I'm liking the apartment tour of this L.A. home via Refinery29. It's a fun mix of vintage and California cool.

I'm also dreaming up ways that I'd use this Colombian baking dish and am delighted by this kid's comment card for the MoMA.

[1. Refinery29]

Our couch should be delivered in the next week and so I'm looking around for a really great pillow option. Since the couch we found from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams is a neutral olive/gray, I think that we can make a statement with a color or pattern—the catch being that we must also consider the color palette of our amazing Madeline Weinrib rugs. Maybe after making the rug a focal piece in the room, a neutral color for the pillow is the way to go after all.

I'd like to share a few of the great pillow options that I've stumbled across while on my search. The pillows above are by Donna Wilson for SCP. I also couldn't resist posting this tulip option from Wayne Pate for Good Shape Design even though it is a little feminine. It'd be perfect for a little girl's room.



[1, 2 & 3. Gretel Home; 4. Good Shape Design]

Pretty linens give any bedroom a facelift—whether the whole bed is redressed or new pillow linens are introduced. In the summertime, I love a colorful bed with Indian patterns like suzanis, ikats, florals, and paisleys.

You can find the linens above at Kerry Cassill or at Odessa boutique in Portland.

[1-5; Kerry Cassill]

Canoe is the best place in Portland to find a well-edited selection of design products for the home as well as my secret US source for Iris Hantverk brushes, which, in my opinion, make all chores tolerable. I love the aesthetic of the shop and always find something to take home. This time, it was the well-made teak trivet from Denmark and yes, a brush or two.

[1. & 2. Canoe]

Our friends, R and N, have a beautiful house in northeast Portland, OR. They are both architects, which accounts for their impeccable taste and eye for detail that is obvious when you step foot inside their home. Most recently though, I got to see the rewards of R's engineering know-how and a bit of elbow grease, when she pulled together this beautiful light fixture designed by Lindsey Adelman for her kitchen. The light is so attractive and evokes both vintage and modern sensibility.

Adelman offers DIY directions on her website for those who love the aesthetic of her bubble lighting series, but don't want to have to commission a new design and installation.

[1. & 2. Adelman]

I'm really having a plaid moment. It all started with my pretty fog linen work checked table cloth and it's turned into my obsession with their lovely napkins and placemats. And now, I'm revisiting Pendleton for the warm blankets that my grandmother used to keep on eastern Long Island for picnics and cool nights. Did you know that they did a collection with Opening Ceremony for their 100th anniversary?

[1 and 2 Fog Linen Work; 3 Selectivism; 4 Pendleton]

Pillows are a great way to introduce color and pattern in a room without the commitment of paint and wallpaper. 

These are my favorites right now.

[top from left, Cayenne birds, Espresso Beads from Hable Contruction; Thomas Paul Devish linen pillow; middle, Twinkle Living ZigZag, Thomas Paul Kabuki, Ivory Charcoal ribbon from Hable; bottom, Lena Corwin/Mociun pillows in lines, zigzag, and fake batik]

Even though I’m anti-clutter and can appreciate the art and simplicity of the well-placed object, there is something wildly fun about looking through curious homes teeming with curios, books, and artifacts from a worldly life. Such is the feel of the homes that Miles Redd designs and furnishes.

[Can you spot the Madeleine Weinrib? It's in the bedroom. Love it.]

Hotel Claska in Tokyo

The Hotel Claska, designed by architect/designer Tei Shuwa, boasts a main floor gallery/performance space and individual rooms; each with its own unique look and designed by a different firm.

This room is called Weekly Residence and is designed with cut-outs in the wall for all of your essentials while traveling. There are cut-outs for "bags, clothes, speakers" and even a cut out vase, inside which you could place a freshly cut flower. The room is meant to function as a tool.

neutral

How simple and pretty. Sometimes things are the most beautiful when stripped bare.
via design*sponge

I love lumiere.

I do love a good book.

I've noticed a trend in the many ways books are being styled in lifestyle/interior design magazines. Stacked and piled, alone or in groups, color coordinated or wrapped up uniformly in brown kraft paper—books are the hottest design object and you can never never have too many of them.