Grassy Knoll

As a blogger, there are few things that can really be a bummer, and one of them is the death of your scanner. My scanner is currently not scanning, and I need to do some serious recon to figure out what might be wrong, b/c without it, there are so many ideas that I can’t post! Anyway, lucky for me, I have an amazing DIY project to post on that doesn’t require my scanner! 
Here we have an already familiar photo of my tiny Philadelphia studio. But what the DIY project entails is my desk.
The desk is made up two different sets of pieces, these vika artur legs .. 
And this top called vika gruvan. I love the top of this desk because it consists of a piece of glass on top of a shelf, which allows you to store and display things under the table top, which is really a wonderful feature. However, always feeling like the display looked a little white, I took some inspiration from the November 2006 issue of Domino, wherein Nick Olsen covered a bland ikea console table with grasscloth. 
I thought that idea would be just the thing to liven up the whiteness of the shelf underneath the glass on my table top. That way, I would cease to look at all that white … which also showed all the dust and would occasionally lead to serious procrastination … and have some great texture to it. Luckily for me, there was some leftover Hinson grasscloth lying around in Charleston, and it was just enough to do my desk. 
 
I can’t take the credit for this, unfortunately. Although I had the idea, the paper had been sitting next to my desk for months, and while I was on a class outing on Saturday, W did the honors. He did a wonderful job, don’t you think? I am so pleased with it because now I have created a custom piece out of  ikea parts! 

More Interior Design

Traditional?

Flipping through the April issue of Dwell Magazine, I came upon something in the furniture section that really piqued my interest. Typically the uber modern furniture featured in this section is not to my taste, and I tend to prefer looking through the sections of the magazine that feature modern architecture and renovation projects–but this month was different.
The Alumette Sofa by Atelier Oi for Rothlisberger Kollektion is extremely an extremely modern piece sofa with a stick-like construction. Made from arura vermelho, an extremely hard wood cultivated in the Amazon, something about this sofa struck me, and I couldn’t figure out what it was that made me love it soo much. 
Upon visiting roethlisberger.ch, I found that the collection also included arm chairs, which I liked even more. I love the color of the wood, and the almost haphazard quality of the construction. But again, why did I love this so much? Typically not my style …
The collection also includes a table and chairs, which I came upon at the end of my web surfing, and I realized what it was about this extremely modern furniture collection that appealed to me. 
 
House Beautiful
Look at the bamboo chair and table set from House Beautiful that I posted yesterday. Warm tortoise bamboo tones and the stick-like construction of this table and chairs make it an ideal combination in a room with “heavier” furniture … such as upholstered furniture or the grounded seagrass furniture pictured here. 
Look at the similar characteristics of the Alumette collection and the traditional bamboo furniture. Both types of furniture have a “constructed” quality … you can see all of the engineering behind the pieces, both have that warm tone, and both are a great addition to a room with heavier pieces to create variety and “lightness.” 
                    
House Beautiful
  
You all may think I am crazy, but I really do see the similarities in the construction of these two very different styles of furniture. Now I am not about to completely change my design aesthetic and go completely modern, but I think that in a traditional living room setting, the Allumette chairs might be just the right dash of modernism. Like postmodern architecture, which draws inspiration from the past and interprets it in an ironic way, the Alumette Collection seems to draw from the past and interpret it with a sense of humor.
 
Unfortunately, Lacquered Lifers, this collection is not being given away. To add insult to injury the price is very high, and its in euros! I didn’t even bother to do the calculation. So file this post away into your folder entitled “future” and when you have the money you can add this touch of postmodernism to your decor. 

photos courtesy of roethlisberger.ch

More Finds

Bamboozled

House Beautiful
What is it about bamboo? Recently I have been nursing an increasing obsession with the style. Whether it is a chippendale-esque bamboo (like above) or a hollywood regency bamboo (as you have seen in many “lusting to lacquer” posts) I just cannot get enough of the stuff. 
Traditional Home
I love all the different colors that it comes in, because it can really bring a lot of warmth to a room. This bamboo secretary has such a great mottled appearance which gives it so much depth. 
House Beautiful
These marble-topped faux bamboo dressers are quite common, and I really liked the distressed quality of the mirror above. It has a very british colonial look.  I love the simple quality of this vignette–straightforward and uncluttered, and the pop of color from the vase full of flowers. 
Williams Sonoma Home
Bamboo patterns are not just for furniture. This needlepoint rug, from Williams Sonoma Home would be a great edition to a room. Unfortunately for me, the price starts at $1295, so its a little out of my budget. 
I have some of these at home, these are from Amazon.com and are just $9.95. This way you can add a little bamboo flair to all your hors d’oeuvres. 
Ballard Designs
I just love this chippendale inspired armchair from Ballard Designs. It is cheaper than the Jonathan Adler version, coming in at $295. If that is a little expensive for you, do some searches on Craigslist or EBay using “chippendale” as your keyword. I’m sure you will be successful. 
These are some of the hollywood regency style bamboo inspired pieces that I found on EBay this week, all under $100. Obviously I am lusting to lacquer all of these pieces in more contemporary colors. Save the dark wood cane/bamboo chair, I like the color, it just needs a new cushion. Aren’t these great? I just love EBay and all the yummy things that you can find, its easy! 
Voila! Here is the chair that I decided to buy. I love the cane, which is in really good condition, the hollywood regency style bamboo, and the ability to have my own cushion made. Obviously this thing is getting lacquered within an inch of its life. I would love to hear some suggestions from my readers: colors to lacquer? Fabrics for the cushion? I love this chair because the possibilities are absolutely endless. I am so excited because I have wanted a chair like this for such a long time! 

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