A stationary travelling tub...

@thaumata saw this and thought of us...

Yep, it's a leather wrapped bathtub. I love how it resembles an antique travelling trunk, but could do without the fleur di lis. (And couldn't they antique all the shiny brass?)

From French company Condor. More pictures here.

Blend Studios Office

Blend Studios is a "creative collective" in Milwaukee, Wisconsin specializing in 2D, 3D, and sound media. I suspect they should also consider interior design gigs -- their offices are unique and very personalized.

The office that has the most steampunk vibe is Nick's -- largely due to the mix of industrial salvage and antique wood used by his brother Jordan to make the desk and shelving.

Design notes:

• fabric curtains to soften the industrial edges
• damask wallpapers
• dark colors -- especially grey
• Edison bulbs
• leather furniture
• soft throws

(One of the challenges I'm finding to using a lot of harder materials like metal and stone is keeping it soft enough to be comfortable. Office space perhaps doesn't have to be as comfortable as a home, but I like how they use fabric drapes, upholstered furniture, throws, and wallpapers to soften the feel.)




See more pictures and read more about it at Apartment Therapy and the Blend Studios website.

Reversing Books

Elizabeth from One Must Shock the Bourgeois* is a frequent reader here, and I was browsing her blog after a recent comment (I do read them *all*, even if I don't reply) and found this intriguing idea: She flipped most of the books in her bookshelf spine side in.

Before

After

On pure aesthetics, it's a total win: The colors are more muted, more similar in tone. It's less distracting and cluttered. Her accessories are part of the same color scheme. It's lovely.

However there's no way it would fly at my house -- library organization was one of the most fraught negotiations of our early marriage, and not being able to see what books you have would defeat all organizational efforts -- but I thought it was interesting, nonetheless. Would you do this to your books?

*Just for the record, I'm firmly in the bourgeoisie, as defined by Wikipedia: part of the middle or merchant classes, and derived social and economic power from employment, education, and wealth. And not shocked by Elizabeth's blog--it takes more than reversed books to shock me. :)

Liquid Lights

One of the things I love about steampunk is that it blends opulence -- antiques, velvet, dark saturated colors -- with industrial roughness. These lights by Tanya Clarke are a good example -- she combines recycled plumbing pieces with hand sculpted glass drops and lights the whole thing with LEDs.




Whimsical and fun!

Find more at Liquid Light.

A Perfect Library

Loved this library, designed by Sills Huniford Associates.

The ladder, the desk, the balloon curtains, the glass fronted bookshelves... they are just perfection.

via Things that Inspire.

The Cargo Hold Restaurant

My sister took these pictures of the Cargo Hold restaurant at the aquarium in Durban, South Africa, knowing it was just my style.

The designers based it on the idea of a ghost ship, attacked by pirates, that drifted to shore.


A couple more pictures and a review from Kim's South Africa.

And one final exterior shot by StefanieInez on picasa.

Incredible Gypsy Caravan Images

In my research on gypsy caravans, I ran across this incredible collection of caravan images.

Warning: Color attack below! This is a lot more bohemian than most of my posts!