are figs now trendy?

dang. the luscious fig with it's mauves, purples, ruby reds & many shades of greens is a fruit i've been taken with for some time now (years, not months or weeks). and of course i adore it for its flavor too. they are so great to cook & bake with. i most recently used figs as my inspiration for the decor8 fabulous sationery contest a couple weeks ago. and they are the inspiration for the color theme in my bedroom decor.

i guess sometimes even the most obscure obsessions can become hip. so i shouldn't complain.

i was excited to see that house martin posted some lovely figgy goodness on her blog this week. my two fave photos are below. both are from marie claire idees.

miss.ivy's day

happy happy birthday ~ ivy, je t'aime!

shagilicious

the shag rug has come a long way since moustaches, visible chest hair, and mood rings were in vogue. i appreciate that it invites you to take off your shoes & stay a while. today is all about exploring the contemporary possibilities with this 3 dimensional approach to floor covering.

(luscious silk shags can be found at peddada )

(a large collection of shag rugs with interesting patterns & colors woven in ~ including 100% custom rugs ~ made at woven accents )

(the seagrass line at nani-marquina is all about the retro lush)

(urba is all about sleek, elegant shag. no that isn't an oxymoron)

(the sg poly rugs from kymo flooring are 100% polyester)

and some nice contemporary rooms utilizing the shag to add comfort & softness:

small plantings

this is a view looking through my new (pre-move-in) living room onto the deck. it's a long, but narrow (3' wide) deck that needs some adornment. it adjoins to our neighbor's deck on the east side so it needs some privacy as well. the search is on for grow boxes and planters that will give us a place to grow ferns, geraniums, herbs, jasmine & other lovely flowering perennials. we haven't settled on a specific style yet, so i'm just gathering info on everything that catches my eye. feel free to add to the list!

(column planter & footed planters from grandin road)

(2-tier planter from the improvements catalog)

(the retro bullet planter from pastense)

(3 nesting plant tables at smith & hawkin)

(the mobilier a jardiner by 5.5 designers for bton designs )

(the city vegetable garden stand by leopoldo )

.

(good morning, view)

(good night, view)

bride room inspiration board

i'm really digging the process of making inspiration boards lately. it's such a fun way to gather concepts & dreams in one place. so i spontaneously made one for my latest fun side project: one of my dearest friends is have a dancing-in-september wedding and i'm honored to be in charge of the bride room (where she'll get ready before the ceremony, come for refreshing throughout the day, gather with friends, fix emergencies, and store stuff). her wedding is taking place at stern grove in san francisco so it will have a rustic-classy feel. she would like a light, comfy, functional, green, inviting and calming space. so that is what she will have.

thanks to the various blogger & flickr aficionados who's photos i edited to utilize in this.

skinny new ilife

so maybe this isn't directly related to interior design or architecture, but dang is it hot. and i just happen to adore good design while having a secrect techie-geek side, so this is definitely post-worthy. plus i also happen to have an apple inside connection. hmmmmm.... a girl can dream can't she? see more info here.

muskoka modern interior

as a continuation from yesterday's post, here some interior photos of the muskoka ontario pre-fab modern cottage designed by martin kohn & finished out by wayne judges.

(upon entering the prefab cottage)

(a room near the entry for removing boots, hanging jackets & staging groceries & toys going to & from the house)

(the open plan kitchen-dining-living-room)

(the well proportioned kitchen ~ with tons of natural light)

(well-lit storage shelves)

(a gorgeous passageway and stairwell with glazing floor-to-ceiling on both sides)

muskoka modern exterior

royal homes modern has added new images of the kohn shnier designed big modern prefab cottage on a lake somewhere in ontario's muskokas region. the lakeside view is almost entirely glass and the whole structure is quite impressive. architect martin kohn of kohn shnier designed the building as a sixteen foot deep (maximum module width) wall with every room facing the lake. because of the grading, he placed the bedrooms on the lower level and the living spaces up on top (this makes a lot of sense in a cottage, where one comes up from swimming and has to change).

one enters by crossing a long bridge from the parking area to the house.

the zinc cladding on the forest side was installed on site, as were the balconies.

(a curtain wall encloses the stair connecting the floors)

(a continuous balcony and walkway faces the lake; an eating counter has a lift-up window into the kitchen)

(at the end is an "outdoor room" with simple sparse furnishings to keep the outdoors in focus)

(saw it 1st on mocoloco)

fabulous stationery

miss.decor8 is at it again with another contest that was too fun not to enter ~ this time it involves the fabulous stationery shop (definitely worth a looksie ~ amazing customizable cards of all styles & types). you are to select one card from the site, find 3 rooms that reflect the same design scheme as the card, and combine all 4 images in one jpg. you can submit up to 3 entries. i'll be using each of my entries for other purposes as well , so it's not about winning anything, just about having an excuse to do something creative that i can then give away. click on the photos below to jump to the flickr site where the contest is hosted & give mine a little * if you feel so inclined.

(this card was chosen for 3 reasons: i need to send a ton of thank you cards right now; it showcases 3 of my favorite interior design colors; and i really enjoy figs (they're so underrated). all of these rooms make me swoon (albeit for different reasons) and figs are just delicious. bringing together the integrated colors, shapes, forms, and textures of these interior spaces with the figgy card creates an inspiring and joyous collage in my mind.)

(i really like the west-holywood-esque, mod-retro styling in this card design. i just moved into a new home so i bought these cards to send out to all my loved ones. what's more, the colors used and feelings evoked by the card go perfectly with my new place. as for the interior photos….each of these is from my collection of all time favorite interior design images. if i could, i'd make sure each of these rooms was in my new casa. i also appreciate how well the style of the card and the style of the interior design blends. new views, new interiors, new correspondence and the dreamiest color palette to boot!)

(this card is appealing because it's clean and simple and lets the eye rest. plus i heart concentric circles & spirals. sometimes we just need an absence of color to relax and feel centered again. sometimes we just need a series of circles to remind us of life's concentric pathway. seeing these together in one card really attracted me. so i sought out some interior spaces to go along with this theme. i didn't have to search long, things like this just seem to fall in to place. these rooms and this card were meant to be.)

adam frank lumenates

adam frank creates experiments in light & interactivity. lumen is a series of acid-etched, stainless steel, oil lamp shadow projectors. shadow maker designs include, nest, magnolia, flock, pine, and cedar. they are available for only $48 at adamfrank.com

a joyful downward spiral

big deadline work projects & moving into a new place projects have me utterly spinning.
will be back to regular blogging soon.
be well,
anj

big move

i'm moving into my new apartment this weekend! thank goodness for fabulous friends ~ i have no less than 12 people coming to help out! i found this image on designer's block ~ perfect for motivating the masses for tomorrow because we get to climb 2 flights of stairs with all the stuff. it'll be a great work out, but with the mimosas and beers flowin' it should be a breeze!

buon weekend everyone!

coral bourgeois

a little custom tile shop in rhode island, coral bourgeois has some very interesting tile designs ~ the depth of their work is refreshing. they can do entirely custom jobs or you can select from their stock. some of my favorites: