I've Got To Get You Into My Life

Holy unhealthy obsession, kids -- I CAN NOT stop looking at wallpaper! It all started when Ally asked for wallpaper suggestions to go in her new house, and now -- 6537 hours later -- I think I may have looked at every single wallpaper pattern on the internets. Problem is, I ain't got nowhere to put it. Actually, The Hubs and I are considering moving relatively soon, so we don't really want to take on any big projects that may have to be undone before a parade of buyers come through, demanding that every wall be painted band aid beige. Thus, therefore, alack, anon, as of now, I am officially in fantasy decorating mode. Le sigh. Of course, I do have real tasks that should be done, like painting trim, cleaning up the yard, switching out little hardware doo dads, blah blah blah, but who wants to do that boring crap when sexy wallpaper beckons like a siren in the mist --- oooooowwwwweeeeeeee (or whatever a siren sounds like). Dudes, I want to glue paper onto something very, very badly.

Who could blame me when there are so many fabulous papers available to us regular folk? Right now I have a serious crush on Barcelona based wallpaper firm, Tres Tintas. Their papers are Hot Diggity Dog awesome. I love the artsy, painterly quality of many of their prints; the best of them feel more textural than patterned.

1080 Cadires kind of reminds me of Kelly Wearstler's staircase. If only it were much, much bigger...

Pelos looks like line drawn hair, or softly waving sea kelp.

Sara Palmer is a contemporary take on the ubiquitous 70s jungle paper.

Mostly I just like this picture. I want a penguin, too.

My favorite print from Tres Tintas is the Selva de Mar. Most of the colorways wax Miami Vice, but I love the white on white print. Yes, it's there. Promise. It reminds me of some fancy abstract art I can't quite place... maybe Jackson Pollock's early paintings, before he got all actiontastic?

Selva de Mar is pretty similar to Jocelyn Warner's Kew print, which I also likey, but I much prefer this colorway:

Black on black, apparently printed in gloss inks. This one earns another Hot Diggity Dog! from me. If anyone out there has this paper in their house, or has seen it in person, please please report back. I need to know if it's supah glossy. I want this so hard.

And then there's Erica Wakerly. Girlfriend can do no wrong in my eyes. I've probably already used up all my allotted HDD!s for today, but if not, then her Desert print gets another one from me. Kind of 80s, totally awesome -- I love the black and coral colorways, too.

Angles has been a favorite for a while now. It would look SMASHING in my kitchen over the sink, behind my new shelves (which I am too lazy to photograph today. Sorry, dudes). Then I would hang a big, brass pendant light, and it would KILL. I would totally go for it if we weren't thinking about moving. Plus, I'm a little worried about wallpaper behind a sink. Dirty disaster in the making?

Last but not least, I like EW's Teepee print, but in the orange colorway:

In my fantasy dream house, I have a teeny tiny powder room, and this is how it rolls, with big gold lights, simple teak cabinets, and white countertops. Delicious.  Nevermind that hanging foil wallpaper would be hard as hell. It's my fantasy.

Anyone out there have a fancy, favorite pattern? I know I should stop with the wallpaper, but I. just. can't. Feed my addiction, pretty please?

Walls Gone Wilder

During my blog-vacation I spent quite a bit of time doing, what else?  Perusing blogs.  With all the free time I had on my hands I finally had time to check out what all you dudes are up to.  I spotted this picture on design-porn-favorite,  Desire to Inspire:

I immediately knew it would be perfect for the Birds Barbershop bathrooms.  I emailed the pic to the shop owner and got back a one word response: iwantiwantiwantiwant

I had no idea where to find it so I put out a call for action in the Desire to Inspire comments section.  Another reader immediately came to my rescue and pointed me to Aimee Wilder

Turns out, Aimee is quite prolific.  I guess I must have been hiding under a rock, because home girl has quite the collection.  Her Analog wallpaper can be purchased in one of five colorways.  Of course, I vote for silver on charcoal.  If it weren't (ahem) $140 / roll, it would be on it's merry way to me right now.  

I do feel like I've seen these robots before.  And if I ever have a bambino's room to decorate, I can choose from pink or one of these colors:

Oh, who am I kidding, the bambino gets the analog wallpaper.  You just can't beat it.  Here's more of Amy's paper:

I'm kinda loving these graphics from Aimee even more than the wallpaper:

and, here that analog it is again, in technicolor!!

Aimee has also been commissioned by Vans to do a line of sneakers (none of which I could find on the Vans site)

Yep, I could rock that tote.  But call me, Aimee when you make an analog version.

Time Bandits

It's an uncharacteristically bleary dreary day here in Austin and I need a lil' pick me up. Since I'm a responsible mom and have to say no to drugs, I've gotta get my fix from the exciting world of art and design. Despite the sludgy quagmire that is my "brain" these days (from lack of sleep, not the drugs I said no to, duh), I have managed to wrangle up some heelarious artworks designed to make you giggle from mind bending time warpiness. Like this:

Natasha Lawes is the super hair and makeup stylist responsible for creating the look for this ad campaign. Because everyone enjoys watching Marie Antoinette eat a weiner.

The inimitable Whorange introduced me to the amazing works of Ron English, who produced these bastard children of KISS and Botticelli. I cannot even tell you how much I want this. I may have to rework a few of my own vintage paintings...

Check out Tula's awesome writeup on his work, as well as her hilarious recounting of her first concert here. She went to KISS. I went to Ratt. Round one in the coolness contest definitely goes to Tula. But you know, what comes around goes around...

I've got a space open for this image by Serra Glia, too. The fire extinguisher is sure to quench any fire and brimstone that may threaten my home.

I want a baby unicorn.

Every urban apartment complex needs a guardian angel lurking beneath its windows, right?

Kings of anachronism the Timorous Beasties infect a traditional gentrified toile with a dodgy London vibe.

A closeup of the pattern printed on china shows that toile can bust a cap in your ass. Perfect print for sofas and other seating, yes?

No stranger to the vagaries of toile himself, artist Richard Saja creates dichotomies of time in his Historically Inaccurate series.

By day this innocuous toile piece depicts the marriage of King Arthur to Guinevere, but by night glow in the dark superheroes sewn into the fabric appear to show you a hallucinatory good time. No drugs required.