I don’t do much travel blogging, but when I do, I tend to keep it on the Cruise Control Blog. However, I got this today in Jetsetter mail and just had to share it. Cabana stripes are usually yellow and much thicker than these red stripes. I am really surprised at this choice and even more surprised that it worked! This is from the The Shores Resort & Spa in Daytona, Florida.

I’m really surprised at how great the red and white stripes look. Normally cabana stripes are found in yellow or navy blue, but the red works!

I completely love this F Schumacher fabric. It comes in wallpaper as well, which I think would be amazing in a bathroom or bright dining area. Gorgeous! In a dining room, doing a glossy white chair rail and having this half way up would be really wonderful.

Birds and butterflies wallpaper and fabric

Birds and Butterflies detail

I love how fresh and modern this is. Schumacher and Kravet have some really amazing, classic and traditional fabrics in lots of great colorways, but this is one of the most modern, “hip” things I’ve seen them do.

Another detail

This is part two on my series where I show some amazing shots of interior design from the 1971 book series “A Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement”. My first post of the series provides a little more background. You can see all the posts in the series by going to the gdhi tag.

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 The 70s Were a Different Time Part 2

I live in an “atomic ranch” style home built in 1971. Fortunately it is lovely and doesn’t look antiquated. Instead of embracing avacado, harvest gold and beige, I’ve gone for bright orange, lemon yellow and lots of shiny metallics for a more disco and Floridian feel. I love it. Images forthcoming.

This house has given me a new appreciation for the 70s and really given me somewhat of an obsession. I love looking at old magazines, catalogs and design books to get an idea of what things were like in that period. I collect vintage magazines from the 50s-70s and have posted some vintage ads on my travel blog. I decided to get together some images from one of the book series I have called the Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement. It’s an 18 volume set, published in 1970 meant for libraries and I was lucky enough to receive the entire thing for Christmas one year.

Looking at these images is hilarious, fascinating and sometimes horrifying. Either way, there is entertainment value to be had. I thought I’d do a series of these posts to show what things were really like in the lat 60s and early 70s.

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The 1970s Were a Different Time

Here are some photos from The Rug Company’s collection of designer rugs. I love that they do gorgeous design and furniture in their catalog pictures. I also love that they have classic punk rock rugs designed by Vivienne Westwood and gorgeous, decadent art rugs designed by the late Alexander McQueen. While I’m not a fashion plate, I do love to see fashion designers work with interiors. I’ll post about Tom Ford’s incredible eye for interior design in another post, right now, we’re on to the rugs!

You know how the old saying goes, “that rug really tied the room together,” and I think that sentiment applies to all of the images on the Rug Company website. They really know what they’re doing. Hopefully none of these rugs will meet the same unfortunate fate as the rug referred to in that old saying.

That Rug Really Tied The Room Together

I wish I was currently lounging in this atrium at The Brody House, under that commissioned, one-of-a-kind Matisse tile mural. I bet it’s warm there. Click for larger.

Wishing I Was There

I adore this great home featured in the NYT today. Unfortunately I don’t have the $5.3 million USD asking price, but I could potentially move to Luxembourg. How long would it take my dog to get a visa? She loves European food, so I’m sure she’d like it there. Normally I don’t like posting homes that are for sale, as I find them overly generic when it comes to interiors. Home stagers and real estate agents love to make a home look dull and unlived in, in order to make it more appealing to buyers. Homes showcasing decor usually are the opposite, with owners taking pride in showing their personality throughout the home. This house gets an exception though, as it is quite lovely despite being offered for sale. I really like it!

Lovely Luxembourg

Jonathan Adler has designed an insulated cup for Product(RED) and Starbucks along with a matching Starbucks card. I’m not a huge fan of the look, I think it is a bit dated looking. Although it does have a sort of Scandanavian Christmas look, it unfortunately it is not at all what you’d expect from Adler, who is normally a huge proponent of color and geometric patterns that have a vintage look. His trademark is “Happy Chic,” but I sort of feel like this design is a little dull. Underwhelming. At the very least this gives the JA enthusiast an opportunity to own something designed by him without a hefty pricetag that also gives to (RED) charities, for the low price of $10.95. What do you think?

Jonathan Adler (RED) Ceramic Coffee togo cup

Jonathan Adler Starbucks Card

I’m always surprised and impressed by the beautiful and unique furniture from Roche Bobois. I remember growing up in the Atlanta suburbs, my mother would take me in to town to Lenox Mall and across from Lenox was a Roche Bobois show room. It has since moved to midtown, but I remember even as a teenager, going to Tower Records and walking down a few stores to the Roche Bobois and marveling at the beautiful things they had. They’re a true trendsetter and never disappoint. Here are a few of my favorite pieces.

L’AV V Marquise Chair
I love the colors in this fabric.

ROSITA Bergere
Again, big, bright, beautiful color.

VOLUTES Console
This is a great example of what I have decided to call “Nouveau Rococo”. Rolls off the tongue nicely, doesn’t it? It’s a great aesthetic that takes classic Louis XV style furniture and puts it in vibrant colors, lacquer finishes and adds unusual or more glam hardware. It’s associated with Hollywood Regency, but different in that it retains a lot of the original styling and avoids any of the 30′s style Art Decor normally associated with HR.

Collection Les Provinciales
Obviously this is an amazing space, but the way it looks both comfortable and stylish is fantastic. It’s well used, but also well curated. A perfect example of what Roche Bobois is.

I found this gorgeous Vader Chair while searching on Artistic Frame‘s website. Aren’t these amazing? They’d be fantastic in a black, shiny vinyl to really help them live up to their name. But for my room, I’d like a magenta seat back and seat, with the rest being in a bright lemon yellow. Probably a velvet or chenille. The color possibilities with these are endless. What fabrics would you choose? I think a contrast seat and back with different colors for the rest of the chair would be the most dramatic effect.