Rooms, Rooms, Rooms

While perusing PointClickHome (the online home of Elle Décor and Metropolitan Home), I found plenty to love.

Here's what caught my fancy -- and why:

Love: This elegant white entryway offset with crisp black and shiny gold.

Love: The organic feel of this space, from the wood to natural hues to the shapes of the pieces.

Love: The stripe on this dining room wall. It's calming like a landscape.

Love: The palette of this black and white bedroom -- and how the yellow flowers pop.

Love: The shiny floors of this hallway, plus the pretty, pastel-y shades.

Love: The round sofa, shaggy carpet and sunken floor -- retro in a good way!

Love: The orange color, square shapes of the furniture and the screen of trees.

Photos from here.

The Four Seasons

The talent found on Flickr never ceases to amaze me. Then again, the amount and breadth of talent found in world never ceases to amaze me either.

On a recent browsing through the photo-sharing website, I came across Romanian artist Alex Beltechi. I find his series of rooms -- which are variations of one another based on spring, summer, fall and winter -- fascinating. Their surrealistic nature reminds me of paintings by Rene Magritte from the early twentieth century.

It's fun to let your eyes and mind wander through his room-scapes.

Faceoff

Back to the Future

The Shot

Aurora and Borealis

Mmm ... Pesto

This summer, my mother-in-law gave me a pesto plant, which is thriving out on the deck despite my general lack of talent regarding anything food-, cooking- or growing-related.

The plant looks quite pretty, but I've been hoping to use some of it for pesto. I was going to start looking for recipes when I noticed this very visually appealing recipe on Black*Eiffel, one of my favorite blogs. So cool, no?

Photo from here.

This Calls for a Toast

A fun part of summer are sweet, icy, bubbly cocktails that go so well with warm weather. 

I like finding new drinks to try, as well as new ways of presenting them. I love sparkling wine and think champagne flutes are sexy, but today I stumbled upon a neat new idea. 

This photo comes from the lovely blog Bloomacious and was taken at a pretty Los Angeles party. The tall simple glasses -- could they be small vases? -- are perfectly streamlined and make the drinks look delicious. Excellent idea!

Photo from here.

A Nice Idea

I happened upon this quote today by James M. Barrie:

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."

Isn't that true? Maybe if we focused more on making others happy, we'd all wind up the better for it too. I'm up for trying!

Swept Away

I watched a gorgeous movie today. Out of Africa certainly isn't a new release -- it was made in 1985 -- but I had never seen it but long wanted to.

Meryl Streep is exquisite, of course, and I very much enjoyed how she portrayed Karen Blixen, a woman who was strong, independent and brave yet also loved deeply and yearned for partnership and companionship.

Robert Redford was great, too, as Denys Finch Hatton, the man who loved Karen as much as he loved his own freedom. I didn't anticipate that he and Streep would make the movie so sexy! From their candlelit dinners in the middle of the African bush to the scene in which he washed her hair, the movie was filled with romance.

I also was swept away by the incredibly beautiful scenes of Kenya. I've only been to that country once but I would love to see it again someday. But whether or not that happens, I'll likely watch this movie again.

Ruffled Up

My tastes usually veer toward the simple and the streamlined, but I do like a good ruffle now and then.

So I'm definitely liking many of India Rose's beautiful items. Duvets and pillow shams, purses and even shower curtains are all elevated in the hands of this California textile company, which knows how to do a ruffle right.

Photos from indiarose.com.