| left pic from the home of florist Nikki Tibbles; right pic from artist Julian Schnabel’s Palazzo |

Gorgeous and trendy, black walls provide a dramatic backdrop for light coloured furniture, art work or accessories. I particularly like the sharp contrast between black, or really dark grey, and white and/or gold. It really makes the objects pop out!

The above photos come from Apartment Therapy, Living Etc and Marie Claire Maison, The last bedroom pic, which is a favourite of mine featured before in Go French in the bedroom, also comes from Living etc.

Although I like the layout of this room, I have a tangible feel something is missing. Question is: what would you do to this room? How would you furnish and decorate?

I think I would either want it to be a faded glamourous, granny-esque bedroom (with a French headboard of course). Or, and I’m leaning towards this one, I’d have a go with colours. I’d want to make it a cozy attic with an artistic eclectic vibe. Carefree, with lots of warming, overlapping rugs, comfy seating, interesting lamps here and there and a mishmash of things I like. One could always ask oneself what Pippi would do. Ms Longstocking wants you to do things differently. There’s lots of room for that. No rules apply.

| pic by photographer Andrea Ferrari |

…if you pardon my French. To me, French/eclectic/Parisian interior style is associated with great beauty. It is no news, at all, I love them ol’ French headboards. An Eiffel Tower is really the least you can have in your home. Seriously. A French reminder. A link to dreams of centuries past, a bohemian life and decadent creativity. I have no image to match my internal scene (!), but here’s some of all the Eiffel stuff around right now.

| images: Lampe Tour Eiffel je t’aime from Absolument Design, one- two and three photos from Flickr, a wall sticker from Rockett St George. Crystal Eiffel belongs to photographer Isager Brinkley and greyish pic is collected from RUM |

I love things which are a little bit fun and quirky and the trompe l’oeil (“trick the eye” in French) wallpaper collections from British designer Deborah Bowness certainly hit the spot! I had seen the wallpaper strips with dresses before (top right), but shamefully I had not connected them up with this particular designer, nor had I seen any of her other work - before today. Now I’m pleased to discover that every single design in her repertoire looks amazing! My top favourites in her current collection are these:

And recently exhibited at the International Contemporary Furniture Fare in New York in May 2010, her new patterns featuring framed vintage art prints and a sofa look very promising. Below both types of wallpapers are shown together. The only things not wallpaper here are the artist herself , the stool she’s sitting on and the table next to her! :)

According to LA Times at Home, there is also an office clock (top left of image) which shows 1pm – always lunchtime! I could definitely imagine using some of these wallpapers in my home – especially great when space is an issue… Some designer chair scrolls could look pretty cool in a narrow hallway for example!

At LA Times I also stumbled across this magnificent wallpaper I hadn’t seen before from New York-based Trove. It’s called Fuoco and is a re-creation of a historical photo taken inside Teatro La Fenice, the opera house in Venice, Italy. Beautiful, and who couldn’t use an adoring audience gazing at them at home! :)

(The image on the right is a detail blow-up of the shaded area on the left image.)

The word for this colour spectra is definetely beautifulness. There are so many pretty, delicate, spiritual and intriguing hues of purple and pink. The caring pink derived from red and white, and the meditative purple mixed out of warm red and cool blue certainly add interest and that special vibe to a room.

| image collection from Damian Russell, Trine Thorsen, House Beautiful, 4Homes and House to Home |