Summertime

I was in Chicago last weekend, and I enjoyed glorious, summery weather. Then I returned to New York and the rainiest June ever. So I'm going to call upon the design muses to summon up some clear, breezy, warm days with some like images.

Here's some Otomi fabric in a bright, bright color choice. I might have gone with a few less competing fabrics, but I do like how the base of the daybed is made from flat storage cabinets.

from Family Living (Sweden), via Designheaven

The Garland light

I enjoyed this Door Sixteen post about hanging her Tord Boontje Garland light (shown above looking lovely in its daytime and nighttime incarnations at Anna's house). I well remember becoming so obsessed with this lamp via British decorating magazines, and then triumphantly bringing one back from a trip from England. Of course, six months later, they were selling it in the States and it didn't seem quite the coup.

Oddly enough, I don't actually use it as a lamp. Instead, I wrapped it around "George" — my perpetually rusting garden statue that was the first slightly extravagant purchase I made for my apartment (before I actually moved in!). He's a bit tacky, I guess, but I maintain an affection for him. And I like to think that the Garland makes him a little more modern and a little less retirees-in-Florida.

Here are a couple old pictures that show it with sunlight hitting it.

The big stuff

On the other end of the spectrum, there are those people who somehow have an enormous apartment in Manhattan (yes, this is in Manhattan) and choose to decorate it sparsely. Let's just show off that empty square footage, hmm? As if those amazing wood beam ceilings weren't enough.

This sofa seems scaled to fit into yesterday's apartment. Complete with storage underneath!

Kitchen!!! But no more than four people can enjoy this skylight.

You've got to keep things off the floor! (I really love this picture, actually. Bicyles make great sculpture). But if you really want to stick it people with normal sized apartments, preserve that giant industrial winch in the corner and do this ...

Show off.

from AT Casa

The small stuff

I live in a small space, and I'm always intrigued by how other people deal with them. Those Chinese-box apartments where everything folds up and around always strike me a kind of exhausting (even though they are frequently very clever), so it's nice to see a small space that feels open. You'd look at the photo above and think "graphic punch" before you see "small space solution." And even then, the only real giveaway is that petite sofa.

The architect who lives in this 550-square-foot space is clearly a book lover. And I can certainly relate to that. But I really like how the books are kept low (in these great looking bookcases!), so the space remains so white and airy!

The books move up high in the kitchen...

and over the door to the bedroom, which — in classic small apartment style — is a tiny little ship's cabin.

Great apartment.

from the New York Times. Photos from Floto + Warner

Another bookcase

I like the asymmetry of it. Also, a Prouve Standard chair in turquoise? Ooh la la.

Not sure what to make of those super-chic cantilevered lamps I've been seeing more and more lately.

from Simon Watson

More bookshelves

For a big open space, long low bookshelves to divide it. Utilitarian metal design.

from Dejavu Home, via Les Carnets Du Design

Clutter...

...can be nice.

from Petra Bindel

The mix

Dusty blue and orange. Wood that's painted — and not. Rustic and modern.

from Shoot Factory

Black lamp

While we're talking lamps, how about the graphic power of this oversized task lamp in a pale, neutral space.

from Mai Linh

Goodbye

Yes, goodbye my television, you worthless relic! And goodbye my VCR and DVD player! You are heading to the ash heap of history. But I'm not buying any stinking converter boxes, and I'm not getting lousy cable. I am going to live TV-free!

(Well... actually, I am going to rely strictly on my computer (which has a bigger screen anyway) for all my television needs. But TV-free sounds more noble!)

But what does this mean in decorating terms? It means that I have cleared up some valuable space in my little apartment, and I can buy a table lamp!

I can go for the cheapie place holder: the LYKTA from Ikea ($12.99).

I could support a designer from my 'hood (even though he's dead) and try a Noguchi Akari Light Sculpture ($105).

There's the superslick Miss K by Philippe Starck ($288).

Or the fun, yet timeless Jielde Signal lamp ($450). But not in turquiose. Actually, I'm just including it because I think it's such a great lamp — it really wouldn't look right in my space.

And then there's my longstanding obsession, the Bestlite ($549). The table lamp is actually nicer than the floor lamp, which I've had my eye on forever. Plus it's almost $300 dollars cheaper!

Unlike the Arne Jacobson ($812!). I'd rather pay $882 and get a floor model, thank you very much.

So there are some options. I'm thinking about it.

Artist studio

A different sort of Friday fantasy. The job has been getting me down lately, so it's fun to imagine myself working in an artist's studio, bathed in soft light, and far away from corporate overlords or market forces.

from Clive Frost

Table of good stuff

Frames without pictures (and frames with pictures), task lamps, books. Note also the herringbone floor.

from Ngoc Minh Ngo, at Taverne

Heath

These home owners work for Heath Ceramics, so I guess they could get all the tiles they wanted — even encasing the tub! I do love the variety of color though (another Heath bathroom posted here).

In the same home: this pretty mudroom. Actually, doesn't this space seem too pretty to just be a mudroom?

from Design*Sponge

Chair and cabinet

The style of these chairs and cabinet don't match, but they work together.

from Pia Ulin

Simple bedroom

Ok, the letters on the nightstand are way too "stylists gone wild!," but otherwise, this is a simple, lovely bedroom. I like how you defintely notice details: the shape of the headboard, the pattern on the end table and the blue glass lamp, yet they all seem so muted and calming.

from Sharyn Cairns

Color punch

The bright colors are all in the art and accessories. The walls and furniture are neutral.

from Sasa Antic, via emmas designblogg

Ooooh, floor lamp!

It's cool.

They also have quite a lovely stairwell. I would totally sit there, read and gaze out the window (maybe not in a Panton chair, though).

from The Selby

Friday fantasy

Here's a cosy library, perfect for a rainy day.

But only for a rainy day, because if it was sunny, I think I'd be out on the terrace, enjoying the view.

This is clearly my fantasy home.

from Simon Watson

Light-filled

How about this airy, light-filled space, with huge windows looking out over Paris? I love the counterpoint of the somewhat battered-looking leather sofa with the sleeker pieces. They have high ceilings, and they clearly know what to do with them...

install floor-to-ceiling bookshelves! (Sorry, can never resist the bookshelf shot.)

from AT Casa

Unusual wood tiles

Diana of the lovely blog Please Sir visited the historic Fort Macon in North Carolina and found these floor tiles. They are located at the entrance to the fort and are exposed to the elements. So beautiful!

Light wall

It's not so easy to tell in this photograph, but the back wall here is illuminated plexiglass. An intriguing idea for a dark space — and it would certainly turn a bookcase into a focal point. But why is there no glassware displayed? Wouldn't glassware really look great?

from Elle Interior Sweden

Amazing light

I'm really basking in the light of these photos, although I suspect it has more to do with the photographer than the architecture or decor.

Although this one suggests that if you're going to have low ceilings, an entire wall should be window.

from Simon Watson