CHRISTMAS BEDDING

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It causes me pain to think about decorating for the holidays but Christmas bedding sets with all those cute snowmen and snowflakes just makes me smile. Most years, the thought of drifting off to dreamland surrounded by that Jolly Old Elf and his cohorts is enough to get me off my duff and get busy.

But this year...not so much because last Christmas when I was watching movies in bed, I spilt hot chocolate all over my Frosty the Snowman comforter (dang it). Frosty now has a dark tan; at least parts of him do. It's sad, but since there's nothing I can do about it, I'm telling myself that I was kind tired of my old holiday bedding anyway. There's just no sense in crying over a chocolate brown Frosty?

So, now I have to make a decision on which direction I want to take my holiday bedroom decor. Do I buy a poinsettia bedding set and go with a traditional red and green color scheme, another blue and white Christmas bedding set similar to my old one or buy something funky like one of The Nightmare Before Christmas bedding set collections? I decorated one teen girls' bedroom for Christmas a year or so ago with a set of 101 Dalmations bedding. The comforter set wasn't specifically designed for the holidays, but the colors were absolutely perfect! Those of you with black and white bedding sets should take note of that fact and work with what you have!

I'm going to take a look at all of the above and I'll get back to you on what I find but meanwhile feel free to share any suggestions.

Designer to Watch-Erin Martin

We stumbled upon the work of Erin Martin the other day and we think we're in love!

Her work is organic in a very sophisticated way. The words "organic" or "sustainable" get thrown around a lot these days but very people get it right. We love her use of natural materials, muted colors and texture variety.

Her designs seem very original too-as no two houses are alike.

Here is a sample of her work:

To see more of her work, visit Erin Martin Design.

Real Cool Barstool

We totally dig this barstool from Arteriors. It has an unique shape to it, and we love the organic look/feel.

The barstool sells at $450/each with free shipping.

You can find the specifications in our barstool section.

Inspirational Decorating Photos

We would like to make a little announcement today. A few months back we announced the launch of Digging Decor, which originally was conceived as a design blog.

As the months went by, we decided the better approach was to re-design it as a decorating community site, with the focus on decorating photos.

If you're anything like us, you rather look at the pictures than read the text, right? The goal for the site is to be the largest library of decorating photos, all well-indexed and well-categorized for easy searching with proper credit given to the original source.

We hate to toot our own horn, but the site is quite lovely and quite sleek. In addition to having tons of pictures, you can also join the community to ask fellow members questions like-- how to do this, where to find what etc. You can also post your own blog, upload picture of your favorite room, and get updated on deals and designed-related events.

We would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it if you come visit the site, and better yet, be a part of our community and submit your favorite decorating photos. Thanks in advance!

Interior Design Photos

Vogue September Issue-A True Economic Indicator

If you watch the news and read the papers, you can get reallly confused. One day the housing index is up, the next day it's down. One day the stock market roars for some weird reason, the next day it tanks for other weirder reasons.

And you know what the best economic indicator there is?

The Vogue September issue.

We just got it today and it's nice and fat again. True, you have to flip through hundred of ads to get to some flimpsy content, but the nice part about that is, advertisers are spending money again! Which can leads to all kind of good things.

And we don't know about you, but we are having this frugality fatigue, big time. Enough already with all this self-deprivation. Sure, the way we spend money is forever changed, but if you really really want those Channel clogs and you don't have to cut into the rent to pay for it, why the heck not...

So here's to Vogue, and to better times ahead!

PS There's a lovely feature on an art-filled apartment. Click here to see the slideshow.

Source: Vogue

Sleek Design from Fu Tung Chen

We stumbled accross Fu Tung Chen's work a few years back and we're still in love. Known for exquisite concrete design, his work has such an elegance and refined quality to it.

Here are some samples of his portfolio...

Photos: Fu Tung Cheng

Ralph Lauren's Decor Style

Did you see the spread in last month Elle Decor on Ralph Lauren?  His place is to die for, seriously.

Ralph Lauren has been around for so long. We remember saving up for a set of his paisley bedsheets in the 80S! His style evolves a bit, but not much. We suppose that's why they call it classic, right?

Here are some pictures from Elle Decor in case you haven't seen them.

All photos from Elle Decor

We've just added Ralph Lauren fabrics and wallpapers to our fabric store.  You can check them out here...

Decorating in Neutral Colors

We love, love Reed Krakoff clothes. Have you seen it? He does amazing American sportswear. Classic, comfortable, and sooo classy...

What strikes us most about the below ad is how pretty the neutral room looks though. It's classic, modern and timeless. Like a perfect black dress.

For neutral, classic furniture like this, we like Bolier upholstery. Really pricey, but they are beautiful in person.

Here are some examples:

To see more of the collection, check out Bolier's web site.

One Very Cool Arm Chair

It's usually a good idea to add a couple of arm chairs to your living room configuration. You can do a really fun fabric to punch in some colors ; add some dimensions of the room by varying the height so it's not so flat, and perhaps most importantly, style it up a bit.

Here's a really cool one that we like:

The chair is made by Jessica Charles, a division of Hancock and Moore. The price depends on the fabric, but it ranges about $1400-1600 or so.

Picking Colors for Your Decor

Don't you find coordinating colors to be the hardest thing to do? It's really is a headache, actually, trying to get a paint to go with the fabric that coordinates with everything else.

Robert Allen has a very nice tool that we thought you might like. They have different room themes already mixed & matched for you.

See below for some samples:

To see more, click here.

PS The paint is from Sherwin Williams. You can also search for fabrics from Robert Allen site from the link above. It doesn't give pricing information, but you can find that on our Robert Allen fabrics section by entering the name of the pattern in the search box.

La Fiorentina Fabric

We get a lot of inquiries on the fabric used on this sofa, and we finally found it!

The fabric is called La Fiorentina and it is designed by Ashley Hicks for Lee Jofa.  It's made of 100% linen and comes in several colorways.  The pattern number is 2430-GWF and you can find it in our Lee Jofa fabric section.  The color code shown here  is 97. 

Living in a Mansion

Don't you love reading about how other people live? Rich people, specifically. It gives us a little escape and a little fantasy, don't you think?

If you haven't had a chance to read the NY Times today, check out this article about this couple living in a mansion in Newport. What interests us most about it was not that the house was grand, but how this couple--who seem really unpretentious--manage to live a very authentic life that reflects who they are. There's a quote in it that we love--"At some point you'll have to come to terms with who you are, however unpleasant, if you are going to be anything at all".

Not to mention the pictures are eye-candies too. To see the slide show, click here. To read the article, click here.

Source: NY Times

New Online Design Magazines

Online decorating magazines seem to be a growing sector, starting with the success of Lonny. 

There are a couple of new ones that you might want to check out.  The first one is Adore Home, which is an Australian online magazine.  The content is a bit thin for the first issue, but it looks like it has potential.

The second one is Rue Magazine.  This one is huge (over 200 pages). The first issue has a large section devoted to design blogs.  This one seems really exciting if they can keep up the content.

RED BEDDING is HOT THIS FALL

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People, let me tell you that red bedding is hot this fall! Those of you with a tendency towards cool colors may be skeptical and wondering what would make me say (read: scream) such a thing. I can answer that question in one word: catalogs.

This morning I drug my sorry self into the kitchen as usual pinning my hopes for the day on a nice, hot cup of coffee with just a pinch of cinnamon. The java came through as planned and while I was sipping and savoring the aroma that had been missing in my morning since last fall, I thumbed through a few of my favorite catalogs that had been piling up as of late.

As bleary as I was, I spotted the trend even before the caffiene had a chance to kick in. In each and every one of the catalogs I saw red bedding. There was red and black plaid bedding, striped bedding and perhaps my personal favorite was featured in the Pottery Barn catalog, red bedding that had pictures of cardinals on it, which are my favorite birds especially in winter. Their bright red feathers add color to an otherwise bleak landscape.

Zebra bedding is still one of the most popular girls bedding sets but the zebra print and hot pink color combination that was so popular last spring and summer is dressed for the season at hand with scarlet red satin, silk or taffeta fabrics and red and black damask bedding collections have a glow all their own. Yes, dear reader, to say that red bedding is hot this fall may very well be an understatement. To be so obvious that I can spot it before my second cup of coffee, you really can't doubt that it's a trend.

Bonjour!

Comment avez-vous été?

As you can see, I still have Paris on my mind! Many thanks to all those incredible readers who sent in suggestions...I was happily ticking off your recommendations checklist as I went from city to city. I am now back from a brilliant vacation and have dived headlong into home renovations. No better antidote to a vacation's hangover than having a home full of super enthusiastic workers and a wall full of paint samples!  

Now excusez moi, while I go and round up the enthu patakas (literal translation: enthusiastic firecrackers) and stop them from painting over my light fixtures (true story!). Here are some goodies from Espacio Living for your kind perusal in the meantime...

Au revoir!

(Oh and, I am slowly getting to your emails. My work inbox has taken priority over my blog inbox; so if you wrote to me, you shall hear back...just a tad bit late though)