Love it? Hate it? Who Cares?

And where would you put it?



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Yes? Or No?

Furry Furniture - CS Interiors

What do you think?

Rooms I Love . . . Would this work at home?

The L.A. hot-spot, S Bar, features unique chandeliers - lamps hanging upside-down from the ceiling.

Is this idea:

1. Innovative and spectacular
2. Kitschy / Humorous
3. Gimmicky / Borderline Crafty
4. Ugly

What do you think?

More importantly, what do I think? I think I like this look, but my thoughts are still muddled and need pop culture validation in order to crystallize one way or the other. I'm a better follower.


The S Bar in Los Angeles. Images from LA Eater

This looks very beautiful, but . . .

Eric Cohler Design, available at Lee Jofa.

perhaps a bit uncomfortable.

Is it worth the pain?

What do you think?

Art Above the Door?

Figuring out what to do with the bayonet I inherited from my grandpa was a frustrating endeavor, but finally, I decided to have it framed. Figuring out where to hang it, however, proved to be even more vexing.

But the other night, I curled up with a stack of design magazines and as I read House Beautiful, a brilliant idea popped into my head - to hang it above the door in my entry hallway (well ok, it was also idea #36 in the magazine's 101 Easy Makeovers article.)

My grandpa, a marine mechanic, found the bayonet on Okinawa during World War II; when I was a kid, he'd get it out from time to time and start telling stories. He didn't see battle, so his stories were pleasant tales of army buddies and foreign cultures and a young man, a kid really, seeing the world for the first time.



My brother and my cousins and I gathered around him, enthralled and used his words as a vehicle to experience a life more glamorous, more dangerous than the one we were living in the small town (or was it a village?) an hour outside Chicago. When my grandpa died and then my grandma, we all wanted that sword. But using military-like maneuvers, I won that particular battle (and in my mind, that may as well have been the war).

So even though the bayonet is really just a souvenir and my grandpa didn't use it to make war, its presence above the door seems somehow protective. While the idea of hanging it above a door seemed counterintuitive in theory, it works perfectly in practice. (But I won't be trying idea #101 which involves adding something purple, which I hate, to a room when all else fails).

Have you tried this? How did it work? And does mine work?

Yes? No? Discuss.

This Giuseppe Canevese cabinet features he artwork of Guido Crepax. I think it's fantastic and would add a much needed POP! to practically any room.

But I, a lifelong reader of sequential art (ok, comics), am biased. More importantly, dear readers, what do you think?






















Thanks to Cubeme for this image

Z Gallerie Cheyenne Horn Table . . . What do you think?

I love this one (maybe).

The good and the bad.

I'm alternately enthralled and appalled by Z Gallerie's products, but overall, love them or hate them, I'm favorably impressed that the chain continues to offer a mix that distinguishes it from the other mass merchants. Nearly every time I visit, something in the store surprises me, and for every horrendous end table, mounted pig head or faux, sabretooth tiger skull (ugh!), there's a selection of chic lighting, furniture and accessories that won't break the bank (and are often very similar and much cheaper than their higher end competitors like Williams Sonoma Home).

This Cheyenne horn table doesn't photograph well, but it has personality. I sort of love it, but I'm afraid I'll get tired of it. So I'm leaving it up to you. Is it so cool? Not so cool? Or so not cool? I have a strong feeling that it's going to age very badly. So why can't I get it out of my head? Here are some other Z Gallerie items.



Which is which? Z Gallerie offers the Skyline table lamp for $179 while Williams Sonoma Home offers their Crystal block lamp for $445.

So Cool? Not So Cool? Or So Not Cool?

$39 at Mothology.

One of my favorite blogs, Habitually Chic, spotlighted Mothology, an interesting and affordable shop specializing in French furniture, lighting and accessories. I was especially taken with these insects. Does my appreciation betray my mood? Am I like the strange guy with the pet python? Or, would one of these make a cool accessory?

Here are some of the other items that caught my eye: