Rethinking the Look of Things No. 68 - The Concept of Pareidolia

 

I've been blessed to have an increase in the time I have been able to spend on my front porch reading this season. I'm not even close to putting a dent in my Front Porch Reading List, but the time to dust off some books in my libraries (piles here and piles there) has been so satisfying. 

The distractions have been few, but one has me rethinking the concept of pareidolia. I have had my head in the clouds so to speak as a passerby just might catch me staring up into the sky in awe of its ever-changing beauty and ever-changing dance of shapes my mind sees in the clouds. Pareidolia is the tendency to perceive a meaningful image in a random pattern and it has me rethinking how this relates to interior design. Not intentionally putting images into the design but seeing the design of a space for more - going deeper to elevate the design.

The design of our homes cannot be without meaning so the I think that a good designer needs to have the tendencies of pareidolia - to have the perception of significant patterns or recognizable images in random arrangements of shapes and lines. Whether designing our personal spaces or clients' spaces, this is a must.

The application of pareidolia in interior design is the partner to getting one with the spaces we are designing. Envisioning the space for its secrets, its calling. And then intertwining these images that come to mind with the owner's biography. 

How will this design story unfold to create the linger in its space that has the same effect on our soul that the sky with clouds does for us? To develop into an environment, we don't want to leave and that we don't want to stop revisiting again and again.

Maybe, just maybe when we are in a design slump, we need to take a break and sit under the clouds and breathe it in filling our tanks with inspiration and then back to the concept boards. 

One can only imagine the next level design that can happen from applying the concept of pareidolia at the brainstorming steps of a design project. Random, but planned. Significant, but comfortable. Meaningful, but relaxed. The perfect dance partners.

Let's get our heads in the clouds because the sky is to be marveled - a design that God renews minute by minute - season by season. A canopy we live under every day and miss seeing, may I say with consequence. 

Perhaps the inspiration from the sky will be the perfect paint color you have been looking for in your design plan. There are colors from the sky that almost seem unable to be duplicated - get as close as you can, the meaning of why you chose this color will be impactful. 

"You are my blue crayon, the one I never have enough of, the one I use to color my sky." A. R. Asher

Be inspired!

Sources: Tumblr, Schumacher, Luxe, Etsy, House Beautiful, Valerie McKeehan, Designs by Carla Aston, Pinterest

Rethinking the Look of Things No. 65 - Tattoos

If my kids saw my browser search history lately they might get a bit worried about Mom because the word "tattoo" would show up in excess. Ever since I came across the Dan Gold tattooed leather chair (see my blogpost "Gotta Love No. 56 - Skulls & Tattoos") I've been distracted by the idea of tattooed leather home decor. Just how could this be tastefully integrated into high end design? Well, hello my fellow idealists! 

Meet P. Tendercool, a bespoke handmade furniture company that tattooed the leatherback of one of their side chairs with inked serpentes. Go ahead and stare, I know I did. Then I thought let's take that idea and transform some so-so leather toss pillows with some ink. A leather round bolster is the perfect canvas for the art of a tattooist. 

Meet Oliver Sweeney, a tattooist who takes the canvas of British men's shoemakers and tells a story in tattoo art on the leather finery. What more perfect shoe for the groom than a pair that boosts a tattoo that says "My most brilliant achievement was my ability to persuade my wife to marry me". Love the shoe. Translation to our home - forget the black and white typographic wall hanging - put this bit of sweetness on a tattooed leather kidney pillow and add it to the favorite chair.

And Oliver Sweeney's custom Ben & Jerry's tattooed flavor list? Totally need tattooed on a leather barstool in the kitchen. Then how about your favorite drink recipes tattooed on the inside backs of leather barstools at your home bar? Yes!

Just how far will one go? I mean one either has no tattoos but stares in wonder at them. (Ahem, that's me!) Or one dips their toes in the tattoo pool and gets a small one tucked in a secret spot. Or there are the ones that jump full body into the art of tattoo. In home design - let's keep it a toe dipper version. Tattoo art in home design - less is more in this blogger's opinion.

Meet Article.com who handed over a leather ottoman to their local tattooist and received back a convo piece for the home. 

The stunning art of embossed leather has been an element in home design - let's shift and rethink the look of things and consider tattooed leather elements in our home.

Once you start rethinking the look of things - in this case tattoos in home design - it blows your mind. Ponder, delight in the possibilities, and then reign it all in and choose wisely. 

Sources: P. Tendercool, Article.com, Oliver Sweeney, Gessato, Red Bubble, Neiman Marcus, Etsy, The Fuller View

Rethinking the Look of Things No. 63 - Styling the Linen Cabinet

We've all done it, fallen in love with a furniture piece. A chair, a table, a cabinet. If only we could find a space in our home for it, we would take it home with us. If we rethink the traditional use of any one of these pieces we swoon over, they can become our very own. I find this to be true of a cabinet that becomes a beautifully styled home for linens either in the bath or guest room.

Sometimes it isn't the cabinet we find first - it's the empty space we seek the piece for. And perhaps we already have the piece that we give new purpose. Any always remember it isn't always what our trip was about when we find a special addition to our home. 

Be the rebel you know I find great joy being in the company of and dodge the typical vanity or built in closet. Each and every place in our homes needs to hold something more than utility. Sure it's important that this piece have some concealed space because, afterall life can get hectic and we need those spaces that hide our hurried time.

Ditch the cardboard and plastic that our toiletries are packaged in for beautiful baskets and glassware. Be selective - making sure your selections add ease to your daily routine or the coveted quiet retreat of a bubble bath.

Styling a cabinet as linen storage isn't a new idea. It reminds me of an apothecary. The 14th century English word that is derived from the Latin apothica that means "storehouse". What better place to use modern apothecary jars than here. What we "store" here is our "medicine" to renew and rejuvenate. Presented in a spa-like way - a treat for ourselves.

Rethink that hutch or highboy you used in a different way - style it as a linen cabinet in the master ensuite or the guest room. Don't make it look like an afterthought though. Choose wisely because this piece becomes a focal point. It needs to allow for the function of a linen closet. You'll know what's best. Is it a painted piece? Does the design call for a wallpapered back? Will the addition of lighting inside elevate its use? 

That empty wall in a niche or hallway may be beckoning the cabinet that is your styled linen cabinet. Rethink the look of things - be inspired!


Sources: Instagram, Architectural Digest, My Domaine, Pinterest, 

Rethinking the Look of Things No. 62 - Multipurpose Rooms

When we are creating a home, we have a determination to find spaces for all our lifestyle needs. An area to entertain and dine with family and friends is one that can be a challenge. Multipurpose thinking is the key when it seems a lifestyle need isn't possible in our home. Where we don't give up until we have exhausted all options. 

The memories created around a dining table with family and friends is priceless. Even if those times are only several times a year or the every Sunday family dinner. The heart leaps despite an occasional desire to change an attendee or two. So how can one create a space in our home for this precious space. Most of us have mastered the art of multitasking on a daily basis - let's try our hand at multi purposing. Think about the dining surface and how it can be used for an everyday need that allows for it to be uncovered into dining anytime you want.

Why make room for only a dining area or a office area? Why consider the area behind our sofa only console-worthy when by adding another 18" you have a dining surface? Need a craft area or a place to stack your library? Why make room for only a play/study area or a dining area when one can serve both purposes?

Your multipurpose space becomes office/dining, play-study/dining, craft-dining, reading library-dining. Voila! Get those invitations in the mail, create your menu, select that signature drink for the evening, and bake your favorite desserts; because you have a dining area whenever you need it or the mood strikes to entertain.

Call it your superhero piece - the one that doesn't need a closet to change into its "cape" and pick up its superpowers. Living Room by day - dining and after dinner charades by night! 

However, let's not ignore the obvious challenge that stills exists and that is where do the dining chairs go if you don't have the space to keep them around the multipurpose surface when it is not acting as a dining surface? And don't you dare say folding chairs, that's a cop out! Be inspired! 

We are still in the multipurpose mode here. Think multipurpose for the dining seating. Those cool stools you tucked under the table are now dining seating. That occasional chair you have in your bedroom is now dining seating. That bench that is in your hallway is now dining seating. Get the picture? Multipurpose! Who's wearing the superhero cape now?

Play on your multipurpose talent by setting a mix and match table setting to add to the fun of your new found discovery. I think you will walk past your multipurpose dining surface in its day to day form and smile. Smile at planning your next gathering. Formal or casual - the opportunity for memories is reclaimed. 

Rethinking the look of things is a way to never give up on the dreams for your home spaces. Consult a professional interior designer when you get stumped. Don't give up. "To him that wills, wais are not wanting". George Herbert

Sources: House Beautiful, Decor Pad, Atlanta Home & Lifestyle, Gerald Bland, Crate & Barrel, Pinterest

Rethinking the Look of Things No. 60 - A Room Divided

There is an intimacy about a room set apart from another. The feel that "this space" is just for us in this moment. Yet, an open floor plan concept is craved in today's lifestyle so this intimacy can be missing. Let's rethink the application of a room divided with the function of an open floor plan. A "wall" that doesn't close a space off because it holds a transparency to the areas around it.

 A room divider or a  pocket door is mostly considered as a barrier that closes off one area from another. I'd like to flirt with a different idea. Our home is where our stories and memories are created, with those we share our spaces with day to day and our guests. And like a play performed on a stage changes from scene to scene, so can our home. An open space with glass or metal mesh doors, that allows a room to be divided, are a beautiful way to play your scene.

Saving space is the most common consideration for a pocket door. A brilliant one. Now let's delight in a more architecturally considered placement that meets today's lifestyle. We want our homes to feel relaxing, even if our tastes are more formal - comfort is top priority. We want to enjoy our homes with those that uplift us, make us laugh so hard our side hurts, listens to our deepest concerns, shares our joys, and bring the best out in us. And there are times we want solitude. Your "cave" can be found by pulling a pocket door or divider across a space. It can be that simple.

Your "cave" doesn't have to be tucked away - hidden. Let the sun or moon light shine into your space where you seek moments of time to yourself. Where are these spaces? It could be the kitchen, where  that room can be divided yet open so you can cook that new recipe as therapy?

Sources: Rimadesio, Pinterest, Velaria

Rethinking the Look of Things No. 59 - Contemporary Kilt

 

On a recent flight to spend time with family my attention to my latest read on my Kindle depleted. A glance at the cover of the American Way magazine caught my intrigue. This pouched publication is rarely one touched in my infrequent travels, although it is called "the world's most beloved in flight magazine for fifty years reaching over 201 million discerning customers flying American Airlines" according to Ink Global. So shame on me for not reaching for it before.

So what lured me to this one? It was the boast of "hot this month" across the top of the cover. In particular "contemporary kilts". Ahhh! You are on board now (no pun intended-well sort of). I'm inspired by everything around me and somehow this inspiration leads back to interior design. So I had to see what this hot topic was all about.

Howie Nicholsby's 21st Century Kilts in Edinburgh "is scheming to bring back the crafted garment" per the article in American Way. And he is not using the traditional heritage fabrics, rather leather, tweed, and denim. Love this rebel!

Seems fitting to take this inspiration of a twist on tradition and apply it to our home. Modern? Perhaps not, as some of my applications went straight to furnishings steeped in design history. 

Besides rethinking the fabrics, Nicholsby is adding pockets for all ranges of gadgets that seem our necessity. Modern twist or using the same custom approach to the kilt like the historic family tartan pattern which personalized this garment? I love this direction of taking a tried and true and fitting it to one's lifestyle. Just like a good interior designer does for a client. 

A few years ago I was asked by a local magazine to define several trends for an upcoming year. My belief about trends is not from a fashion standpoint, instead a shifting, direction, or movement. One of my trends was called "modern with a touch of nostalgia." What I meant by this was that although there has been a shifting in interior design to a cleaner more transitional look, many clients still want a touch of nostalgia that stirs memories of a traditional look they may have called home while growing up. I think this contemporary kilt does just that.

As soon as I read about the textiles of denim and leather being used in this modern desire to create a resurgence of the kilt, the Scandinavian 1970's Arne Norell Scirocco safari chair came to mind. The worn leather, the metal screws and buckles, and the stitching is certainly a translation of the contemporary kilt in our home. Even its casual slung back greets you with the same modern approach a leather kilt brings to an outfit for today's modern gentlemen. Historically modern becomes fresh again.

Plaid certainly still embeds itself in my thinking of kilt-inspired decor. A tartan padded headboard, definitely! And I can't help but envision leather wall panels as an option to this inspiration. And the leather - a worn cognac color. After all, this contemporary kilt has a ruggedness to it, a bad boy vibe.

The combination of "leather-dipped" toss pillows give "kilt-ness" to a space because of the mix of textiles and shapes.... almost creates an ode to the pleat of a kilt.

I'm not kissing the heritage tartan goodbye in our home decor. It's a classic. Let's run with it like this pattern is scissors! Rethink your application. Ban the traditional wing chair for a fresher chair frame - then go bold. 

I like this guy, Nicholsby! He's onto something great and I for one will be rethinking the kilt-inspired room!

Sources: American Way, Chairish,, Maharam, Pfeifer Studio, ArtOrigo, Decor Pad, Pinterest