I just read about this now and am pretty fascinated. This small company, O’verlays, makes trendy fretwork patterns that you can easily attach to furniture, doors, walls… and many of their designs are compatible with IKEA products.

Their product is really taking off, which isn’t surprising considering that do-it-yourself customizing and upscaling is a huge home decorating trend right now! So huge that I’m sure when we look back on the 2010s in the future, we’ll laugh at the brightly painted furniture with fretwork patterns which were so characteristic of “that” decade.

So go and glue these on now, while they’re still hot.

Seriously? Seriously??!

Yes, seriously. Thank you to Anthropologie for making my Friday. (Or breaking it, if you consider the fact that I’m crying over this thing of beauty.)

Also, this confirms for me that photographic prints are one of the best trends of 2012.

I was just thinking how most examples of bright, saturated orange in living spaces are in sleek, ultramodern rooms. Don’t let that scare you into thinking it won’t work elsewhere! I actually think it would give a perfect bit of punch to a soft, eclectic space—think pale blue walls, weathered gray wood, vintage style pillows, and white ceramic accessories. Something like this:

This is the one instance I can think of, at least in recent years, when a trend began in home décor and then infiltrated fashion. Zebra print may be coming up in fashion, but it’s been staying up in home.

I’ve been compiling images of zebra print décor over the past several months, from Adore Home, High Gloss, and Lonny, as well as retailers Horchow and West Elm. It’s amazing how widespread this trend is! And how incredibly versatile. See for yourself.

Zebra print wall-to-wall carpeting:

Zebra print pillows:

Zebra print furnishings:

And last but not least, zebra print rugs—some real, some fake, some cartoony:

So if you’re trying to figure out how to add a dose of retro glamour to your room without sacrificing edginess, I hope these photos inspire you to consider zebra!

I’ve been over the bird trend for, oh, three, maybe four years now. Bird fabrics, bird wallpaper, bird salt shakers, bird decals, birdcages—it never seems to stop! Why?! Why don’t you fly away already??!

Well… except that was my attitude yesterday. Today, I’m reading Howard Norman’s exceptional novel, The Bird Artist, and it’s not only giving me a new appreciation for birds, it’s kind of making me obsessed with them.

Unfortunately I’m not about to become a bird artist myself, sitting in nature for hours at a time, sketching falcons, ospreys, and sandpipers. I’m much too—hm, how shall I say this—lazy. I’d rather let someone else be the bird artist and me, well, I’ll just give them my money.

Any one of these talented artists will do.

Bird prints for sale at Etsy.com, clockwise from top left:

Kingfisher Kitchen from alfredstark
Night Tree, Crescent Moon, Black Birds, and Farm Fields from TheBluebirdGallery
Great Horned Owl from annasee
Superb Fairy Wren from bridgetfarmerprints
Primary Birds from locole
Osprey at Cape May from berkeleySU

One of the most versatile home trends right now.

*All images from Lonny magazine.

Remember this awesome table setting color palette? I was just looking at Benjamin Moore’s 2012 trend guide, and one of their palettes include two colors similar to the dirty aqua and acid green:

Benjamin Moore Color Trends 2012: Earth and Sky

I love how they applied these colors in two different ways to one dining room. Room number one:

And room number two:

The New York Times published a very interesting article today, “All That Authenticity May Be Getting Old.”

It’s about the crafts movement that we’re currently in—where artists are producing more and more “unique,” vintage, or handmade objects; major retailers are selling them, and we’re going crazy buying them. But this desperate need to have “authentic” items in our home is becoming pretty predictable and boring. Which is exactly what we were trying to avoid!

Here’s an excerpt:

“People are looking for things that are authentic,” [Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan] said. “I think it started happening after 2001: first there was 9/11, followed by recession. There was a certain exhaustion with the shiny and perfect. People didn’t relate to it anymore.”

But as Dmitri Siegel put it:

“When you pile Etsy on top of Etsy, it gets really cacophonous: ‘Everything in here is totally unique!’ It starts canceling itself out.”

And:

As they began furnishing their new house from scratch, they found themselves choosing pieces with clean, modern lines that “could be a backdrop for whatever we were interested in at the moment,” Mr. Siegel said. In other words, he said, “not trying to express your personality and your total individuality with every single thing in your house.”

Perhaps my favorite thing in the world to eat—even above cheese, dark chocolate, ghormeh sabzi, New York style pizza, cupcakes, and curry—is fruit. I love to eat fruit and try to start every morning with at least four or five different kinds. This morning I had an apple, a pear, a banana, a peach, and a nectarine for breakfast. My three year-old had the same. And my love for fruit has grown exponentially since living on the Mediterranean, since it’s so much juicier and tastier here.

When fashion designers went crazy with fruit prints this spring, I kept thinking that the clothes looked good enough to eat. Yum, and yum.

And it’s not just fashion designers. Fruit prints are popping up everywhere in home accessories. Some are painterly, some whimsical, some graphic—which means that this mouth-watering motif can make its way into any style of décor.

One of my favorite interpretations of this trend is fruit wrapping paper from Happy F&B, a Swedish design agency. One:

And two:

I get irrationally excited about Lonny’s regular column on wall paint. Each issue features a color trend prediction or palette suggestion from a paint company, and they’re always so drippingly beautiful and tasty.

Two color palette trends from Farrow & Ball:

From Stark Paints:

From Serena & Lily:

Also, if you’re wondering where I’ve been all week… I was catching up on TV shows. It’s true! With such little time to myself each day, sometimes the most passive activity appeals to me most. Like watching American Idol.