Amateur of Design: An Ongoing Personal Journey (update part 3).

Hello Lovelies,

Shown above: my FAVORITE apartment therapy house tour, ever! Liz Fabry's Well-Edited Half of a Durham Duplex House Tour

Remember my personal journey through the world of design as an amateur? (You might to read here for a quick reminder).

So I wanted to tell you lovelies that I am doing this month's Style Cure, as hosted by the Apartement Therapy blog. One of the first assignmernts of the Cure is to fill out our personal style form (see link here). Actually,  using pinboards for the last few years helped me determine my own personal style quite easily. As i have stated on this blog before, here is what I am personally drawn to:

"My inspiration is mostly gathered here.  This main pinboard helps me define my style, a little "industriel", a little "wunderkammer" with a "masculine flair" twist, thogh none of these decor style pinboards are really realistic nor affordable. It's about dreaming (which is a necessary function, too).

Image above: In a petite living room, pairing a sofa boasting a sleek design and a low profile with a large artwork and a statement-making light fixture will give the room a bold sense of personality. Image source: here.

My general home decor pinboard presentation goes like this, and this sums it all up:

"

#10: Home Decor - general inspiration

my personal style tends to: Wunderkammer, Masculine Flair, Warm Industrial, Belgian Greys. I also love to use Botanical Charts and insect drawings as home decor.

And of course, I amdrawn to simple clean lines as shoiwn in Japanese and Scandinavian or Shakers' interiors.

To sum it up, i guess i really like it bold & dramtic, with a strong sense of personal style. (image below is from this post on the sfgirlbybay popular design blog).

Before actually starting to decorate, decluttering is in order. How timely! This month's ZenHabits simplicty challenge is all about decluttering your life!

Here is the ZH plan: zenhabits.net/declutter

"Decluttering" could mean a lot of different things to me, from getting rid of too many belongings, not-useful-to-me material things but also getting rid of unnecessary assignments that burden my day or even better yet, toxic relationships that simply bring me down.

what about you lovelies? What does "decluttering" mean to you?

-Alix.


Oh! and I almost forgot to mention I am also back on instagram with this August 2013 photo-a-day challenge,vie the ideas room blog:

I guess I am alive and well and bursting with new projects! Right? Right-O!

E-mag inspiration: So Much to See in Rue!

Hello Lovelies,

I am still alive and well! ;-)

I *do* need a break from it all - I have been (and currently still am) street harassed & stalked by weirdo neighbors who think I'm a natural-born victim just because I'm:
a) a woman
b) a loner
c) currently vulnerable health-wise and all
- but... no way!

I am NOT a natural-born victim. I have been the coincidental object of the violent hatred of my own family, and my mother in particular. It has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the violent perpatrator of these violent and ongoing crimes.

That being said, right now I'm looking for a nice getaway for next weekend, somewhere near the Ocean (frequent, regular contact with natural scenery, esp. water has always  rejuvenated me).  I may do some couch surfing, but keep being careful of course.

Of course, I *do* crave some quiet time alone right now, as my neighbors as well as my own nightmares (back straight from childhood hell) won't let me rest and sleep at night, but maybe meeting new friends via couch surfing (or the like) could be a refreshing change of scenery (my inner city really sucks during summertime, with those unbearable heatwaves and all).

When I *do* feel refreshed and rejuvenated and my own self (probably for the first time in my whole life - I expect the feeling of being "me" for maybe the first time ever to feel just a little... weird or unexpected), only then will I be able to take the practical steps that will allow me to move to another better, safer place and simply move on with my own life.

So... what is it about Rue mag and home decor inspiration that I wanted to tell you lovelies in the first place? All this domestic violence is distracting me from the actual, beautiful & important things in life... ;-)

On may 7th 2013 - two of my favorite e-magazines released their Spring 2013 issues. If you have a quiet moment today, make sure you check out Rue Magazine’s May/June issue dedicated to Pacific Northwestern design as well as Matchbook’s Mother’s Day issue. Both are filled with beautiful interiors, fashion and inspiring women.

So take a few minutes for yourself, relax and...

ENJOY!

Here are a few highlights from this Rue Sping 2013 issue, articles, objects and design ideas that caught my attention - beware this issue is really chock-full of good decor tips & tricks! So:

gift guide for men - "north pacific cool" - page 16

rainy day essentials - page 18

page 46 - hindsvik typewriter for 40 dollars + ethanollie refleix camera for 75 dollars

dark grey inspiration objects : page 48

light grey inspiration objects : page 50

page 54 : bed room inspi dark grey wall + page 62 tips for creating a beautiful bedroom

page 64 : bagels recipes!!! Btw, it seems NYC bagels have finally hit France this summer! Hooray!

page 89 : the big black K letter in a monochromatic minimalistic home + page 97 home office

page 122 : graphic painting above bed + octopus tentacle sculpture

And in closing: a merry mishap (drool-worthy) atelier tour.

-Alix.

Pssst... More e-mags inspiration here: http://pinterest.com/teabutterfly/e-mags/

Why Not? (Part 2)

Hello Lovelies!

photo, my own.

I promise, this is the last post I write here before I'm leaving for a month for a much-needed rest. But I am passionate about design, and I have a rather intense relationship inth my interior, so I couldn't help myself and just wrote this follow-up piece, after writing "Why Not? (Part 1)".

So, as i said before, my living-room has pretty good, classical French bones.

Among things I already have are:

A greyish/navy couch
A floor lamp from Habitat (with white lampshade that may need to be changed)
Accent pillows as shown below (image from laredoute catalog):

A chenille IKEA throw in chartreuse green (one of my fave colors).
Three nesting vintage IKEA coffe tables, with a thin black frame and a thick glass top (they were bought by a Swedish friend in the 60's).
Two classical French wooden narrow armchairs facing the couch, with pop red pillows on them (my cat loves to sleep there).

instagram photo, my own.

I set up a nice nook in the living-room that serves as a home office, together with a French vintage wooden desk, a vintage metallic desk lamp, and nice wooden shelving above desk.My fave element there is my vintage black dial phone, that still works (pictured above)!

Things I want/need in order to add warmth to the room and pull it all together:

A pratical, gallery-like hanging system for my oversized artwork, to be hanged behind couch.
Painting the black frame of my nesting tables a light shade of grey (I love the color called Elephant's Breath by Farrow&Ball).
Adding an area rug in front of couch (I have frankly no idea were to begin to search for that rug... Any ideas? I love these Nicola Cerini rugs, but they are made in Australia, not even sure they ship to France... IKEA... well frankly, it seems like a bland option to me. )

About the home office:
I may need to rethink the way it is organized (do i have enough storage?) and decorated (how about a personal, DIY inspiration board?)
I definitely need a more comfortable desk chair.
And a new mousepad, too. I would love a bigger, sleeker computer screen.

Finally, adding the right window treatment over my pair of French windows. I want something simple, organic, white, sheer... With maybe just a little hint of a pattern... I need it to be catclaws-proof, too! Again, if any of you has any good ideas... I am all ears! Thank you!

When I'm back, I will post photos of my living-room as it is today ( the "Before" picture) and I will hopefully be able to post a decent "After" photo in a few months from now. Then, I'll move on to tackle the kitchen, the entryway, the bedroom and the bathroom. Still a long way to go, but gosh, am I enjoying the process!

I hope you enjoy reading about it, too!

Oh... Wait! Did I just sound like an awful pinterest fan that only thinks of gigantic shopping lists? Oh, my! This is not me. I don't really intend to buy all of these things, at least not all at once. What I really aim for is making my home a place for my dreams to come true.

-Naomi of TeaButterfly.

Sudden Inspiration

Hello Lovelies!

 image source : the Beauty of the Letterpress.

I know I haven't updated this blog in a long time. Times were tough lately, and well, Murphy's law was upon me, giving me the gift of sorrow and despair day after day.

Then suddenly, inspiration hit me and I just wrote five blog entries (on my home decor blog) within 2 hours' time. Go figure. All these blog posts are somehow design-related. If you wish to read them, here they are:

Hello Design Enthusiasts!

The Beauty of the Letterpress

Spring Colours Week - my 2013 photos

I forgot to mention: I have moved

Inspiration: The Perfect Place For Me.

You can find all of them at: http://strangerfiction.canalblog.com/

Enjoy!

After all the stressful events in my personal life, I am taking some time to rest, relax and reflect. Please understand.

I will be back in a month or so. See you then!

-Naomi of TeaButterfly.