Archive for December, 2010

Where People Live

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

I’m not normally in the habit of reposting house tours, but there was a lot to love in THIS ONE even though I’m not really sure what is says. Google translator made kind of a mess of what I believe to be a well written and articulate article about what I’m assuming is a wonderful interior designers home in Sweden.

Marie Olsson Nylander’s best tip: “Stop over decorate the window sill … Decorate a bit!”

See what I mean? Translators make a mess. I agree with my assumption of the gist of her tip. I don’t like window treatments either.

Love the mix of vintage and the great scale shifts that happen in this big box of white. Feels like a comfy, eclectic home with just the appropriate amount of well curated clutter. Trust me, there are lots things to love. Things that are about to get an inappropriate amount of this: !

Exhibit A: That sofa! That rug! One and two on my most wanted dream list.

Exhibit B: Those ceilings! Those floors! That Bertoia! (Although, I’ve used a Bertoia as a desk chair and all you get is waffle butt and a backache.)

Exhibit C: That coffee table! That lamp! Those textiles! That desk! Those Lucite chairs!

Exhibit D: That blue Eames mixed with the black! That lamp! That sofa! That rug!

Exhibit E: Magical view into Swedish paradise. That’s totally photoshopped, right?

Dammit! I just noticed that Desire to Inspire just posted this as well as a bunch of other great sites when I googled to see if Marie Olsson Nylander had a website. Well, this is why I don’t normally repost house tours. So if you’ve seen this, I apologize.

It’s still awesome.

Reader Dilemma

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Not to sound incredibly lame, but I tend to get a few emails a day asking for tidbits of advice or clarification about all sorts of things. Why? My charm and wit? My rocking six pack abs? My unfailingly keen decision making powers? The awesome power to eat sandwiches? Something like that for sure.

Since my inbox isn’t giving anyone else but me endless hours of decision making joy, I thought this might be a fun new thing to try.

Here’s the plan. I shamelessly repost someones burning question (I ask nicely), give a little context to the dilemma and of course my two cents. Then you guys can as well, since it’s fun having opinions.

Ann & Dabney Inquire:

“hi morgan-
i don’t often email people out of the blue, but my partner and i are stuck.  we went to see a rug yesterday on craigslist, and can’t decide if we love it or if it’s butt ugly.   we need a backup opinion and, in our minds, i’m afraid only you will do.  (we both have been obsessing about your blog recently.)  if you don’t have time to weigh in, or don’t want to, we totally understand.  we will still keep reading your blog, and muttering to ourselves periodically, “what would morgan do?”

usually, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but the purchase violates the $100 rule – not by much, but enough to make the decision pause-worthy.  here’s what we know: it’s a huge 100% wool, 9′ x 12′, thick berber pile moroccan rug. from the look of the label, i want to say this sucker looks like it’s from the 70s at the earliest.   we usually have strong opinions on things, but we can’t quite figure out the bright navajo meets swank beni ourain vibe it’s got going on.  and if that’s a good thing.  yet we still find ourselves thinking about today…”

Flattery will get you all over this blog.

But wait! Ann & Dabney have a really incredible (and giant) converted home.

I mean come on! They have style to spare. Check out their house tour HERE.

Below is a cell phone snap of the rug in question:

OK. Here are my two cents to rub together:

Yeah. Go for it.

Seriously, it’s a 9×12 wool rug in what looks like pretty excellent shape – that is a hard find my friends. Used Craigslist rugs are usually THRASHED and skeevy, and at around $100, this isn’t a huge investment for something that big. You already have a number of colorful patterned rugs scattered around your very awesome pad, so this isn’t going to stick out like a complete hot mess.

To clarify – the $100 rule is mostly a guide to keep budgets on track. It’s not so hard and fast, but gives a sense of where your boundaries are and context for certain purchases. I find it helpful, but there have been times I violate it of course. It’s like a mental wallet strap. Just look at Ikea, you can really only get a jute rug that big for this low price.

I’m pretty sure that this is not super duper vintage (it looks very fresh and machine made) but who cares! It’s cool and graphic and weird and is going to make a floor statement. Trust me, if you can’t stop thinking about it – you love it – it is very unique with a hint of that tribal flair that is so the jam right now. I say, throw it in the bedroom with the small white bed and if it doesn’t fit, go for the fireplace room under that great slab table. Move some things around and try it out, its always nice to switch things up.

What do you guys think? YES or BLECH?

Bar Top

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

The breezeway between our side yard, the house and the garage has this funky little pony wall that was cut down at some point. The original layout of the breezeway is a bit of a mystery, but I believe the entire area used to be enclosed.

See? Someone just hacked it down. I’ve considered various options for making this area useful and have come to one conclusion.

Bar time. Hello.

Yeah, this is looking like a party house now.

My idea is to source a ten foot slab and then secure it to a frame bolted to the brick pony wall with a steel pipe installed in the right corner for support. I am slab crazy. Have a problem? Throw a slab at it.

Easy enough, right? Maybe…

If it all goes horribly awry, I’ll probably just make a top with some long redwood slats in a frame of 1×2’s or get super nuts and weld up a metal top.