The Inspector

Do you think you are really smart about house construction? How about my home builder friends out there? How about you building code officials? Fine Homebuilding has a little game that you can play that will test your knowledge. It is called "The Inspector". They present you with a photograph of a construction site and ask you to identify the code mistakes. You get points for correctly identifying the mistakes - and take points away for the wrong answers. Sound easy? Click the link and give it a try. The Inspector.

Contemporary DC

In the September Issue of Metropolitan Home magazine, the house of the month is located in my favorite DC neighborhood, Kalorama. The house is from the turn of the last century, 1912, and the couple wanted a more updated interior and turned to architect Gokhan Avcioglu and local designer Lori Graham to turn this into a more liveable, contemporary space.I love the architectural sofa that Lori designed, Camus, which I assume is named after her dog! Make sure to check out this issue when it hits newsstands August 11 for some other great articles, including an article about a new, inventive restaurant in Seattle from chef Matt Dillon!
Photograph of living room by Erik Johnson for Metropolitan Home, September 2009.

Familjen

And the Familjen family members continues to grow. New for September on cups are; Ingalill, Sailor Rum, Barbro, Axel, Gertrud, Örjan.

Broken Mirror = Good Luck!!

The old saying that a broken mirror brings bad luck- well not today!! I was at a local thrift store today wandering around. While I was there I heard a crash and saw that the store clerk had broken the mirror out of this beautiful antique looking frame. As she was cleaning up the shards of mirror I asked her "so whats the price of this now that the mirror is broken?" She said "oh- its worthless now- how about $5?" Oh yes she did!!! I kept calm trying not to break out into dance right there in the store and told her I would take it off her hands- (tee hee). So here it is. I believe it once was the top to a dressing table- it looks antique to me. I needs some TLC (i.e. spray paint). Its big too, over 35" wide and 36" tall. So the question I have for you is: what should I do with it? It looks AMAZING above my fireplace - I called around to get a quote for mirror replacment & they wanted $125! um no thank you. I thought chalk board but my husband would kill me if I put another chalk board in this house. Suggestions?

Art Inspiring Design: Matisse Style

The Red Room. Henri Matisse

Have you ever been super inspired by an artist or just plain fallen in love with a certain artist? I've always felt a certain affinity for Henri Matisse ever since my first art history class in high school(that I took because of a crush on a teacher). There is something whimsical and beautiful about all of his paintings, cut outs and drawings. Not everyone can afford to have a painting or work by their favorite artist so why not do something in your home that is inspired by them? In my apartment I have a few black cut outs on my mirror that I made for a project in college and then put them on my mirror as a reminder. Matisse has inspired many things in interior design such as fabrics, color schemes, and furniture.

From Eric Cohler's latest amazing work featured in House Beautiful, in this bedroom he created custom Matisse cut out lampshades. This room is so beautiful and surprising and I just adore the art work over the bed.

Stephen Shubel used Matisse fabric from Clarence House on this chair.

Bungalow 5 designed a leaf cut out cabinet inspired by Matisse. From Point Click Home.

From Flickr, Liselotte . A fun DIY project, this girl made a large scale leaf cut out mobile. What pretty paper she used.

From 1st dibs Lotus Collection Kathleen Taylor Rug has Matisse inspired cut outs on a black background.

Maybe I love the bright and happy colors, or the cut outs, or the gorgeous interiors that he painted, or maybe I just loved the spirit that is emitted from each painting, but I've continued to love Matisse throughout all my art history studies. Plus he says brilliant things like, "What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter." Thoughts?

Alicia B.

A white elephant

This past weekend I took a fast trip up to Baltimore and was able to stop by the Bookthing, the 'free' bookstore that Meg at Pigtown is always raving about! One of the many treasures I picked up was an October 1985 copy of House Beautiful magazine which a startling up-to-date project featured. I always love these vintage magazines! Mostly I like to look at how things have become 'dated' (to see what types of mistakes to avoid in the future) but once in awhile a project comes along that is truly timeless.The project was a 'white elephant' which had been turned into a duplex in New Orleans. The interiors were done by Ann Holden and Ann Dupuy, of antique store fame, while the remodel was masterminded by the architect Barry Fox. I love the high gl0ss finishes in the dining room above.Even though this project was completed 25 years ago, I could see this being totally liveable today, don't you? I normally like carpeting to soften a room, but in a hot climate I can imagine it's much cooler without. I love the dining and living rooms and the bedroom looks like a cozy beach retreat! Also, another thing I loved was that Martha Stewart made the cover! A star even in 1985....

Autumn designs

We're introducing some new designs this autumn at Top Drawer in September, this being one of them. Inspired by our own Isak allotment and its produce we've named it Harvest. We havent yet grown any fish though... but who knows. Maybe next year?