Euro Trash Girl

One of my favorite craigslist search terms is "Italy" or "Italian," because I know a sleek sculptural piece that wields an uber designy flavor will sharpen up any room. The right Stilnovo fixture will take any 18th century palazzo straight into the 21st century, just as the perfect pair of Gio Ponti chairs will offset the stuffiness of a roll arm sofa or super traditional fabrics.

And in the interest of international relations, let me add that I'm not anti France, Germany, Denmark, Eastern Europe, or any of those other furniture making countries. It's just that craigslisters can't seem to find many labels except those that broadcast the pedigree of anything 90s Scandinavian orange teak veneer, but somehow the Made in Italy label has the aura of cash flow about it, so that usually merits a mention in ads.

Beware of Copenhagen Imports unless you know who Ettore Sottsass is and enjoy an ironic nod to his sensational but perhaps not so versatile aesthetic... I'm pretty much talking about cheap 80s black lacquer and red leather mushroom sofas. Can these things be awesome? Yes, but you better have a plan for all that swag or things will get ugly fast.

You know what's not ugly? These rooms. You're welcome.

[Pinterest]

Pink Curtains, Or Why My Husband May Divorce Me

Ben is pretty tolerant of my decorating whimsies. He let me choose the wood flooring in our house. He let me paint the dinette peachy pink. He begrudgingly allowed me to paint his office... twice. Basically I get to control all aesthetic decisions in our house.

Except for the pink curtains.

If you will recall, I planned to do double height curtains in our great room. Well I'm too tired to tackle that expensive problem right now, so I decided to just throw a pair of cheap (but good) Ikea linen curtains on the lower windows to allay my neurotic empty window fixations. I chose some pretty basic flax linen curtains and figured everything would look kinda like this:

Ok, and I may have taken the liberty of switching out the navy chesterfield for a pair of those Ikea Mellby chairs, because in my heart of hearts I know a pair of chairs (or maybe a chaise) would be best for my house... also, for anyone doubting the quality of Ikea's new leather wares: go sit on them. They're really nice soft pebbled leather. Totally worth the price.

Anyway, the mockup isn't perfect but I think it proves a priori that the flax curtains would be just fine and we should hang them and move on.

But...

And:

Plus:

Maybe a little too girly, but still:

Finally:

Yeah. Pink curtains keep whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

And of course Ikea sells pink linen curtains, so I mocked that beeswax up.

I switched the art because I think pink works best when mixed with dirty colors... otherwise it comes off as juvenile and/or cloying.

So now it is super girlytown up in there. Ben also hates the lady painting, but that is just wrong.

What do you think? I would say the board does not accurately reflect colors, that the curtains are warmer and and that there is definitely baby pink in the rug even though you can't see it in the board. Overall the rug is more raspberry than red.

Or perhaps I should just go halfway to girlytown with the lady painting and flax curtains? I could probably ask my sweet MIL to sew coral pink velvet piping on the curtains to up the oooo ahhhh factor.

So, for $100 which curtains should I choose? Flax? Or risk the wrath of my normally mild mannered husband and demand pink? I am, after all, about to be vastly outnumbered by penises and I don't really think he has a leg to stand on.

Ahem. Insert joke here.

And another joke.

Ignore my morning prurience. Instead tell me which art and curtain combo you like.

Thanks.

[Head Over Heels, Ruthie Sommers, Pinterest]

I Went to the Danger Zone

After today's post you may doubt yesterday's words and fear that I am headed squarely into geriatric territory... hopefully not, but this morning I couldn't remember where the coffee cups were, so you never know. Anyhow, let's talk fringe -- you know, those strings that hang off stuff. We could also call it bullion if you want to get fancy. Whatever it is, I like it (as evidenced by a previous post I penned on the topic). Is fringe antithetical to all things clean and minimal? Uh, maybe. Will it confuse my Roomba as it attempts to vacuum under the couch? Probably. Let's see if obscuring form and laughing in the face of function is worth it, shall we?

Jeffrey Bilhuber pairs jewel tones with a fringed, skirted foyer table. I'm starting you fringe neophytes off easy.

ps: curtains!

Celerie Kemble loves hairy fringe, but you must check out the whole picture:

That amazing chandellier by Guglielmo Ulrich blows me away, but I like the fringe, too. The pink Dr. Doolittle settee scares me a little.

Richard Shapiro does (back to back) brown linen sofas with matching bullion for House of Veranda -- crisp and tailored. Again love the jewel tones. Someday when I buy a big girl couch I'm considering this color. It's warm but plays well with brights and neutrals.

Miles Redd goes grandma chic, but I would snatch that sofa out of this room and dress it down in a heartbeat.

And still my favorite, so I'm shamelessly reposting it: Pamplemousse does arty fringe. I want to have sex with that sofa. Or on it. Who cares? Sex... sofa.

Now I know my pal Christian is probably about to ban me from his contacts, because he hates the fringe so much. But I want to know what you think... are you crossing me off the awesome list, too?

I was already on it, right?

Just remember the immortal words of the great poet and sage Kenny Loggins (or whoever actually wrote the song):

Out along the edges Always where I burn to be The further on the edge The hotter the intensity

Highway to the danger zone Gonna take you Right into the danger zone

Go there.