Party Garniture

 

A Hole in the Wall for an Inspirational Book

Going up

Collections #3

A collection of images of collections

of rocks and tools

taped to the wall.

Phillip loves Trophies...

and you should too.

The other day I watched the great Errol Morris documentary Gates of Heaven (1978).  There are a number of notable characters and thoughts on California pet cemeteries, but there is one scene in particular that relates to an idea that I've posted about.  I've transcribed a bit of an interview with Phillip Harberts, the son/employee of one of the cemetery owners, as he talks about the importance of trophies.  Here it is:

Phillip: When I’d hire a guy, I’d bring him into my office and I had specifically designed my office so that I could display the maximum trophies on walls and stuff.  I’d bring this guy in who’d probably been making maybe $9,000 a year or less, and I’d bring him into this office with nice furniture and he’d see these trophies, and, you know, [he was] taken away.  And it’s kind of like flaunting it, I guess.  To hire him all I did was tell stories about what each trophy meant to me, and what it could mean to him and if he would like to increase his income and his future. 

In the film Phil also talks about insurance companies, motivational speaking, life philosophies, and of course picking up dead pets.  I can't say it any better than he has so I'll leave you with a picture of him in his trophy filled office.

follow this link to see Phillip in action (skip ahead to 1:55 to see him talking about suggestion).

And More Plants

Welcome to the internet and my blog about interiors and whatever else I feel like talking about.  This post is called And More Plants because I've already used the title More Plants and before that I probably used the title Plants (I'm too lazy to verify this (maybe Wes will know)).  Plants are pretty great so it's likely that there will someday be another post to follow this one which will be called something like And More More Plants or More And More Plants.  Enough with the intro...

Here are some pictures of plants and other things.  I emphasize the other things part because usually the plants alone aren't enough.  Even if you live in a forest you'll want to accessorize with non-forest things.  Continue scrolling to find some suggestions courtesy of the internet...

a bird, candle, cans...

rod, glass thing, furry stuff...

O's, delicious, magic tape...

haircut, shampoo, straightener... .

The end.

More Family Pictures

The Family Pictures post had been the best received to date and because I am driven by popularity and the tastes of the internet, I thought I would do a quick follow up with three examples.

One...
Here we have three elegant gaudy frames which overwhelm the photos within them.  It's a quick fix for your related not-so-good-lookers.  Put them next to other bigger stuff on the wall and they become even less noticeable.

There.

Two...
It's your house, and your guests, even as photos, should meet your high standards.  Might I suggest hiring this man to turn your loved ones into animals.

 There.

Three...
When you do come across fine-faced family fellows use them over and over.  Claim them as twins or triplets of you want.  Again- your house, your rules, anything goes if you say so.

There.

Last Impressions Leaving First Impressions

I'm back with more sage advice.  Ready?  Keep reading.  Go on.
Okay, here it is. 


Do not neglect the back of your apartment door, it might be the last thing a visitor sees as they leave.  You hadn't thought of that had you?  That's why I'm here.  I told you it would be sage advice.

Let's jump right to an example you also might not have thought of.  Make a peephole cover.  No one needs to see into your apartment and you don't have to give them the means to do so.  You don't really need to see out either.  You'll do better to shout out "WHO IS IT?" after someone rings.  Make sure you yell loud and in a tone that lets them know they are really annoying you.  You may be watching Rachel Ray but they should think you're doing something important.  If they want to come in tell them you aren't the landlord and can't let people onto the property like that.

You want to keep an exclusive air about your interior.  Those who are good enough to get in should be confident that many others are not worthy of the privilege.  If you intend to let them inside it's always good to ask some fake qualifying questions anyway.  Once they do get in they'll feel like you're doing them a favor and your interior will be hallowed ground.  So much of design has nothing to do with the tangibles.  Seeing means very little sometimes.

Here's a peephole cover.  Nothing too special.  But when you surround this shape and texture with complimentary elements like a horseshoe, antlers and some scratchy art you've got a solid last impression.

Getting back to the exclusive entrance policy, if you don't have a good angry or loud voice let some stickers back you up.  I recommend letting people know you have a dog or weapons of some variety.  The picture below does both, though if they don't speak Italian they may take you for a dog hunter, which, though a different message, will put some fear into them all the same.

And to keep Taylor Swift fans (who are believe-it-or-not unafraid of both dogs and guns) away try this one:

That's all for today.  Remember that an insolent first impression paves the way to a good first last impression.

More Plants

Shrubberies

I am often struck by the incidental banal things of life.  I'm sure we all are to some degree, but I'm wondering about the role these qualities have within purposeful design.  True design always has them, but the standard design fare seems to have gone another direction (in many varied ways that won't be covered here, but they and the alternatives are all over this blog so read through the archives).  How can it be that substandard design has intentionally excluded itself from the very ingredients which I think make design good?  The first part of that answer is in the title of this post.  I'm so sorry, I'm boring myself with this topic.  Sometimes I try too hard.

Here's a mistake:

And some icicles in formation:

And I'll leave you with some dirty laundry:

WQ&P

What does WQ&P mean?  Well it means Wall Quilt and Pillows, what else?  So if you didn't know, now you know.  And if you were blind, now you will see (keep scrolling).  No thanks necessary.

I intend but keep forgetting to write about cats and other house pets.  Yes that means I'll say something about dogs too even thought they are inferior to cats, and for that matter to rabbits (so funny), goats (they produce milk), goldfish (you can't beat the color) and lots of other worthy but less talked about pets.
Now that I've riled myself (and all 400 thousand million dog owners in the neighborhood) and prematurely started the pets post I already said would come at a later time, I'll let this topic rest for awhile (but I will continue to tease you with images of things other than cats that happen to have cats (yeah I'm still dissing dogs) in them).

Put your family on the wall

Personal pictures are a great way to decorate your walls.  Don't use pictures from magazines of people you don't know or who don't know you.  You may have done that when you were 12 but you're to old for that now (if you are still 12 then you have my enthusiastic permission to cover your walls in Taylor Swift).

Great design is a synthesis of form and content.  So when talking about putting up pictures of your family you have the content part covered.  They're your family, there's not much more to it than that.  Let's move on to form.  Here's where it gets touchy.  Pictures of your family might be frightful or embarrassing, but do not fear, I have some ideas.

Start by assessing each individual's physical strengths and weaknesses.  In a picture, people don't have to be what they are but can be whatever you want them to be.  It's a common practice in the fashion world to alter photos.  Get over your weak illusions of authenticity before you read any further.  It's very easy to give people hats and crazy glasses and to change their clothes and hair.  If they are hopeless for looking good they can at least look gallant, exotic or enigmatic.  And if even those qualities are hopeless, adding background elements is a great way to distract from the actual subject of the photo.  Throw in a vampire elephant or make it a birthday party with decorations which overwhelm the scene.  Sometimes a lame pose can be a great one when recontextualized.  So for example, take your boring Dendrochronologist uncle who insists on leaning against a tree every time he is photographed and turn him into a superhero with a brightly colored argyle sweater.  Let people know you may have a little bit of superhero blood flowing through your body while also hiding your uncle's huge forehead behind a mask. 

If you are short on ideas, take one idea and apply it throughout to create a themed wall.  Give them all handle-bar mustaches (yes, women too- don't ever go only halfway on an idea) or make them all superheroes.  Name the wall if you want.  Arrange it family tree style.  Don't forget your precious pets, they're family too.

Make copies and try a number of variations.  In the example photo here, you can see that the photos are all black & white, which unites the arrangement (it's also cheap to make copies), and the color is added manually.

Create a family you will be proud of.  Let people know where you like to imagine you came from.
Have fun.  An ugly family is not an insurmountable task.

And don't be afraid to include a picture of yourself.  You know you want to, so go for it.

Greatness

Wall Art

These are high quality, layered die-cut vinyl art editions from some great artists.  Made of gallery quality low-tack vinyl, they can be applied to any flat surface.  Check them out at Bodega.  Cody Hudson is one of my favorites.

Grass Carpet, Part 4

From Seattle: The Seattle Public Library; architecture by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), environmental graphics by Bruce Mau Design

Practical Practice

I can't overemphasize how important it is to make you interior your own.  It can't all come from a store or a magazine.  You need to get your hands dirty.  You can wear little white gloves if you don't like getting your actual hands dirty, but you must put them to work.  I'm inclined to be a little worried about someone who needs gloves, but it's more important that you are taking action and I can't criticize you for that.  If you need the gloves to get going, fine, go for it.  As for where you get those cute little gloves I have no idea, you're on your own there.  Start making things and I will promise not to disparage.  It doesn't matter so much how you get there only that you arrive safely.  I will say one more thing and drop the issue of the gloves for good.  Getting your hands dirty can be a part of the process and if you are afraid of that part you might want to question your levels of commitment and dedication.

Okay, with these images today I want to focus your thoughts on how you can make things (call it art or whatever you like) and those things can be both practical and beautiful.  Things that look good and things that are functional are not exclusive.  Ideally you can make all of your functional things look good.  Doing so will again require work on your part since it's really impossible that all of your functional things can look good straight from the store.  These are two great examples of how you can get started.

First we have a set of books with handmade covers.  This is one of my favorite ideas.  Listen to the books talking to each other.  Notice the typography.  Are they even real books?  It doesn't matter.

I'm sure you're aware that most book covers are lousy.  If you have an area where your books are in view remaking those covers is a almost mandatory in managing your interior.  It's a lot of work and I'll admit that even I haven't gone all the way with this one, but you really don't need to do every book.  Start with one.  Then do another.  Then do another and you'll have three.  And keep going.  You could do one a week.  Or one every other odd numbered day in each odd numbered month.  Here's a tip: focus your attention on the spines- the front and back covers can be blank if the books remain stacked. 

It is possible to get well designed books, in fact, I would advise that you stop buying poorly designed books and look to buy more well designed books.  Get the ugly ones from the library and buy the cute ones with the intent of displaying them.

Don't forget to get creative with the book stops.  If you live near some trees you can chop one down and have lots of dividers on your shelves and have plenty left over to give as gifts to your tree loving (or hating) friends.  Also think about other uses for that tree before you turn it into 54,000 book stops.

Next up is a bag.  It is of course useful.  I don't think I need to talk in length about how bags can be useful.  What you should notice here is how this bag is hung.  Bags need a place.  It's easy to throw them on a chair or table, which can look good, but not always, and not with every bag.  You need a variety of techniques for dealing with where you put your bags so I've decided to focus on one of the lesser known.  This bag is hung from a nail.  That's all you need.  Put a nail in the wall.  How easy right?  The important part is that it's hung in a way which lets you know to stop and look at it.  It should demand that.  Many bags like attention.  This one certainly does.  Look at it.  Such cachet.  While not the focus of this particular post, you should know that the actual bag is critical.  And I advocate making (or at least altering) the bag yourself.

Everything I've covered here will take practice.  You don't jump ahead to making fantastic things like these examples right away.  What you need to do first is slowly begin to change your thinking.  Here's how I would start.  Rather than immediately assuming things need to be bought ask yourself if you could make them.  For the ugly things (if they are screamingly hideous and you don't use them just throw them out) you already own ask yourself if you could alter them.  As you get started making and altering, work into it slowly.  Don't try to tackle every project and skill at once.  Give each the attention it needs to be learned and executed properly.  As your skills and confidence grow you will quickly be able to personalize almost everything you buy.  Very few people get this far, but it's really not too difficult once you really get started.  Be persistent.  Now put on your gloves and get to work.

Grass Carpet, Part 3

Do-It-Yourself. 

Collections #2

Metacognizant has some words for you about collecting.  "I am convinced that scavenging has the potential to make an unchalleng[ed] modern existence worthwhile... .  A teeming city becomes magical when infused with the potential of a good" find.  "[T]he never stopping tides of humanity present in a big city guarantee good pickings, as all these consumers are constantly doing the buying for you, and then throwing their purchases away."  "[A] scavenger walks around with eyes always open."  If you are collecting you should be scouting alleys, dumpsters, and roadsides daily.  Collect and use whatever you can find.  There is a wide variety of ripe and available goods.  It's harvest time.

More than collecting, slow down and enjoy what's going on around you.  Collecting depends on seeing and awareness.  If you're frustrated with your collecting you're probably forcing it and trying too hard.  First, learn to see and appreciate.  There's always limited space for collecting, so take some time to explore and let the actual collecting come to you in its own time.  There are many possibilities.  The well is never dry.  Think before you fill your garage with junk.

Grass Carpet, Part 2

Can you spot the one thing in this picture that is real?  Do the terms real and fake have meaning anymore?  Why do some people insist on holding on to the real in one case and prefer the fake in another?  Why do we need to classify things as real, fake, fake-authentic, or hyperreal?

I know that no one is asking me (I have this blog precisely because I can ask myself questions and then answer them as if there's real dialogue happening (does that further complicate the issue?)), but I think the real/fake issue is moot.  I don't care for excuses or post-rationalization.

All carpet is all fake right?  I like fake grass carpet.  I also like hyperreal grass carpet, and real grass carpet, and fake-authentic grass carpet.  I guess grass carpet wasn't the best example because it's such an awesome idea that you can't go wrong no matter how it's done.  Take a look at some cats:

Do you like one cat over the other?  You should like #2.  It's unquestionably better.  It would without a doubt trounce Cat #1 in an alley brawl.  Look at the intensity in its eyes.

This post was supposed to be about grass carpet, but it's been a big bowl of nothing with two cats thrown in.  I don't know where I intended to go with it.  If you want some semi-intelligent words about these topics, please visit the links above.  Maybe future parts in this series will shed some light on this scrambled line of thought.  Is that shred of hope enough to bring you back for part 3?  I hope so.  Part 3 might include chocolate chip cookies.  Come back to find out.  Good night phonies.