VISITING THE ZIMMERMAN HOUSE

It's hard to believe that just last week I was in New England! The Dude and I made a quick visit to his family that lives near Boston. While we were there, my in-laws took us to view the Zimmerman House in New Hampshire. This house was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1950's. It now belongs to the Currier Museum which conducts public tours of the house.

It was such a treat to be able to see a house by the great Frank Lloyd Wright. I was in design heaven. Unfortunately, I was only able to take photos of the exterior as photography inside the house was not allowed. I don't think pictures would do it justice anyway. This is a house that should be experienced.

The shot above is the back of the house. A pair of french doors was being repaired, hence the plywood. The house has only one floor, which I love. My ideal house would only have one floor as I abhor stairs. The Zimmerman House is pretty small (it only has two bedrooms), but because of its smart design it seems pretty spacious. Another thing I love about the house is that it sits on a diagonal relative to the lot so it doesn't face the street directly.

Every aspect of the house was intentionally and thoughtfully designed, and I was truly blown away by the beauty of it all. After seeing the house I now understand why Frank Lloyd Wright is so highly regarded. The man was a genius.

You can view photos of the interior here.

CHAIR OBSESSION

I know there are a lot of people out there who share my obsession with chairs. I don't know why, but I love, love, love chairs. Maybe it's because they seem like sculpture. A well-designed chair is truly a work of art. If I could, I would have a room devoted to my chair collection.

I particularly like midcentury modern chairs. Who doesn't really? I will probably never own the authentic designer version of the chairs pictured above but they will continue to haunt my daydreams as long as I live. Although I'm perfectly aware that these chairs have become a cliché in interior design these days, it doesn't stop me from admiring and coveting them.

Here are some photos from my Pinterest boards of these beautiful chairs in action.

Source: designspongeonline.com 

Source: style-files.com

Source: housetohome.co.uk

You can find more information on the Eames molded plastic chair, the wishbone chair, and the Series 7 chair on the DWR website.

WHITE FLOORS: LOVE OR HATE?

The Dude and I like to have pseudo-arguments about white floors. I love them. He hates them. He thinks they're an abomination. He argues that it looks too cold, sterile, and stark. I can see his point. But I've seen interiors with white floors that look cozy and inviting. It's all about layering and using different textures to add warmth to a space. I love how white floors make a room look more spacious and freshly clean. We'll probably never have white floors but nothing can stop me from daydreaming about them.

Source: kelseykruer.tumblr.com

Source: frenchbydesign.blogspot.com

Source: decor8blog.com

Source: kitkadesigntoronto.com

Source: luellaloves.tumblr.com

Source: velvetpalette.wordpress.com

In personal news, we are about to move again. We just moved five months ago, and I can't believe we have to do it again. But our current place continues to give me headaches, and it became clear that we have to move out of here. I tried all sorts of treatments and medication but the headaches persist whenever I'm in the apartment. So in a couple weeks we'll be in our new digs.

INSPIRATION: BLACK AND WHITE INTERIORS

The other day I was at the bookstore browsing the home decor section. I picked up a book called Black and White (and a Bit in Between): Timeless Interiors, Dramatic Accents, and Stylish Collections by Celerie Kemble. I was a bit skeptical about the premise of the book but curiosity got the better of me. Wow, was I blown away by the amazing interiors I saw. I was expecting to see stark black and white interiors but I was totally wrong. There was a vast variety of black and white spaces with a surprising amount of colours mixed in.

As I browsed the photos, I noticed that successful black and white rooms have a lot of different textures in them that adds visual interest. Also, I noticed layers of white and black. The spaces I liked best were the ones with wood accents or pops of colour.

I also found myself actually reading the text. I have to admit that when I look at interior design books I only look at the pictures and rarely read the copy. Celerie Kemble offers good advice on how to pull off the look so that you don't end up with a space that looks too stark and sterile.

I scoured Pinterest to look for examples of black and white interiors that I like. Here's a sample of what I found.

Source: whereisthecool.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: kitka.ca via Alice on Pinterest

Source: the-brick-house.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: browndresswithwhitedots.tumblr.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: things.konradolsson.se via Alice on Pinterest

Source: themarionhousebook.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: themarionhousebook.com via Alice on Pinterest

ACE HOTEL SEATTLE

Part of our trip to Massachusetts involved staying in Seattle overnight as we were flying in and out of Sea-Tac airport. So I booked a room at the Ace Hotel, of course! We so enjoyed our stay at the Ace in Palm Springs that we want to try to visit all the other Ace Hotels.

The Ace Hotel in Seattle is in a historic building and it's chock full of mouth-watering vintage decor.

I especially loved the horse themed wall paper in one of the bathrooms in the lobby. I've come to love using horses in my own decor.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take photos of the room we stayed in because it was too dim even with the lights on. There were no windows, just a door to a covered courtyard. All I can say is that it was not your typical hotel room. It actually reminded me a lot of the room we stayed in at the Craft Hotel in Buenos Aires.

We also got to tour around Downtown Seattle for a bit. The weather was gorgeous and made exploring very easy and pleasant.

When we visited Pike Place market, it was during a Sunday morning and the place was abuzz with shoppers and tourists. There were so many yummy eateries and I wanted to eat at all of them.

Even though Seattle is less than 3 hours away by car from Vancouver, we rarely go there. I hope that we can spend more time exploring this super cool city in the future.

DREAMING ABOUT LIGHTING

Now that the rug situation is almost resolved, I have moved on to obsessing about lighting. I abhor the light fixtures that came with the apartment and fantasize every day about replacing them. Unfortunately, replacing the lamps is way down on the priority list. But a girl can always dream...

Here's a round-up of some lamps I've seen lately that I'd consider for our home.

Source: schoolhouseelectric.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: westelm.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: dwr.com via Alice on Pinterest

Below are a couple of similar looking DIY pendants that won't break the bank.

Source: poppytalk.blogspot.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: houseofearnest.com via Alice on Pinterest

I'm seriously considering the clear globe lamp from West Elm for the bedroom and dining nook. I better start saving my pennies! I first saw the lamp on this Birch and Bird blog post and totally fell in love with it. Normally I'd like to get something that's vintage, but I don't want to take the vintage theme so far that it makes our place look like an antique store. It's good to balance out the vintage stuff with some contemporary pieces. And I think pendant lamps would be a good way to introduce something more modern looking and provide a nice contrast.

RUGS! RUGS! RUGS!

Ever since we moved into our new place at the end of January, I've been obsessing about rugs. As I mentioned before, one of the building by-laws is to have at least 60% of the floors covered. So I've been trolling the internet looking for the perfect rug.

These are some of my favourites among the hundreds I saw...

Source: overstock.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: overstock.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: westelm.com via Alice on Pinterest

Source: westelm.com via Alice on Pinterest

For one reason or another, I had to pass over the rugs above even though I really, really loved them.

We are seriously considering FLOR as an option. They specialize in carpet tiles that you can put together yourself to create your own customizable rug. Given that we need specifically sized rugs, this is probably the best option for us.

This is what I'm considering for the dining nook:

Source: flor.com via Alice on Pinterest

For the living room:

Source: flor.com via Alice on Pinterest

For the bedroom, I'm considering a non-FLOR rug. This cute grey chevron rug is from Urban Outfitters. I didn't know they had a large home decor product line until recently.

Source: urbanoutfitters.com via Alice on Pinterest

I ordered some carpet tile samples from FLOR. Once I see them I'll make a final decision. I can't wait until this whole rug saga ends because it's been eating way too much of my time and mental energy.

The Dude is not looking forward to putting together the carpet tiles but he'll just have to suck it up. At least, it's not piecing together IKEA furniture! He was so traumatized by the last ordeal that he has declared that we will never ever shop at IKEA ever again.

DECORATING WITH VINTAGE WOODEN CRATES

Decorating our new apartment has been very slow going. I've been preoccupied with finding rugs because it's required by our building (and the deadline was yesterday!). But I managed to decorate a little corner of my office space with some vintage goodies.

I recently visited my most favourite vintage home decor shop Stepback and picked up a few gems - among them a pair of vintage wooden crates to repurpose as storage/display furniture. I love their whitewashed finish. So one of them now is sitting on top of the file cabinet holding my vintage toolbox collection.

Actually this whole little corner is a vintage haven. The horse bookend and the fan atop the crate and the flower frogs and wooden letterpress types resting at the bottom are all vintage finds. Some I scored while thrifting, others I bought from vintage sellers. It's funny how they all got accidentally concentrated here, but now that I think about it it's the only space where I can display some of my vintage stuff. The rest of it is still packed in a box because I don't have wall shelves to display them on like at our old place.

Wooden crates offer so much versatility when it comes to home decor. The other wooden crate I have is temporarily serving as a side table. I've seen some other creative uses for them: as bookcases, a shadowbox, a nightstand, a catch-all box, etc. I especially like the ones to which castors have been attached.

from f*ck your noguchi table

The shoe storage/landing strip above is made out of milk crates. I love, love, love it. If only our entryway were that spacious!

from Birch and Bird

This hodgepodge of wooden crates put together to make a modular bookcase is genius! Love the flea-market style look.

I hope to share soon here what I'm going to do with the other things I got from Stepback. Hint: it also involves repurposing an object for furniture/storage use.

HOME DECOR INSPIRATION: NEUTRAL OR COLOURFUL?

These days I'm agonizing over which direction to take in regards to decorating our new place. I love neutral interiors but I also I adore the colourful boho/flea-market look. I'll probably end up doing something in the middle and making a hot mess of it.

Anthropologie is currently promoting a "Inspired by: Buenos Aires" style guide in their House & Home section, which definitely fits the colourful boho theme. It reminded me how much I love the way Argentineans decorate their homes. What's to love? Old world charm, cozy textiles, and pops of colours. Whenever I visit Buenos Aires, I'm always in awe of how it seems like it's frozen in time. Nearly everything (except various pockets of the city) looks outdated and worn down but in a way that's good, and even comforting. It's like I can return to my childhood with everything preserved and intact as it was back then. It all looks reassuringly familiar.

Here are a couple of Buenos Aires home interiors I find inspiring:

from Design*Sponge

from Design*Sponge

What makes the above two spaces work so well are that the rooms have good bones and they're huge! I mean, look at those airy, tall ceilings! In contrast, I live in a little box, so not sure if I can pull off these looks very well.

Now on to neutral spaces I find inspirational...

from The Brick House

from The Marion House Book

from Manhattan Nest

So I used to think that neutral meant cold, sterile spaces. But the examples above are far from that. They've got lots of warming elements like wooden furniture and structural details, natural textiles, and leather. The first example of neutral decor above is actually the waiting room of a hair salon, but I can seriously live in there! It's probably my favourite out of all the photos I've posted here.

I love both types of decor styles. I know for the bedroom I definitely want to go for a neutral, serene colour palette but for the living room I'm not sure yet. I'll probably want more colour and the way I'll do it is mainly via rugs and accessories since most of our furniture is either black, brown, or white. We have to cover at least 60% of the area in rugs because it's a building bylaw to protect the floors. So I might as well choose a bright rug that will liven up the space. This means I get to shop for rugs!