Magnificant Malachite

Malachite is such a pretty stone - no wonder it's a favorite in the design world. Sadly, the only malachite I own is in the form of a ring and a strand of beads, but I wear them a lot (not together obviously). Surprisingly the color compliments a lot of other colors and patterns. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/IMG_7743.jpg" /></div><br />Last week I was browsing through Spoonflower's site and I stumbled across this <a href="http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/405800">malachite print</a>. Have you heard of <a href="http://www.spoonflower.com/">Spoonflower</a>? You can upload your own designs and they'll print up some fabric for you (or you can purchase other people's designs). Prices range between $18-$32 per yard depending on the type of fabric you choose (like cotton or linen blend). <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/Picture79.png" /></div><br />I was so excited to buy a couple yards of this malachite fabric for pillows for a client and to reupholster <a href="http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2011/04/rope-detailing.html">my rope benches</a>. Look at all the cool stuff you can do with this fabric! <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/malachite5.jpg" /></div><br />- Have PANTS made!! <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/MichelleNussbaumer.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://kellyandhorne.blogspot.com/2010/04/malachite-madness.html">image</a></div><br />-Upholster your walls <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/designsponge.jpg" /><br />via d*s </div><br />-Upholster an antique chair: <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/XXX_8389_1272651184_1.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">1st Dibs </div><br />-Or just the seat of a chair: <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/hamishbowlesnycvoguelivingaustralia15.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hamish Bowles for Vogue Living Australia via Habitually Chic </div><br />-Make some show-stopping roman shades: <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/elledecor5598190018_ef664176c5_o.jpg" /><br />Elle Decor </div><br />-Mod Podge it to the top of a chic little table and top it off with some glass: <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/Picture80.png" /></div><br /><br />-Make the folding screen of your dreams: <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/XXX_malachite1.jpg" /><br />1st Dibs </div><br />PS I put together round up of my other favorite fabrics available on Spoonflower, <a href="http://blogs.babble.com/the-new-home-ec/2011/08/22/print-your-own-fabrics/">HERE</a>. I was shocked at how many patterns I wanted to buy!

Magnificant Malachite

Malachite is such a pretty stone - no wonder it's a favorite in the design world. Sadly, the only malachite I own is in the form of a ri...

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National Geographics

Those girls at <a href="http://tiltonfenwick.com/?page_id=985">Tilton Fenwick</a> are geniuses! I love everything they did in this room for the <a href="http://www.hamptondesignershowhouse.com/designers.html">Hamptons Showhouse</a>. I'm crazy over the studded grasscloth wall covering. I would kill a man for those chairs. And they have me clamoring for as many vintage <a href="http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=lot+national+geographic&_sacat=0&_odkw=lot+vintage+national+geographic&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313">Nat Geo's</a> as I can get my hands on. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/TiltonFenwick_Showhouse03.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This would be a <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/90-National-Geographic-Magazine-Lot-1922-55-vtg-ads-map-/360375942380?pt=Magazines&hash=item53e8147cec">pretty good start</a>: <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/Picture83.png" style="height: 345px; width: 575px;" /></div></div></div><br />I think the best type of decoration is something that is beautiful and also functional/educational. A big block of yellow spines would be so cool and graphic on my coral and black bookshelf! But I love that my kids and I could pull out different issues and actually learn something too. It reminds me of how my grandparents kept a big, heaping stack of National Geographics on the screened-in back porch of our cabin in Arizona. There was a triple bunk built into the wall of that porch and I remember as a kid falling asleep looking at the beautiful pictures of exotic places. <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">PS More colorful books in </span><a href="http://blogs.babble.com/the-new-home-ec/2011/08/19/inspiring-rainbow-bookshelves/" style="font-style: italic;">my Babble post</a><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/Picture82.png" /></div>

National Geographics

Those girls at Tilton Fenwick are geniuses! I love everything they did in this room for the Hamptons Showhouse . I'm crazy over the st...

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Old Fluorescent, now Inset Chandelier

<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">My parents used to have a fluorescent light box in their kitchen that looked a lot like this one <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/kitchenfluorescentlight04.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(image from google) <br /><br /></div>But my clever and handy mom and dad pulled down the box, moved the fluorescent bulbs to the perimeter of the inset box, added some crown moulding to mask the long bulbs, and hung a chandelier in the old wiring in the center. </div><br /><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/IMG_9758.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">It's nice and bright (which is great since there are no windows in my parents' kitchen), and it makes the room feel taller without the drop. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/IMG_9742.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/IMG_9737.jpg" /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />PS Today on Babble I'm talking about <a href="http://blogs.babble.com/the-new-home-ec/2011/08/17/deciding-on-vacuum-cleaners/">our vacuum cleaner situation</a>, present and future. Input is kindly requested! </div></div>

Old Fluorescent, now Inset Chandelier

My parents used to have a fluorescent light box in their kitchen that looked a lot like this one (image from google) But my clever and handy...

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Decorating the Apartment, Minimalist Loft in Como, Italy by JM Architecture

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ck4SCkMAmXk6o-DgMs4AyIU2JvSsckCZTYZJYyOtbtJX-UJfjDq1FKzRGluP_pnbCW4BQxAb2BQohoAZEiDGbtnCGoDODWkfEtrNz-WqJ4Fz8xpXe9zMSk6c3W54nkgj4O4X-0z53H0U/s1600/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641848545617498898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ck4SCkMAmXk6o-DgMs4AyIU2JvSsckCZTYZJYyOtbtJX-UJfjDq1FKzRGluP_pnbCW4BQxAb2BQohoAZEiDGbtnCGoDODWkfEtrNz-WqJ4Fz8xpXe9zMSk6c3W54nkgj4O4X-0z53H0U/s400/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 440px; height: 291px;" /></a>Decorating the Apartment, <a href="http://minimalist-home-designs.blogspot.com/search/label/minimalist%20home%20design">Minimalist</a> Loft in Como, Italy by JM Architecture. Decorations made ​​by creative people from JM Architecture. Redecorate the apartment in Como, Italy. They've done a sterling job. The biggest concern is to maintain the original shape and shell intact.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggaALp4tNiYbOtEGSn1LmL8Ny-zFt-UlkNSHcMlbvOcUxVoODjy86MkoRZaM7sG8F_2Ev7qHO4SE2xL2kYrf_QNHgyd8MUMMSNdHVM2YcKHYD7PmFEOeyQdhyDRtVOMwr0hWPoV0N-gNOl/s1600/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture+%25284%2529.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641848541704953762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggaALp4tNiYbOtEGSn1LmL8Ny-zFt-UlkNSHcMlbvOcUxVoODjy86MkoRZaM7sG8F_2Ev7qHO4SE2xL2kYrf_QNHgyd8MUMMSNdHVM2YcKHYD7PmFEOeyQdhyDRtVOMwr0hWPoV0N-gNOl/s400/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture+%25284%2529.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 439px; height: 288px;" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fY0ClSIpwHalQP5tqG9K7oAmrfMKU9dpzJ1Eilc7142cM_u2ab1iHEX7KoVnX8MbVgIbOPH9kOXG_MD38RklaHfrFyuE-psHBVf3Gh01F4MF__Zps52lC-v35D4QROoOT1CcmHhpQZNo/s1600/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture+%25283%2529.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641848541548901698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fY0ClSIpwHalQP5tqG9K7oAmrfMKU9dpzJ1Eilc7142cM_u2ab1iHEX7KoVnX8MbVgIbOPH9kOXG_MD38RklaHfrFyuE-psHBVf3Gh01F4MF__Zps52lC-v35D4QROoOT1CcmHhpQZNo/s400/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture+%25283%2529.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 440px; height: 292px;" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLEWu_D6JLHyvmg545b-uhpqyMt2gRzdEJ_-fe_h73RdzG_lkhlUoq3MVs8AjSn1IA31dCp87qkTV1-WF6OVXEzbcpcqWMpBudlx98LtQZ7AF_CQRqN_EQdXbVzS3wOxaGmQYP-9I6Iop/s1600/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture+%25282%2529.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641848543698816082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLEWu_D6JLHyvmg545b-uhpqyMt2gRzdEJ_-fe_h73RdzG_lkhlUoq3MVs8AjSn1IA31dCp87qkTV1-WF6OVXEzbcpcqWMpBudlx98LtQZ7AF_CQRqN_EQdXbVzS3wOxaGmQYP-9I6Iop/s400/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture+%25282%2529.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 440px; height: 290px;" /></a>On top of Bringing new functionality to the flat, it's the extensive use of wood (lovely hardwood floors in there), the assembled beam steel staircase with open treads, the finished white walls and the stylish lighting That got our eyes<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Z3a1eLtJZi1qYL-mXVQHvVcrSrEI7Tb4fW0VIaTJLnRT7HefeDB_6dnq4duxY7rtAlLJEkRtJmVhpORTVUBr0ecULOyWyabgXe3rGkBYBSdZJjZtmpABO4Ho-7UikbnD4enxau1Gd9Jm/s1600/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture+%25285%2529.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641848298995686898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Z3a1eLtJZi1qYL-mXVQHvVcrSrEI7Tb4fW0VIaTJLnRT7HefeDB_6dnq4duxY7rtAlLJEkRtJmVhpORTVUBr0ecULOyWyabgXe3rGkBYBSdZJjZtmpABO4Ho-7UikbnD4enxau1Gd9Jm/s400/Decorating+the+Apartment%252C+Minimalist+Loft+in+Como%252C+Italy+by+JM+Architecture+%25285%2529.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 440px; height: 291px;" /></a><br /><br />JM Architecture transform an old space into a modern apartment. Via: freshome<br /><br />

Decorating the Apartment, Minimalist Loft in Como, Italy by JM Architecture

Decorating the Apartment, Minimalist Loft in Como, Italy by JM Architecture. Decorations made ​​by creative people from JM Architecture. Re...

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Reflections on Anthropologie (that's a double meaning right there!)

<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">It's weird, I am always so inspired when I go into an Anthropologie store or when I look at their catalogs, but I actually don't totally love most of their home offerings. Their bedding is too crazy. Most of their rugs look like the floral ones on Overstock at twenty times the cost. And I wish their upholstery collection was more reasonably priced and was a little more classic with a twist (like their clothes) rather than all twist with just a shadow of classic (<a href="http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=063072&catId=HOME-FURNITURE&pushId=HOME-FURNITURE&popId=HOME&navCount=42&color=038&isProduct=true&fromCategoryPage=true&isSubcategory=true&subCategoryId=HOME-FURNITURE-SOFAS">ahem</a>). Remember the clean-lined Ditte sofa in solid mustard linen from ages ago? More pieces like that please! <br /><br />Complaints aside, I did really love this cover from the last Anthropologie catalog. Check out the cool paint treatment mimicking the lines of the mirror. I'm thinking this gray/black/white combo would be amazing in an entry or a powder bath. (kind of reminds me of <a href="http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2011/04/inspiration-round-up-part-ii.html">Naomi's entry</a>) </div><br /><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/anthroIMG.jpg" /></div><br />And how gorgeous would <a href="http://www.csnstores.com/Uttermost-Marquesa-Mirror-in-Heavy-Antiqued-08049-B-UM6385.html#specs">this mirror</a> be with a coat of flat black paint? It could work perfectly for a similar look. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/album%202/Picture60-1.png" /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">PS Today on Babble I rounded up my very most <a href="http://blogs.babble.com/the-new-home-ec/2011/08/17/beautiful-mirrors-for-any-room/">favorite inexpensive mirrors!</a></span>

Reflections on Anthropologie (that's a double meaning right there!)

It's weird, I am always so inspired when I go into an Anthropologie store or when I look at their catalogs, but I actually don't tot...

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