Changes

Some Feng Shui practitioners say the bedroom, of all the rooms in your house, most accurately represents your inner self. It's usually filled with personal belongings, a private place that guests don't typically see - sometimes even locked or hidden from view. Therefore, the state of your bedroom might be worse than the rest of your house, and may serve as a dumping ground in some cases. When I have guests over, I usually spend my energy clearing up the front of our house, ignoring my bedroom's needs. The fact that it is located at the far corner doesn't help matters. If my bedroom represents my inner self, then I'll be the first to admit I'm in desperate need of an overhaul. The weather is brightening up, and perhaps the blue skies and hopeful breezes have stirred something in me to finally tackle all the junk that has been accumulating in my room. Lets be honest - a bedroom is where you sleep, and it's the first room you experience in the morning and the last at night. It's also the central location for your relationship or marriage. A cool, fresh coat of paint in a medium sage blue inspired by the ocean is where I've chosen to focus my energy. It's not much, but it's something...

Pretty Things

I never thought I'd get excited about a pair of pillows, but here I am. Interior designers are always declaring how pillows can make a room appear more comfortable and also a good way to add color, style, and texture to your living space. It sounds simple enough, but I rarely see any attractive pillows and when I do, they are usually very expensive. I thought I'd put these pillows from the hip Dwell Studio line for Target on my couch, but they are constructed with a silky fabric and ended up looking more appropriate on my bed. They have a large peony print that I really dig. One side has a yellow background with grey flowers, and the other side has the opposite. The contrast between yellow and grey is appealing to me. I was looking for something bright and bold, with an uncomplicated print reminiscent of the 1960s and I was super excited when I found these at Target, the choice place to score affordable pieces with style.

Simple Phone

Crosley Radio was founded in 1920 and originally manufactured an affordable line of radios. Today, they sell reproductions of original vintage radios, turntables, clocks, jukeboxes, and even record storage furniture. This retro ivory desk phone actually uses push buttons instead of a dial. I didn't particularly care for this style of telephone when it was popular, but now that everyone has a cordless, this retro phone has suddenly become appealing.

John's Phone is a company that has designed an ultra-simple cell phone, made strictly for making and receiving calls. No texting, no camera, no email. The phone comes in one model in assorted colors. It has an attached address book (made of paper) and a tiny pen. As stated on the website, it was designed with ease of use in mind and couldn't be any simpler. It appeals to a person who has an impulse to either take a break from technology overload or discard elements of it altogether.

Blank Walls

When buying a poster, photograph, sculpture, painting, or what-have-you, you are supposed to only purchase what you truly, absolutely cannot live without. Something that jumps out at you and speaks to your soul, whispering "buy me" into your heart. Right. It's not that simple, and it's hard to avoid being influenced by other people's tastes.

I have been thinking about the concept of style lately, and if you're into fashion, it's only natural to broaden your stylishness to extend past your closet into your bedroom, bathroom, hallway, kitchen, outdoor patio, car, wherever - all of your living spaces. I am making plans to beautify the neglected areas of mine. My bedroom is the most unfortunate. It's not dirty, it's just not given the respect it deserves. There have been four squares of paint samples on my bedroom wall for about a year and a half. Piles of laundry, receipts, and ball-point pens are scattered about. When I consider my next step towards a refurbished bedroom, (after a fresh coat of paint) installing art is my first consideration. I would really like to breathe some life into my bedroom and give it a wash of sleekness and glamour. I want my bedroom to be a cool, sexy place to lounge in.

When I think of fashionable artwork, I imagine vintage Vogue covers, satiny black & white prints of models and actors, framed Missoni or Marimekko fabrics, or an actual dress form displaying a pretty dress. These types of art are literally either about fashion or commenting on fashion. Fashionable artwork that seems a little less obvious would be works that might have color, vibrancy, and a strong sense of style - loosely related somehow to a fashionable lifestyle. Art that you could envision in the background of your style fantasy - carrying on your favorite look, using color, line and shape.

I want to share with you two of my friends and their work. One is Ian Kimmerly - a cool, relaxed guy who drives a Vespa around San Francisco. The other is Josh Petker - a witty, tattooed friend who lives within the pop-art crowd of Los Angeles. I consider both of them to be engaging artists. Most importantly their work appeals to me, and would be something I could definitely picture in the background of my life.

Ian Kimmerly: http://iankimmerlyart.com/

Josh Petker: http://www.joshuapetker.com/