Thought for the Day

I saw this chair in a magazine (Elle?) forever ago and haven't been able to get it out of my mind since. It's from Anthropologie, which means that it's way out of my price range. It also goes with nothing anywhere in my house. Yet it's calling me to buy it. Help?

Light bright, part deux

I seem to be obsessed with lighting lately. I think that this might be because although I've altered almost everything in my house to look the way that I want it, the light fixtures haven't been changed. The ones in my house are hideously generic. These would be so pretty instead, don't you think?

Although these lamps are lined with copper, they also give off the color of rose gold, which is a big trend in fashion right now. I like to think that these would give off an incredibly rosy glow, which would be so flattering for a dinner party (if I was the type to throw dinner parties... or cook, for that matter). I love the look of having a grouping of these like the picture above, but I also think that a single lamp would look great centered over a Saarinen table like this one:

Perfection, right? Shit, now I want to redecorate my entire dining room. Y'all are a bad influence!

Thought for the day

The boyfriend wants to retire to Costa Rica. Because I'm incredibly pale, this sounds like a sunburn of epic proportions waiting to happen. I might cave if he let me build this room:

 

Light Bright... light bright... turn on the magical shining light!

I may be the only person you know who hopes to one day have a house with bare lightbulbs. Like this:

Have I lost my mind? I don't think so. Thanks to the genius of artist Tord Boontje, there's a really beautiful, reasonably inexpensive way to turn these into a work of art. Behold:

The Garland Shade Light ($80 at the MoMA store).

 I can't begin to tell you how beautiful this thing is in person. Imagine the most incredible Christmas garland ever, cut delicately out of brass and coated in silver or gold. The light filters through the garland (which can be wrapped as loosely or tightly as you choose, as well as in any shape you can imagine), casting a beautiful warmth over the room. The garland is also so delicate that it moves with a breeze -  check out the Studio Tord Boontje website linked above for an example. And, oh my god, at night:

Amazing, right? If you're more traditional and prefer a more shade-like shape, then the Midsummer Night's Shade is right for you:

(again at the MoMA store, $85)

This one would be great over a dinner table because you'd get a more concentrated light source. Although this may be a more traditional shape, the white color gives it a modern twist. 

And for those of you sitting at home thinking to yourself, "Eighty bucks? That's a lot!", think of it this way: these fixtures give you the grandeur of a chandelier. Think about finding a chandelier for eighty bucks, and then think about the fact that you don't have to pay anyone to come install these pieces. Seems a lot more reasonable now, right? 

His studio also works with textiles, furniture, and other medium. His other projects aren't quite as affordable, but are all statement pieces that merge modernity with delicacy. If you're decorating your bachelorette pad, Tord Boontje could be the one for you.

*By the way, if the style of art looks familiar, then you're probably a Target junkie like me: Boontje designed the Christmas decorations for the store in 2006, as well as a limited-edition holiday line.*