Strange Closets

Do you like the wall color in this image from West Elm’s website? I love it. In fact, I love the whole room, which feels fresh, sophisticated and comfortable. But it’s the Benjamin Moore Tarrytown Green paint (HC-134) that now plagues my thoughts. I’d like to live with it for awhile, but I’m not sure where [...]

Within a 24 hour period last summer, I spotted fine examples of peacock taxidermy at both artist Gail Potocki’s condo and artist Michele Stone’s house. Not more than a few months later, I marveled about seeing yet another peacock at stylish stylist Martha Muholland’s Wicker Park duplex. Shortly thereafter, I visited Geyer Morford at Schumacher in [...]

Mathematics is not my forte, but I’ve spied four abacuses within the past three months. Which begs the question, why now? Why here? Is this some wildly improbable coincidence? Or the beginning of a new trend in home decor? Given enough time, finer minds than mine will no doubt solve these and other vexing questions. [...]

↔ Tanker desk – The Old Cinema. Eames Executive Chair – Herman Miller . Cast iron wood school table – Get Back Inc. Desk lamp – Barker and Stonehouse. Perpetual calendar – Design Within Reach. Chalk globe – Cathie Filian’s blog. Rare Saul Bass Vertigo movie poster – Ebay. Laptop sleeve – @Work Design. Vintage [...]

While reading this post, I recommend that you dim the lights, take off your shoes, settle into a comfortable chair and sip your favorite cocktail or beverage. And don’t forget about the music, because creating a splendid environment takes more than optimal furniture layout and killer color coordination. It’s about ambiance, a lesson I first [...]

Let’s face it. Trend report or no trend report, there is no “Plates on the Wall” trend. The look just happens now and again. Usually the results are mediocre, but the installations that are hung well get a little press and make us all think, I can do that. But can we really? Speaking for [...]

For added emotional resonance, try reading this post about wing chairs while listening to Survivor’s hit single I Can’t Hold Back. ↓ ↔ Designer / decorator extraordinaire Stephanie Wohlner recently took me to see one of her projects, a newly constructed Lincoln Park home featuring three floors, a grand hall entryway with vaulted ceilings and [...]