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Casa Quickie: Paint Your Home Library
If you don't read and you don't want other people to know it, you can fool your guests by painting a faux bookcase on your wall. New York interior designer Amie Weitzman had a trompe-l'œil bookcase put in this sitting room of the New York residence of one of her clients. As you can see, the homeowner appears to have a mighty colorful and extensive book collection that makes a powerful focal point.
Definition: Trompe-l'œil
Trompe-l'œil is an artistic technique that uses extremely realistic imagery. This technique creates the optical illusion that the depicted objects really exist, instead of being mere, two-dimensional paintings. The name is derived from French for "trick the eye."
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How-To: A Trompe L'œil Headboard
A headboard can create a stately focal point for even the most meager of spaces, and just because your mattress sits on the simple bed frame that came with it doesn't mean your bed should be ignored. Whether you can't afford to buy a headboard or simply want to try something unique, you can paint a trompe l'œil headboard to achieve the same, if not more interesting, results! Inspired by the Brocade Home Open Carved Headboard, which is an all-time favorite of mine, I decided to transform one wall into this Rococo style headboard, with just a small can of paint and a Sunday afternoon.
Trend Alert: Advanced Etching
Dating back to the 1500s, etching, using acid or mordant to cut into a material, is certainly a thing of the past. There's actually an old cliché that I love: in an effort to entice a woman home with him, a man will say, "Want to come up and see my etchings?" as an offer to come look at something artistic.
Found It! My Feather Pillow
Over a year ago, I picked up a pink velvet throw pillow screen-printed in gold with a feather (at right) on sale at a San Francisco boutique for $14. Since then, I've always wondered who made it, and I haven't seen it anywhere else. As it turns out, the pillow sells for over 10 times more than I bought it — score!
Cool Idea: Grass Tiles
I just spotted these grass tiles in the portfolio of UK photographer James Merrell, and I'm absolutely charmed. I have no clue who makes them; I did a quick Google but no such luck. I think they'd be really fun in a small space like a bathroom or a closet, but in a large room the trompe-l'œil effect could be overwhelming.
Open House: How Does Your Home Have a Sense of Humor?
Refinery29 recently toured the home of Vena Cava designer Lisa Maycock and while I did love the easy elegance of her home's "lost and found" look, what struck me most was its sense of humor. In a corner of her living room, she placed a wooden triangle pegged with metal spikes on her Marcel Breuer Wassily Chair. In her bedroom, a poster titled "Just Bone Me" with skeletons in kama sutra poses hangs above her bed.I once had a cocktail party, and lined the shelves of my medicine cabinet with medicine bottles filled with candy.
Cool Idea: Chalk Headboard in 500 Days of Summer
As I've mentioned before, 500 Days of Summer is full of design eye candy. One of my favorite décor ideas siphoned from the film is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character's chalkboard wall headboard. Chalkboard paint, as you know, is quite trendy these days in the interior design world.
Love It or Hate It? Cane Chair Screenprinting
I recently caught up with Danny Seo for breakfast at the Philippe Starck-designed Clift Hotel in San Francisco, and couldn't help but stop to take a gander at all of its surrealist furnishings while I was there. This cantaloupe-colored armchair, which is screenprinted with an image of cane chair, struck me as something that'd be easy to replicate — if you've got drawing and printing skills up your sleeve. It has a tongue-in-cheek trompe-l'œil effect, elevating a simple seat to something out of the ordinary.
Cool Idea: Real Size Roomscape Curtain
When you're living in a studio, or otherwise short on space, sometimes you must resort to trompe-l'œil effects to fool people into thinking your pad is bigger than it is. But, mirrored sliding doors on your closet are simply too '80s to even consider. Dutch artist Bauke Knottnerus knows what I mean.
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