Round is my favourite shape. I really like to have round going round – in a room. In our living room we have a round rug and a CYRK poster with a round motif and a lamp with round wood beads. And a curvy sofa. Everything else is of course squary, including the TV (but hey, isn’t this a great new design idea – round tv’s? Would look wonderful…) My point is the round shape can be a unifier just like colours and other themes. And the roundness adds some kind of movement, which I like. Anyhow, the round shape is all over the walls these days!

We’ve seen the a lot of plates…

…maybe they are starting to come down.( and broken china is an excellent material to reuse).

The ethnic and globetrotterish trend brought baskets, which are the new plates.

| both pics via vtwonen |

Another cool, round, detail is the convex mirrors.

Abigail Ahern has someultra-stylish ones in her collection (one featured bottom left) and Graham & Green has some really nice ones too (all the others in above pic.) Well that was all the roundness I had for tonight, now I’ll rotate to bed :) See ya!

…only black, white, gold, wood and the occasional bike. Images via Joseph Dirand Architecture.

…is what Ben Brougham calles his style. With the reservation ”I’m still not sure if that exactly defines it”. Whatever the definition – it surely is difficult to label personal style – this is an interesting style! As featured in the superb e-magazine Lonny. Seeing that Mr Brougham also contributed with some interesting comments and advice we pick up this track with some hightlights.

The wall in this room is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Surf Blue. This strong teal colour could have been overwhelming, but the collection of pictures and heirlooms break up the colour and prevents that. A very clever – and inspirational – move is that he left the opposite wall white and hanged some mid-century vintage mirrors (collected from car-boot sales) on it. This makes the mirrors pick up the teal and the collection from the wall opposite.

As for collections, Ben’s advice is to only collect things you love. Base a collection on a common theme – this can be anything from colour to material to subject matter. Play with scale; group objects of varying size and scale. His choice collections includes e.g. portraiture: old pictures of people, old family objects, and he also has a passion for vintage photographs of sailors.

Full story of An Eclectic Collection can be read here, at Lonny mag. To close this, let’s hear Ben Brougham’s advice on mixing patterns: be brave. People worry about things matching too much, but design never advances if it’s not pushed. This is entirely consistent with my decor philosophy. Don’t worry, push it if you are a push-it-person, and always surround yourself with things you love and feel at home and happy with. And of course this last inspirational advice:

I’ve got bathrooms on my mind at the moment and have just been looking through what’s new and available in the bathroom accessories department. Here’s some of my favourites from what I came across: First up, how about this bathroom mirror designed by David Dear and sold through Urban Outfitters  or through Gift Ideas  -  isn’t it super-cute! :) 

And from the same source I’m really liking this frilly, romantic-retro shower curtain. Perfect around a traditional roll-top bath.

Below is a slightly more restrained version sold in the UK via Balineum.

Another shower curtain that I really like, is this stylish Octopus one from Thomas Paul (available at  2modern)

This turquoise bathroom accessories set from Matthew Williamson’s AW10 Home collection at Debenhams is pretty luscious (available from August 16, 2010).

I also like this fun bath plug from Gift Ideas!

Finally, returning to shower curtains, what do you think about the one below…

It’s from Spinning Hat and also has a matching bath mat…

…ewwwww……….

…when an antique chandelier is placed in front of a large mirror!

[pics from Living Etc and Idenfor & Udenfor]

If we are to identify one strong overall trend on the garden/outdoors part it would be to decor as if you were inside; to bring the interior design ideas outside. Below I have put together some inspirational expressions of this.

To use step ladders in home decor is not a new thing, but it’s surely well suited for outdoor decor. Not least on a balcony, to use height. Enhance the summer with tropical colours!  Why not paint a an outdoor wall candy pink? And further emphasise the tropical summer feel with details in green and orange…An outside mirror (bottom photo, left) is decorative. It gives an illusion of space and with colourful furniture it will set a tropical, yet urban vibe. Let your home decor-thoughts, e.g. for a living room, follow you outside. Comfortable chairs and sofas, and decorative details such as lanterns and butterflies (bottom, right)….

An excellent, neat and ûbertrendy example of the interior-goes-outside-trend can be found in the summer house of the writer/entrepreneur/ journalist/blogger Alex Schulman on the island of Gotland. Wall art, details, decorative lighting and even a wall shelf. A magic garden room!