Le Dome Chairs

I'm not sure if I should credit Kelly Wearstler for bringing back Le Dome Chairs aka Balloon Chairs, but they are just super cool. Also known as a Porter's chair, it was originally used in medieval England and later France. It was placed by the front door of an estate or home for use by a gatekeeper servant who was in charge of screening guests and visitors. Since there were often cold breezes near a front door, the chair was designed to envelop and keep the servant relatively warm in his task of remaining at the door for long periods. Reproductions abound and they come in all sizes, colors and textures. I think with chilly days soon approaching, the idea of snuggling into one of these cocoons sounds nice!

This bedroom designed by Fawn Galli featured a soft green le dome chair and graced the House Beautiful March issue.

One Kings Lane featured Kelly's Floral Le Dome chair back in June!

Check out this zebra print pair.

These feel more delicate with open sides and delicate legs.

Horchow has several options to pick from. 

The Room Service Store has a ton of options...this is in a pretty soft blue green.

Brass for Interiors

The gold rush these days in fashion and home has catapulted brass into the lead for fittings, accessories and really any shape and form for home design. It has an old, regal look to it without being overly shiny, which is why I think it pairs so well with most interiors. Well, and let's face it, nobody can afford a gold faucet!!

This is a Brooklyn apartment. First, the hood rocks. Second, the island detail overlay is so unique.

Faucets and fixtures in brass play well in old and new interiors. I really like brass fixtures in an old home with lots of exposed wood.

Brass cabinet hardware for kitchen.

Brass Kaleidoscope by Kelly Wearstler. Not for the wallet faint of heart!

I am starting to gravitate for the more modern, sleek chandeliers in brass. This is by Thomas O'Brien.

This entry nook has one dramatic and awesome chair paired with a brass end table.

Gorgeous walk-in closet with brass pendant chandelier and black velvet Hollywood Regency tufted brass chairs.

Hirst at Tate

I really do need to focus more of my blog on art --of all kinds. There may be about one billion different forms of art, and every one's tastes are subjective. You'll see people at gallery openings saying, "WTF?" when the next person strolling by says, "Wow, that's amazing!"

While in the UK, I got my fill in Edinburgh of the masters...Italian Renaissance, Impressionists, etc. Some of these masterpieces took painstaking years to complete. While in London, I wanted to see the Tate Modern. It's an iconic art museum that had several headliner showings. We decided on Damien Hirst. Why? Well, it was a complete departure from what I'd normally view, and challenges you to think and see things differently.

First, I will say that I was disturbed by pretty much 99% of his exhibit. I do believe he is more of an exhibitionist than anything. I'll leave out the flies, rotting meat, severed animals suspended in liquid and cigarette butts. I couldn't look at half of those exhibits. His butterflies were another story...it truly blurs the lines of beauty and death. Hirst likes to draw out the fact that even under the most beautiful circumstances, death is inevitable. Morbid, yes. Challenging, yes.

Now, even though we weren't allowed to take photos, we snuck a few in. This is a mosaic piece made of all butterfly wings. It was mesmerizing. He even has wallpaper now in this print. The colors are soft, and what could be more beautiful than butterfly wings? Well, then you think that every wing came from what is now a dead butterfly. Hmm, maybe sad after all.

These poor people had no idea they were in the way:-)

Close up.

Looks exactly like stained glass, right? Nope, more butterfly wings. I was a little concerned about exactly where Mr. Hirst got all these precious wings. I did a little research and turns out PETA hasn't been thrilled with his work and is outraged. From what I know, Hirst hasn't provided any answer about how he obtains the butterfly wings (and I don't want to know about the other animals) -- specifically, whether they were killed for the sake of art or collected after they were already dead.

On a prettier note, here are two of his pieces at the Byblos Art Hotel. Amazingly, his wheel art on the right has no death or ugliness about it...it's just paint!!

Unique Wallcoverings

It seems walls are becoming art statements as of late, and they run the gamut from textured, painted, gold leafed, stone composite, watercolors, etc. Here are a few unique tastes.

Quartz geo stone type look.

Black Crow Studios Watercolor paper and canvas colorings.

This looks almost like an old patina that has slowly worn off over the years.

Maps used as wallpaper.

This textured rope/fabric wall looks like it was sewn together.

And, of course grasscloth, which is everywhere right now in all colors. This is by Philip Jeffries.

In the Mood for White & Navy

White & Navy Fall 2012 by gildedmint on Polyvore

I feel like I have been seeing a lot of rich blue/navy paired with white for interiors lately. So, I felt inspired to pull together a mood board living room based off a few photos.

Living Room #1

Living Room #2