While I’m busy getting the new place set up, I wanted to share some recently found inspiration with you. We are working on our bedroom right now, and it’s very cozy, neutral and nice. But we were looking for something with some contrast, a black sculpture or something — so I headed to Jonathan Adler’s site, knowing he had some amazing black sculptures! Little did I know, they had an area called “Show us your JA style“.

Upon further inspection, I happened upon these lovely spaces. Shall we take a look?

What do I love about this space? The openness of it! This entry has made this place perfect (well, except for the mail sitting on the Nelson bench in the foreground..)! Those bookcases in the background are amazing, and they have been carefully edited for perfect balance. Love it!

WALL COLOR. WOW. I mean honestly! If I could get away with painting a room or a wall in this house that color, I would! I am in love with those inky wall colors right now. But I really don’t think I would get away with it here! (Mostly because we don’t get a lot of light in the house..)

Pattern, pattern, pattern. All the different patterns make this work! Not to mention that LCW chair in the foreground. ;)

Perfection. Balance, color, depth, contrast. It’s just perfect. And hello, Nelson bench! I’m still trying to convince the boyfriend we need one. ;)

So go check it out for yourself! If you’ve got a piece of Jonathan Adler in your home, why don’t you enter!

The West Elm Totem Duvet and Sham set is a wonderfully graphic set. Though it may be too much punch for our small, low-light bedroom.

I first saw the Room and Board Washable Wool blanket in Charcoal Stripe when the boyfriend and I went to visit the new Room and Board store in D.C. last week. It was just so soft and subtly graphic in person that I would put the money down for it, for sure.

As you can tell, I’m going toward a grey theme for blankets on the bed. Both are graphic, and I’d pair either with some crisp white linens and a brightly colored pillow or two.

First up was the living room. I wanted to go with something that was fun, comfortable and modern. A space that evoked both leisure and style, the living room is the heart of our home. I know, I know — the kitchen is supposed to be the heart of the home, but I imagine we will spend countless hours watching TV, playing Wii, reading, listening to music (both iPod and the boyfriend’s guitar) and hosting a friend or two.

With that in mind, I present the rough moodboard for our space. Nothing has been purchased yet (except that lovely Wayne Pate print) so things may get altered slightly..

What do you think? I decided that since I’m really in love with the mid-century modern style, I wanted to reflect that in our home. Let’s break it down, shall we?

• Room and Board Jasper Couch in Dela Charcoal — This is the big purchase for the room. We have a Room and Board store opening up 2 days after we move in, and are planning to check it out and sit on this sofa to make sure it aces the comfort test. I wanted to go with a darker fabric color that grounded the space, but not black, as I thought that would be too dark. The charcoal grey is perfect. This particular fabric choice will be special order, but should be totally worth it.
• Koldby Rug from Ikea — Originally I had wanted to go with a shag rug, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. While both rugs will probably be hard to keep clean, I’ll feel better about the shorter “hair” length that the cowhide rug will have. Lord knows what would end up in the shag with two sloppies and a kitteh. The plan will be to get one that has some brown in it, some white, and a lot of black to really anchor the room. Plus, if we get it in a shade similar to this one, Kira (the kitteh) will blend right in. :)
• Conical Floor Lamp by CB2 — I have been in love with the Arne Jacobsen floor lamp for some time, but cannot bring myself to spend $800 on a lamp (much like a certain blanket..). So when I came across the Conical Floor Lamp from CB2, I knew it would be a good fit. And even better, there are two light sources, and they tilt to the side and all the way up!
• Accessories to Tie it All Together — These are just as important as the big ticket items! I am still not 100% on a ceiling lamp yet — you see, we don’t have a ceiling socket, so my originally intended George Nelson saucer lamp has been delegated to the dining room. In it’s place, I was thinking something simple and rounded, and I thought this black Ikea Brasa lamp would be perfect. We also have a Spike Clock in colorful hues that will be perfect for a variety of accessories to fit into the scheme and go along with the mid-century feel. And while the color is still debatable (I love it, the boyfriend does not) we have a throw pillow in a bright and bold color as well as one that adds a bit of texture to the couch.
• Color Palette — Our base color for the room, aka the walls, is Valspar’s Oatlands Subtle Taupe which will be a nice, neutral base for the bold and colorful accessories. Accessories will be in a range of grey, (hopefully) chartreuse and salmon/orange/red. We may even toss some turquoise in there to cool it off.

Altogether, I am excited to make this a reality. The last 10 months of living in my current space have been a bit of a disappointment because I knew it wasn’t going to last. Finally seeing a moodboard become reality will be extremely satisfying.

What do you think? Anything you’d change? Anything you love? I’d love to know what you think!

Lisa Hilland Pompom Lamp

This lamp from Lisa Hilland is gorgeous. I could see one hanging over a dining table or in a reading room, maybe even in your entry way. Found via Design Milk, Lisa has this to say about her work:

“I have chosen birch as my main material because of its lustrous and silky surface. The last tree to be seen in our mountains before the vegetation disappears altogether in the high altitudes, birch can stand strong winds and the cold Nordic winters. It is traditionally used in Scandinavian stick back chairs. Cherry, oak, and pear veneer are used in combination to create contrasting and playful patterns. In addition to its visual beauty, I have chosen reindeer leather for decorative details because of its tactile qualities and softness. It is a material traditionally used by the nomadic Sami people, sourced from the Scandinavian Arctic.”

Lovely, eh? You might be able to replicate it with some fabric circles on a paper lantern, if you wanted to go the DIY route, but the original is gorgeous!

Panasonic Radness!, originally uploaded by caco-wixtle.

The more and more I get into the mid-century style, the more I start liking the atomic style as well. I’ve been looking for a sweet, retro alarm clock for my nightstand, and this would be perfect. I love the swoop the shape creates, and the contrast between the white, black and yellow face is stunning.

Now if only I can track it down. eBay, Etsy and Google all bring back nothing. :(

The shape is just fantastic. The color, to die for. I am a bit hesitant about having a bird feeder on the patio, because feeder = birds = poop. Haha. It would provide Kira with a lot of entertainment during the day while we are away at work, I imagine. She could watch it from the dining room where the patio door is, or from our bedroom which has a window overlooking the back “yard”.

I really want to go for something modern and clean and fun in the backyard, not your “Home-Depot” weekly-special patio set. Have you found any awesome modern patio furniture lately? I know that Apartment Therapy, Design Milk and SwissMiss seem to be teeming with new ideas in preparation for the warm months ahead!

Yokomono Studio’s Tissue Box Cover — I actually just picked one of these up a few weeks ago. The color scheme is perfect, and because tissue boxes are necessary evils in most homes, why not make them pretty? She has so many fun, bold and modern prints, I had a hard time deciding which one to get!

Etcetera Media’s Book Box — I’ve been obsessing over felt lately. I bought a fantastic felt mousepad a month or so ago and ever since, every thing I find that is felt I fall in love with! I love the grey here, with the pop of orange! This would be perfect to house all those DVDs that nobody watches anymore. (Seriously, with Netflix for the Wii now, and Hulu desktop, I never watch my DVDs. Including the exercise ones…;)

Perch! O Bowl — Okay, I admit it. I had to think about this one before I posted it. Why? Because I love everything from Perch! This lovely bowl could house a wonderful houseplant, your change — maybe some jewelry. I love multi-purpose objects!

FilzFelt Wool Felt Circle Coaster Set – Once again, because I am obsessed with felt lately, here are some fantastic felt coasters that are just so simple, they are marvelous! I currently own some from World Market that are beaded, but the beads keep falling off, and I’m pretty sure the cat is eating them! Not good! I’d love to get a set of these, probably in grey, or maybe that wonderful yellow above as a pop of bright and bold color. They have so many colors to choose from, you should go check them out!

Did you check Supermarket HQ out? Browse around a bit? Did you find anything that struck your fancy? There are so many pages of items, I’d love to hear what you found!

Available in black, white and grey from Little Factory, this scarf is made out of 100% microfiber suede and is just totally cool. It’s available in lowercase letters, uppercase letters, and numbers, too!

Charles and Ray Eames are some of my favorite furniture designers. They are known for so many iconic pieces, but the one I love the most is the Eames Lounge and Ottoman, which were released in 1956 for Herman Miller.

The form of the chair is comprised of three curved plywood shells made up of seven thin layers of wood veneer glued together and shaped under heat and pressure. The original, or vintage, chair used five layers plywood with rosewood veneers.

Herman Miller has been continuously making these chairs since their introduction, with a company called Vitra coming in later to produce them for the European Market. Knockoffs are in abundance, while there are also many chairs that are ‘influenced’ by the design.

Surprisingly, the chair is super comfy — I had a chance to sit in one at the Kalorama Design within Reach a couple  weekends ago — for it’s price. Most designer pieces tend to be simply for form, and not function. But this is a piece that is not only beautiful, but extremely comfortable. Watch out though, if you are above 5’11″, you will not find the chair that comfy, as the boyfriend found out (he’s 6’7″). But for the 5’3″ of me, it was super comfy and made me want it even more!

And they also come in this gorgeous white! Yum!

What do you think of this gorgeous piece of furniture? What is your favorite piece of furniture? Is it something from a store like Ikea or something a little more expensive, something you hope to one day own but just drool over now? I’d love to hear!

Do you love artwork in your home as much as I do? Do you totally lack artwork in your home, much like I as well? Then you are in luck, because Bespoke Press is having a fantastic giveaway! To enter the drawing, head on over to their shop or site and let them know in a comment on this post which is your favorite print. And, if you tweet it, you’ll get an extra entry into the drawing, and if you blog about it (like I am!), you’ll get five extra entries on top of that! The contest closes on October 15th, so get your pick in now!