I mean, I already have the Boston Terrier

Did you see this? Man, I love Freunde von Freunden. Why can't I have herringbone floors? That is all....

What a difference a lamp makes

I am an avid follower of Apartment Therapy's Scavenger (that's how I got my Bertoia wire chairs). So I literally jumped when I saw this lamp (originally 400) for a mere 150. It took us a bit of time to get it hung in our living room, but I swear it has made the entire room more chic.

ps. I never provided any follow up on my gallery wall, so I thought I'd show it off here.

pps. sorry the pictures here...well, suck, taking pictures of lights is not easy. I'm so professional!

Do you Nest?

So somehow, I'm a little behind the times and I only recently discovered Door 16, which led me to Manhatten Nest. Have you seen it? Seriously, I wish I had been this cool in college! It is just so inspiring to see what you can do to a rental on a serious budget. I highly recommend.
What other blogs am I missing out on?

My Dream Kitchen (for the moment)

I love the antique woods and blown glass lights and they way they contrast against the stainless steel. But mostly I just love how open it is--even to the outside. It seems like the perfect place to host a dinner party...Something tells me that if I want a kitchen like that in DC, I'm going to have to build it myself.

photographer Nathalie Krag via Roseland Greene

Inspired by Matt & Kim

When I lived in LA, I used to be listen to this show Morning Becomes Electic on LA's KCRW radio station while getting ready in the morning. But because of podcasts, I can still find out about new bands despite living in a city with...I'm sorry but the worst selection of radio stations in the country. But I digress, this is how I came across Matt & Kim, a two member band from Brooklyn who you may have heard on some beer commercial if you're not already familar with them. It sounds like your two (much cooler ) friends banging around in the basement, except they create well crafted pop songs that are devastating catchy.

The perfect space to listen to this kind of music is definitely not put together by an interior designer, or even a blogger, it's probably actually a dorm room. It's ammature, but stylish and comfortable. And it's definitely bright and colorful, because even though I'd love to hear them play in a dark club the music is unassailably happy.

And if you're listening to this kind of music, you're definitely wearing something you don't mind getting a little sweaty in so you can contribute to the handclaps and stomping that appear in almost all the songs (man I love me some handclapping). It's young, hip, and modern and doesn't take itself too seriously. Probably a lot of jersey, crazy shoes and sunglasses, and definitely layered.
What music is inspiring you lately?

via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

Anything but wall-to-wall

We finally got our new couch in (we delayed it a bit until we were sure Grizz wouldn't kill it) and it looks great. But the first thing PB said about it was that it would look better on some great floors. So here's what I'm craving.

1) Hardwood floors: distressed, bleached, chevron, dark finishes, I'll take any of it. And I'd love to have a beach house somewhere with stenciled floors...

2) Tile. I love the look of tile when it's out of the kitchen and bathroom and brought into more formal spaces to give it just a touch of foreign flair.3) Concrete. I love how clean and urban concrete looks. At the same time, it can be very mediterranean looking and can also be stenciled or painted. 4. white floors. Oh so Scandanavian, nice and clean and dramatic.

via 1, 2, 3 (sorry!), 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (sorry!), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15(sorry!), 16

Secret Beds

This is my second look at some ideas on how to arrange small spaces for my friend, Angela's possible new Hong Kong digs. It seems to me that a big part of living in cramped quarters is trying to carve out a little space for yourself, so that when your guests come over you don't feel like they have the whole run of the place but so that they're also not so cramped.

Curtains clearly seem to be one of the easiest ways to hide your bed. And if you have an architectural detail that helps with that, so much the better.

A little less obvious, but possibly more time consuming (and probably requiring a hammer, some wire, and some of those screw with little hooks on them) is hanging art as a little improptu wall. Doesn't this look super modern and fresh?

Shelving is also a commonly used solution to break up two walls. The woman in the apartment below, made a custom thin shelf to turn the little dining area into a bedroom. I know that a murphy bed is a little beyond your basic DIY, but I just thought the beautiful wood (fake) on the example below was proof that murphy beds can actually be hidden and can even look classy. Okay this last one is probably also beyond the reach of a lot of basic DIY-ers but it was so clever, I had to include it. Basically the bed is set off from the rest of the room by a large screen on which he can project films to watch either from his bed or from the couch. Despite how sophisticated this is, it got me thinking that actually an old projection screen could make a great room divide. via. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6