February 2012

Design by Benjamin Dhong, Photography by David Duncan Livingston
A while back I posted some pictures from the gorgeous portfolio of designer Benjamin Dhong. There was one photo in particular that made me pause to study it (the one above.) Something about it made me say, “Yes. That’s it.”
It wasn’t necessarily the decorating - not a fan of the coffee table, or the bowl on it, or the arms on the chair. So I had to sit back and think about what it was. The pale watery paint colour. The crisp white trim. The mix of textures - linen, velvet, silk, wood, concrete. And of course the gorgeous natural light pouring in the windows. This is the feel I want in our house when we build it.
Which I think might be hard. For someone who loves interior design and fabric and colour and pattern as much as me it may take an awful lot of restraint to keep things simple and light. I still want things layered and interesting, but subtle and sophisticated.
It made me think of a post I really like from Erin at Design for Mankind called “House Rules” that she wrote before they embarked on their huge home renovation. I decided I want to create my own “House Rules” - not necessarily a specific design plan, but rather an overall vision to keep in mind when it comes to planning, designing and decorating.

I’ll elaborate a bit more on these later. And I may add to the list.
What would your “House Rules” be?
Have any of you been getting the spam emails that go something like:
Great blog…mind if I use some of your content later down the road… please follow back….
What is the deal/point? I never followed any of these people back but I think I visited the “blog” of the first one or two. I’m wondering if that is going to cause a problem. I also wonder what happens if you follow one of those ‘Starbucks gift cards’ posts. Help?
Yes! I’ve gotten a bunch of these. I am not sure what the point is. I wonder if it’s a real user with a virus, or some kind of spam bot? I e-mailed Tumblr about it and they didn’t really answer my questions, but suggested blocking these users. :P