Update!  I am still totally in love with gold!  I thought that maybe I was leaving my go-to-gold-and-gray color palette for my new lover chrome-and-camel, and, don’t get me wrong, C & C is totally my boyfriend on the side but Gold remains my long term love.  We’re soul cell mates as my husband likes to say.  How was my burning desire for gold rekindled you ask?  I’m pretty sure it was the exact second I saw this puppy:

What is wrong with this picture?  Yeah, that’s right:  Nothing.  This example of walking / talking perfection comes from the design duo meier / ferrer

While this is most certainly enough to rekindle a waning romance, I knew my love was never really gone since I can’t seem to get this light out of my head:

The Sciolari ceiling light in Kelly Wearstler’s own home is nothing short of amazeballz.  I have a few personal spaces I’m working on right now and I want this light for all of them.

I will also be willing to settle for this gold gem.   (BTW thank you Andrea for the find!)

Although I think I’m going to have to forego the $4500 light and spring for something more like this.  It’s gold, I’ll be fine.

Oh!   I’ll especially be fine if it looks like this.  See, I really just will never get over gold.  And it is with every fiber of my being that I say: Yes, I absolutely would 100% live here:

Yep.  All over it.

I told everyone I was a leprechaun when I was little younger. I might have been overreaching a tiny bit. On the other hand, perhaps I truly am descended from the wee folk. Let’s review the facts: I am so short that I wear a size 5 shoe. I have funny pointed ears. I look fabulous in emerald green. My name is Erin and my mother was an O’Connor. Oh, and I love gold. A lot. Let’s just agree (for today, after which time I will pretend this never happened) that I might have a bit of the magic so that I can shower you with some luck o’ the Irish.

Nuevo Estilo via Nero Chronicles

Molly Luetkemeyer

Florence Lopez

Miles Redd for Oscar de la Renta

It just wouldn’t be a St. Patrick’s Day post without a pot of gold shimmering at the end of the rainbow…

Dolce and Gabbana certainly know how to bring on the bullion.

And now I impishly decree it to be drinky o’clock.

Go chug some green beer and get liquored up!

Black toilets.

Also, let’s talk about that gold utility light. Spraypaint, anyone?

Hey Dudes, I’m running late for a flight so I have to bid you adieu for a few days with little more than a reminder of what some planes look like sometimes:

But none to worry, Erin will be here tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday we have an extra special magical guest post, so you should only be crying tears of joy.

PS for more info on the 3′ plane made of used keys, go here.

Recently I can feel a dramatic shift in my design preferences.  Where I used to bookmark white interiors like they were going out of style, well, for me, I think they might be going out of style.  Don’t get me wrong, I still love a crisp, clean, white interior but I just flipped through my color combinations folder and saw a lot of this action:

As you can see, my interest in gold hasn’t waned much (has it grown!!!??  good lord) but the surrounding tones have gotten significantly darker

Ok, so admittedly, that light fixture really seals the deal here.  No, not the duck one.

No fancy interiors to see here, but this was smack-dab in the middle of my color file so I figure it must be worth sharing.  Other odd images I found right along it’s side include:

Love the color, love the fur, love the sparkle.  This could totally translate into a room.

And there it is again.   I would like for you to tell me how this color combination is not perfection.  Or, send me more pictures of real interiors in these tones… I want more!

PS, if I took any of today’s pictures from any of your blogs and didn’t note it here it’s because I don’t remember where I got any of these pictures.  Leave a comment if they’re from your site and I’ll happily give you credit.  xoxo

DC superfriend and badass interior designer/blogger Raina of If the Lampshade Fits found the silver foil lining of the clouded real estate market when she landed a sweet 70s home in Denver. In celebration of her spectacular find, I’m posting a cornucopia of 70s inspired interiors that manage a modern twist on classic geometric lines. You don’t have to import an entire Karl Springer showroom to get the feel — just a dab will do ya. But a ton of brass, gold, chrome and glass never hurts, because it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that bling.

Don’t worry if you’re a shy wallflower. See how subdued the 70s can be? No disco balls necessary. Via Richard Powers Photography.

Or you could go the other direction and bring it all on. Baughman chairs: check. Chrome and smoked glass table: check. Driftwood sculpture: check. Via Joe Serrins Studio.

Ahhh… it’s quiet again. A smoked glass chandelier and muted color palette ooze restrained elegance. I want to knock that superfluous flower pot off the table, though. Via Desire to Inspire.

Wheeeee, it’s loud again! You could apply lipstick in the reflection of that wallpaper, and the light fixtures are divine. Not loving the starburst wall clock. Via OWI.

Foil wallpaper may be the most ingenious backsplash, ever. I might have to do this in my kitchen… Via Style Files.

Of course, I would trade my entire kitchen, the house and everything in it for these cabinets. BRASS cabinets, people. Holy Jeebus Moses! Via Philippe Stuebi.

And while we’re on the gold trip, I think I want to cover something, anything in these gold mosaic tiles. Maybe a headboard…? Via Colombe Stevens.

Nina Campbell’s brass mantel is almost as delicious, but the clutter kills. Just take a mental snapshot of the brass and mirrors and close your eyes and mmmmmmmmmm. Via Domino.

If I had enough space and didn’t think I might burn my house down, you can bet your sweet ass I would have an indoor firepit. Hello fondue party! Via Jerry Samuelson Photography.

Milo Baughman is definitely the go to designer for all things sleekly seventies. Fawn Galli breathes new life into his iconic chairs with some rockin’ fabric and more awesome foil wallpaper.

My gay boyfriend Nate Berkus’ apartment with his Baughman chair. Copious amounts of mirror action, the chrome coffee table, Arteluce lamp, and tufty time sofa complete the look. The hand chair is available here for $69. Spraypaint is the nectar of the gods. Via Elle Decor.

Cultivating a 70s vibe doesn’t mean you have to keep your original 70s bathroom. Just say no to the triple threat of fiberglass tubs, formica and linoleum and say yes to burnished golden tiles, a black (!) pedestal sink and some fresh accessories. Via Living Etc.

Finally, the bathroom we all dream of. If not, you may be reading the wrong blog. Via Joe Serrins Studio.

Whew, that was a lot of pictures, but Raina’s dreamy home score deserves nothing less. Congratulations, Raina, on your swingin’ seventies pad — can’t wait to see it shine!

The fabulous Sherri over at The Claw tagged me for a little show and tell game of truth or… truth. Phew! I really don’t do dares. Anyhoo, I decided to make it design related, since you don’t really want to know all about the first time I kissed a boy, about the time that I wrecked the family van before I even had a license, or about how I was a super nerd in high school, down to my rabid fascination with the Academic Decathlon and other such socially alienating activities. Boooooring! So here goes nothing…

#1. Money is Wasted On the Rich

So, I’m having a baby, and one of the biggest initial expenses is a stupid stroller. It’s like buying a mini car for your precious. Now, I caved and bought a totally pedestrian Maclaren, but what I should have gotten is this 24 carat gold plated pram by Silver Cross for a mere $12,000. Of course, for that price I would expect a full sized car, but hey — it does have a sound system and satin interior. As an added bonus, it looks like a very stylish coffin, which is exactly what you’d like to imagine your baby in, right?

#2. Maurizio Cattelan is vying with Damien Hirst for the Overstuffed Award

I’m not sure why, but I have seen Cattelan’s taxidermied, suspended horses in person at multiple galleries and museums. Maybe a giant, hanging horse is just really hard to forget? I don’t know, but this headless version seen in Venice’s newly opened Punta della Dogana Museum has been haunting my dreams.

#3. Flowers Are Gross

I know this will be a controversial statement, but I think flowers are best left outdoors. I stole this case-in-point image from La Lampshade, because Raina has a knack for eviscerating cluelessly tacky rooms. That hideous purple floral arrangement in the wrong color, shape and scale, for this room is just icing on the already ugly cake.

#4. Plants Are Not Gross

Plants are like the groovier, less fussy sister to the flower. They still bring some green, recycle carbon dioxide, and fill space — just like flowers. However, they do it architecturally instead of decoratively. I’m waiting for someone to call me out on this, but it’s my truth — so take that.

#5. Gold and Chrome Go Together Like Rama Lama Lama Ka Dinga Da Dinga Dong

These images are double dipped from the same Nate Berkus designed abode as above (in case you couldn’t tell), and I would be totally comfortable scooping all of the furniture out, and inserting it into my own home. I love gold, and I love chrome. Never shall I be forced to choose between the two. Amen. Oh, and btw, if you live near Austin, those Pace chairs are available on Craigslist right here. That brings me to my next truth…

#6. Vintage Rules

I would estimate that 90% of my furnishings are recycled via Craigslist, thrift stores, Ebay, or some other outlet for used stuff. Who has the money to buy quality new furniture in this economy? Plus I just like a lot of the older designs mo’ better. I am currently eying this brass clad footlocker trunk on Craigslist for $28. Wouldn’t it make the most stylin’ toy chest, ever? But if you call up the seller and tell him that it bears more than a passing resemblance to a Sarreid piece, I will hunt you down and cut you.

#7. Cheap and Cool Lampshades Are as Rare as Three Legged Unicorns

This is a nice room (except for the puny flowers) from Steven Gambrel, but there’s nothing particularly standout about it. The couch, rug, other furnishings could have come from West Elm, or maybe even Target. So why is it crazy damn hard to buy a lampshade like that for a reasonable price at a big box store? You would think drum shades were all spun from Rapunzel’s hair due to their cost and rarity. Ikea, where are you when I need you?

#8. Art Makes a Room

And if you’re really rich, art makes your room into a museum. While us mere mortals are left to shop at Etsy and local art sales for our masterpieces, the elite collect Franz Kline paintings and Giacometti sculptures. But it’s a good thing homeboy has money enough to buy the big names, because the rest of this 8,000 sq ft space is blah x snooze.

#9. Design Often Requires Stupid Compromises

Sigh. Living with another person means you already have one too many cooks spoiling the brew. For example, I told Hunny Bunny that we should totally gild all of our ceilings in brass tile like this Istanbul home. Can you believe that he said NO? He did point out that our 1980s faux wood ceiling fans would look a bit out of place next to the golden goodness of that tile, but I truly felt that was but a minor hurdle to be crossed in the vague future of “someday.”

#10. Beethoven Is the New Black

Good pal that she is, Karly sent me this link because I bought a Beethoven bust at the Salvation Army and have been painting and repainting him ever since. First he was lame-o white, then I painted him turquoise (which was very cool, but too much for his setting), then he morphed into a bacterial blight of blue and white blotchiness before finally settling into a glossy black. I love my handsome black Beethoven, but in the right space he would also kick ass in sparkly gold, or work some magic in rainbow paint drips. He’s just so versatile!

Well kids, that’s it for all about me day. If you’d like to get lazer tagged to play this game, leave me a comment and I’ll update the post. Holla!

This evening I finally got to go on a date with my blog friend, Andrea, as if spending hours talking design with her wasn’t enough, she topped it all off by sending me a link to the most insane toiletries I’ve ever seen.  If I were living in my forever house and never had to worry about resale value, I could actually see myself considering these.  Come on, they’re hilarious, right?

Ok, please overt your eyes from the dreadful shower curtain(S!) and brown wall treatment.  Ignore the fact that this is shot in a studio and no one would ever have three little cups perfectly aligned on a chair.  Imagine this GOLD TUFTED BATHTUB (can you believe that sequence of words exists?) in a stark, white modern bathroom.  Kinda awesome, yes?

You can at least go for this seat, right?  Ok, I know it’s probably the ugliest seat ever to show it’s face on the planet earth, but there’s something about it that I just kind of adore.  sorry.

I know you all are hating me right now and trying to delete DC from your RSS feed, but what about white?  Again, please ignore the bead trimmed(!!!) curtains.   And the silver base.  Imagine it in gold.

Almost too nice to pee on.

Incase you’re planning to race out and buy one for your own home, these babies are made by Lineatre.  

Thanks, Andrea!  You’ll see that other post we discussed on here Monday

Today’s post has lots of gold, the dirtiest lamps you’ll ever see, and very little writing.  Let’s do this:

See!  What did I tell you?  At Your Command Lamps by Daniel Loves Objects

Bookcase From his  Of Wars Wits & Power Series

These Bookshelves remind me of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

I will give you a million dollars if you can guess what this is.  A humidifier!  Hello!  I really don’t need one of those here in Texas, but if Daniel ever comes up with a dehumidifier in gold, I will be first in line to checkout.

Daniel Loves Objects has lots of great goodies, you should go check them all out, I just chose to share the ones that were my favorite color.

Since Karly’s gone, I thought I would do my best to gold up this hizzy in her honor. Goldeness may be next to Godliness because it’s all about surface, so it only take a cheapo can of spray paint to turn even the most ordinary object into something that looks expensive and klassy. If the recession depression is getting you down, hustle out and spend $5 to give something the Midas touch. You know it’s going to make you feel better. I’m here to help you pull the paint trigger with some scintillating finds that are designed to bring the bling back into your life.

Zany Dutchman Marcel Wanders contradicts the age old aphorism that, “You can’t polish a turd.” Well, apparently you can!

Richard Powers

Boyfriend’s big black speakers getting you down? Surely he wouldn’t mind a bit if you got after those nasty cases with some super shiny lussssster. Tip: wait until he goes out on a late night bar crawl to transform his AV equipment. Men can get a little touchy about their electronics, so best to let him booze it up a little. High Five sure to follow!

Once your golden piece de resistance is finis, you may want to protect it from his angry adoring clutches with a fabulous fence. Demakersvan makes gorgeously crocheted fences out of plastic coated wire in a variety of designs, including this golden girl.

While you’ve got the paint out, why not take a cue from these guerrilla artists and put gold back on the streets. Oh, and please start at Wall Street…

Because we surely need some gold back in our banks! This gold painted ATM is probably worth more than the “money” inside it.

Speaking of gluttony and financial ruin, Studio Job has got those bank bitches’ number with their piece, Robber Baron. Holy crackatoly, do you see the tiny guns, atomic stars, airplanes, and other symbols of technology gone horribly awry? I desperately need this as a coffee table. Since this piece costs more than a bank (which isn’t that hard these days), I’ll be busy trying to figure out how I’m going to make this myself.

Per Ranung

While I try to reinvent the wheel, I think anyone could handle this as an at home project: whip out the paint can to emphasize va-va-volume in sculptures. Glossy surfaces always look rounder than matte ones. Let the model instruct you on how best to apply this rule to your fashion decisions.

If you accidentally get some paint on the floor, don’t worry! Just go ahead and spread it everywhere. If Dolce and Gabbana can have a solid gold bedroom, so can you.

Perhaps you’d prefer something more precious and smaller in scale, like these rings from jewelry designer Gisele Ganne’s Divorce series. Just slip on these gold knuckles and leave a lasting impression on your significant ex’s face.

I also love that Ricochet Studio isn’t afraid to take a golden shower. I really covet Accident for my little boy’s nursery because — as the designers themselves acknowledge — it happens.

Ricochet makes all kinds of oddly twisted ceramics with a golden flourish, like this Urn with an intestinal interior. Love these guys. Found via Sara Says Awesome‘s quirky blog.

For fine details like those on the Ricochet pieces, may I recommend you dispense with the spray paint and switch to Rub ‘N’ Buff, the most amazing product in the universe. No, I do not get paid to advertise their wares, but I should (wink) because I have covered everything from frames and knobs to thrift store junque to all manner of TJ Maxx and Ross’ craptacular “goods” with the Buffer. You will be amazed at how much a tiny tube will cover.

Like, I’m pretty sure the artist responsible for this travesty could have saved himself a whole lot of money:

Yes, Mark Quinn’s solid gold Kate Moss statue has an estimated worth of $10 million pounds. It probably would have cost less to buy Miss Moss herself and coat her and her naughty bits in Rub ‘N’ Buff. After all, odds are that it would only take one tube to do the whole job.

When I first started this blog I planned on having lots of how-tos (man they are a pain to put together, hence their absence) and a detailed log of all my home renovations.  I figured the whole world my mom would be waiting with baited breath to see the exact color gray I finally settled on, or how high my baseboards were.  We’ve been hacking away at this blog for months now but I have yet to share a single renovation image.  Poor you.  There’s so much I still need to do before our house even begins to resemble my decor fantasy but we’ve already done a lot in the 3 short months since we’ve moved in, I think it’s time to give Matt and I a smallish pat on the back:

Here’s my light-filled living room, I bought the house for it’s high ceilings (the lowest one is 10 feet) and ginormus windows, also because Erin almost fainted from hyperventilation when we first toured the house. So Far I’ve ripped up the carpet, laid white and gray concrete overlay;  painted the walls gray; stenciled the big wall with the pretty pattern shown here; and ripped out the old door (to my bedroom) and put in this lovely vintage door on barn tracks.  We also installed the floating shelves, which are haphazardly arranged at present.  The furniture in this photo does not represent the arrangement I plan to maintain, but it works for now.  I also want to paint that door but, hey, one thing at a time.

Here are some progress photos:

the most tedious project of my life.  Thank god for beer and ladders.

doesn’t that tile around the fireplace and the band-aid colored paint make you want to puke?  Me too, which is why I have photo #2 of Matt ripping the tile off the floor, what a good husband.

the fireplace as it stands today, still needing tile and a paint job.  Note:  Matt took the tiles off the floor in front of the fireplace but my dear, sweet mother actually removed the heinous offending tiles from the facade.  On the left are the lovely 6″ baseboards we installed.  I hate wimpy short baseboards and my big-tall ceilings beg for a substantial anchor.  I love them.

here’s my couch that I recently painted and recovered.  I still need to make bolster pillows.  I also want approximately 864 more bright pillows to throw across the back.  It’s no dream couch, but for $130 off craigslist, it will do for now.  Plus, it’s much better than it was before:

eeeewwwww, my eyes burn.

This weekend I started to move into the hallway:

right: before with band-aid walls, band-aid carpet and my cute husband.  left: I’ve ripped out the baseboards and the molding from around all the doors (MYSELF!) and painted it white, the lines are chalk lines I put up last night to mark off where I will be painting stripes.  When complete, the hall will have alternating 6″ white and gray stripes.  We also took out all the old hollow-core doors and replaced them with these vintage solid ones.  They will be painted white along with the new trim / molding / baseboards.  New handles too.  Which reminds me, anyone have a good handle source? I found a few I like, but at $200 a pop I think I need to keep shopping.  I’ll give you the afters once the hall is done.

And just because I couldn’t leave you with a picture of my ugly half-completed hallway, here is a shot of my GOLD panther table.  Erin does not lie, I will spray paint anything gold, especially if it is a panther that wants to hold my cocktails.  

I chose not to bore you with photos of the dream closet renovation we did, but just so you know we’re not sitting on our fannies around here, I’ll tell you that we knocked out a new door in the wall (on a whim at midnight one night) so we could have 2 closet entrances, installed a boat-load of shelves and rails and hung a sweet globe lamp from the ceiling.  Now Matt isn’t even allowed to put away his own clothes, I do it myself so that they can always be perfectly neat and organized, he makes a big boy mess.

So, there you have it, 600 projects down, only a million-gazillion to go.

I hate sports. I was never a soccer player, sucked at tennis, and got beaten up in PE. Can you say dodgeball? Nevertheless, I — like so many people around the globe — am completely obsessed with the Olympics, especially gymnastics, which is chock full of uber-buff men who wear leotards and do the splits. I am also VERY SURPRISED to find a not insignificant amount of nationalist competitive spirit lodged in my card-carrying communist (socialist? liberal? whatever the old folks call us these days), pinko heart.

That’s right: GO AMERICA. KICK EVERYONE ELSE’S ASS. (But if you’re not from the United States, feel free to insert your team in the following blank. It’s ok. I’ll try not to hold it against you.) So for you, ______, I present a day of golden awesomeness in celebration of all the ass we’ve already kicked, as well as all of the ass-kicking yet to come.

If you need some help getting into the gold grubbing spirit, try these $429 24-karat filled pills by Tobias Wong at Generate Design. Don’t worry. I’m sure everything will come out fine.

Seriously, isn’t gold the best color ever? Doesn’t it make everything seem shiny and new and GOOD? Just ask Karly. She insisted on giving two football helmets we scored at the thrift store the Midas touch. Stephen Johnson needs no help in that department; he’s already amassing a kitschy collection of gravity-defying gold-dipped goodies. And that bow covered snail butt just makes me laugh.

I’ve already blogged about China’s King of Bling, Lam Sai-Wing, and his solid gold palace (replete with solid gold toilet!), but there’s no need to be jealous of his glitzy digs. Check out these 24 karat covered tiles from Design Tale Studio and golden aluminum/laminate tiles spotted at trendir, and set the stage (ok, maybe only mentally!) for your own vision of victory.

Going for the gold is always about aiming high, right? While admiring the golden glow emanating from your environs, why not kick your feet up on Yves Klein‘s gold shavings-filled coffee table? (Look for more posts on Klein craziness next week…)

Feeling prepped for success? Ready to win? Sense the sweet taste of proper thrashing coming in the next week or so? Make sure you take it all in on your gold-plated plasma tv and sound system.

Excuse me. I’ve got to go uncharacteristically berserk (not that going berserk is actually uncharacteristic. It’s just that this cheering thing is a little very new and different) and root for my team. Hunny Bunny is sure that I’m crazy, but, hell, I’m in it to win it! He really should know that by now. Not that I’m competitive or anything.