Bringing Fall Inside

We’re well into fall and hopefully you’ve now picked your cold weather bedding and have started to embrace the change of the season. Here are few things to bring home the essence of autumn.

Bringing Fall Inside (click for larger image)

1. Canteen Double Wall Porcelain Cup by Bodum. This will keep hot beverages  warm and is more interesting than a mug. The colored ribs offer a non-slip grip.Buy a set of two for $30.
2. Spiral-Etched Hurricane & Votive Holders. Buy it for $14+ from Williams-Sonoma Home.
3. CB I Hate Perfume Room Sprays in Burning Leaves, In The Library, Russian Caravan Tea, Gathering Apples. Gorgeous, complex scents that are more abstract than prissy. Ideal for those who don’t like typical home fragrance options.Buy them for $40 in sprays or $12 as perfume absolutes.
4. Element Throw in Wool/Silk. Buy it for $80 from CB2.
5. Eva Zeisel Teakettle in Chili Red. This teakettle isn’t exactly inexpensive but my experience is that Chantal quality is worth it. This should last you a long time.Buy it for $95 from MoMA Store.
6. Hand Poured Lacquered Wastebasket in Orange. Buy it for $24 from Jonathan Adler.
7. Sketched Birds Printed Linen Pillow. Buy it for $80 from Williams-Sonoma Home.

100 Affordable Headboard Alternatives, 21-30

Continuing the affordable headboard alternatives series, here are 10 more ideas to define the space above and around the bed. For more details on most ideas, click the pics or just post your questions / thoughts in the comments.

21. Use a trompe l’oeil headboard decal.This Blik design is under $40 and has both elegant and levity. For extra interest, use a paint treatment on the inside of the headboard frame.

via Blik

22. Rasterbate a photo with free software, mount the images and place the composition behind the bed.

via Homokaasu

23. Hang a giant museum banner. In this photo, a more dramatic example would have been to eschew the rather uninteresting headboard and hang the banner directly above the bed. For the best prices, check eBay or ask your local arts organizations if they will sell or give away original program artwork.

via Better Walls

24. Hang a collection of ceiling medallions above the bed. Not only are these medallions sculptural and pretty, they are very lightweight. Pick up a few at the local home improvement store, paint them to match your color scheme, and sleep well knowing that if they should fall, no real damage is likely.

via DIY Ideas, from Sunset Magazine

25. Hang several large format photos in a row above the bed under acrylic.

via PointClick Home

26. Mount and decorate a roll of cork.

This Dreamgate headboard sells for over $100 but this would make an excellent and affordable DIY for less than $15.

via Studio 1AM

27. Frame and hang a great fabric behind the bed. Consider everything–fabric off the bolt, suzanis, tablecloths.

via Bromeliad Living, from Elle Decor

28. Hang one large, clean (preferably new) rug behind the bed.

Correctly hung, a rug can make an ideal surface for the space above a bed–soft, resistant to stain and hard-wearing.

via Crate and Barrel

29. Wallpaper only the wall behind the bed.

via Room Envy, from Alvhem Mäkleri & Interiör

30. Repurpose a solid, multipanel door.

This idea has been done often and poorly. For best practices, look for more details at MarthaStewart.com (click the pic).

via Martha Stewart

Did this design work? The NYT’s $1K livingroom.

Redesigned living room of Andrea Sperling, via The New York Times, by Fred R. Conrad (click for larger image and full story)

Today’s New York Times features a story of the collaboration between interior designer Ron Marvin and client Andrea Sperling, who was looking to redesign her living room on a budget of $1,000. Their partnership wasn’t an easy one. Despite initially saying she was at a complete loss, Ms. Sperling brought many ideas to the table, suffered a lot of aesthetic and budget indecision, and ultimately refused to paint the walls anything other than white. The design is affordable but does it speak to you? Let me know in the comments.

Here are a few things I would consider doing differently:

Paint

I understand that the client did not want color the walls but painting the ceiling, between the rafters, a pale shade of blue would have drawn the eye up and added color and interest.

Dining area

There isn’t enough color in this region of the room, dominated by large white mats, dark furniture and dark frames. Perhaps brighter photography or a wall hanging could have been used in this area.

Living area

The quickly recognizable Ikea Lack coffee table sort of cheapens the space. A quick ‘hack’ like adding extra legs to the table or custom painting it would have elevated the piece. Personally, I would have preferred something vintage, curvier and less geometric, to add softness to the space.

The chrome of the recovered chair doesn’t reference anything else in the room and so seems out of place. Mercury glass accessories or other stainless steel furniture would have helped it seem more integrated in the room.

100 Affordable Headboard Alternatives, 11-20

Continued from the first post, here are more ways to define the space around and above the bed, with or without using a traditional headboard. To learn more about each option, either click the pic or post your questions in the comment section. Sweet dreams and more to come.

11. Mount a distinctive light fixture above the bed.

via Elle Decor

12. Hang a wallpaper border horizontally at headboard height over the bed. An excellent project for wallpaper remnants.

via Bradbury & Bradbury

13. Mount a table runner behind the bed, horizontally and at headboard height. A vinyl Chilewich runner (pictured) makes a wipeable, modern and visually light headboard.

via Chilewich

14. Trim wallpaper in a decorative shape and  hang it horizontally at heaboard height or vertically, centered behind the bed.

via Martha Stewart

15. Place a screen behind the bed.

via Domino

16. Place sheets of plywood behind the bed for a minimalist look.

via Dwell Studio

17. Frame a lattice and place it behind the bed.

18. Hang a hollowcore door behind the bed.

via Living Etc.

19. Hang a canopy.

via Miss Scholastic, from Marie Claire Mason

20. Use a huge, oversized pillow as a soft headboard. Either mount this directly to the wall or wedge it between the bed and the wall.

Hotness or Hot Mess? #3

This is the last you will be seeing of Antonio Ballatore on this blog for awhile. But before we say farewell to HGTV’s newest Design Star, please weigh in on his bedroom, revealed during his special, The Antonio Project. Featuring a custom-fabricated headboard inspired by a tattoo he has long wanted, his airbrushed ‘Sombrero Girl’ dominated room is taste-specific to say the least. Refreshingly edgy or biker bachelor living at its worst? Let me know in the comments.

Antonio Ballatore's tattoo-inspired bedroom. Via HGTV.com.