Real Rooms | Amateur Photography

I've been a design magazine whore for as long as I can remember, like a Pavlovian dog I instantly start to salivate as soon as a new issue of Living Etc hits the stands.  The pristinely styled spaces are so perfectly lovely and profoundly unattainable my head starts to spin.  But even the most lush interior landscape presents itself as a dream:  there are no electrical cords or family photos.  Stylists and photo editors work tirelessly to maintain the fantasy. So after years of pining away for the unattainable glossy spaces, I'm a bit bored of it all.

Consider this post a pallet cleanser.

All rooms shot by amateurs.  All found in various corners of the interwebs.

Isn't it nice to look at a bit of a mess for once?  I would love to see a magazine spread with similar honesty (and no, leaving a pair of shoes in the shot doesn't count)

I would love to see the spaces you are living in.  Go ahead send me some pics, if enough people join the party I'll do a post with your spaces.  Be sure to let me know if you would like for me to link to you along with the picture or if you should remain anonymous.

Sofas Of Our Lives (SOOL)

Like sands through the hourglass, bitches! It wasn't easy, but I have finally finally finally taken some new pictures of my house so you can watch the drama unfold. Now, this is primarily a tale of conflicting couches, but stay tuned for side plots involving angled walls, terrible tv and stereo equipment, annoying door situations, and the obligatory regrets, excuses and fantasies.

Exposition:

Today's episode is set in a quirky 60s ranch house with issues -- like a crazy angled rock fireplace, a weird recess in the back wall, a wall-way, and a ridiculous door that opens into the room. Click le pic for a larger image.

The Players:

Hailing from Ethan Allen via craigslist, navy blue chesterfield sofa is petite yet all enveloping, soft yet remarkably supportive. Sexy as though she may be, the vagaries of time have not been kind to her (in other words, my cat scratched the crap out of her backside), and she's feeling abused, neglected, beaten down. Let's just say her name is Krystle.

Lean, powerful, and expensive, tan couch set hails from Elite Leather via ebay. 100% aniline, he don't mess around with frou frou binders or chemicals, preferring instead to flash his scars and wrinkles like the badges of patinaed wisdom they are. He may be a tough, no nonsense kind of a guy, but he also knows how to make sweet sweet love to your body. We will call him Blake.

The Interloper:

Blake and Krystle have always had an uneasy relationship. Who ever thought that navy and tan could be happy in a black and gray world, anyway? But through years of proximity (and counseling with a similarly hued rug), they've learned to make it work. Until she came along.

Could this skinny slut be anyone other than Alexis, the cougar of couches? 70s rosewood casing with (not so) virgin wool upholstery, Alexis is compact and calculating. Even though I knew Blake and Krystle -- while not an eternal match -- were at least reasonably happy together, I let Alexis sing her sweet siren craigslist song to me. Basically, she said, "I'm cheap! I'm easy! And I'm sexy as hell!"

And she was. All of these things. But she scraps like a hyena with both Blake and Krystle, plus she's a rock hard bitch. So to the office she went. Well, at least the office is looking better.

The story should probably end here, with a tenuous but palpable equilibrium. But there is always conflict brewing on the backburner...

Side Plots:

Technology, with its innumerable wires and hideous shiny blackness, is the bane of my existence. Also, my inability to replace those chairs with small cabinets housing the speakers is driving me to distraction. This is an endless source of real life conflict between me and The Hunny, who is seemingly bound by a testosterone oath not to crapoflage his ugly stereo equipment.

Then there is the door of hell that prevents sofa seating against this wall -- the wall that faces the tv. Good planning!

This is the best furniture configuration yet. We have tried every possible permutation, and here it is. I should be happy. There are starving children in China. Not happy. Never happy. Want new couch. Want new house with no weird floorplan issues. Want to stop wanting things. So, SOOL lovers -- tell me what's next. What happens in the next episode of the drama? Do Blake and Krystle get broken up or do they kiss and make up? Does Alexis the sexy 70s set get sold to a dealer for a buttload of cash? Do I reconfigure the seating yet again??? Nevermind, I am way too damn tired for that.

Do I buy this sofa off craigslist for 50% of the retail price, thereby turning my living room into a satellite of Karly's house, since she has the exact same couch? I am 99.9% sure this is a bad idea for many many many reasons, but I like to hold craigslist bargains in my mind like a pebble and rub them constantly.

As if you didn't already know that the real drama was me.

Binge and Purge

As you've probably guessed, I have a decorating disorder. It goes a little something like this: watch, wait, buy nothing, get jittery from watching and waiting and buying nothing, buy everything, tire of almost everything, sell everything. Repeat ad infinitum. I've sold most of the big ticket items from my craigslist jag so inventory is now on the low end, and you all can guess what happens next... Except that I'm kind of enjoying the purge -- so much so that I might dig a little deeper and sell more. It's liberating, and I'm not mad about having a few extra benjamins kicking it in my bank account. But it's not like the wily monkey on my back is giving up without a fight. He's always tempting me with stuff like this:

Brian Park

I really appreciate the all overness of this look, and it does appeal to my need to cover every square inch of space with something -- be it paint, wallpaper, patterned floors, furniture, etc. I wouldn't want the empty parts to feel neglected, because no one like to see a sad room.

Darryl Wilson

On the other hand, a minimal palette and restrained use of furniture and accessories is so refreshing. I think it's hard to do this look without it feeling unfinished or sterile, but when it works, it's motherbleeping sublime. Check it:

OWI

Head Over Heels

Shoot Factory

Style Files

Marina Abramovic

Elle Decor

Sure, it doesn't have to be all white, but it doesn't hurt. More color and variety in materials = more temptation to head into binging territory. Oh, but the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom, you say? Quite so. Quite so.

Miles Redd

Lee Radziwill's home

Anna Sui's home

Miles Redd

Christoph Theurer

Kelly Wearstler

Rachel Whiting

Now that you've had a visual feat, what do you guys think? Binge or purge? Excess or humility? Lady Gaga or Neko Case? Angel food cake or devil's food with chocolate molten center and sprinkles on top?

Oh, and don't worry -- SOOL is coming up soon. Pinky swear!