The best thing about HomeWorkshop.com is hanging out with other design and decor-crazed souls. Yes, there are others who: DVR and watch Jonas with their tween daughters, just to peek at the swell modern furniture on set. Stay awake deliberating ‘cornflower or Wedgewood blue paint for the dining room, or would that contemporary damask wallpaper be a better choice?’ Hit the flea market at dawn […] Read more »

We’re starting to see some fantastic furniture with large-scale photographs on the upholstery. Watch for more of this to come. A striking example is Teo Jasmin out of Paris that my fellow furniture twitterer @tkpleslie of www.tkpartnership.com pointed me to. You’ll need to save up your Euros for these, but aren’t they glorious? The Eiffel Tower Settee has officially made my wish list. More great […] Read more »

Think early American homes were without vibrant color? Nope. “As odd as this may seem now, people in the 19th century were infatuated with color,” said artist Lisa Mair of Canvasworks Floorcloths. “When paint was made available in new, exciting colors, they went all out and used it wherever they could.” As part of an ongoing effort to accurately recreate the interior appearance of the […] Read more »

Design Junkies, hold on to your throw pillows, this is a Prize Challenge. We’re going to have a blast designing kitchens and someone is going to win a hundred bucks! Woo-Hoo! I bet a creative person like you can get some fab decorating supplies for $100. Tell all your friends. Remember the photo-realistic virtual Kitchen Makeover Tool we found on Kitchen Tune-Up’s site and tried […] Read more »

Patriotic Peeps Placemats Looking for a fresh take on your July 4th picnic table decor? Whip up some Patriotic Peeps Placemats. Easy to make and fun for the whole family, these are personalized with each family member’s handprint reverse-appliqued in stars and stripes fabrics. Materials for Four Placemats: One and one-half yards 45-inch wide off-white cotton canvas One-quarter yard each 45-inch wide blue and white […] Read more »

Glass is sorcerous. Translucent art glass can be both colorful and subtle. Classy yet fresh. That’s what I see in the hand-blown, art-glass lighting crafted by artist Tracy Glover. Using Venetian techniques, Tracy crafts these lamps and fixtures in her Rhode Island studio. No two of her creations are exactly alike. This room includes the Large Turk Table Lamp. Below, the Globe Ceiling Pendant in […] Read more »

Need more space to capture your ideas? Tired of dusty chalkboards? IdeaPaint is just the ticket. A one-coat whiteboard paint that you roll on to any smooth surface, IdeaPaint turns that surface into a whiteboard. What’s fantastic is you can paint any size and shape. So you can go large and do the entire wall for a brainstorming bonanza, or paint some smaller panels or […] Read more »

by GraceAnn Simoni Once again, today we are joined by Contributor GraceAnn Simoni, a Redesign Specialist and Instructor from the Chicagoland area. GraceAnn shares with us budget tips and advice for decorating with your existing furniture and accessories. — So you have made the decision to purchase that wide screen or plasma TV, what becomes of the entertainment center or armoire that used to house […] Read more »

Big news from our friends over at FLOR, the eco-Tetris of carpets. Flor opens its first retail store tomorrow (Friday, June 19) in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood at 1873 N. Clybourn Ave. The modular carpet tile specialists, based just outside Chicago in Elmhurst, has sold its mix-and-match carpets online since the spring of 2003. Company spokesperson Gina Forst said, “North/Clybourn is a great shopping district […] Read more »

The Coolest Chair We Can’t Yet Buy Upholster a chair in a Pantone® chart and you’re going to get the attention of creative types. Chicago’s Merchandise Mart is abuzz about a chair that’s not even in production. At NeoCon ’09, where thousands of design professionals are gathering to view the latest in furnishings, SIF Technology is displaying the digitally-enhanced leather chair. Photograph by Cameron Schuler […] Read more »

Artist Profile — Skip Hunt, Part Two (Read part one.) Yesterday, we met Visual Artist Skip Hunt and drank in some of his fantastic photography. As promised, our conversation with Skip continues today with some advice, a favorite piece and a little prose. Enjoy the visit and some of Skip’s soulful “People” photographs. Here’s Skip’s advice for aspiring photographers: “First, don’t get too obsessed over […] Read more »

Artist Profile — Skip Hunt, Part One (Read part two.) Great art seizes your attention. That’s how it was when I first saw the photographs of Visual Artist Skip Hunt. I was transfixed. The considered composition, the sumptuous color, the feeling of being whisked to a sunbaked or storied locale. Join me in this conversation with Skip. I asked him about his fantastic eye for […] Read more »

Marimekko and wallpaper. Much news about each lately, now they’re together. It’s been many years since wallpaper was available in designs by Marimekko, the Finnish company celebrated for its bold, graphic fabrics. Hooray! Marimekko just introduced a wallpaper collection, and it’s available in the U.S. through AlwaysMod. Aarni in Black/Red Unikko in Red According to AlwaysMod, “Demand for Marimekko to reintroduce their wallpaper has soared […] Read more »

We color and fabric addicts have another cool tool. Catherine at Morecloth has created a fabric selector that searches Etsy fabrics by color grouping. Click on over to www.morecloth.com and have some Friday fun! And thanks to Kate Smith at Sensational Color for pointing us to the tool. Read more »

Buckle your seatbelts, this is a Prize challenge! Everyone who enters the From Textile to Table Challenge will get one chance in a random drawing for a $50 Michael’s Gift Card! Yowzah! Tell all your friends. Here’s a design Challenge that combines fresh fabrics and gorgeous tableware. A proper Design Junkie lusts after both. I know if I enter a fabric store without blinders and […] Read more »