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

Cut a Rug

Even though summer is coming and cool, bare floors are perfect for hot Texas temperatures, I've been thinking about rugs a lot. There's nary a stitch of carpet in our house and I like it that way, but I have a feeling baby will not. There's no way I'm installing carpet over our gorgeous wood floors, but I have the overwhelming urge to pad every flat surface in some sort of thick woolen coating. Kind of like this waiting area designed by Tjep:

tjep rugs

Sorry about the bad picture, but are you not sorely tempted to create your very own padded cell from Persian rugs? No more fretting over paint colors or furniture choices, just tell the carpet store you'll take everything they've got in Tabriz, including this guy from Hannes Grebin:

hannes grebin rug

Holy bejeesus, I totally want to start cutting up all my ugly rugs in bizarre shapes and then sewing fringe on the edges. It would solve my everlasting boredom with rectangles problem, while still allowing me to escape from the ubiquitous animal shaped rug (Cows, zebras and ponies, I prefer to see you in your natural state -- no need to undress for me).

richard hutten

Despite disparaging the rectangle, I wouldn't kick this sexy number out of the bedroom. Can you believe the peeps over at AT panned the Downloading Rug by Richard Hutten? Oh well. More for me. Still, I'm not sure baby would appreciate the sense of humor inherent in Hutten's rug -- unless he takes after daddy and is born a baby computer genius. Hopefully he won't take after mommy's swiss cheese brain.

fun on the floor

Somehow I am thinking baby would prefer for me to cover everything in bright bespoke carpet, like this townhouse decorated by Danielle at Fun on the Floor. I actually think the stairs are super cuteamous, but sorry, baby -- ain't got no stairs.

Meanwhile, mommy has some rugs picked out, but they aren't exactly kid friendly.

dan golden

Oh, Dan Golden's rugs make me laugh! It's a good thing his area rugs cost upwards of $13,000, otherwise I'm not sure I could stop myself from buying one.

roadkill rug

And then there's the Roadkill rug by Oooms. Since I'm pretty sure my entire house will look like this in a few years anyway, I figure might as well save my money and pick something else.

dacia manto

This super textural rug by Dacia Manto might make a good base for junior's creations. The neutral background will allow his jelly sculptures to stand out while the shaggy pile will add interest to the rest of the field. Plus I just really like this one.

timorous beasties rug

Did you know that Timorous Beasties -- makers of crazy wallpaper -- also makes rugs? Wait! I think I may have chosen a name for our son...

So, our own timorous beastie probably has some ideas of his own about rugs he'd like (to ruin).

laurens van wieringen

This foam rug by Laurens Van Wieringen is obviously kid approved. Plus it has the added bonuses of texture, pattern and color -- three known strategies to disguise peanut butter and puke.

nani marquina

Apparently, older, undie clad children who can't be bothered to put down the laptop enjoy staring at the melting icecap featured in Nanimarquina's Global Warming rug. Seriously, what is up with this picture?

dan golden

Another Dan Golden gem. This one's a bit more age appropriate. Of course, I still prefer his Morphine rug.

jennifer tee

How cute is this rug by Richard Niessen and Jennifer Tee? This would truly, honestly look great in the nursery, but I shudder to even contemplate its cost. I'm not too bummed, though, because although I love this rug, it's not even my favorite one.

I've pretty much decided on Dialogue, by Anne Lykke:

anne lykke

That's right. Do I care that it looks like (and may actually be) a photoshopped image of a standard shag rug with a few moppets thrown on top? No, I do not. I would cover over my wood floors for this rug. Nevermind that the cat would get lost in a sea of wooly stands, or that we might lose the baby altogether, it looks so soft. And simple. And that sounds good right now.

Interior Photography: Richard Powers

Hi All!  Welcome back to me!  Did you have the best time ever with Raina and Designer's Brew while I was gone?  Did they let you stay up late and watch scary movies?  Yes? Great! I had a major awesome post for you today filled with pics from my vacay and other yummy design goodies, but I've been spending my weekend at SXSW panels in prep for my own, which was yesterday.  In all the craziness, I didn't have time to hunt down the images and links that would tempt your tummy, so, instead, today you get a glimpse at the amazing interior shots by Richard Powers.  I'll tell you all about my best trip ever on Wednesday.  

Not so bad for a quick little post, huh?