Swinging from the chandelier

Hastens ad campaign

Literally!

Flutter Me This

Vintage Butterfly Duvet & Shams, at West Elm

West Elm just called me up to say that they're offering FREE SHIPPING on their new line of Vintage Butterfly bedding. My first thought of, Yay - FREE SHIPPING!, was quickly replaced by, ...Ick - and on such an horrible product!

But...wait...I think I like it. I can't tell! I flit between thinking they're too cutesy to declaring them a risky but wonderful graphic success.

Are you too strangely attracted to this Butterfly bedding?
	Yes! They've flown straight into my heart!
	[shrug]
	Maybe if it was the larval stage...
	Their wings are whisper-quiet but their UGLY is loud as hell.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Ants in Their Pants (in Bed)

You know how when you change one thing in a room, it makes you want to hurry up and change it all? Well, Alison Rose & Mr. Sketch just painted their run-of-the-mill bureau white and now they're anxious to give it a purty backdrop.

The Newly Painted Bureau

They've been sleeping with the real estate-friendly beige walls since they bought their house a few years ago. Now, they're hoping to go for something rich, deep, and moody-chic.

Bedroom at Present

They first mentioned something about a deep red but, having lived with a purplish-red hallway for awhile, I warned them about it feeling too goth...especially in a boudoir...especially in this age of True Blood.

Cardboard's Hallway

Then they sent me this color!

Bedroom at My Paper Crane

They like this jewel-toned blue very much because it provides a big WOW! factor against the white but still works with wood (floors and trim). It's almost perfect, they state, but they started thinking, "Maybe a little more grey...."

And I agree. Their bedroom is coming off a rather dark and narrow hallway so neutralizing it a tad is probably a good idea. But I do think, with two big windows, the bedroom can handle a shade that's fairly dark. So I checked out the Virtual Fan Deck at Benjamin Moore and found...

...Bella Blue! It's a little greyer, a little lighter, it's beautiful, AND it's got some significance to Alison Rose, as it shares a name with the manufacturer of their screen-printed t-shirts. Voila!

Palette Mash; Walls, Wood, White, & Bed

But this is only my opinion. What do you all think?!

IKEA's white flooring

Inspired by these photos to have white floors in your home?! I recently noticed that IKEA offers a couple of flooring options in the very Scandinavian-chic shade of white. For an ultra-sleek look go with the Markland. For a slightly more rustic vibe, choose the aptly named Tundra.

All photos courtesy of Living Etc.

Sick & Silver

The Silver Room, at Crazy Bear Oxford

I'm all laid up in bed, burning through both the first season of 30 Rock and an entire box of kleenex. I feel like crap...if crap had sinus passages that could get all clogged up and then - after the 40th sneeze of the day - they clear for two precious seconds and I CAN BREATHE AGAIN and this is so wonderful (!) and....oh ow, my head... [re-snot]

You get it. But I'm thinking an ornate silver bed might make me feel a teensy bit better about this situation.

Photo credit: Telegraph

2008, In Summation

Before we step foot into '09, we thought it only fair to pay tribute to '08. Skimming through the past year of bloggity posts, this is how design boner sums up 2008:

Cat Collection

We take a lot of cat photos. Sorry. We are not crazy cat people. Really. We just love our little beasts and find them excellent Weekend Photo material.

We also seemed to have two minor obsessions with an odd pair of celebrities: Cindy Crawford and Christian Bale. Cindy, we poked due to her new line of overstuffed furniture and tendency to deny her children. Christian, well, plainly put: he's big time sexy time and worth the double mention.

Getting back to reality (or virtual reality, rather), we picked up a couple new and vocal readers. We want to give e-hugs to DNfromMN, Lady Briggles, and, most recently, Preston, for reading often and not being shy to comment. Preston even gave us an award! Mucho merci to you all!

Porcelain's past year of posts reveal her big quests to be finding a bed and a table...a table...and a bed. She's still scouting for a bed frame (suggestions welcome!) but November saw the addition of a new dining/work table into her space. One down!

Cardboard's Dining Room/Office, In Transition

I, on the other hand, have been needing to clean house. This past year has been a series of now you have it/now you don'ts so I need to re-center around what's really important. Two of my big missions have been to budget my spending and to fix what is broken (literally and symbolically) in my home.

Formica Folds

Then design boner turned two! Naturally, P & me * drank a crapload of Michigan beer and constructed an even bigger fleet of paper airplanes.

As for general '08 trend alerts, Porcelain dived into ceramics, glass, and paper for the walls. I posted often about rugs but went plain C-R-A-Z-Y for lighting.

OBAMA!

EJ Holmes, Our First Fling of 2008

Lastly, we really got into our Flings. These not-necessarily-design-related mementos create much fun and laughter in this little blog so focused on bed frames and lights. We found new artists, rehashed memories, and even met a couple Fantastic Men. We might call them Flings but that doesn't mean we don't love 'em.

Welcome to 2009!

* Grammar sacrificed for rhyme.

A Laborious Update

• Wash the dishes
• One load of laundry
• Call Alison Rose
• Take photos of my neighbor's porch
• Pay four bills
• Weed through clean laundry for items to donate or swap
• Put remaining clean laundry away
• Compose two brilliant blog posts
• Clear all stuff collected on my bedroom bureau

Okay, well, I got close. I did wash all the dishes and complete one load of laundry. I gabbed with Alison Rose for a good long while and also chatted with Porcelain and Mama Cardboard. Taking photos of my neighbor's porch was my Hail Mary and I can't quite believe I got that done (see above). Bill payments and clothes sorting, check. I didn't put all my clean clothes away but that makes for an exciting Tuesday night. This post makes three four bloggies and the surface of my bureau is seeing light for the first time in months.

I hope you too had a great Labor Day!

A Tradition of Labor

Gil Elvgren Pin-Up

In honor of Labor Day, I'm going after my To Do list. To keep me on task, I'm going to reveal my (totally achievable) list of daily chores to all you guys. At the end of the day, if I'm not too callused, I'll update all that I accomplished. But, if I fall asleep in my mop water, the reveal will have to wait until tomorrow. Here's the list:

• Wash the dishes
• One load of laundry
• Call Alison Rose
• Take photos of my neighbor's porch
• Pay four bills
• Weed through clean laundry for items to donate or swap
• Put remaining clean laundry away
• Compose two brilliant blog posts
• Clear all stuff collected on my bedroom bureau

So the pressure's on! Gotta get off this couch and go find my duster.

Photo credit: Life Goes On...(v2.0)

All You Need is a Good Pin-Tuck

I really like the Pin-Tuck bedding from West Elm. I think the colors are sophisticated and the design is femmy but not fussy. They're like the discerning and sexy divorcée version of my ruffly duvet.

Organic Cotton Pin-Tuck Duvet Cover & Shams, at West Elm

Hayek You Heard?

Wavy Curve Tapestry, $16

I am delighted with the Sami Hayek "tapestry" shown above. It looks awesome as lightweight bedding but I bet it'd also look great stretched over a canvas.

Pink Star Sheet Set, $15-$32 & Decorative Pillow, $16

The rest of Sami Hayek bedding at Target is pretty fun. It might feel a tad young (Delia's anyone?) but there are a few gems that could be made to look growed up.

Floral Tapestry, $16

Bonus Bone: LAX headboard and platform bed

MASH Studios LAX wall mounted headboard and platform bed, at Design Public

The LAX bed and headboard fall right into my perfect bed category: simple, modern, and a little bit rustic (i.e. made of wood). The bed has the clean lines that I love and the wood grain of the walnut is just lovely and warm. The headboard is sleek and very handy with concealed storage. Perfect for keeping those, ahem, special tools and accessories hidden, but very close by when you need them.

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner.

Use Your Words: Cindy Crawford on Kid Design

"A race-car bed is nice and the kids want it, but I don't want it in my house. Hopefully, my child won't be going to therapy because I never got him a race-car bed."

-Cindy Crawford, RedEye

Photo credit: Rooms to Go

Bonus Bone: Wall lamp

Wall lamp, at Supermarket

This is such a fun, whimsical lamp designed by things designs ideas. It would be perfect to use it as sconce by your bed. The lamp is constructed of a re-used wooden umbrella handle and a white ceramic shade (formerly an IKEA planter). Simple, fun, and eco-friendly. How could you go wrong?! Oh, and it hangs at a jaunty angle - even better!

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner.

Style Time

Fabric Clock, at Suck UK

Now this is cool. It's a digital clock, constructed from walnut veneer and stainless steel. The cool part is the face - it's fabric and it's interchangeable. Feeling a little romantic and waking up to opera? Cut out a piece of flocked damask and affix it to your clock. Maybe you prefer NPR and a smart pinstripe? Done. You can even match your clock to your bedding.

The product is not yet available but is currently quoted at...yikes...$200. Maybe this can inspire a less expensive DIY.

Beds

Elan bed, available at Crate & Barrel

Malm bed, available at IKEA

Tatami bamboo bed, available at CB2

Case study bed, available at DWR

One night a couple weeks ago I was hogging a bunch of pillows. When Hardwood came to bed he asked for his pillow back. I groggily woke up and realized that a few of them slid down between the wall and the mattress. I gave Hardwood his pillow and crankily told him this is why I hate our bed!

Our mattress sits on an sturdy wooden futon frame. It's not your normal flimsy, cheap metal futon frame. This thing is built like a brick house with nearly two inch thick wood slats and only about a quarter of an inch between them. But it has no headboard or footboard to help keep the mattress in place, so it shifts easily from any movement. I've been trying to convince Hardwood to get a new bed frame for quite awhile. Something that looks good and will help keep the mattress stay put. I understand his reluctance, what we have now is a really well made piece of furniture, but the damn thing has got no style at all!

I took a look around and there is a definitely pattern to what I like: simple, modern, yet a little bit rustic. My favorite is the Elan bed from Crate & Barrel. I love the pattern of the wood grain on the headboard. Hardwood really likes the Malm bed and its matching side tables when he saw it in Modern Craft's house tour. I saw the Tatami bamboo bed at CB2 and loved the bamboo woodgrain. Although, I'm sure we'd be cursing after banging our shins against the metal base. Oucharific!!! The Case Study bed is a classic, but we have a rather thick pillow top mattress, so I don't think the two would work together so well. And buying a new mattress is not in the cards right now, since we purchased our current one only a couple years ago.

Simple way to add a little romance into the boudoir

Love pillow cases, available at Lush Designs

I've never been crazy about the idea of satin sheets. I imagine they get all slippery, awkward and really sweaty. And although rose petals sprinkled on the bed sounds like a nice concept, I imagine in reality it would be a pain to clean up and you would most likely miss one or two petals and they'd get kind of gross. I'm definitely a more of a subtle, natural cotton type of gal. Which is why I love these LOVE pillow cases. They're sweet, subtle, and have a teeny tiny bit of cheese factor to them.

Michaels Framing Update

#841, by Ray Hartl

I did it. One year after receiving my Ray Hartl photograph (seen above), I finally got it framed. Well, it's getting framed, currently.

I took advantage of the Michaels 60% off custom framing sale. I know some of our readers said that I should be wary of the Michaels discount but I decided that if I didn't do the deed with even the idea of a discount, I'd never do it. Here's how the job broke down:

Photograph Measurements (already single-matted, in white): 32" x 32"
Glass (I opted for the "Masterpiece" glass, which reduces glare and optimizes detail - see middle panel below): $222.25 ($88.90, with discount).

Michaels Custom Glass Options

Mounting & Fitting (whatever that really means): $44.50 ($17.80, with discount).
Frame (I had to opt for a much thicker frame than I had first picked out because the thinner frames wouldn't hold the weight of the glass): $314 ($125.60, with discount).

This all totals up to $606.40 (without the discount), which is almost double what the photograph itself cost. With the sale price, I paid only $263.78. I think that's a pretty good deal and, in about two weeks, I'll show you what a good deal looks like.

ps. I received no hassle about the artist's signature on the piece.

Cardboard's 2007 Accomplishments

This has been one craZy year for me. I've snapped up some good opportunities but I've also had to face (and climb over) a few nasty obstacles. I half-jokingly describe this year as my "best worst year ever."

So as I fluff the pillows for 2007's big sleep and feel the eager breath of 2008 on the back of my neck, I find myself loosely wrapped in reflection. I spent the past few days puttering about my house, full of coffee and thought. I'm listing my 2007 feats here to help me figure things out, to allow myself to (as they say) recognize. I hope it moves you to make your own list, whether you choose to share it or not.

I turned 30 this year. My darling family sent me a gift for each year, each individually wrapped and stuffed together in one big exciting box. And I celebrated this milestone with (what else?) Meat Cake.

I also began erasing the unfinished details of a relationship gone very bad. This is part of the "worst" of my year and I'm, even now, getting rid of the evidence. I'm also still working through my feelings on the matter, as angerhurtregret tends to crave attention. But I'm proud of myself for...um, jeez...still being here...not playing dirty...and something new every single day.

Then my sister Bamboo moved in! Yippee! For her arrival, I had to quickly turn a room that had been an office/art studio into her new bedroom. The "junk room" had plywood subfloors, no window coverings or baseboards, and was covered in paint splatter. I didn't necessarily want to "finish" the room (install flooring) because, if she moved out quickly, I wanted the option of making the room messy again. So, I dismantled the stage tech shelving, fixed the holes in the walls, and painted the room. Then, using my limited resources (money not being one of them), I made baseboards from wallpaper, commissioned curtains from our favorite seamstress, and stained the plywood to look almost rich. And I done did it all by myself. Awwww, yeeeeah.

I made some new friends this year, both IRL and in the blogosphere. I also re-connected with some lost pals and grew a bit closer to those currently in my address book. Believe it or not, I planned and/or hosted my first grown-up parties (outside of a dorm room).

I auditioned for and got a part-time editor position with the much-revered Apartment Therapy (Chicago). This is my first PAID freelance-esque writing gig. Working for AT has not only created connections and opened up avenues, but has also hinted to me that I might be able to do what I love - to write - for a living.

And so I wrote. One of my short stories was published in an anthology called Further Persons Imperfect. This project is important to me on many levels. It's my first piece of published fiction. I worked with a tremendously dedicated and talented group of writers to create the book in full. I also conceived the book's design, roping Porcelain in as the cover model and lassoing another friend of ours to take the photograph. All in all, it was a successful collaboration. Since I had spent the early half of 2007 regretting joint projects, the efforts put into this book restored my faith in partnership.

Now onto my continuous struggle with King Neptune. I certainly can't say that I've won the war against His H2O Highness and I won't even dare say that I've won a battle (without knocking on solid, firm on-land wood). But I have held my own. This year, Neptune lashed out hard and obvious with one doozy of a Chicago storm. Flooding threatened my humble abode and I held it back. Recently, Neptune moved in, cloaked and insidious, with a behind-the-wall leak from my bathtub faucet. I (thought I) had the leak figured out and fixed. I patted myself on the back for the decent albeit amateur regrouting/retiling/recaulking job. I started to (foolishly) believe I could see Neptune coming. But, after all the repair work, he came back with the same exact sneaky leak that was there before. King Neptune, you're officially a jerk but I now see the value in our sparring because I'm learning from you. Whatever doesn't drown me, only makes me stronger (and more buoyant).

Lastly, there's design boner and all you guys. Each of you reading this is one more reason to write it. Thanks for making 2007 mean something, especially you, Porcelain. You're the best friend a little ol' scrap of Cardboard like me could hope for.