Angela Liguori {house tour love and more}

Wow.

Wow, wow, wow.

Most of you know that one of my favorite aspects, or feature of the top design blogs out there are the house tours. I just can't get enough of them. The best part about them? They are REAL home, of REAL people. Ninety-nine percent of the house tours featured on Apartment Therapy and Design*Sponge are those of their own readers. You can't get any better than that.

One that stuck out to me this week was the home of Angela Liguori, featured on Design*Sponge this week.

images from Design*Sponge

Eclectic comes to mind, with a little bit of whimsy thrown in. You see that turquoise stool next to the sofa? I have a bench like that. It's gray. Ick. Boring. Maybe i'll have to paint it turquoise. :-) You can visit the full house tour here.

Angela not only has a beautiful home; she is also a graphic designer, and is extremely talented. Stemming from Rome, Italy her company Carta, Inc. designs custom stationary invitations, business cards, and hand-bound books. She has also just recently added a line of cotton ribbons imported directly from Rome. Bella! Bella!

I also love that fact that she not only makes and designs there beautiful wares, but she also teaches workshops on how to make your own. Don't you just love it when talented artisans share their talent with the rest of us? *sigh*, now I only wish I lived in Boston so I could take a class!

To find out more about Angela, you can read her interview here via the Squam Workshops site here, visit Angela firsthand at her blog here, or her Etsy shop here.

Here are some of my favorite's from here Etsy shop. Happy browsing!

image from Angela Liguori

Thank you, thank you very much! {Design To Inspire}

I know I'm a day behind in posting this, but did everyone have a good Easter? Lots of chocolate and bunnies and Easter egg hunting?

I had quite the surprise on Friday when I awoke. I discovered that this little ole blog, DecorAddict, was mentioned no the Design To Inspire Easter Reading Guide! WOW!

So grateful, so thankful, so exciting!

Link Love {Parallel Botany}

I’ve been participating in an online e-course for the past week being taught by the totally awesome Holly Becker of decor8. So far, it has been a fabulous experience. I am learning so much, not only about myself, but about blogging in general, that will in turn only make DecorAddict better, not only for me, but for all my loyal readers as well.

There are about 200 participating in the class from all over the world, and i’m meeting some fabulous online friends, and finding some great new blogs out there as well.

I thought that over the remaining 3 weeks of the course, that I'd share a few of my classmates blogs with each of you. There is some awesome undiscovered talent out there, and not just of the design blog variety.

One that immediately stuck out to me is Parallel Botany. Lisa, the writer of Parallel Botany is a New Yorker (love her already), and uses Parallel Botany as her "show and tell" of all the things she finds and loves online, and elsewhere.

image from Parallel Botany


Lisa also runs an Etsy shop, containing absolutely gorgeous and original paper goods, pins, pendants, and so much more eye candy if I continue i'll have to wring out my laptop.

images from parallel botany


from top, shuggie accent pillow, handmade paper envelopes, plaid puffpad, translucent Love note Blank Card

Aren't her items just precious? Can you see why I had to share her blog and shop with you today? Keep up the amazing work Lisa. You're fabulous!

Wish You Were Here

I know I said I was signing off for the weekend, but I just received the nicest email from Fiona and Ben over at Wish You Were Here in the UK. Have I mentioned before how must I love UK designers and illustrators? I think in a past life I must have been English, and over the past few years I just can't get enough of the lifestyle and culture there.

Any who, back on to topic, Wish You Were Here (WYWH) was created by Fiona and Ben O'Brien (aka Ben the Illustrator), a husband and wife team based in the UK. With Fiona's background in advertising, and a knack for design, ideas, interiors, and Ben's awesome talent as an illustrator, they've collaborated together to create and build WYWH!


The WYWH concept was to "create a brand of illustrated functional items that the house proud, design conscious could enjoy in their home" . Check out some of their amazing graphic art prints below!





"We wanted a way for people to enjoy the optimism and vibrancy of Ben's illustrations in the comfort of their own home, and better still be able to use the items everyday!. Our aim is to produce beautifully conceived prints and products that retain our eco and humanitarian ethics, envelope them in Ben’s awe-inspiring, colourful illustrations creating the perfect combination of function and beauty".



"We understand that times are a little more difficult out there at the moment so we wanted to create uplifting artwork that offered people affordable escapism from their everyday grind. In a time where expensive, luxury escapes are not as possible, the aim of WYWH is to bring those beautiful, far away, idyllic places directly to you, beautifying your home in the process!"



Visit:
Wish You Were Here
Ben the Illustrator

Explore:
Ben's Flickr page
Fiona's Flickr page
Twitter
Fiona's Blog

all images from WYWH

Heart Handmade, and Happy Easter!!!

One of my favorite blogs is Heart Handmade, run by the lovely Marichelle.

The awesome folks over at Etsy have invited her to host their next Shop Live event, TODAY, Thursday April 9th, at 7pm EST, via webcam. She's decided to call it the 30 minute sale!


a short description:

"Thirty products from 30 different artists, handpicked by me! Each artist has provided at least one listing/item specially priced for this 30-Minute SHOP LIVE sale event. Registered users can save up to 25% on regular prices and free shipping on select items. Some of the artists are even having all day sales in celebration of the event - stay tuned for details, I'll be posting about their special deals tomorrow morning so you can get your shop on early!"

Visit Etsy asap to sign up and to particiate in this event.

~

I'm signing off early for the week, tomorrow is Good Friday, and luckily I have the day off! I've been madly loving the e-course that I'm participating in that started this week, taught by the lovely Holly from decor8, entitles "Blogging Your Way". I'm learing so much already, and I hope all of you will be able to appreciate the benefits this e-course will bring to DecorAddict in the future!

image from 2 guys in Poznan

See you all on Monday,
Trina

Etsy Love {Red Hot Pottery}

I'm a sucker for ceramics.

LOVING this Etsy shop, Red Hot Pottery I discovering whilst checking out the Somewhere in Middle America blog.

White on White vase, $24

Large Curvy Mug, $22

Colander with dish, $48

White Birds, $18

Organic Bud Vase, $25

Daily Thought

I enjoyed Real Simple's daily thought today, didn't you?



To be happy, it first takes being comfortable in your own shoes. The rest can work up from there.
―Sophia Bush

Pretty In Pink

So, i'm driving home from work today, and I Go Crazy by Flesh For Lulu came on the radio. OMG, I swear I was transported back to the 11th grade when my hair was spiky, and I desperately wanted a pair of Doc Martens (which I didn't get until I was 22).

Although this song is actually from the movie Some Kind of Wonderful (1988), I was mentally transported into another John Hughes movie, Pretty In Pink (1986). More specifically the apartment of Iona. I was just a teenager in 1986, and oh my goodness I wanted to live in that very apartment. Painted asian stencils on the walls, retro furniture, and the floor! Wow the floor.




Not sure I could live with the bee-hive hair though.

Another domino replacement? Yeah, I don’t think so.

I miss Domino. Don’t you? I’ve found myself at my local Chapter’s standing in front of the Interior Design/Decorating magazine section staring into space, totally amiss as to what is now, or might I say NOT available to us on the magazine stand anymore.

On this last trip to Chapter’s, I picked up 4 magazines. House Beautiful (Apr 2009), Canadian House and Home (Apr 2009), Ideal Home UK (March 2009), and Elle Décor (April 2009). Overall, and I hate to say it, but I’m soooo disappointed. I used to come home with the latest issue of Domino and literally spend HOURS reading it from cover to cover. When I returned home, I spent a total of 1 hour TOTAL leafing through all 4 of them. Pretty pathetic.

The one magazine I was dying to get my hands on however, either isn’t available in my local store yet, or was sold out, the April/May edition of Ready Made. I think I’m going to have to subscribe to the ReadyMade as it’s the only publication that I’ve been excited about over the past few months since the announcement of Domino’s closure.

What do these magazines (the ones that I wasn’t very happy about) have in common? It’s like I picked up the same magazine, the same issue, 4 times. Nothing stands out, nothing is remotely unique about any of them. They are just simply blah. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that everyone’s issue sucks this month, but I must say it’s very disappointing. Most notably, House Beautiful.

House Beautiful has been touted as being the next best thing to Domino by various other design bloggers, well, I have NO idea where that comes from to be honest. The cover of the April ’09 issue is even boring.



After taking the 12 minutes in total it took to go through the entire magazine, I was unimpressed. There was nothing unique, nothing original, it was simply 147 pages of advertisements and editorial coverage that only embellished on their advertisements. Eesh. Give me something new people! Something that I haven’t seen before, or heard of. Every page was just fuddy-duddy traditional. Every single house tour in the issue was professionally decorated, and there was nothing REAL about them whatsoever. Over styled. Stuffy. Snobbish. EEsh. Like, do people actually live here? Or is this a model home I’m looking at. Yes, I understand that ever home is styled for a photo shoot, but NOT every home, and NOT everyone hires a designer to do so. Some of the best homes I’ve seen were designed by the homeowner over time, those are the best homes out there, and the ones that I want to see.

Do you feel the same about the existing shelter magazines available out there today? Would you like to see more REAL homes? Do you already have a source of where to find REAL homes for decorating inspiration? (please enter your suggestions, and opinions in the comments section below)

White or Colour? {Trine Thorsen}

As much as I’m a huge colour lover, I can’t help but to be continuously drawn to whites and neutrals. Yes, sure that’s a very safe choice, but it’s also a comforting one, don’t you think?



There’s something about an all white space that speaks of comfort. Almost like a day at the beach, with a cool breeze blowing in the window.



Not to say that color isn’t a part of my life, it is, but I can honestly say that sometimes I just can’t commit. I don’t trust myself that I’ll still love that shade of fuchsia in a year, which is probably why I lived in a all-white apartment for close to 4 years. Luckily, our current abode was already painted when we moved in, there isn’t a white wall in our new place, and I can’t believe the difference.



I’m sure you’re all asking yourself where these beautiful images are coming from shown above, they have all been taken by the fabulously talented Trine Thorsen, of Norway.

Trine completed a 3 year photography program at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 1994, but didn’t begin her full-time photography career until 9 years ago. These past 9 years have been very busy for Trine, her work has been published in numerous Norwegian and international interior, fashion and lifestyle magazines, not to mention several books.

What is it that you prefer? Neutrals and whites, or an all out colour splendour? Some days I just can’t decide.