Rainbow Brite

Hello, darling readers of Design Crisis!  Your hair looks fantastic today. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Tula and I’m usually turning tricks on a blog called WHORANGE.  Like many of you, I rely heavily upon my daily Design Crisis fix to get me out of bed and through the day.  Therefore, when Erin and Karly asked me to be a guest blogger, I felt like an addict being given the keys to the crack house Miss America - honored, delighted, and ready to embark upon a glamour-filled journey.

But, before I launch into the talent portion of the competition, I would like to acknowledge the little fellow who made my debut today possible -- Erin’s newborn son.  Welcome to this world, handsome guy.  You’ve got yourself a tremendously talented, witty, and inspiring mom who is admired both internationally and intergalactically.  And that Karly lady she hangs around with ain’t too bad either.

That being said, let’s sparkle, shall we?

Today's inspiration comes to us from a ditty made famous by my hero -- Judy Garland.  Judy was a troubled gal with a million dollar voice and Hollywood at her fingertips.  In other words...she’s just like us. Please sing along if you know the lyrics.

Somewhere over the…

Yep, you got it.

Rainbow Reproduction.  Making rainbows is an arduous task and one that unicorns do not take lightly.  The combination of carnal chemistry and heavenly lighting is key and extremely rare, but the result is pure magic.  Chris Bishop's educational "Afternoon Delight" is the perfect way to say "I love you" and dispel the myth that rainbows are born of raindrops and sunshine.

Rainbow Kicks.  With the long trek ahead of us, let's pick out some sensible shoes, shall we?   Salvatore Ferragamo's colorful collection ranges from practical platforms to fancy flats.  Since comfort is key, I'll slip on the platforms.

Cue music...

Rainbow Rockers.  As we all know, rainbows and rock stars go together like whiskey and rehab.  Jason Munn of The Small Stakes takes a page from the psychedelic 60s and spins it modern with his vibrant screen prints.  Is anybody else getting the munchies?

Rainbow Cravings.  Remember, you are what you eat.  Therefore, eat pretty.  (Macarons by Paulette.)

Rainbow Poop.  And, poop pretty.

Please, take your time.  No rush.  I'll just be in the next room reading my favorite novel...

Rainbow Wisdom:  If only I could remember what color it was.  A wise person once said, "Color-sorting your bookshelf may look pretty as a pony, but it's as practical as a Pinto."

That wise person was me.  Could have sworn that book was leopard print.  Maybe I'll find it in here...

Rainbow reading.  The Kid's Republic Library in Beijing stocks picture books from all over the world and provides plenty of technicolor hideaways and colorful corridors for tiny readers.   However, something tells me the library doesn't supply these...

Rainbow Rings.  Kiddie coloring meets fabulous finger fashion with Timothy Liles crayon rings.  Speaking of art...

Rainbow Post-Modern.  Yves Klein and Jasper Johns once channeled their inner rainbows with "Yves Peintures" and "0-9".  I think I've found the perfect place to hang them, too...

Rainbow Room.  Designer extraordinaire Gio Ponti knew how to craft a colorful crib and even created the design magazine Domus, which ran from 1928-1999, to show us how.  (Thanks for the tip, Mr. Peacock!)

Rainbow Respite.  These Ferragamos are killing me, people.  One moment please as I rest on this bench.

Rainbow Relaxation.  Speaking of rest, I took a trip to Yosemite over the 4th of July and it looked nothing like this.   Perhaps I should go back in the Fall.   (Illustrations by Scott Hansen.)

Okay, I'm back on my feet.  Let's hustle...

Rainbow Enlightenment.  Did you know that if you close your eyes and envision two unicorns humping, a rainbow will shoot from your third eye?  It's true!

Go ahead and try it.  I'll wait.  (Illustration by Brandi Strickland.)

Rainbow Misfire.  But, keep your third eye trajectory away from the cats!

Illustration by nutandbee

We've finally made it -- the end of the rainbow!  Thank you for taking this journey with me, lovely denizens of Design Crisis.  Sorry, there isn't a pot of gold, field of green, or pocket gnome for you to take home.  Sadly, all that's here is the cold, hard reality of what happens when you indulge too much in a good thing.

Stay pretty, darlings!

tula

Top 10 'Artists I'm Loving Right Now'

Greetings fabulous Design Crisis readers! I'm Andrea from House of Slappy and I'm thrilled to be helping out two of my favorite talented design aficionados while Erin is on new mommy duty. When the opportunity arose for me to contribute, you bet your bottom I jumped at the chance and immediately knew what I would be sharing with you all. I have to admit on some (most) days it is very difficult for me to not get zany with all kinds of miscellaneous topics and to limit the content of my Blog to Real Estate/Interior Design related posts, therefore; let's not waste any more time and get down with some bad-ass art! Hope you enjoy...

My Top 10 'Artists I'm Loving Right Now':

1. Stacey Mark

2. Linn Olofsdotter

 

Laser Light Show Wins!

After months of zero zilch nada progress made on my home due to analysis paralysis, I finally made some decisions and got to work this weekend.  Everyone had awesome suggestions for my room last week, Sherry had the genius idea to use photoshop to test drive designs and I loved From the Right Bank's idea to switch the black wall and paint my fireplace a bright color... but I wasn't up for painting over black.  In fact, you all had so many awesome ideas, I almost had to spend another 6 months in hibernation trying to figure it all out. But!  My mind was about to explode and I had to make a move.  I decided to go with my gut and laser-light-show it up.  A visit to the always brilliant Sanders sealed the deal when he gave his nod of approval and pointed me to the metallic paint (!!!!) display.  Sanders and I quickly agreed on pearl white and I was out the door with some fancy paint and lots and lots of tape:

I started by free-form taping the wall behind my bed, making each stripe about 1.5" wide.

I continued around the corner and onto the 3rd wall.  I didn't tape the entire 3rd wall, I let the design taper off so that there would be a spot for your eye to rest.  Fancy, huh?

I was actually pretty smitten with the kelly green tape (of which I used 180 yards) and was almost remiss to paint it all white, but green angles are too crazy for a bedroom and I had a plan and I was going to stick to it, dammit.

Ta-Da!  Laser-Light kicks kelly green's ass!  To understand how amazing and fabulous this looks in real life, please take the awesomeness of this picture and multiply by eight hundred thousand, give or take.  It is seriously out of control.  Do you want to see more pictures?

A close up.  Don't worry, we're shopping for new lamps next.  (I will be taking Camilla's advice and finding some with black drum shades)

Doesn't the dog bed just make this picture?  What about the crappy bathroom door that's about to be replaced?  Ok, Ok, focus on the wall... j'adore?

last one, promise:

Once Erin comes out of maternity leave, project #1 is to have her take some decent looking photos of this joint.  You'd think I could have at least photoshopped myself out of the mirror.  lazy lazy Karly.

This project was actually super simple despite my gigantor walls, from start to finish (including clean up) it only took about 5 hours.  With all that extra time left over, I decided to tile my living room fireplace.

WHAT?!  HUH?!  But, Karly, you've been indecisive about tile for months!

I know, I know, but Friday night I was having cocktails in Hope's back yard when I spotted a stack of white marble 1/2 inch tile going to waste on her porch.  Apparently it had been given to her roommate who never got around to doing anything with it.  A few drinks in and I was ready to end my tile misery and make an offer:  $3 a sheet.  Done and done.

If I were to search the world over and could have my choice of tiles, would I pick this?  No.  But is it 800 times better than the bare fireplace I've been living with for the last year?  Can I get a hellz yeah?!

Here's a close-up:

It's marble, it matches my room, and it shimmers, so I'm happy with it.  Oh, and it was dirt cheap, so I'm really happy with it.  I did some web sleuthing and found out that in the real world it costs $11 a sheet here, still pretty cheap.

I have visions of finding the world's most perfect tile one day and replacing this but until then I don't have to hang my head in shame when the first thing people see when they walk in my house is a bunch of junky drywall surrounding my fireplace.

So, there you have it, my weekend in a nutshell:  cocktails and decorating, what more could a girl ask for?

PS. stick around this week as we have some badassical guest bloggers in store:  tomorrow Andrea from House of Slappy does a fantastic (I mean really fantastic) artist roundup; Thursday, the always lovely Tula of Whorange brightens up the joint with my favorite palette; then Friday, it's lame old me again wrapping up the week.  Come on back now, ya hear?