Sorry for the rather murderous analogy but it will all become clear soon I hope. I'm in a retro kind of mood today. It must be due to the lack of retro posts lately. I've also been inspired by Tessa's design dilemma. When Kim bewailed the fact that no one paints a room burgundy my immediate thought was "they used to". The light bulb went on in my head and one name was there - David Hicks. I've paid homage to Hicks before but I realised he was part of the solution. These are his lush rich rooms, not always burgundy but brave in their dark hues.

Imagine that Buddha vignette in a burgundy room! Or that yellow and white abstract canvas.

Tessa leans toward super bright hues (oranges, yellows, apple greens, etc.), Kim had some great ideas and with David Hicks' help I'm going to suggest a few more. White, white, white. Tone it down with white. White furniture - think sleigh bed in white gloss, white sheers and fabric that uses white. Chocolate and white, navy and white, pink and white, black and white and even certain greens with white. Treat your burgundy walls as a deep dark neutral.


Bright colours? Why not! All these fabrics were pulled from Lee Jofa's Groundworks Collection. Many are by David Hicks. Bright colours particularly orange and yellow and pink and green are all happy with burgundy. You don't have to buy these fabrics but they give you an idea. Maybe florals are more your thing Tessa. I suggest a trip to the paint store. Gather together as many burgundy paint chips and every possible accent colour and play to your heart's content. My second suggestion is dark wood with an ethnic twist, suzanis and kilims in rich reds, pinks, oranges and black. Layers and layers of pattern. Cocoon yourself in the mysterious dark. OK now I have retro rooms and Tessa's burgundy dilemma out of my system. Two birds - not bad!

Nothing much has changed since we first featured NathanEgan early last year. Wayne Nathan and Carol Egan are still fabulously talented. The rooms are still rich and layered, lush and contemporary. No nothing much has changed EXCEPT they have updated their website. More gorgeous rooms!

Coink piggy bank via Modern Nursery.

The economic stimulus checks have started to arrive, putting anywhere from $600-1200 in your bank account. Politics aside, what are you planning to do with the cash? You could get an Eames rocker, buy yourself some art, or do some eBay shopping. Or maybe you’d prefer to put the money aside in case the economy takes an even more serious downturn. So what are your plans for the extra cash? (Thanks to reader patty bolgiano for suggesting this question!)

I confess I buy toys made for adults — and no, not what you’re thinking! A collection of Kidrobot Gorillaz and Smorkin’ Labbits have a place in our china cabinet. So I asked Kristen Rask of Schmancy to talk to us about the explosion in collectible toys for adults. Here’s what she had to say. –Mary T.

“I would say since opening Schmancy that the ‘gateway’ toy is Dunny by Kidrobot,” says Rask. “Those who know nothing of the urban vinyl toy movement still are attracted to them. Those are always, without fail, a big seller.” Can’t get enough toys? There’s more.

“Other toys that I really like and have been popular in the last few months here at Schmancy are the Treeson toys, Heidi Kenney Yummy Breakfast key chains, and Toki Doki toys such as the Cactus pups and Moofia. I also specialize in plush toys mainly handmade by various artists around the globe. The popularity of those vary a lot depending on what is in the store.

“Some folks collect things because they are color coordinating a collection, some folks don’t need to get whole series, and some folks spend massive amounts of money to complete a set,” Rask says. “Some get really into certain artists such as Frank Kozik or Joe Ledbetter. Others buy toys simply for the collectible aspect of it all. There really is no rhythm or reason to selling toys.”

See and shop more of what’s new at Schmancy. (A note that Rask is in the process of moving the store to a new site. Get updates on that at her blog.)

We recently visited online art store Petaline and were pleased by their selection of affordable art. Most work hovers in the $100 range (and there are plenty of pieces for far less). Best of all, however, is the quality — these aren’t mass-produced mall-store posters but beautiful and engaging original paintings and limited-edition prints. We especially like the rogues’ gallery of giclee prints from Chris Crites — last-century mugshots that he originally painted on paper sacks. Elizabeth Soule’s “Little Zoo” series of photographs are colorful and fun, while paintings by Irene Wood are soothing and serene. See all of Petaline’s affordable art offerings here.

Update: Check out Leah’s expanded post on more of Chris Crites’ work.

As much as I love the look of wallpaper, I haven’t been able to make the leap from admiring wallpapered rooms in Domino to actually papering a room in my own house. There’s something so adult, so permanent, and, yes, so expensive about the whole process that I haven’t been able to bite the bullet quite yet. Still, if I were to paper, I’d want to do it with a bang — I mean, why go to all that trouble if you’re not going to make a statement? Isn’t drama the whole point of wallpaper? I have a fantasy of papering a dining room with something wacky and fun like this Woodson & Rummerfield green birdcage wallpaper, which is made with recycled paper and vegetable dyes ($55 at Green With Glamour). What do you guys think — is wallpapering worth the trouble and expense? –Meg D.

Read more of Meg’s tips for stylish, green living at her blog, Style Saves the World.

Don't you love that anticipation after you've ordered something special, knowing that anytime your little bundle will arrive addressed to you? My order arrived from Restless Things and I just adore every bit of it...


...I had to share these pretty prints with you.

(image from holly becker for decor8.)

Here are some fabulous prints that caught my attention today over at Thumbtack Press, who happens to have a very strong collection of prints online featuring the work of some of my favorite artists. I'm hoping that you'll enjoy them along with me. :)

I adore Bride Diving by Penelope Dullaghan and Gossip by Chris Silas Neal. I always seem to go for images of girls jumping, not because I secretly have thoughts of suicide or anything (he he), more because I am constantly jumping into new things and love the thrill of just getting involved in something I'm passionate about. Also shown above is Bluebell by Lilly Piri and Presagio di Primavera by Gianluca Folì. Drool.

Long Beach Shoreline by Shiho Nakaza, I Miss You Already by Jared Drew Moody, Angel by Irana Douer, and This Flooded World by Sarajo Frieden. Isn't Irana amazing?

The Great Flood Series (set of 3) by Oksana Badrak, Spam One-Liners: Happy Life by Linzie Hunter (fun!), HiFi by Chris Silas Neal, and India Dawn by Oksana Badrak.

And finally, Don't You Leave Me Here by Matthew Woodson. Isn't this a melancholy, tender, emotionally charged glimpse into the life of the modern relationship? We all have fears of being abandoned at times and I think artist Matthew Woodson did such a great job capturing this emotion here.

(images from thumbtack press.)

Back in February we discussed using dress forms in the home for both practical purposes (sewing of course) and for displaying favorite items as more of a decorative element. I was pleasantly surprised when an email arrived today from decor8 reader Cathe Holden of Home Grown Logos who wanted to share her newly created dress-form-as-decor with us. Yay! DIY done right!


You can view her entire DIY project from start to finish right here, the finished product is shown above. Lovely job, Cathe!

(images from cathe holden)

It's funny how your own work can inspire you, isn't it? But then again, I constantly refer to decor8 archives for ideas and inspiration. Here is a little garden-themed post for your enjoyment today, inspired by this. If you blog, maybe you'd like to pull together a garden post of your own and share it with us? You can link to it by clicking on Links To This Post below (near comments) and then click on Create A Link.

Flower garden seed, some pretty doormats from Anthropologie along with a pretty pot, and a great book and blog that I go to when I'm in need of some gardening help called You Grow Girl.

The Sun Was Blinding by Wren and Chickadee, A Little Bird Told Me pendant by Little Put Books, Summer Day tea towel from Skinny LaMinx, Swan Lake by Pepperminte, and Lola French Market Summer sac from Dottie Angel. All of these things are totally putting me in the mood to plant my flower bed and hit a flea market!

Felt ipod cover from Suezy Bees, Field Guide print by Dolan Geiman, Creation by Betsy Walton, and Quail print from Stephaine DosReis.

(images linked to their source above)

I'm still feeling a bit groggy from all the meds I'm on, but I can't stop thinking about you and your many emails and comments that continue to wish me a speedy recovery. Thank you so much for your caring words but it's just a virus, nothing major really! :) I thought that since I'm not up to blogging at my regular Holly speed, I will post a few things today and tomorrow to keep you inspired until I'm back on Monday. Since I have a few more posts from the What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do series, I think I'll start with these...


Today we'll hear from creative lady Paola Thomas who is a Seattle-based mother, wife, blogger, and online shop owner of MirrorMirror. She, alongside Velocity Art & Design, just recently launched a creative meet up in Seattle called The Lab, too. Busy lady! Let's talk to Paola, shall we?

How do you think a person can find their spot in the world of design?

Take a long hard look at yourself and what you can do and what you enjoy doing. What do you really LOVE to do? I guarantee the business you end up doing will not be the one you envisaged, so don?t wait for something fully formed to drop into your lap, start experimenting with something TODAY and then watch it unfurl and grow. Do a new thing to your baby business every day, and grab every opportunity with both hands. You can always stop and change direction if you?ve made a mistake.

Let's say a person found what they love to do, is there more to it than creating pretty things?

Oh yes! Be truly honest with yourself and also focus on what you CAN'T or don't want to do. emember if you want a real money-making business that there's an awful lot of selling and marketing and networking and finance that needs to be done. You can hire people to do some of those things if you've got the money, but you have to at least be able to manage those people. I happen to love that side of things, but if you don't, then I really would think long and hard about whether you want to turn your creative passion into your business. I've seen people end up hating their passions. Instead have a job that pays the bills and develop outlets for your creativity in your spare time.

One thing I've heard a million times over is to see if there's a market for your work. Just how important is this?

One should think seriously about whether there?s a market for what you do. Just doing what you love is not enough. Keep testing and experimenting to see what will get you an audience. If you make stuff, get an Etsy shop; if you take photos, get on Flickr; if you want to write, start a blog. If can get an audience in these challenging environments, then maybe you have the beginnings of a business.

Great advice. Speaking of blogging, I met you in 2005 long before you had a blog. Can you tell us how that came about?

I find my blog tremendously useful for exploring ideas. It started as a marketing tool for my shop, but has now become a way for me to experiment with ideas, practice my writing and photography, and act as a platform for the things I like doing such as cooking, knitting, decorating etc. I doubt very much I?m going to make money out of these things, but having that outlet for my personal creativity is enough. For example when I started my blog I didn?t possess a digital camera. Now photography is a huge part of the blog and of my life.

Do you feel that you've found your 'calling' as a web shop owner and blogger?

I'm definitely going in the right direction but I'm nowhere near where I want to end up. My background is in finance and business development ? I worked for many years as an investment banker and then management consultant, before losing my job at a small Internet company in the dotcom crash. I realised then that I liked cushions and colour more than spreadsheets and legal docs and started combining some freelance journalism with doing a home study course in interior design. I soon realised that I don?t think spatially enough to be a great designer (and I want to be great at what I do) and also really missed the commercial side ? I love marketing and I love the Internet. Which is why I decided to set up a business that's actually primarily all about selling and marketing and the Internet, but focused on a market I really understand (women like me) and brings me into daily contact with beautiful things and creative people. And along the way I've had to write a business plan, get a bank loan, manage the building of a complex e-commerce website, run a customer database and PR list and pay sales tax etc. It?s not all about cushions.

You mentioned you lost your job and launched your web shop, but how can one afford to do that?

The upside for me is that my husband's salary has been enough to support us in this ?experimental? phase ? every penny the business makes gets put straight back in - though we have far less money than we used to. The downside has been that I've been combining it with being at home with a baby/toddler, so am only doing this stuff very part time so far. But I love what I do, I have created myself a ?job? where reading design magazines counts as work, so therefore I'm happy.

Thank you Paola! If anyone has questions to ask Paola about running a web shop, etc. please use this as your opportunity and ask some questions in the comments section below...

I was really happy when I saw how this piece that I pulled together for the Boston Globe came out today -- it looks so bright and happy!


... Though I don't know where line about the hideous planter from Christmas came from because I didn't write that, but when you work for others you have to expect that they'll revise your text a bit. Doesn't this look so nice?

(image from the boston globe)

Every wonder how to estimate yardage needs for a large scale pattern on fabric? I wrote a detailed post on this very subject over on The Upholstery Blog. Check it out here!

I thought you'd be interested in checking out Whitney English Paper and Little Pretty Studio's new collection of hoop.de.doo bulletin boards. Aren't these adorable?


Thanks Whitney!

{update: This blogger wrote about her idea on how to make these in her post back in early March, so if you want to DIY a hoop for yourself -- instructions here. Thanks, Jessie!}

(image from hoop.de.doo)

I'm taking the next few days off because I'm still quite ill but I will meet you here again in a few days once I'm back to my 100% Holly self again and then it's full steam ahead! :)


I've been battling the flu for over 10 days now and the doctor told me that I won't kick it until I stop working and just sleep... So that's what I plan to do. But I should feel better soon and when I do, I'll return with lots of lovely product submissions to share along with another office redux so I'll meet you back here in a few days. Thank you so much for understanding!

(image by holly becker, a woodpecker outside of my bedroom window taken last week.)

I wrote about a few blogs that inspire me today over at Simply Stated... Maybe you can comment there with some of your favorite blogs, too!

Vanessa wrote in to share that she heard India Hicks will host the next season of Bravo's Top Design and Todd Oldham will continue in his role as mentor (minus the host part). Of course our dear Kelly Wearstler, Jonathan Adler and Margaret Russell will still serve as judges. Kelly must stay, we need her advice and her clothes to check out each week. It will be fun to see what India is like (does she have a fabulous British accent, I wonder?) and what she will wear too. I have no clue either way since I've only seen her in photos throughout the years.


Here's a little bit about India that you may not have known that I find quite interesting, "Host India Hicks is the daughter of famed interior decorator David Hicks and Lady Pamela Hicks. Born in London, England, she was named in honor of her grandfather, Lord Mountbatten of Burma the last Viceroy to India. Her godfather, HRH Prince Charles, chose Hicks to be a bridesmaid in his wedding to the late Lady Diana Spencer in 1990." - Bravo TV.

What do you think of adding India to the mix to replace Todd as host?

(image from bravo tv)

The folks at NBC Uni and Bravo have finally released a little more information on the upcoming season 2 of Top Design. In January, they announced that the show had new producers - Magical Elves - who produce Project Runway and Top Chef. That was a good sign. Season 1 had many, many problems.

One of the first changes they've apparently made is that the show will have a host - model and design enthusiast India Hicks. The rest of the S1 cast will return - Todd Oldham as design mentor, Kelly Wearstler and Margaret Russell as judges and Jonathan Adler as the head just. I'm with Tom & Lorenzo - hopefully JA will have dropped his smarmy "See you later, decorator" line when contestants are sent home.

The show is scheduled to air between July and October 2008.

By far, my most popular blog posts have been my "Get that Look" series where I have profiled beautiful movie interiors and how to break them down and get the look in your own home.
While I still intend to do these posts over here on ::Surroundings::, I have created a new home ::Silver Screen Surroundings:: where I will focus exclusively on movie set decor, including the set decorators and who they are inspiring.

In addition to my "Get That Look" posts, I'll include lots of still images for fun and links to many other online articles and images.

::Silver Screen Surroundings:: is still a work in progress - I'm still copying my existing posts over there and updating some of the links - a bloggers work is never done! But I invite you to hop on over and let me know what you think!

Now, all we need is the popcorn!

Modernemama has received her prize from my recent contest and was kind enough to send me some images and do a post over on her blog. Glad you like it Modernemama!

From Julie:

While perusing lighting designer Lindsey Adelman’s blog, we came across the work of NY architect Alex Scott Porter. After graduating from Columbia’s School of Architecture, she worked at the New Jersey Barn Company, disassembling antique timber-frame barns and designing reassembled structures; later she worked for the Polshek Partnership and for Francois de Menil. There’s a lot to like about this barn-like house in Amagansett Porter designed, starting with the fact that she used characterful salvaged timber throughout the project and created a seamless indoor/outdoor feel.

Did you know that you could buy live plants on eBay?

Yep, in addition to just about every other item on the planet, you can also procure plants for your garden from the auction super site. (It's a particularly handy service if you don't have a great nursery nearby or if the ground hasn't quite thawed in your area and your local garden center isn't yet stocked up for gardening season.)

I love succulents -- because not only are they almost impossible to kill, they make great modern houseplants (group several in a wide, low planter for a stunning centerpiece or just one in a small container for a pretty, natural accent) as well as interesting and textural additions to your outdoor landscape. Can't decide? Enjoy succulents both ways -- keep them inside until you're ready to get your hands dirty, then incorporate them into your garden.

This succulent selection up for auction on eBay includes a mix of twenty cuttings, including hens and chicks, volcano plants, echeveria, sedum, agave, euphorbia, and several other hardy varieties. The cuttings are easy to grow -- simply stick them in well-drained soil (either potting soil mixed with sand or gravel, or perlite), protect them from hot afternoon sun, and water them every once in a blue moon. I promise, they're practically black-thumb proof.

Current bid: $30

A look at some chair mashups around the web:

Below: Dwell.

Below: Apartment Therapy.

Below: Sarah Jessica Parker’s Hamptons dining room at Desire to Inspire.

Below: Remodelista.

Below: SF Girl by Bay.

Below: Marie Claire Maison.

Below: Platt Dana Architects.

Below: Desire to Inspire.

Below: Roy McMakin chairs at Remodelista.

Below: Vt Wonen.

I'm just loving these bright new pillows from Henry Road. If you're not already in a summer state of mind, the latest hand-drawn and -printed designs from Henry Road founder Paula Smail will definitely put your there.

Take a look:

Blossom Pillow in Crimson (also available in Sage and Teal), $75

Patch Pillow in Aqua, Tangerine, and Black, $85

Fleur Pillow in Sage (also in Teal and Passion), $75

Leaves Pillow in Teal (also in Sage), $95

In other news, Henry Road has a great new collection of bags as well, and will soon be opening its very own store in Los Angeles.

See all of the offerings in Henry Road's online store.

(Thanks for the tip, Vanessa!)

From Julie:

Spotted on Design*Sponge: New Birds and Bees handblown glass and cloth-covered cord table lights from Brooklyn-based Lindsay Adelman. $950 through Future Perfect.

I've been a huge flickr fan of I Can't Live Without a Poni (aka Brooklyn artist, Parsons grad, and blogger Niki Kelce) for awhile now. So I was thrilled to discover that she recently opened an Etsy shop to sell her mindblowingly intricate and beautiful original drawings. Above: The Seeds Are Thinking, $300

My Frustration, $250

From the Capsules Came a Garden, $400

Floating, framed drawing, $400

Family Portrait 1, $300

Visit Niki Kelce's new Etsy shop right here -- and see more of her amazing work here.

(P.S. For those of us on a tight budget, Kelce promises to add prints to her shop soon. I'll let you know when she does.)

today’s second before and after is a great example of what a little paint and fabric can do. natalie hansen of steamed artichoke studio sent in this great lamp makeover project that cost her only $12! she found the lamp base and lampshade at a thrift store in san francisco and then spray-painted the base and wire with high-gloss white paint and covered the lampshade with amy butler fabric and ribbon from peapod fabrics. all it was required was paint, a hot glue gun, spray mount and a little elbow grease. thanks to natalie for sharing!

[have a before and after furniture or home makeover you’d like to share? just shoot me an email with your photos right here.]