In case you haven’t noticed, it’s high summer and things are moving at a rather leisurely pace here at DC headquarters. I’m too busy with BBQs and pool playdates to do any hard hitting entertainicles right now, but I did manage to scrounge up a few delightful tidbits for you — our loyal readers. If you saw yesterday’s post about Karly’s curtain project, then you know that a little DIY graphic goodness can make a gigantinormous difference. Let’s check out some other ideas for simple, punchy projects. Behold:

Eye Spy

While I don’t really want to think about how much work it actually took to paint that floor, I am seeing some definite, cheap possibilities for radical change. Is this not the best idea ever for crapoflaging those hideous screenprinted tiles that seem to run rampant in otherwise nice homes? I am wondering how durable the finish would be, though. Does anyone have experience painting tile?

Stylehunter

Step one: find huge, cheap gold frames. Step two: paint your own shapes or cut up a big piece of fabric and frame. Step three: steal those lamps. heh.

LA Times

Sure it’s a little voyeuristic, but at least you’ll never be lonely in bed again. As I recall, this fabric was created with digital imaging and then sewn into a coverlet. There are so many digital service bureaus out there now that I’m sure there must be some reasonable options for printing your own fabric masterpieces.

Nicolas Matheus

A couple of graphic touches can make a big impact in a neutral space. It would take three seconds to have those shapes cut out of MDF and paint them up all 80s Memphis like. The settee is a relatively easy upholstery job that could be done on the cheap with Ikea fabric, and y’all know I’m nothing if not hot for the cheap and easy.

Andrea Ferrari

Dudes, I will be knocking this idea off someday. I can’t afford Fornasetti’s stunning Nuvole wall mural, but I can have my own images printed by Design Your Walls. I actually flipped this image into a mirrored pattern much like the one above and then had it printed as wallpaper, which was really easy to do and relatively inexpensive. Think I might try some different images and see what I can come up with.

You know… after I finish BBQing and swimming.

I have obviously contracted a raging case of scarlet fever, or perhaps I’ve come down with the Pepto Bismol Flu. Because my new appreciation for hot pink can only be explained by a fit of delirium. Now — I’m a black, white, and brown, kind of a girl. Sure, I like loads of bling to slick it up, but at heart I love my drabby neutrals. Except I have recently developed a strange, inexplicable attraction to hot pink. It’s probably because the hunny says it doesn’t look good with my hair — which makes me like it even more.

Nicolas Matheus

Whatever. You can’t deny that a dash of hot pink puts the schwing into spring.

Nicolas Matheus

Girl, you know you be a sexy beast.

Abigail Ahern

Yes, I realize I mixed my gender metaphors there, but it may just be that hot pink is a transvestite hooker with a heart of gold.

Design Sponge

Hot pink’s interests are: It’s Raining Men, lip gloss, and having better legs than me.

Scott Weston

But you know what? I like her. A lot. Hot pink is sharp, funny, edgy, and adds a touch of in your face glamour to any room.

Scott Weston

Did I mention versatile? Pair her with other brights or darks and she will hold her own.

Abigail Ahern

Studio Ilse

Michael Haverland

Pair her with neutrals and she will coyly bat her false eyelashes at you with a flirtatious wink and a nudge.

Abigail Ahern

Laura Day via Lonny

Display her on your pedestrian TV in full frontal view, right next to your haute pink James Nares painting, and you will be a GENIUS.

House Beautiful

In closing, I leave you with this showstopper of an image, which is not to my usual taste. At all. For starters, I don’t know who allowed a giant clam to crawl across the floor and die a horrible, ugly death beneath the console table. But that swath of hot pink brightness rescues the whole room from stuffy old lady land. And do you know what the paint color is called?

Razzle Dazzle.

That’s what I’m talking about.

No sleep is happening at Casa Erin. In case you were wondering with baited breath WHY GOD WHY, it’s because we’re working through Sweet Baby Ike’s dastardly sleep issues. It’s an important mission that we have chosen to accept, but the consequence is that everyone in this house has become insanely delirious, and that I spend a lot of time staring into space trying to remember what my name is.

Sleep is a funny thing. If you sleep well, you never think twice about it. If you sleep poorly, it’s all you ever think about. Obsess about. Fantasize about. If you don’t sleep well, your skin gets wrinkly and your temper grows short and your IQ drops a minimum of 867 points. And you become very hungry for cookies. So I’m tired and old and mean and stupid and I have a raging sugar addiction.

Yeah, that sounds about right. Fuck.

Anyway, I can barely string together words and things, much less present you with a well researched, thoughtful post, so I’m resorting to Plan B:

Let’s take a nap together. Now, you can choose your own adventure, but I’m planning to float to dreamland right here. I suppose you could join me, as long as you don’t hog the covers or snore like a chinchilla. What do you think of those pillows sewn corner to corner, creating a fluffy resting place for one’s sweet angel head? How about those crazy architectural details, which I believe are actually some sort of WALLPAPER? Don’t forget the sleek mirrored surfaces — all the better to admire one’s luminous skin, which will surely be refreshed and restored by hours of glorious sleep.

Truly, there is no more beautiful word in all of the English language.

Nighty night. Sleep tight.

Photo by Nicolas Matheus

Interior decor is as much a part of the fashion world as clothes are — trends are born and then trends die. It’s the cycle of style. Because I’m short on time and have to work whenever I find a spare minute or two, I tend to bookmark my posts well in advance (and for my responsible nature I deserve a gold star, right?), but the downside is that I often find I’m tired of the pictures before I even get to post them. So, yeah, I’ve had this awesome black and white roundup lassoed and hogtied for weeks, but I was all sick of it because I’ve already seen a zillion (good) black and white roundups splashed all over the blogosphere. Anyhoodle, this is my long and rambling way of saying that you’re getting a (mostly) black and white post whether you like it or not, because there are some good things about black and white, and besides — it’s a classic, dammit.

Sabrina Bignami

Nicolas Matheus

Richard Powers

OWI

Francois Halard

Studio Ilse

Style Files

Studio Ilse

Jeff Andrews

Emmas Designblogg

Elle Decor

Skona Hem

Jeff Andrews

Sabrina Bignami

Did you see how many pictures I had bookmarked??? I’m nothing if not thorough, and I couldn’t exactly let all that gorgeousness go to waste.

So what do you dudes think? Is black and white itself too chilly? Does it need a pop of color or the warmth of wood to make it work? Tell me your favorite picture, and I’ll tell you mine… Inquiring minds need to know.