:: FOR EVERYBODY WHO'S CELEBRATING ::

Happy Halloween!



Photo by Steven Randazzo/ Country Living

:: FALL COLOURS ::

Many of my readers will be celebrating Halloween today, but not all. I would like to show some photos to celebrate fall in general - or rather, photos that remind me of the most beautiful things about fall: the colours!

All these delightful photos are by photographer Jan Baldwin.

:: CONSCIENTIOUS AND CUTE - STRAY DOG DESIGNS ::

Today I'm going to restrict myself a bit when it comes to number of photos in one blog post! I've found a great website that's called Stray Dog Designs. They've got stuff that's eco friendly/recycled/fairtrade/made without child labour - plus for every item sold, a portion of the purchase price goes to charity for children or animals! And the items they sell are really whimsical and super cute - something for the princess within us all...

There's lots of lighting:




Tin storage boxes:




Furniture:



And something quite irresistible:



I can't afford this pendant, unfortunately. I hope you can! But the magnets are within reach - and they're really lovely and come in lots of colours!



There are also things on sale. Everything is handmade! You can visit this excellent website here:

Stray Dog Designs

:: HALLOWEEN INSPIRATION: PUMPKINS GALORE ::

Today's post is going to be a really long one... I've been collecting some photos of Halloween decorations, and I ended up with lots and lots - and they're all so lovely that I simply am unable to choose which ones to leave out! So I'll post them all, along with some links to different projects, to inspire the ones among you who are panicking slightly, or just would like to make your home look lovely for Halloween!

How-to: silver swirl pumpkin on BHG


Pumpkins with patchwork and paint on BHG


How-to: doily-stencilled pumpkin on BHG


How-to: flower power style pumpkin pileup on BHG


Glowing gourds at Country Living

How-to: glittered pumpkins at Martha Stewart


Pumpkin display at Country Living


Pumpkin tower at Country Living


Fall decoration on BHG


Playing with shapes at Country Living


How-to: pumpkins with drilled holes on BHG


How-to: lace-patterned pumpkins at Martha Stewart


How-to: frosted pumpkin on BHG


How-to: pumpkin place cards at Country Living

How-to: golden gourds on BHG


Thorny vines pumpkin at Country Living


How-to: pretty paintwork on BHG

How-to: cookie-cutter pumpkins at Martha Stewart


Natural art on BHG


How-to: black and white on BHG


Where I found it all:

BHG turned out to be a goldmine with these and lots of other slideshows:

Pretty Pumpkins for Fall
23 Gorgeous Gourds and Pumpkins
Pumpkins: from stencils to carved
23 Pumpkins to Paint
Creative Halloween Pumpkins

At Country Living:

The Pumpkin Parade - 30 days of pumpkins

Martha Stewart, of course:

Pumpkins
Homepage

iVillage has this:

Spooky and sensible Halloween Ideas


(14. November 2008) Update!

Melissa over at The Inspired Room did a Holiday Link Love post - visit here to read lots of bloggers' ideas for the upcoming holidays!

:: GET INSPIRED BY ::

After my last post, I did some browsing at the Decorati site. There are lots of great stylists and showrooms from manufacturers featured, so I'm bringing you some additional "room porn" before I have to run to work...

By Niermann Wieks

By Thomas Lavin

By Shane Reilly

By Fremarc Designs


The next two are from Christian Fischbacker.




The below photos are my favourites.



By Hilary White Interior Design

Happy browsing!

:: ROYAL ON A BUDGET ::

I'm totally in love with this vanity from Nella Vitrina.

Swoon.

The price is probably not that lovable though. You have to log in to Decorati to view pricing on selected items so I don't know for sure, but... So I was thinking that it might be possible to make this a DIY project if you would like to add a bit of royalty to your bathroom!

How about wallpapering your cabinet doors? If they are profiled, and if you're putting a bit more money into redecorating your bathroom you could get some non-profiled doors (these are often the least expensive) - or it might be possible to fill in the profiling to get an even surface.

This wallpaper has a similar look, only even more over the top... I found it on Burke Décor. Please note: This is just an example. The site doesn't say whether this particular wallpaper is for bathrooms! If I were to do this, I would ask for advice in a wallpaper store - the most important thing is to get wallpaper that is recommended for bathrooms!



The combination of gold and bronze is really lovely, don't you think?

:: BEAUTY ON A BUDGET ::

You know how I love old and used stuff, and today I thought I would share some inspiring photos from the Norwegian Elle Interiør blog. The pictures are from the Norwegian book "Gammelt nytt på nytt" by stylists Jannicke Kråkvik and Alessandro D'Orazio and photographer Siren Lauvdal.

I think this still life of old frames has just the right combination of chaos and order, kitsch and stylish!



Ever throw out a lampshade like this?? I must confess I have. I sort of regret it now!



Humour can be added in little details - look at the way the doll is placed inwards, facing the mirror!



My experience is that you never can get enough vases. Maybe there's no need to buy lots of expensive ones?



Softies: old clothes can be remade into upholstery, curtains and new pillows...


Photo: Trine Thorsen

...like in this photo. The pillows are made of old crochet.

I found the photos here and here.

The last photo is also from the Elle interiør blog - I'm not sure whether it's from the book but I wanted to include it just because it's so lovely...

:: PUG - CONSCIENTIOUS SHOPPING ::

Norway has been, and maybe still is, the record holder as the most-consuming country in Europe when it comes to shopping for interior design. We redecorate and buy new stuff all the time, which probably leaves a Norwegian carbon footprint the size of Bigfoot's.

But yesterday, I stumbled upon something that made me proud to be a Norwegian: a shop called PUG. It's situated in our capital city, Oslo and it also has an online shop where you can find all sorts of recycled, sustainable and fairtrade items for ladies, gentlemen, kids, travel and home! Here's some of PUG's stuff for interior decorating:

Glass lanterns

Anna Black cups and bowls.

PUG carries a wide range of multi-coloured fairtrade bamboo kitchenware.

Bamboo is the ultimate material: It's fast-growing, cleans the air and enriches the soil while growing. It also can be made into fabric; I've always wanted to try bath towels made from bamboo, they're said to be great!

PUG's own goblets, made of recycled glass.

Below is PUG's own statement, which can be found on the wall in their shop:

Our Promise

We will only sell products that improve sustainability for people and the planet

Our Ambition

We will be trusted for our uncompromising effort to build a better world

We will be admired for stylishness & state of the art designs

Our Belief

We believe style and sustainable design can be combined successfully

Standard

Use less means material and energy efficient to produce & use over its lifecycle

Live longer means less waste – stylish forever and never to be thrown away

Recycle easily means leaving small footprints ending up being reused or biodegraded

Trade fairly means no child labor, compliance with human rights & ethical business conduct

Even the paper baskets are made of recycled paper (old billboards), which I find quite symbolic!

So I hope you'll visit PUG at their online shop Pug-store

(The site is in English as well as in Norwegian. Just click the flag symbol until it all makes sense)

:: BRAVACASA ::

My cold is still there, but I've been able to read the magazines I bought in Italy this summer. I thought I would introduce you to one of them today. It's called Bravacasa, and this is the copy I bought:



It's possible to leaf through parts of the older copies online. My August copy contained...


...modern design, which the stylish Italians apparently love!



...more romantic, but still very chic, interiors



...lots of product reviews, like this article about doors.


Bravacasa's website contains lots of online stuff. Here are some random pictures from some of the lovely slideshows I've enjoyed (click pictures for larger version, or link below picture to see the entire slideshow):



Minispazi



45 sqm for a couple



Lin Haizhong

Effetto bianco - except for the multi-coloured chair!

:: COOL COLOURS ::

I'm having the mother of all colds this week. I haven't even been up to using the computer so I'm having it bad... So I need something to make me smile, and British interior design company, Guy Arzi does a great job in this respect! In addition to interior services, Guy Arzi makes one-off pieces of refashoined furniture.



Dear Doris hat-stand made of antique antlers




These "Rocky" chairs are made of old cinema and theatre seats!



I love the asymmetrical painting on this vintage chair. If you live too far away to to be able to use Guy Arzi's services, maybe this could be a DIY project. Only make sure that what you repaint isn't a valuable antique.

:: CLAIRE COLES ::

It's Sunday, and I'm just pottering about in the apartment, trying to make it look nice. I wish I had some of Claire Coles' handmade wallpaper!

Claire Coles also makes porcelain, like these tea cups:

It looks like she actually stitches through the porcelain...

This robin is part of the personalized cards collection. I love the colours, they look just like the colours outside!

I wish you all a beautiful Sunday!

:: DOMINO MAGAZINE - THE BOOK OF DECORATING PLUS MORE ::

One of my favourite magazines, who has an equally great website, is Domino. Now the book is here! It looks like it's packed with beautiful photos and practical solutions.




I just love the robin's egg blue at the moment!



Inspiring photos for your mantlepiece (I wish I had one...)



You can leaf through parts of the book here plus also get a discount at Barnes & Noble.


And while we're on the subject of leaf-through books on the Internet: You can view several of Taschen's books online! Here are a few photos from the New Paris Interiors (click pictures for large versions):





These interiors are not for budget decorating. But they're great for dreaming, which is important also!



We can always draw inspiration from colour schemes...



...and lovely ways of arranging stuff!



I think the baby is slightly disturbing, but the furniture is super cool. Do you know who designed the couch and chairs?



Yes, I know - it's too early to even start thinking about Christmas... But I'm saving this idea for my Christmas decoration!

I hope you'll have a lovely Friday. I'll be back during the weekend!

:: CHEAP DECOR ::

I've got just one picture for you today. It gives hope for the future decoration of our homes even though the economy isn't great!



This is from a New York Times article about cheap design. The nightstand was found on the street and was repainted and shellacked by Young Nam Heller. You can read the article here. There's also a slideshow containing pictures from several articles about cheap design and thinking new on a budget.

:: NORWEGIAN WOODS! ::

Today's post is a bit special to me. I've been thinking for a while about doing a series of posts featuring designers from my home country Norway, and I'm starting today! My first Norwegian designer is quite well known - her name is Cathrine Kullberg and she makes these beautiful lamps out of birch strips:



The "Norwegian Forest" lamps are available in three sizes: large pendant, small pendant and table light.




The exquisite details become even more prominent when the lamp is lit:





I love this photo. It expresses Norway the way it is today: Old abandoned farm houses paired with contemporary design that is inspired by our nature, our traditional materials and our folklore.

You can read more about Cathrine Kullberg and the "Norwegian Forest" lamps at

www.cathrinekullberg.com

Photos by Line Bøhmer Løkken. Cathrine has kindly allowed me to use the photos on The Deco Detective.

:: INSPIRING ::

One of my main goals is to show decorating on a budget. But sometimes one has to veer off from the chosen path! I'm going completely overboard today with Diane Keaton's Spanish/Moroccan inspired Beverly Hills home... But I think that even if this is an expensive house, you'll find lots of inspiration and details that can be done without spending a lot of money! Just look...


Inspiring: Wall writing


This is the library. The words on the walls say "The eye sees what the mind knows", which I think is a Johann Wolfgang Goethe quote (please correct me if I'm wrong).


Inspiring: beautiful and varied shelf arrangements


View from the library through the dining room.


Inspiring: upturned lampshades


Kitchen/ dining area


Inspiring: colour-coordinated displays


This vintage pottery collection is found in the family room, which is part of the kitchen.


Inspiring: a workspace that's not wildly messy!


The table in the office is designed by Diane Keaton herself.


Architecture: Ralph Flewelling. Architectural and Interior Design: Stephen Shadley.
Photography: Scott Frances.

You can view more pictures from this home at architecturaldigest.com/homes.

:: IN THE DOLL HOUSE ::

Sometimes I stumble upon strange things, like these miniature replicas of famous designer chairs at Nova 68.com:

Ball chair by Eero Aarnio

Hill House by Charles Rennie Macintosh

Johnson Wax by Frank Lloyd Wright



La Chaise by Charles & Ray Eames


There are three pages of miniature chairs by great designers. Actually, I don't think that the concept as such is that strange - but these items aren't inexpensive... Of course, it would be fun to own a collection of these chairs, but I'd rather do like a friend of mine. She saves money for a full-sized version of

The Spanish chair by Danish designer Børge Mogensen
and she's planning on sitting in it =)

:: FAIR ENOUGH - ROSEMARY HALLGARTEN ::

As you probably know, I try to include as many environmenally friendy designers and companies as possible on my blog. If I find someone who also has a fairtrade policy, I get even more happy!

You might already be familiar with Rosemary Hallgarten, but I love her work so much that I would like to show a few of her designs anyway.



"Silhouette" hand embroidered pillow



"Chair" rug



"Guenevere" rug



"Silhouette" rug


To see more of Rosemary's designs, visit rosemaryhallgarten.com where she also tells more about her work for the environment and for the communities she's supporting.

I first read about Rosemary Hallgarten at Rugmark Foundation's website, which is a great place to start if you want to learn more about purchasing rugs that are not manufactured through child labour.

Have a lovely Friday =)