Bookshelf Makeover

Remember that time I ranted about how I hate design trends because people ignore what does and doesn't actually work in their room? Maybe I'm eating a few of my words today. Just one or two though.

Much like the perpetually popular skinny jean, bookshelves organized by color aren't flattering for everyone. In fact in my old apartment, they would have looked terrible and out of place and sort of like I am trying too hard. Which is what most design trends do. The problem with trends is that unless they are rooted in classic design movements like the Eames chair I want nothing to do with them. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good Eames chair, I do. I love seeing them everywhere because they are generally so awesome and pretty and I am still kicking myself for not snagging the white ones my grandparents used to own. But I loathe hearing people talk about them because that conversation always seems to go like this:

INT. EXTREMELY TRENDY COFFEE SHOP- DAY

Person A and Person B are both young, trendy 20-somethings who wear indoor scarves and oversize tortoiseshell glasses that show more of their cheek bones than their actual eyes, which probably don't need glasses in the first place. They are enjoying extremely bitter lattes and feeling good about their decisions in life, especially their decision to drink heinously expensive coffee that is organic and shipped in from the rain forest of a remote country that probably doesn't exist. 

PERSON A 

You know what I really need? An EAMES CHAIR. An EAMES CHAIR would make. my. apartment. O-M-G.

PERSON B

Oh yes, I just DIE over EAMES CHAIRS. I want one in every color in every corner of my loft and also at every table and maybe as a nightstand, side table and toilet paper holder as well.You really aren't a proper adult if you don't have at least one in your apartment. You're just, like, a regular chair owner with chairs from like Target. GROSS.

PERSON A

Yes, I will sell my soul and also possibly default on my student loans in order to acquire this paean to aesthetic greatness because without one in my life, my apartment is just a closet-sized Ikea storeroom and everything is the WORST and how will people know I'm cool and have excellent taste?

PERSON B

Let's pull out our iPhones and look on Etsy for some vintage EAMES CHAIRS right now!!!!

 FADE TO BLACK

Enough of that tomfoolery.

Back to business.

In my current apartment, I have just one bookshelf and it is in my bedroom, which isn't lacking for color but could stand to look more visually organized. This weekend, I decided to give it a try and see how much of an impact it would truly make.

Here's what I learned: I read mostly black and white books so maybe I should start choosing my books by the color of their spine. As you can see, I am lacking in yellow and green ones.

But ALSO my bookshelf does look a lot cleaner and less cluttered so, fine. I will keep it this way. You win this time, trend!

Here, see for yourself: (and btw I didn't leave my dresser drawer open like a lazy slob, it's just broken because Helen used to own it and broke it) (but then gave it to me for free like a magical free furniture fairy so I can't complain.)

BEFORE

AFTER

Not thrilling enough? Ok how about a side-by-side comparison:

You are so mesmerized by this, I know. Just wait until I tackle my closet, which is a place I wholeheartedly endorse organizing by color and also by sleeve-length.

Monday Blues

Aren't Mondays the WORST? I would rather be doing almost anything than sitting at my desk with a giant pile of paperwork staring me down. Can't I just lounge around in this marvelous blue library all day instead?

Images: Elle Decor España via Coco+Kelley

Ikea FTW!

If moving taught me one thing it is that I have way too many books. I have so many books they fill my bookshelves and also line my desk and form a tower next to my bed. There may or may not also be a pile in my closet and some under my bed as well. I decided to sell a bunch a few weeks ago in an attempt to make more room on the shelves but then chickened out and wound up selling only 10. I think I need help. My good friend has a rule I would like to adopt. He saves only the books he will read again or recommend to a friend. When I apply this rule to my own collection, I realize I can part with roughly half my library. Am I really going to read Anna Karenina again? How often do I thumb through Shakespeare? (Answer:  When I need a good insult)

I realize giving away half my books will be pretty traumatic but there is a silver lining here. My bookshelves can look pretty again and not cluttered and boring! This is a good thing because Ikea just created this amazing galvanized shelving unit and it costs a measly $15.  Reducing my book collection is a good excuse to buy new bookshelves right?

Here are some awesome things about this shelving unit:

**It is pretty

**It is cheap

**It weighs 11 lbs which means I can carry it up to my 4th floor apt by myself

I would like to have two side-by-side along a wall of my bedroom. I think I would accessorize with some small succulents potted in brightly colored ceramic pots and a few fabric-covered boxes to soften up the look.

Image: Ikea

My Favourite Things

If I am ever fortunate enough to own a cottage in the English countryside, this is pretty much exactly how it will look. The home of Fiona Douglas of Bluebellgray is so deliciously feminine I just want to hold decadent tea parties and surround myself with my best girlfriends and a pile of fashion magazines. Sounds like heaven, no?

Images: Design*Sponge

Pet Peeves

I realize I am only an amateur designer and the only portfolio I have is in my head but when it comes to design, I have a lot of opinions. In fact, I have so many opinions and pet peeves that I've decided to compile a list. In the interest of time and also your attention span, I'll spare you the full list and stick to the highlights.

1) Art work that isn't the right size for the wall

What's the tiny thing next to the door? This simply will not do.

 All too often I see framed art that doesn't quite take up enough space and this annoys me.  When I see a small painting all by itself on a large, long wall I start to feel nervous and my eyes dart around the room looking for companions to hang next to or around it. People. If you have a large expanse of space, fill it up! Take a chance and blow up a photograph until it is so large it practically looks pixelated. Create a gallery of matching prints or hang a bunch of unrelated items a la Kate Spade's showroom. In the long run, your walls will have more visual impact and your space will feel homier and more sophisticated.

Much better, no?

2) Rooms that are too 'matchy', AKA 'theme rooms'

Something is not right! Something is quite wrong!

This really drives me crazy. I grew up watching HGTV and other design shows and while their tastes and range have improved over the years, I am concerned by the lingering attitude that a room has 'style' and is 'decorated' simply because everything in the room is coordinated. This does not show any personality nor does it show you have any taste. This only shows that you can make things match. That's just lazy decorating if you ask me! Your space will be a thousand times more interesting if there is a variety of color. Your rooms have your stuff in it and this stuff hopefully took years to accumulate! I certainly hope you have not spent the last 10 years buying things that are only Tiffany blue and chocolate brown. Decorating should be an organic process and it can take years. It should not be completed in an afternoon at HomeGoods.(Though I love me some HomeGoods.)

I know. There's a lot going on here. But isn't it exciting?!? There's so much to look at!

3) Lack of pattern and texture

Good bones but too white! And too sparse! And PLEASE buy an accent rug!

One of my former employers decided that my style is decidedly "English" because I like a lot of texture and layers and for everything to be crowded together. While she was referring to flowers, I think this also applies to my style in interior design. I adore pattern and texture. They are stimulating and sophisticated and oh so versatile. The bolder the better. Rooms that lack both pattern and texture just look flat and boring. They feel cold, like a waiting room. Even the smallest hint of pattern can make all the difference in a room so if you can't quite commit to bright colors or a big floral rug or toile wallpaper, start small and introduce patterned pillows for your couch or textured placements or tablecloths, which can be changed when you get bored. Even the smallest little touches can make all the difference.

Rooms don't require bright colors to add depth. These neutral colors emphasize the subtle patterns.

4) The 'Build a Room' Technique

This room is lovely but seriously lacks personality.

Everyone has at least one friend who is guilty of going to one store and buying the bulk of their furniture and decorative items all at once. In the age of Ikea and CB2, this isn't the worst you can do. But please for the love of god, spend the rest of your days adding in some variety so I don't walk into your house and think I have stepped into a catalog. At some point I will drink too much and start referring to your furniture by their store-given names. Do you mind if I perch on the edge of your Karlstad? Wow, I didn't know the Triumph Lounge Chair came in this color! It will happen. I promise you.

I love the variety of style and substance in this dining room.

Last but not least...

5) Design Trends

Just a few recent trends...

Hey, I love faux bois, coral and cardboard antlers as much as the next girl but if you have too many trendy items all at once, it begins to feel like you decorated with a list.  Danish Modern console? Check.  Eames Chair? Check. Birch Tree Wallpaper? In every room. I'm not saying I'm against any of these things or that I haven't fallen for at least three trends every single year but there is a line that must be drawn somewhere. Your home should be a reflection of you and your style and tastes.Who else has your taste? No one, that's who.

Let's also be honest here: sometimes we buy stuff because it is fashionable, not because it necessarily fits us. (Ahem, Skinny Jeans) God knows I love me some rainbow-colored bookshelves but they are not for everyone or for every room.  While they might look amazing against your white walls, surrounded by your neutral couch and love seat, they would look completely out of place in my living room, where they would compete with the other colors and patterns in the room. Also? Don't waste your money on something that you might get sick of in a year or two once it goes out of fashion. Books can be rearranged and that lucite chair from Ikea can be sold on Craiglist but that coat rack with a giant mustache on it that was on virtually every blog ever? In another six months no one is going to want that shit. Your tastes will change from time to time but unless you can afford to redecorate as often as you replace your toothbrush, I'd stick to stuff you know you will want to have around for forever. And by 'forever' I mean 'until you have to move and decide to overhaul your entire style from scratch'.

Images: Elle Decor, The Home Show, Domino, Real Simple, Living, Etc,  CB2, Apartment Theray, My Deco

Design Soulmates

 I have been freaking out over Matt Berman's Manhattan apartment, which was featured recently on Elle Decor. Isn't it just so yum?? I cannot stop staring at the photographs because the apartment gets better with every photo in their slideshow.  From the artwork below the bookshelves to the cubed coffee table, green dining room chairs, and oversize mood board, this space has excellent attention to detail and a well thought out floor plan. I love how the masculine heft of the larger pieces are balanced by lighter benches, patterned accessories and soft rugs. Basically, I would do anything to live here. Berman's aesthetic sense is so amazing, I would like to cut out his prefrontal cortex and just insert it right into my brain. Then I would decorate my apartment to look like his. And then I would give him back his prefrontal cortex because it really isn't nice to go around cutting out chunks of people's brains. Also, ew.

Moving on:

Look at the watercolor of Mae West! Check out the hanging lamp above the table! Why don't I have big branch arrangements on my table!?!?!

This is my ideal workspace: simple and not fussy with interesting things to look at when I am lacking inspiration/procrastinating/bored out of my mind.

Images: Elle Decor

Quote Unquote

Everybody knows I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with bookshelves. This dates all the way back to..well I don't actually know. But I'm sure I was very young and it was probably very amusing.

We currently have two tall bookshelves in our living room and in my bedroom I have a pile on my nightstand (not for decorative effect) as well as on my desk and lining both windowsills. It's probably time to get rid of some of this clutter. Lately I have been considering hanging wall-shelves above my desk and these fun shelves from Fusca Design are much better than the boring Ikea ones I had in mind. Aren't they awesome? Shouldn't I own them?

Image:  Fusca Design via Mint

Black is the new Black

WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT 

If I were a Hollywood media mogul, this is what my office would look like. I would sit in that comfy chair and just yell out ideas for someone to transcribe so I could keep the desk clear of laptops and other such nuisances. Also, maybe I would wear a gold lame jumpsuit.

Too much?

Image: i suwannee

D-V-Disaster

Hanna and I have a problem. Well actually, I have a problem. Hanna doesn't care so much. She's not nearly as neurotic as I am.

Our dvds are taking over our living room.

Ok, that's an exaggeration.

Most of our dvds are currently stacked in a semi-neat pile that is almost as tall as I am. Then there is a smaller stack against the bookshelf. There are more in a garment box under the side chair. A bunch of others are on my desk. There might also a pile leaning against the closet on top of a shoebox full of feathers.

What's a girl to do?

I hate the way dvds look. They take up a lot of space. They aren't aesthetically pleasing to me. They are hard to organize by color. Nicole over at Making it Lovely chronicled their dvd plight and came up with a simple solution: they hid them.

I like this.

Too bad we don't have room to devote whole cabinets to our growing DVD collection. That would be heavenly. So far here are my ideas:

1) Buy colorful boxes and store the dvds on the bottom shelf of both bookshelves so they look need and symmetrical and best of all: they will be hidden.

2) Give up and make space on our bookshelves.

3) Buy a tv stand with room to store or shelve the dvds to keep all our viewing pleasure in one place.

4) Thow away all the boxes and keep just the discs themselves organized by genre in pretty binders.

Thoughts????? Suggestions????? Words of Wisdom?????

Image: I Suwannee

Liner Notes

I have a book addiction. Not only do buy too many, too often, but I am also incapable of weeding out my inventory. There are no less than three crates of books stored at my parents' house in Connecticut. We currently have two full bookshelves in our living room and there are two more crates of books stored under my desk in my bedroom taking up all my legroom. I have been scouring Craigslist hoping to find an identical set of bookshelves for our living room so we can frame the fireplace with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and keep all our books contained in one room but so far, no such luck.

You might think I should stop at two large bookshelves. You might advise me to consider donating some of the more embarrassing titles in my collection (Ahem, Mr. Rogers' Life Lessons) or sell some to The Strand and use the credit to buy some gifts . You might tell me to stop obsessing over mundane household object like bookshelves.

But you would be wrong.

I have also been nagging Hanna to consider placing yet another set of shelves in our kitchen since we have a lot of space and not as many cabinets and storage. I envision a section for cookbooks, some pretty bowls and bar ware displayed, several colorful boxes for storing utensils and gadgets we rarely use. In general, it would look hyper-organized and colorful and it would make our kitchen look much less cluttered.

I noticed these shelves over on AT: San Francisco and thought they might be an easy solution. I am always looking to incorporate interesting patterns and the idea of lining the underside of the shelves would be a subtle way to add a hint of color in our white-walled kitchen. Plus, I always love a good project and an excuse to visit Kate's Paperie.

Stay tuned for some thoughts on the shelves in our tiny bathroom!

Image: I Suwannee via AT: San Francisco

No title. Too tired.

I am moody this morning because I had a fantastic weekend away in Maine and now I am back at work and the skies are grey and I woke up too late to shower and now my legs are woefully unshaven and basically I am gross.

My mood is brightened a little (literally) by the Brooklyn living room of Michele Michael, a freelance editor and prop stylist with Elephant Props and Patrick Moore, a furniture designer and author/illustrator. Michael divides her time between Brooklyn and Maine (holla!) and her modern yet homey living room inspires me to reconsider glass coffee tables and my inclination to shove the couch against the wall. I'm not sure our living room is big enough to handle this look but I think their customized bookshelves are fantastic- they are more unique than your average Billy bookshelf and they complement their mid-century couch beautifully. Who am I kidding though- the bright pink and neon blue pillows, yellow glass lamp and white leather pouffe are what really sold me!

Image: Design*Sponge