Home Style

I must admit, blogs about grammar (apostropheabuse.com, anyone?) crack me up like nothing else can.  Yeah I know bloggers, myself definitely included, have been accused of maligning the English language with our lack of proper care over things like punctuation and a failure to uphold the soon-to-be derelict word "whom", but the informal nature of Web 2.0 gives us a certain allowance.  When I see handwritten notes like the hilarious ones displayed on passiveaggressivenotes.com, where language is used and abused, I can't help but cringe.  There is something particularly ridiculous about getting up on your high-horse and taking the time to write a backhanded note using good ol' pen and paper to your roommate/co-worker and mixing up "they're" and "their."

So looking around my new digs, I see a blank canvas.   Here is finally a space I can do all of those things I've always wanted to try out.  I can be edgy and exciting since I finally have enough rooms to experiment in.  My old 600 sq ft apartment had one large living-dining-office-kitchen-combo.  It was imperative that I keep the space usable and functional.  It was also necessary that I err on the side of caution when it came to design.  I wanted the space to be a calm, neutral room, since it was where I did my living, eating and working. Well I now have a proper dining room and I want to have fun with a medium that, until now, I have always staunchly avoided.  Wallpaper is back with a presence in the design world that can't be ignored. 

I lived in residence for two years.  The first year was fun, like a super extended slumber party with alcohol.  My second year was trying and tiring -- I didn't want to be there anymore.  I was sick of the party and the constant socialization.  What I really craved was a comfortable place to relax and have some me-time.  I also was tired of posters tacked to the walls and empty vodka bottle vases.  Decorating your dorm room (or any space-starved, temporary living accommodation) is an important rite of passage for young adults.

So, I am moving!  This new challenge is extremely exciting, but also extremely expensive.  I'm finding myself in the precarious position of having to conserve my money for exciting new things like a furnace (yay?); however, I am at a complete loss when it come to figuring out how to fill up all of this new wall space with eye-catching, wallet-friendly art.  While my preference would always be to buy original art and support local artists, I am going to need to pinch every penny.  So I have come up with (read: discovered) three solutions to solve my budget-conscious wall art issue.  All of these options should look fabulously unique.  And all of these options are reasonably priced!

It is so hard to go wrong when you decorate with white.  Crisp and fresh, white helps make a room look cleaner,  newer and larger.  A problem is that people new to the design game sometimes assume white is boring; that decorating with white lacks creativity and vision, so they attempt to use (or mis-use) bold colour to create the very effect white exudes effortlessly -- brightness.   When you use texture, placement and shape to help delineate and add visual interest, it is possible to create a fascinating, sophisticated and multi-layered design using white objects, textiles and materials.  Here are three of my favourite white things that go fabulously together while also working well alone, and most importantly aren’t boring!