Architectural Digest Spain

Just got back from a lovely trip abroad, where I bought a copy of AD España at the airport. I didn't go to Spain. I just happen to think this is the best shelter mag being produced in the world right now. Anyone else agree?

Space

Do you ever feel like some rooms are so spectacular — have such good bones — that decorating is irrelevant? So I ponder, admiring this kitchen in Malmö, Sweden.

(OK, I admit sometimes I see gorgeous spaces that I think are hideously decorated, usually because they're overdecorated. Surely I'd do so much better by barely decorating at all!)

from Elle Interior

Too much art?

I love these pictures of artist Nick Cave's art-filled apartment. I seem to have once again went out and bought more art, even though I long ago ran out of wall space (unlike Cave, I don't live in a 3,500-square-foot loft). I've reached the point of having to take something down to put something new up, and as I have a sentimental attachment to almost everything, it's damn difficult (none of the art is financially valuable). I tend to be super pragmatic and sensible about buying anything else for my apartment, but art is my weakness.

Silly decorating problems.

from T Magazine

Walden

I had a great meal at the great-looking Walden in Williamsburg last night. How much do you factor in decor in your appreciation of a restaurant?

Target sucks

Why do I fall for this crap?

Primary colors

I spotted this Bau Pendant Light in the Times this weekend, and instantly liked it. But maybe it would strike some people as more appropriate for a kid's room (that is, if you ignore the price tag)? I think it's the primary colors that are associated with childhood. But I have a lot of primary colors (especially cobalt blue, but also some ruby red) in my apartment. What do you think?

The thing...

My hotly anticipated new floor lamp has been delayed, so I thought I'd dredge up another apartment-related issue. And that's ... this thing.

What is this thing? Well, this is a thing I picked up out of a trash can in Brooklyn last year. I've long been seething with jealousy at those people on Design*Sponge who are always finding Knoll credenzas and Finn Juhl chairs on the street and I can't help wondering why that never happens to me. Perhaps this sense of inadequacy made me overly eager to pluck this metal branch from its fate and carry it home (plus, it was easy to carry). I had this idea that I would paint it a super high-gloss black and it would be this cool sculptural thing in my apartment. But the months have passed and I haven't done anything with it (I know this photo is really old because it predates my CD organization project).

So, I ask you, my few readers, to give me your opinion. Is this thing hideous, tacky and useless — and should be returned to the ash heap immediately? Or, if I were going to give it a black lacquer makeover — how exactly should I go about it? All responses welcome.

ETA: I've now learned it's a jewelry stand from Urban Outfitters (thanks Grace!), but my question still stands. Worth the effort?

Distraction...

One side effect of being a wee bit decor obsessed, is that you notice things in films and movies that you really aren't supposed to. I mean, in Julie and Julia, was I really supposed to be wondering if Julie Powell could afford a Tolomeo light? I watched an episode of Burn Notice (above) this week and was way too distracted by the presence of a Christian Dell lamp in Michael Weston's barely-converted warehouse apartment. Closer inspection proves that of course it's a low-cost knockoff. Still, I'm pretty sure that the show's creators don't want viewers to be contemplating the hero spy out shopping for a lamp to perfectly complement his industrial-chic decor.

Does anyone else find themselves doing this?

Art question

So, on my epic trip to Buenos Aires, I bought some original artwork (unframed) in a gallery. It's a pencil drawing and a portrait, but upon getting it home, it looks very pale to me. In the gallery, the artist's works were all set in white mats in white frames. They looked airy and beautiful. However, I've pretty much made a commitment to black and dark wood frames in my home (an outdated photo of my art wall here). So should I go with a wood frame and a brown/beige/taupe mat? A black frame with a white mat and a black bevel? A black mat? Decisions, decisions. It's a quality piece and I want to frame it right. Any thoughts?

Photo above is not my home, unfortunately, but it does have some pale artwork. (And what looks like a Christian Dell lamp over on the right.)

from Patric Johansson

Is it worth it?

This week, Decorno did what she does best — generate discussion. In this case, what is or isn't worth spending on your home — with a special eye towards sofas. Interesting reading.

Pictured is an obscenely expensive George Smith sofa. Can anyone remember how a few years ago these were all the rage in decorating magazines? They seem to have faded.

What's up with American decorating mags?

I received my last Domino tonight and I'm a little sad.

I think I'm highly particular in my decorating tastes, because there's no magazine to take its place. How is it that Britain produces Elle Decoration and Living Etc. (not to mention The World of Interiors) and America can't support a single decorating magazine I'd want to buy? (I have a lot of respect for Dwell, actually, and it's fun to read, but not to TREASURE, the way a really good deco magazine is — I'm just not enough of a modernist, I guess.) American subscriptions cost next to nothing, so I can't crow about saving money now (especially if I turn to expensive foreign mags as consolation), but it IS good not to have the magazines cluttering up my little apartment.

(At least, not decorating magazines. The New Yorkers seem to breed while I'm sleeping!)

Why, Domino?

Why did Domino choose this typography for their December/January issue? It looks way old, and not hip. Isn't Domino in trouble? Are they looking for the Better Homes and Gardens crowd?

(The picture above is different from the home delivered copy I received today, but no better.)

Why are floor lamps so awful?

Or perhaps the real question, why do I find them all so awful? Is there something wrong with me? This room here has such a creative, casual vibe with that robin's egg blue Chesterfield sofa and the ancient wood coffee table (on casters!). But then there's that FLOOR LAMP, which doesn't even seem tacky in a fun way. Sigh. The pendant lamp in the back is cool, though.

from James Merrell