We all need a little fun in our life and nothing says FUN more than this quirky sofa from Spruce Home in Austin. It’s a one-of-kind upholstered piece that they are selling on, get this, Etsy! I really love it in all of its big bad boldness! If I went into a home and spotted this baby in the living room, I’d definitely credit the homeowner for having a great sense of humor and style.

Sure, it’s large and in charge but the beauty of it is that you can place it against a muddy gray matte wall and add two big canary yellow ceramic lamps on either side in order to enhance its beauty without competing with it. It’s such a statement piece, this sofa is art! Here are some more exciting pieces from Spruce to get you in the mood to add color and pattern to your home, perhaps for Spring? These surely put me in the Spring mood and if you don’t need a piece of furniture, Spruce carries cushions, lamps and a new how-to video so you can learn exactly how the pros upholster furniture.

Chairs are the best way to ease into bold or bright patterns and solids if you don’t ordinary use them on pieces of furniture with the exception of throw pillows, of course. A seat cover in a loud pattern or wild and crazy slipper chair next to a “normal” beige or white sofa can really add personality to a room without committing to something as large and expensive as a brightly patterned sofa. If you want to learn how to reupholster things in your own home, Spruce owner Amanda Brown has a new video where she’ll show you how to set up your work space, share what you’ll need to get started and then how to actually strip furniture and upholster them with tight seats and backs. The video is available here.

Do you have any statement pieces in your home? If so, what are they? Where are they? Any links to share with photos of your statement pieces? Please share those links below!

(images: spruce home)

Bold and graphic in the house! Woot! Textile designer Lindsey Lang will soon launch her collection of contemporary printed textile and ceramic designs exclusively at Home, the new interiors accessories show at Earls Court in London from January 15-17th. By the way, the Home show looks quite nice so if you’re in London try to catch it and let me know how it was… Here is a premiere peek of her collection!

About the collection, “Lindsey’s homeware products are created with a playful use of colour, injecting bright, modern designs to delight and enhance any home, from the kitchen to the lounge. Bold, colourful, graphic shapes are printed on crisp white linen in combination with natural wool felt or glossy ceramic coasters, to create functional decorative products.” In this line you will find cushions, ceramic tiles, cement tiles for the wall and floor, tea cozies, tea towels and more. All textiles are made by hand and printed in the UK.

See you soon everyone, I’m going to Potsdam, Germany tomorrow for the day to shop and eat with my friend. Bye for now!!!

(images: lindsey lang)

I still have a thing for predominantly white dining spaces and one of my favorite magazines, VTWonen, shows plenty of them month after month. I think I’ve pinned at least 20 of their rooms on my Pinterest boards! I met the editor-in-chief this summer and felt a bit like a fan girl before the celebrity she so much admires, it was a real highlight for me. VTWonen is my favorite magazine at the moment and I dream to someday have my home in it when it’s finished and even though I cannot understand a lot of Dutch (though my German studies have helped me oddly enough!) I still find it so forward and fresh.

Check out these dining rooms though…Some are a little too white for even my taste, but I do love the sheer pureness of them all, don’t you? They seem so clean and refreshing. I think the only change I would add to these spaces is to add a large wall mural, a gorgeously painted wall or a great wallpaper on a single wall as a feature. Overall though, these spaces really draw me in and make me feel at home. I think I’d also add some brightly colored accent, something that would be a real show stopper — like a canary yellow bright, neon orange lampshade or a hot pink chair.

What do you think? Is a white dining room for you?

(images: vtwonen)

There is this amazing space in 101 Woonideeen magazine, a decorating mag out of the Netherlands, that I’ve been dying to share with you ever since I first saw it in their November issue. I love the space for many reasons but primarily, I’m nuts about this amazing DIY wall unit that the homeowner, Tinta, made for her dining area. There is even a DIY tutorial in the issue as well as on their website (in Dutch). I think it’s the absolute best shelving unit ever because of all of the little nooks and the sheer quirkiness of it. I also really like how she has styled it, so many fun things to look at.

Sorry the photo below isn’t super clear, it’s all I could find online and the resolution isn’t so hot but at least you can see the display unit that I’m so ga ga over.

Do you spot the fun kid’s book on the shelf, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly? from Chronicle Books? I do, and it’s such a lovely book I highly suggest picking one up for decorative purposes AND to read! I own one and love it.

I really like the mood board above that Tinta shared in the issue showing the overall palette for her apartment design. Such a fresh and inspiring mix of color, texture and pattern. She is also a fan of Tara Hogan’s work over at INK + WIT which made me so happy since Tara is a friend of mine. Tara’s work is more and more popular in Europe, I see it in magazines from time to time and hear people talk about INK + WIT whenever they speak of stationery that they love from the US. Go, Tara!

Here’s the shelf again, I know, but I’ve added an image from the living room which is laid out so beautifully I think. Ah, what a sweet home.

By the way, I’ll be in their next issue for February so if you get this magazine look for me! :)

(photography: ernie enkelaar)

I’m still on vacation but here’s a little eye candy to hold you over… And I have more to come later today too. But first, I’ve talked about Leela Cyd Ross before but who can ever have enough of this lovely lady? A photographer based in Portland, Oregon, Leela is a features contributor for Apartment Therapy, The Kitchn, Unplgged, Re-Nest AND is Apartment Therapy’s photo editor in addition to her work for newspapers like The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. Here are a few of my favorite spaces from her website, pretty swanky portfolio!

Isn’t that bed with the twinkle lights the best???

(photography: Leela Cyd Ross)

I absolutely love this blogger in Helsinki, Lotta from the Hey Look blog, and found her submission to our #discomania bloggers party pool SO DARN CUTE I can hardly stand it. She’s adorable and her photo made me so happy today. It’s so festive and fun and she bursts with the energy and joy that I hope all of us feel on some level for a new year filled with hopes and dreams.

If you want to be part of our virtual blogger party, read more about it here. It’s super easy to submit – in fact, I’ve made it easier – you can even BLOG your #discomania photo and just tweet it to me (@decor8) or my partner in crime Steffi (@ohhhmhhh) and we’ll pin it to Pinterest. EASY BREEZY.

Can’t wait to meet everyone and get to learn about some new blogs in the process, that is how I find the awesome Hey Look blog after all! :) See you at #discomania!

(image: HEY)

Hello again! Yes, I know I’m supposed to be on vacation but I heard about 91 Magazine for the first time last week and haven’t seen it much in blogland so I want to give it a huge shout out and encourage everyone to check it out while I’m away…

It’s a pretty and creative online magazine out of the UK that you I’m sure you’ll fancy. Produced quarterly and published by the lovely blogger and shop owner Caroline Taylor behind Patchwork Harmony, the newly launched 91 Magazine is a collection of inspirational people, places and things that share a love of handmade, craft and vintage styles along with independent designers, store owners and artisans. Here is a glimpse into the magazine, the rest you can find here.

How fun is the wallpaper? I love those gray drapes and that wicker suitcase beneath the bed, too.

Ohhhh a gray wooden cabinet, natural wood table and white chairs… a girl after my own heart. This is the theme I’m using currently in my home – gray/white/natural. I’m a BIG fan of this look.

Fun student style using vintage fabrics and IKEA bedding. So pretty!!!

Such a great arrangement but even more, that wallpaper from Anthropologie is unstated elegance all the way, isn’t it? It’s there but it’s also sort of not. Do you know what I mean? I love wallpaper like that.

Great workspace, especially the smart storage solution utilizing a closet. This photo above is from the gorgeous new book from fab design author Caroline Clifton-Mogg called A Space Of My Own published by Ryland, Peters & Small. It’s a lovely book with an excerpt included in 91 Magazine so you can see more of it there.

In addition to the magazine, Patchwork Harmony also has an online shop AND I spotted some links that I have to show you from the mag as well – you can’t miss them!

• Flora Dora
• Custhom
• Ellie Ellie
• Sarah & Bendrix
• Blueberry Park
• 91 Magazine on Twitter!

Enjoy! See you again with a few more blog posts for this week then I’m off until Monday. Hugs, xo Holly

(images: 91 magazine)

Hello everyone and happy 2012! I’m still on vacation until NEXT Monday but I’m popping in to give you a big group hug and say hello because I miss ya. And hello but I can’t believe I just wrote that title, House Doctor SPRING/SUMMER 2012. Really? Honestly? Spring? Summer? I can’t even believe that in just three months we’ll start seeing the first signs green grass and daffodils but first we have the gray winter to get through…

Thoughts of Spring excite me! I must admit though that I do love winter more and more with each passing year because I find so much inspiration where I’m living here vs. when I lived in New Hampshire cooped up in a little house in the middle of nowhere buried under blankets of snow. Here the winters are less harsh, we haven’t had snow yet for instance, and it’s been around 50 each day so I can’t complain! Living in a city is much more fun for me and helps me get through winters, I love it. If I’m bored of uninspired, I go to a museum or pop into a pretty store around the corner or grab a coffee at my favorite cafe and that is my positivity boost. I find that I must have these re-charge plug-in points, especially in the winter or I’ll get a bit of the blues and I do all I can to avoid that!!! But oh yes, Spring is near, sorta! And with a new season comes new collections like the gorgeous things you will see in this post showcasing the new collection from House Doctor. Yeah! The Doctor is in. Woot!

Like I was saying…Danish home brand, House Doctor, is a favorite of mine (as you well know as I have been writing about them for ages) but the cool thing is my good friend Tinna from Agentur Pedersen is their sole rep in Germany, Austria and Switzerland so the second she gets their latest catalogs and can share them, I am usually tipped off and get to see them first which is always fun. She has a showroom a block from my house so I can see lots of their things up close and personal too. AND since their catalog just went live on their site, I can finally show you what they are up to for the coming months. I think this stuff will be right up your stylish little alley.

Let’s pretend that B on the table is for Becker. Or maybe it stands for Badass as in, this is on Badass rustic table. And oh my I hope I didn’t offend you with my language but that is one of my favorite words at the moment. (blush).

I particularly adore some of their new lighting, rugs, bedding and furniture. I have a small wish list… I really want the quilt shown above — a must have for my bed that is stunning. It reminds me of a Liberty print that I love so, so, SO much.

What does that M stand for? Mighty? Mega? Manly Man? Meet Me? My My My?

A crazy yet pretty green that totally grows on you the more you look at it! It looks so pretty with tones of blue but also violets, too.

This blue cabinet shown above is definitely on my wish list for bedroom. It’s the best color blue but even better is the black inside and those gorgeous magazine holders. I love the contrast of soft blue with strong black.

I have that wire light in my office with a hot pink cable and I also have that cute white emergency kit with the Liberty-esque patterned cross on top. I’ve been shopping for House Doctor things for years, even before I moved to Germany because when I used to visit here on vacation I’d always bring home House Doctor stuff with me for my New Hampshire home. The love affair has been going on for awhile…

The chair is GREAT, right? I also like that pile of books tied together with twine. I always find myself sucked in by the quirky bits in a space.

Using black tape to stick images to the wall is a growing trend, washi tape in lighter tones or in neon pink is another. We love our tape, don’t we?

I never ever tire of bell jars, do you? There is an H S in this photo. Maybe the H is for Holly or Hello? Or the H S means Hello Sunshine or Happy Shopping?

You can rarely go wrong with fresh field flowers plucked and displayed in simple glassware and vases, can you? P.S. Isn’t the natural light in this photo goooooooorgeous?

See any dream items? I see TOO MANY! It’s fun to watch House Doctor surprise and inspire us with more fantastic products but for those of you who cannot order from them, I imagine that you feel a bit left out. Well, don’t. You can easily find similar things in your part of the world, I’m sure. You may have to comb around a bit, but you can. Try to see what it is that you like and hunt around for something similar. You’d be surprised what you can find from stores like Pier One, Homegoods, West Elm and Cost Plus World Market. You may be able to pull together a House Doctor look of your own! For those of us who can purchase House Doctor products, do you see anything that sparks your interest? Lighting? A table? A rug? I’m really hooked on that blue Asian-inspired high gloss cabinet and that gorgeous quilt…

(images: house doctor)