Asparagus Interiors Inc.

I’ve been thinking about my style lately.  It’s that time of year where we re-evaluate our style and our stuff.  Out with the old, in with the new… but what are our tried and trues?

I’m a classic style girl with pops of color and bits of whimsy.  I thrive on the details, quality and craftsmanship.  It doesn’t always mean you have to spend a lot of money, just hunt for the deals and know how and what a quality piece is made of.  I’m learning when to spend on a solid piece and when to splash it out for the moment.

I’m working with a few clients on color and considering the finishes.  Soft finishes we tend to forget.  Quality rugs, natural fibers are classic, timeless pieces.  Recognizing that a little tradition goes a long way.

Note: Rug Left - Mohair Luxe by Mansour Modern, Rug Right - Inverness Lemon Water by Tufenkian.

Check out design sites, talk to your friends, look around!  It’s a new year and time again to start thinking on how we want to interpret our style.

I’ve been asked several times in the past week where to look for ideas.  I’ve been inspired by the Featured Seller, blog on Etsy.com.  Interviews with each seller explore how they run an online business, what inspires them and a glimpse into their favorite pieces.

I also get inspired by the design staples, apartment therapy and design sponge.  Don’t for get to start talking to your friends and like artists.  Getting a coffee with a friend goes along way to design inspiration.

This year’s Renegade Craft Fair – Chicago, proved to be an excellent mix of craft and art as in years past but with a lot more people.  It seems the word is getting out.  An awesome show that offers something for every artist alike.

Some of my show favorites:

OneCanoeTwo – Custom letterpress, cards, coasters, calendars.  Artistic – funky – stylized creatures.  Crane paper with high quality printing, graphic design and detail. Check out the coasters, recipe cards and fabric calendars.  I typically get a Lotta Jansdotter calendar but this year going with the nautical theme from OneCanoeTwo.

Neogranny – flipp’n love-it!  Neo’s take on retro designs, brings back the June Cleaver in all of us but with a modern twist.  I picked up a cat-eye glasses necklace, but love the swimmer and the Jack and Jill cut-outs.  The combination of brightly painted wood mixed with metal, totally fun.

Tugboat Printshop – Really cool woodblock prints.  Very detailed and cool compositions. We picked up Star Ship, looking to put it in a funky frame.  Looking for vintage frames check out Foundre.

Jordain Elise – Picked up on the taxidermy buzz this year? Check out the “wonderful wonders” of Jordain Elise.  Felt “horrible adorables” give them a second look, you’ll fall for them.

Other Artists Worth Checking Out:

• The Harbinger Co. – Funky silver glasses rings, sustainable wood craft jewelry in geometric designs.
• The Candy Thief – Detailed felt work – check out their headbands.
• Up in the air somewhere – Picked up an industrial inspired ceramic piece, check out the painted bowls.
• Souldier – Vintage guitar and camera straps.

I love upholstered walls, ceilings, headboards anything that can benefit from a little cushion.

There’s something soft and inviting about an upholstered surface that would otherwise be hard and angular.

Check out this upholstered wall/heard board at the Soho Beach House, located at the Sovereign Hotel in Miami and featured in Interior Design magazine. Notice the connection with the bed skirt, drawing your eye back down to ground level.

I recently upholstered headboards in natural linen for my kids rooms.  Considering a wall panel inset.  A new twist on the “accent color” niche.  The great thing is when upholstered to a panel.  You can go over it again and again with a new fabric or take it down when you want to change the look.

Happy Anniversary wow – 9 years!

Mike and I typically give each other some form of artwork for our anniversary, this year he treated me to a Sarah Cihat piece of porcelain from her DIRT line.

I started collecting her work a few years ago with the Rehab line.  Pieces she found at thrift stores, added her design and refired them in a colored glaze.

Sarah’s innovation gives new meaning to using old forgotten pieces and turning them into something new.  Giving these everyday items an artistic overhaul and new purpose.  Artwork worth collecting.

I was recently asked by a newspaper journalist for their “HomeStyle” section, what trends I’m noticing, products that are hot. What’s Happening.  After brainstorming I came up with a few ideas:

Current Trends I’m Seeing and Incorporating:

• Vintage – Artwork / Kitschy Objects / Furniture (Guest Chairs) / Lamps (Very Cool)
• Natural Grain / Wax Finish – Unfinished White Oak or Wax Finished White Oak any grainy wood looks great with a wax finish.
• Layering Rugs – Carpet with layered rug on top for pattern and color.  Layering two rugs, cowhide rugs with other prints such as zebra.
• Custom Artwork – Museum finish, deep cut matboard, high quality mats with simple yet solid wood frames.  Black is almost to easy and overdone.
• Art Arrangements – Mixing the old and new in tight arrangements clustered on walls.  Collage of art work mixed with objects. Canvas and open prints with no glass.
• Piles of Style – Showing off your books in a mixed arrangements on shelves, adding in metal, pottery, ceramics, lamps.  No more coffee table books, get them piled up.  You read, show off your collection.
• Screen Printed Grass Cloth – goes beyond the basic adding pattern to texture.
• Linen – Pillows, drapery, upholstery a soft hand, nice drape, natural colors, neutral base.

Visit your local art show and notice what’s vibrant this year.  You might be surprised to see it’s artists from your town who are pushing the limits and honing their craft to create beautiful art.

This weekend at the Geneva Art Fair, I purchased a watercolor from D. L Brown Watercolors of Warrenville, IL.  Right in my backyard, Don Brown captures small town nostalgia in watercolors with vibrant colors that mimic the storefronts and porcelain signs of the past.  The wierd thing was he drew a sign from a storefront in Le Claire IA, I pass by all the time.  Had to have it, a little piece of home.

John Caruso of Caruso Photo, captures light hearted images that tweak my smile every time I pass his booth.  I’ve started collecting photographs for a wall above my dresser.  Most are fun little images that help kick start my day.  All framed in white, it’s the little things that are fun in life.

Industrial can be pretty… and vintage and rugged and what’s happening today in design.  Reconsider re-purposed, eclectic touches in fixtures from the industrial era.

Hudson Goods offers a mix of vintage fixtures and furniture.  Pair the metal flower pendant with a 40 W Squirrel Cage Tungsten Filament bulb from Rejuvenation Hardware and you have a really cool industrial fixture.

You may have appliances in stainless, but mixing your hardware with a vintage fixture can keep the space interesting and not so out of the box adding character to your space.

I ran across this photo on Etsy by, Byrdie Graphics Shop. The repurposed tub features an upholstered seat with painted under coat and silver feet.  Byrdie Shop added their “Birdie on a branch” graphic for that added detail.

Cool find, cool graphic.

Vintage lamps are so cool when you really find a unique piece.  After dusting them off, try taking your lamp to a shade store and have it fitted for the right size.

Yesterday, I took my old man sailor down to Lamps & Shades Ltd. in Glen Ellyn. They fitted my lamp with an unexpected shape and finial that topped off the piece.  They also cary vintage pieces, like the green napoleonesque vase shape lamp I fell in love with.

Try going to a local retailer for a lamp shade, their expertise and eye for detail helps you select the right shape for your lamp.