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. [...]

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.
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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 even a lounge-y [...]

This horny accessory seems to pop up pretty regularly, and for some reason, it never feels cheesy. Statues of chimps, panda bears and plenty of animal species would look ridiculous on the fireplace mantel, but rhinos do just fine in practically any setting. My friend Beth, a past Open House star, scored one of those amazing [...]

Trends either explode upon the scene (to varying results) or slip seamlessly into place as if they’ve always been popular and always will be. Rural chic feels like the latter. Characterized by wood antiques and taxidermy pieces staged with a contemporary twist (bold colors, clean lines or eclectic odds and ends), rural chic is on [...]

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you breaking news about kelly green. It’s back, it’s fresh, and in my humble opinion, it was high time(s). Don’t you agree illustrious readers? Unlike olive (yawn) and hunter (hsss), Kelly’s near-promiscuous ubiquity puts a certain something-something in my skip. Which hue do you prefer? While I’m incredibly [...]

When it comes to neo-retro 70’s home decor trends, mushrooms are the new owls. As the photo I took at a farmer’s market outside San Francisco reveals, the spongy fungi come in many shapes, sizes and colors, so it makes sense that they’re used so often in home decor. Pick your favorite and carve yourself a [...]

Earlier this week I was happy to receive an e-mail from Nicki (top left), one of my oldest friends and neighbors. Nicki’s parents Denny and Maryann bought the house kiddy-corner from my Mom when she and I were just four or five, and we’ve known each other ever since. Now Nicki’s all grown up and [...]