Author Archives: lauren

The Pantone Project

Ever heard of Paul Octavious? He is a seriously talented photographer based out of Chicago. I have seen some of Paul’s work before, and am always intrigued. His latest project is fun and quirky. He documents his surroundings, paired with the wonderful Pantone color swatches.

Pretty incredible huh? Go on over to pauloctavious.com to see more of his work, I promise, you will be inspired. Also, you can follow him on Instagram @pauloctavious. I thought all of us interior stylists would appreciate this one. Have a wonderful Monday!

{images- Huffington Post}

Flashback Friday – Elle Decor 2002

I have stacks and stacks and stacks of decorating magazines that I have never been able to part with. I think this is a universal problem for interior stylists. I often flip through old articles for inspiration. Sounds like a good justification for keeping them around, don’t you think? Most of my collection is Elle Decor. They have always been my favorite go to decorating magazine. I love their aesthetic. So, I was thinking, how fun it would be to share some of these old decorating magazines with you! Each friday I will share images from my “vintage” decorating magazine collection. Won’t it be fun to peek into the past ten years of design? Today’s image is the cover of Elle Decoration UK addition from 2002.

I love this cover, padded walls, silk, satin and velvet! Should we bring it back? I hope you enjoy your weekend! See you back here on Monday!

xoxo

{images – girlandtheabode}

Design Ed – Proportion

Proportion is basically a size relationship. It is a ratio of somethings part to its whole. This is a fairly simple principle. For instance, when we look at this room, we see it as a whole unit. The elements in this room are the “parts”, and the room itself is the “whole”. What I think is most interesting about proportion are the perceptions of proportion or disproportion that occur instinctively. When you look at this room above, what is your initial thought on the proportions in the space? Personally, what I see, are the smaller items ( the Eames chair, the occasional table and the floor lamp) complimenting the mass of the large staircase and the chandelier. I also love the bright orange piece of art work they chose. The solidity of it is a nice balance to the larger elements here. So, instinctively I see a proportional room.

Here is an interesting example of proportion. I chose this space to show you that so called disproportionate elements can work too. Instinctively, what do you feel when you observe this space? I see an extremely large mirror sandwiched between two extra large windows. Everything else around it looks a bit dwarfed, don’t you think? Well, I think this room is fantastic! It is disproportionately pleasing, to me. I really enjoy when a designer pulls off something unusual. Here they have tampered with typical definition of what proportion means to most and given us something dramatic and unexpected! Which room do you prefer? Do you agree with pushing the envelope in terms of the use of design principles?

Have a lovely wednesday, see you next week for another mini lesson in Design ED!

{Image 1- desiretoinspire.net, Image 2- acoustic-garden.tumblr.com}

Hotel Interior Inspiration- Hotel Daniel

For this week’s hotel interior inspiration, we are visiting Vienna. I must be living under a rock or something, because I just discovered this fantastic urban hotel. Hotel Daniel has a very charming story. Hotel Daniel in Graz opened in 2005 and was a tremendous success. They decided in 2011 it was time to expand, and open another location in Vienna. After scouting many locations, only one building would be worthy to hold the “Hotel Daniel” name. The building of choice was the first in Austria to be constructed using revolutionary Curtain Wall technique. Not only that, the building in which Hotel Daniel resides was designed by the architect who created Daniel in Graz in 1962, the talented and sought after, Georg Lippert. This was apparently meant to be, and, after all, the building really is the heart and soul of any great hotel. You need to feel inspired by the structure that you enter, feel some history of what may have happened here.

Then, thereafter, comes the inspiration from the splendid interior design. As you will see, there are copious amounts of decorating inspiration within these walls! They call Daniels style, ” stylish minimalism”. To me, this sounds very freeing. You will not be bombarded with over thought and over styled rooms here.

Doesn’t everyone need a hammock in their bedroom?

I dream of having a soaker tub someday! Don’t you?

I keep looking at this headboard, thinking how can I recreate this for my space? Anyone have any brilliant ideas? I think this headboard is stunning.

I love the statement of resourcefulness they are making by using materials such as these wooden flats for coffee tables. Stylish Minimalism at its best!

For you urban campers out there, “Daniel on Wheels”!! Inspiration for your Airstream, circa 1952!

I love that they managed to fit a full size bathtub into this Airstream! Such a genius move.

Tons and tons of interior design inspiration here! My favorite part is the lack of effort you feel was put into this space. That may sound lazy, but, it actually takes more effort to make a space feel stylish and simple. The way in which they designed the interiors of Hotel Daniel is very liberating. You feel a sense of freedom from “things”. These spaces are gorgeous, yet the minimalism is so freeing. What style or techniques do you see here that you might use within your own space? Do you care for this “stylish minimalism” approach? How about that Airstream? You can even take inspiration from this article for your trailer!

{ Airstream images - Remodelista } { images 1-8 – Hotel Daniel }

A Warm Hello

Hello my friends! I hope you are all having a lovely week. If you have not noticed, my posting has been a bit irregular lately. I have had quite a few things come up in the past month. Some great things and some not so great things. I guess this is what we call “life”. Haha. I have been hard at work building our Organizing and Interior Styling business, and I have been spending some of this time analyzing Girl and the Abode and what my goals are for the future of this little decorating blog. I have found so much joy in creating this space for myself to write about things I have passion for, and enjoyed connecting with other wonderful bloggers. I have many great ideas and many things to learn. I am so grateful for you who follow me here. I will continue to strive to make Girl and the Abode a wonderful, peaceful little spot you can come escape to.

{image 1-Classy in the City, image 2 -Departika}

See you back here next week!

xoxo Lauren