My wishes for Erin's new son

Hello you delicious Design Crisis readers!  I'm Raina and I write a couple of interiors blogs, If The Lamp Shade Fits (design snark and pretty pictures) and The Daily Bed (just pretty pictures).  Erin and Karly have been with me since the early days of my first blog, and my posts are far more entertaining with their comments. I was tickled pink (or should I say "blue"?) to be invited to guest post while ErBear is on maternity leave.  I have been racking my brain for a week.  Erin's incredible sourcing and hilarious writing are big shoes to fill.

In the end, I decided to post a few wishes for EB's new baby boy.  I Googled the "wish" plus the word "room" and limited my selection to an image that appeared on the first two pages.

For you, Berin von Benanderin (until your fickle mother decides), I wish:

Happy Room

"Happiness."

Patience Room

"Patience."

Health Room

"Health."  You and Mom will see a lot of one of these rooms soon.

Wisdom Room

"Wisdom."

Kindness Room

"Kindness."

Humor Room

"Humor."

Empathy Room

"Empathy."

Love Room

"Love."  Um, your parents will explain this to you in about ten years.

Vacation All I Ever Wanted (and still want a year later)

About a year ago, just after this blog was born, I wrote a post about one of my favoritest hotels ever ever.  Because I celebrated my independence a week bit too hard this weekend (thank you house of slappy for your mad party throwin skillz) I've decided to repost it today.  Enjoy and I promise all will be back to normal tomorrow ****

You know, Belinda Carlisle really sang her way right into my heart with all her talk of vacation business.  Do you think that the missing verse to that song mentioned anything about well appointed hotel rooms and amenities up the wazoo, like pillows of varying firmness upon request?  I certainly like to think that the Go-Go's would not have been willing to spend said dream vacation traveling across the hot desert in an un-air-conditioned car with nothing but a Howard Johnsons on the horizon.  Gross.  

I digress, the point is, I want to go on vacation, I want to go to the Hotel Particular, and I want to steal every last gold leaf accessory in sight.  Behold:

The Vegetal Room

I know, right?  Do I really need to write a paragraph about how this wallpaper is the most mind blowing thing you've ever seen?  Do I need to point out that the sconces and table lamps make the forest look like it's glowing and only magnify the already awesome dramatic silhouette?  Do you really need little old me to tell you that the uber-minimalist crisp, clean linens are the perfect counterpart to the most perfect wall decor ever?  I didn't think so.

I will tell you that this room was designed by Martine Aballéa, an American artist working in Paris.  

You probably think that I blew my wad on the first picture, but just you wait.

Hair Curtain room

ta-da!  Artist and photographer Natacha Lesueur thought it would be the coolest thing ever to put gigantic glowing portraits on her suite's wall and I agree.  I showed this picture to Matt awhile ago hoping he would rush out and buy a large-format camera for this very purpose.  Funny thing, he didn't like the idea at all.  Does anyone know a good divorce attorney?  I mean, did he really take a good look at this room?  Maybe he thought our space wouldn't look as nice without the spiral staircase in the center of it all.  He would have had a point.  On a side note, I've always loved the idea of a free standing bathtub in the bedroom.  No, I've never been one for practicality.

More:

Hair Curtain Bathroom

When you're done bathing in the bedroom, you can cruise on over to the bathroom proper and adore the black and gold walls while brushing your teeth and using the bidet.

Bath 2

Another black bathroom.  This place is rocking my world.  I usually hate pedestal sinks (where do you put your stuff?  I guess I am practical sometimes) but this one is great because it has that other pedestal dealie right next to it for storing said stuff.  And it's a different shape, even better.

If you want to mingle with the other guests, here are some public spaces:

breakfast room

When I first saw this picture I thought that crazy giant angel was the coolest thing in the room, then I decided that the heavy red drapes might trump the crazy cherub, finally I came to my senses and realized that the crown over the mirror is the greatest gold accessory I've ever seen.  I really want to store it right next to my crunk juice goblet.

Still feeling social?  

social room

I will give a dollar to anyone who can tell me what is going on in that photograph above the stunning black tulip chairs.  I will give four dollars to anyone who will bring me the chairs.

Did you spot an American tourist in a starter jacket and need to race back to your room?  Go to this one:

Guest Room

Purple and gold... so regal.  I could wear my gold crown from the breakfast room in here! I have to admit that the distressed scribbly wallpaper is a little 2004, I bet I'll like it again in about 12 years, which works out great as I will have finally saved enough Euros to book this room by then.  (room designed by Pierre Fichefeux)

**Ok, everyone, this is important:  I want you to take a good look at the photo I just showed you.  Did you note the incredible gold bathroom?  Yes?  Got it?  Listen to this:  I painted my master bath in my last rental in the most luxurious (and insanely expensive) metallic gold paint.  Floors, ceiling all of it.  My landlord liked it (it was just a duplex not an apartment) he kept it when I moved.  BUT  the, ahem, stylish, girl who moved in after me is painting over it.  I am so grossed out.  I'm tempted to cut out all the UK magazine articles I've been reading about gold walls and mail them to her with a threatening letter.  Seriously, what is she thinking?  I bet she paints it beige.  yuck! yuck! barf city!**

sorry. back to the hotel.

Incase you're as in love with this hotel as I am and you want to find it, here's what to look for:

hotel exterior

so cute, right?  I couldn't find any information on the building, but I'm guessing it was originally a home built forever ago, like everything else in Europe.  Go there, let me know what it's like, bring me back a little scrap of wallpaper.

GIVE AWAY WINNER!!! (and some other crap I wrote)

Hidy Ho fair readers! First off, a gigantic HUGE apology for my absence yesterday.  I was out of town over the weekend and suffered major flight delays on my return home Monday night.  I was so out of sorts that I didn't even realize yesterday was Tuesday until Erin sent me a gentle nudge asking where the hell I was.  Oops!  I was sure that it was still Monday and I was well ahead for the post I was planning.  So, you guys have to suffer at the hands of the airlines and my flakiness.  But, enough about me, let's get to what you want to hear about:  Our Great Rug Give Away winner!!!! We enlisted the help of Erin's techy hubby Ben who found us, no kidding, a random number generator.  La generator tells us that comment number 74 was the winner so....

CONGRATULATIONS MARMOREE!!!!

Holla!  Contact us here to get your rug on.

Marmoree commented that she will be choosing the soft and flowery rug:

As anyone who has been in my home can attest, I love me some grey and white.  Good choice, Mam, good choice.  Karly approved!

When we were first asked to do the give away, not only did I start fantasizing about which rug I would choose, but also, how I would decorate a room around it.  Because I felt like spending my blog-prep time today looking at crap on ebay rather than doing real, ahem, research, I decided to play pretend decorator just a little longer.  Here is the rug I chose:

With this rug as inspiration, I gave myself a time limit: THIRTY MINUTES ONLY, a budget: unlimited, and one site to shop from: ebay.   Oh, I also decided that my rug was 8 x 10, while our give away version is just an area rug. Here's what I got:

Ok, so a few key pieces are missing:  artwork behind the couch, a bit more lighting, a giant gold dipped poodle statue, but, well, with the clock ticking down from 30, I was RACING.  Look, I love you all, but I can get sucked into some ebay, I had to set the timer for the good of my mental health.  Here's the skinny on the goods I did find:

1.  The very first thing I decided to hunt down was a floor lamp, industrial, please.  I was delighted to find this French bendy twisty number and new we would be best friends forever.

2.  La couch:  while I wanted to go with vintage, I had a hard time finding the right look that didn't need to be recovered.  White leather is always welcome in my home, so I settled for this Tufted Leather Sectional.

3.  I spent far too much time digging up tables, my desktop folder lives to tell the tail, but finally decided that this Baughman end table was the winner.

4.  The round glass coffee table made the cut because I passed one up on craigslist once and have regretted it ever since.  Note, the ebay version is chrome, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I would have that puppy powder coated in gold faster than you can say "but chrome is so nice."  Note part deux:  The ebay table is $599, the craigslist version was $60.  I fucked up.

5.  While I didn't have time to find art, I did wrangle these German vases

6. And a few throw pillows here, here and here

Since my pretend walls are still bare, how about you dudes make some suggestions?