll quit the tomfoolery and move on to the meat of the post.

Several Months ago I posted this Nathan Ables print available from Tiny Showcase.  As fate would have it, Mr. Ables contacted the DC headquarters just days after my trip updating us on his newest work:

Nathan's almost all white print, Two Roofs, merged seamlessly with my plans for an all white post.  Hooray, we're all winners.  You may buy the limited edition print here

Clockwise from top left:

Bianco Pelle Quadatissimo (aka awesome ottoman) at myfab.com (It killed me not to post the gold version)

Snow Globe available here

DC fave: The Carlos Night Light, available here

Banana Bowl (also available in gold, hooray!) here

Cloud Umbrella from Joons Design

Design House, Muuto is stealing my heart six ways to Sunday with their plethora of oddly shaped white objects

Because I was feeling extra daring, I allowed myself to cruise over to the house of all things overpriced and unattainable, 1stdibs, just to glimpse at their white selection:

I could give you individual links to these items, but really, which of you readers is ready to shell out 25 large for a pair of hand chairs.  If you've got that kinda cash here are the options I am willing to present:  1. call your decorator and tell her to get her ass on the case, or the better choice, 2. contact me directly at hollaback@design-crisis.com, I will gladly take some of that extra green off your, um, hands.

If I were ever honestly willing to pay 1st dibs style prices, the only thing I could imagine shelling out serious dough for would be my favorite light ever from innermost.  There is no price mentioned on the site (surprise!) so I'm guessing it exceeds my $100 / light limit.  Yes, I know, I know, I could make it.  But who has time?  Plus, I don't want it to end up looking like this.

Until now, my white obsession has mostly revolved around lamps, here are a few choice chairs to even things out:

clockwise from top:

Crochet Chair from whack-a-holic, Marcel Wanders

Chair that I can't find the name of from Mathieu Lehanneur

Tropicalia Chair from Moroso (it's really best in it's multi-colored version)

Bouquet Chair also from Moroso (not sure about that stand, though)

Hechima 4 chair via atelier 29

If you're looking for something lovely and white that is absolutely amazing but has no function what-so-ever, might I suggest this sculpture:

Kim Simonsson has a plethora of to-die-for pieces in her gallery, most of them make me swoon with their mixture of white and gold, but I wanted to stay on task like a good little blogger.

As I can't afford a single item in my post today, but love clusters of white oddities, I've taken to buying toys from the thrift store and spray painting them white.  Here are 2 pieces from my, very slowly growing, collection.  Total cost: $3.75