Copy Cat; Imitation is the Highest form of Flattery

"I'm not sure what to do in my bedroom. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Look around, the whole store is filled with ideas.  The catalog alone could help you decorate a whole house!"

She cringed, "I don't want the room to look like it threw up page 27. I just don't know where to begin."

 I crossed my arms and started walking in the other direction.

"Me either."

House and Home

Most decorating rule books say that you should never, by any means, "copy" someone's space in your own.  Using it as inspiration is perfectly fine, but the minute you try and imitate the room entirely you have broken the cardinal rule.

Your designs must be your own. 

You must not copy. 

Every thought in your brain must be that of originality. 

So many rules, so little time.

Benjamin Moore Philipsburg Blue

My question is, where do you draw the line between copying and "inspiration?"  No two rooms are ever going to be exactly alike, unless you are on Wednesday's set of Gossip Girl, then walk over to Thursday's. Serena's bedroom might be exactly the same depending on which direction they are shooting from. 

But that's just rambling on my part. 

The fact is, you can attempt to copy as far as your budget or resources will take you, but at some point you start to run out of exact replicas and need to substitute.  You are then forced to find what you yourself like. Once that happens, confidence in your ability to choose grows stronger. You might even veer off page 27, finding a piece of art that you prefer, or pillows that are nothing like the originals. 

It is at this crucial moment that the photo in the magazine ceases to be a source of plagiarism, and becomes a source of inspiration. The two rooms may seem similar, but each one has an individual touch added by its owner.

Bed, Ottoman, Cowhide Rug, Chair, Scones, Nightstand

Bedding, Kilim Pillows, Indigo Pillow, Throw

I began collecting items from around the store, and bringing them for her to see.

"Ooooh," she cooed, "I like that, and those! This is perfect! You are just so good at this, I wish that I was able to put these things together. But I do like this throw.....Do you think it would go well with what you've picked out?"

I smiled and nodded in agreement. She went on to furnish her whole bedroom that day, starting from the few items that I gathered for her. Little did she know, I picked them all from page 27.

 Hippies Dancing Print

So go ahead, imitate to your hearts content, but don't be afraid to make it your own.

I promise, No-one will even notice.

*Side note, this philosophy does NOT apply to term papers, unfinished novels, or inventions of any kind. I refuse to be held responsible for you attempting to pass Stephen Hawking's,  A Brief History of Time, off as your own.

Magenta: Let's Brighten this Puppy Up

"I have been noticing that your blog has been a little dark lately, do you think you might be depressed?"

"What? I haven't been writing anything dark?"

"No, I mean your pictures....I don't actually read what you write, I just look at the pictures. You seem to be using a lot of black. Are you okay?"

"Yes mom, I'm fine."

To prove  that I am not a dark and cynical soul, I bring to you my current color obsession; Magenta, or as Pantone might call it.....Cabaret 18-2140

The Fox is Black via Bri Emery on Pintrest

See it

Society6

left Awake my Soul; right Diet Cokes and Smoke

Pop It

Interiors Porn

left (unknown) right Doorgasm

living etc

oops! more dark!
right Pics Decor; left (Design Sponge)

Wear It

Sallie Romance

top The Satoralist, Caution Advised; bottom Vicktoria.se

unknown

Stay tuned for tomorrow, when I will "Decorate It"

Apartment Envy, and Dirty Laundry

When I was moving to New York the first time I would spend hours and hours online looking at pictures. I would research small spaces trying to find out how to maximize every inch of my apartment.  The Apartment Therapy Small/Cool Contest was my best friend.

This is NOT my apartment! I wish it was

There was something about my things that I couldn’t let go of, memories here, adventures there, a book that I may or may not pick up to read again one day.  “Oh I can’t get rid of those jeans Mom. I bought them too tight in the first place and have never been able to wear them…. But you never know when I might go on that diet.”

Then I actually got to New York.  My 500 square foot apartment was spilling at the brim. My closet was overflowing with clothes. I would wait until I had absolutely NO underwear, at which point I would cart 60 lb. (trust me, I weighed it once) worth of clothing DOWN the hill TO the laundry mat.  At this point I really started to consider the possibility that I just might have too much stuff. But that wasn’t the breaking point.

One night, after filling 7 or 8 washing machines, I can’t remember exactly, and folding shirts and pants and towels and sheets…….I loaded everything into my shopping cart to take home. Or should I say, I attempted to load. It didn’t fit. I also had a large IKEA bag full of laundry to carry (which by the way, IKEA bags are great for carrying dirty laundry). It was just too much, I couldn’t even get out the door.  At this point in my life I was stubborn and bull headed, and determined to get this mess I had made for myself back up the hill and onto the third floor of my apartment without any help. I remember struggling up the street thinking, “Ok Nikki, if you ever worried about looking like an idiot in public, today is not the day.”  Oh did I mention it was raining?!?!? Not raining hard but drizzling and the city sidewalks were wet. When I think “wet” in New York City, I think dirty. Dirty and covered in Bed Bugs.

So you can imagine my dismay when my shopping cart hit a crack in sidewalk and fell over; spilling all of my nice, neat, CLEAN clothing onto the wet sidewalk. Oh you can imagine my dismay.  I will save you the story of how I ranted and raved the rest of the night like a little child……

The next day I made a decision. Things in my apartment were organized and in their place but it just never felt like home (I realized later that this was for a different reason but that, my friend, is irrelevant). It was too cluttered.  I was always uncomfortable.  I went through all my belongings and started purging everything.  If I wasn’t using it at that point it wasn’t important.  I reduced my wardrobe by 50 percent, and found that I actually had MORE to wear after that.  Maybe actually being able to see the things I wore on a regular basis helped.

I realized that I want to have a beautiful home free of clutter. I told a friend the other day that I wanted to have cabinet in my dining room, and when you open the doors….empty. Just because you have storage space you do not need to utilize every spare inch of it. Make your home beautiful but make it work for you. In the past year I have detached from a lot of my clutter and I notice now that I have much less anxiety when I am not looking at piles, when I can see the things I need to get to because there is not a bunch of junk I DON’T need in the way.

Next time I live in New York…..Things will go much differently.

And my apartment will look more like the ones pictured in this post.

And I will be Swedish....

The End.

All images of Moa Lundberg’s apartment; Styled by Lotta Agaton; Photographed by Pia Ulin

Black, The Non-Color Color

I was talking to a friend the other day. They told me I could ask them anything I wanted……That’s a loaded question.

“What’s your favorite color?”

 I mean seriously sometimes my blazing creativity surprises even me.  Where do I come up with this stuff!?!?!?

“Black.”

Pintrest

“Black!?!?! Black isn’t a color.”

“What?”

“Yes, Black is the absence of all colors.“  I was trying to sound smart and witty …..and funny. I like to sound funny sometimes, who doesn't.  

But enough about me; Today we celebrate the non-color color. The shade that goes with anything, except itself sometimes... after too many washes.

Wallpaper, Candelabra, and Chair: Anthropologie, Table Lamp: West Elm, Iphone4S: Apple, 
Side Table: Dwell Studio, One eyed sculpture: Kelly Wearstler  

Living Etc

Lonny

Lonny

Pintrest

Cooking, Shoes, and a little Kitchen Inspiration

"Always Remember, if you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?' 

-Julia Child

    Julia Child, photographed in her Cambridge, Massachusetts, kitchen, June 29, 1970. By Arnold   Newman/Getty Images via Vanity Fair

"Cooking is not my strong suit. If I could compare myself to anyone in the kitchen it would be Carrie 

Bradshaw…except I don’t have shoes in my cabinets. Shoes; not my strong suit either."

“How dare you call yourself a woman? You don’t like for shoes AND you can’t cook!”

"I never said I didn't like shoes. What I said was....." 


Wait.  Is it possible? Is it really possible that I am standing across from this woman, a woman I have never met and she is blatantly judging me?  More so, why is her comment digging me to the core? Why do I feel the need to explain myself to her? 

Thoughts start racing through my head:

“Oh My God. I need to learn to cook, by tomorrow afternoon.”

“My wardrobe is a mess…..Did I leave my credit card at home?”

 “I’m a failure”

“I’ll never amount to anything”

I’d keep going, but why bore you with information that I, in a matter of seconds, convinced myself were true based on a stranger’s opinion. Why try at anything when the standards are so high that you can’t even imagine moving without judgments and false opinion spewing out your ears falling onto the floor. I mean, that’s a big mess to clean up…… I just moved in and I haven't found the time to buy a mop.

Halfway through the conversation I snapped back to reality (Isn’t it funny that you can carry on a full conversation without actually hearing a single word you just said) only to hear her say…

“Well what are you going to do in the kitchen, if you don’t know how to cook?”

my kitchen as it stands (photo taken with Iphone)

I calmly replied, “I am going to decorate it.”


So I accept the challenge; Not to try to be like what I think everyone else wants me to be, or what the rules of society dictate.  I instead choose to do the things that I do best and do them even better. The new things I learn along the way (cooking, fashion, and the art of walking in heels) will be an added bonus. 


As I've said before and I will say again, inspiration is everywhere, even in negative situations. If we just take the time to open up, we can learn something new from every moment of our life.
  

skona hem via desire to inspire

 desire to inspire

better homes and gardens