Bedside table and lighting: the right size

Southern Living says the bedside table should be as high as the mattress top and the sconce at eye level

http://www.southernliving.com/m/home-garden/decorating/bedside-table/table-height

And Tidbits and Twine say the ideal height for a bedside table is 61-68 cm and the bottom of the shade of a wall sconce should be about 50 cm from the top of the mattress...

http://www.tidbitsandtwine.com/my-secret-cheat-sheet-of-measurements/

I wonder if this applies to canopy beds as well, they take up a lot of space visually.

I also read that wall sconces should be just above shoulder height.

Drugstore-cum-Restaurant

I want my living room to look like a drugstore and my dining room to look like a fish restaurant :-)

With a palette inspired by the sea and a feel inspired by Brussels (grey with shabby touches) and by Hamburg (some industrial furniture pieces).

Bring it onnnn...!!! :-)

Photos: Austin bookcase and Brocanteur lamp by Maisons du Monde.

Latest living room ideas... Beachy ethnic scandi

Big white credenza from Maisons du Monde, grey small credenza from Bonprix.

The rest of the furniture is already there...

My faux MDF Random bookcase... In the flesh!

Antiques in a contemporary room

This article (in Italian) says you can put an antique in a very contemporary all grey and white room:

- by placing the antique piece very centered or very visible as you walk in

- by hanging contemporary looking art next to it in frames in a similar colour to the antique piece

http://www.cosedicasa.com/mobile-antico-o-in-stile-come-inserirlo-in-un-contesto-moderno-59923/

How to mix patterns

Now this is super cool

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/lessons/basics/mixing-patterns/#page=11

Bookcase: Wally / Random lookalike

I really like bookcases with shelves of different heights, like the Wally by Cattelan. It's cool and modern and fresh and less deep than 27 cm (I have an annoying niche thing going on in the lounge):

Or the Random by MDF:
 

Thing is, I don't have the right budget...

I have then thought about getting the Osaka by Maisons du Monde, a lot cheaper

And if I place three next to each other it would look something like this (yes I'd like to get a Fornasetti plate as well...):

which I think is quite cool and has texture and movement... And a fifth of the price as well :-)!!

Vertical and horizontal lines in my living room

I am trying to understand if I would like to put an Ikea Liatorp bookcase at the side of my sectional sofa.
And I am also trying to figure out an original layout for a wall unit in the 27cm deep (ehm... shallow) niche in front of the sofa.

I am trying to learn more about horizontal (the sofa) and vertical (the bookcase) lines and I have come across this website
Lines in design – Interior designers talk composition with lines

It's interesting and it also talks about pattern: apparently a big scale pattern is less busy and makes the room appear bigger.
A high mirror makes the room appear taller but it is good to keep the rest of the furniture quite low if this is the aim.
Horizontal lines (hear hear ;-)) make a room appear wider.

Some new favourites at Ikea: turquoise...

The Vettre nightstand thingy.

It is so cute, I'd like to put it in the living room or something.

The Frode stackable chair, it is turquoise AND (weirdly) comfy too.

The Snekkersten rug was very cool as well, it would look good with my taupe walls (though maybe too matchy matchy? Maybe not as it's a pattern I guess).

Ah and Snekkersten apparently is a place in Denmark, I had to look up a name like this ;-)

Living room: Ikea Nornas + Forhoja?

Will I went to Ikea today to see the Billy bookcase with doors, but I don't really like the look of it.

I think I'd prefer a material that didn't pretend to be something else... Natural wood looks so much better but my budget is not massive and I also need the bookcases to be shallow as they will have to be in a niche.

All the bookcases seeem so boring...

Then I saw the Nornas chest of drawers... it looks really cool and original and I guess it could even look good in a living room.

But what can I combine it with? I thought about the Nornas bookcase and maybe Forhoja wall shelves above.

I could maybe paint the Nornas chest in different colours (white, grey and possibly also some turquoise)?

***

Update the day after... 

It looks too busy and gimmicky, I think I will get some built-in shelves done when I have some cash, probably 25 to 26 cm deep as the niche is so shallow :-/...

Hot AND blue. Warm blues vs cool blues...

I have just read something about warm blues vs cool blues.
http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/decorating/decorating-blue-ideas/ad?slide=3

Warm blues contain hints of red and some of them are denim, ocean blue, or slate blue.
Warm blues come forward (instead of receding like cool blues) and they create a cozy atmosphere.

Warms blues in painting:
http://www.janeblundellart.com/warm-blues.html

Apparently (according to Bunny Williams on Elle Decor) you can mix warm and cool blues.

Another website says that if you want to use more than one accent colour, you should use only bright or greyed ones and not mix the two.

I think I want to use a neutral palette of taupe walls and warm grey furniture with warm blues (and some cool ones) as accent colours.

Do light fixtures in an open space need to match?

I need to find a light for my kitchen that looks good with the shabby-esque rustic chandelier over the dining table...

This is my kitchen:

 

 

This is my dining area:

 

 

And this is the chandelier of the dining area, so the kitchen lamp can't be too eye catching...

 

I saw these lamps on the Maisons du Monde website that are really cool:

 

  

This website says you should't go matchy-matchy with light fixtures in an open space, but rather match them  through colour or style.

 

It also says combining square and round (as long as the colour and style are similar I guess) is quite cool.

http://emilyaclark.com/2013/09/choosing-kitchen-light-fixtures-that.html

 

 

Maybe this is the best choice then..., same colour and a bit rustic like the chandelier below (more industrial than shabby but I quite like the style):

 

 

 

+

 

 

 

 

But I am not convinced the shapes look good together... Maybe the first one should be more square to give more contrast or rounder to be more similar?

Maybe this simple Ikea lamp would look better. It has a nice milky colour and is similar in shape to the kitchen hood...

  Or this (Ranerp by Ikea) which has some brass but looks more sophisticated. Mixing brass and chrome could be fun...

 

Yatzer interiors blog: hotel in Rome, rough luxury

Yatzer is such a cool blog, I really like this G-Rough hotel in Rome and the words rough and luxury used together!

I like contrasts, hard and soft, rough and luxurious, feminine and masculine.
One can tell that the materials are luxurious, I like the reflective surfaces as well.

A bit too mid-century modern for my taste though, I prefer a mix of industrial and shabby chic or antique...

http://yatzer.com/g-rough-hotel-giorgia-cerulli

Stripes... and a couple of stars - Righe... e un paio di stelle

Tonight I was thinking about the curtains in my living room-cum-dining room open space...

As my walls are taupe and I want to use light blue as accent colour, I think I'll stick to sand or off-white for the curtains. I want the room to hug you and relax you and make you think of the sea breeze... A kind of urban retreat with a coastal feel.

I also thought about stripes, as they give out an instantly beachy vibe.
At first I though about striped curtains, but then about a big white and light blue striped rug or striped cushions on the sofa...
And a striped tablecloth to tie the theme in...
And maybe hanging a star or two at the windows, as they do in Sweden.

I want to give the room a beachy, relaxing feel with a touch of nordic Scandi coolness.
The furniture will be mainly white and ivory and the charcoal sofa will ground it, preventing it from floating away ;-)

Image source: http://abeachcottage.com/2012/04/coastal-blue-bedroom-diy-beach-cottage-style.html

Image source: http://abeachcottage.com/2012/01/how-to-get-the-best-vintage-coastal-style-top-tip-for-great-nautical-beach-decor.html

Image via Pinterest

Image via Pinterest

Accent colours: colour blocking - Colori d'accento: colour blocking

Since I bought a sofa in a neutral colour (charcoal), I found this lovely website (Maria Killam's) that says accent colours should be present in big, medium and small "doses"

http://www.mariakillam.com/charcoalsofa/

-----

Siccome ho comprato un divano in un colore neutro (antracite), ho trovato questo sito stupendo che dice come i colori d'accento debbano essere presenti in quantità grosse, medie e piccole

http://www.mariakillam.com/charcoalsofa/

Sofa size - Dimensioni del divano

I bought a charcoal sofa!

This post really helped me in choosing the size:

http://www.marilyn.ca/mobile/Segment?segid=73062

It says the sofa should be up to 2/3 of the width of the shortest wall.

-----

Ho comprato un divano antracite! Greg di Chateaux d'Ax.
Questo post mi è servito un sacco per scegliere il divano.

http://www.marilyn.ca/mobile/Segment?segid=73062

Dice che non dovrebbe essere più lungo di 2/3 del muro più corto della stanza.