Design Files

On this episode of Design Files, I want to talk about a room that highlights one of my favorite things: kilims.

 

Luckily for me, this season kilims seem to be everyone's favorite thing so I have a plethora of drool-worthy photos to swoon over.  But let's start with this one.

 



http://decor8blog.com/2013/04/17/the-socialite-family/



 

So first of all, as a renter, I was drawn to the fact that this room, though bursting with color, has renter's white walls.  The white sofa, well I'm less into that.  But only because everything I eat manages to hit fabric surfaces before entering my mouth, but perhaps one day I will master the art of eating and can buy white upholstery.

But back to the kilim.  As many of you know, I have a penchant for traditional textiles.  From a $400 shipping bill in Tanzania and a very laborious and overstuffed flight home from Mexico, I am that idiot who buys way too much and then thinks about how they are going to get it back to the other side of the earth.   

Well, let me let you in on a little secret; so yeah, that painful plane trip or DHL bill blows at the time, but for the rest of your life, those textiles are going to make you really really happy.  So buy the damn [kilim, weaving, tapestry, blanket, sweater, khanga, etc ad nauseam] (except I could never throw up over fabrics).  By the way, the most hilarious story I have involves a hand-punched tin picture frame which I wore around my neck entering a Delta flight to avoid the snarky stewardesses and their excessive baggage fees.  Swear to god, that happened.  Like I said, I'm that guy.

OK now seriously, back to the kilim.  I imagine this is from Turkey, though I have been wrong before.  The colors here are beautiful; I am really into hot pink in living rooms right now.  I am holding back because I have design ADD and hot pink is a tough one to come back from when you get tired of it.

  Regardless, here the colors in the rug pick up on the coffee table books and the beautiful framed art on the back right.  Speaking of which, I am very impressed with their pseudo-gallery wall here.  I have decided that the many many pieces I have to be hung are going to wait around another month until I switch apartments.  But I am struggling with how to make divergent pieces with non-matching frames look this put-together.  I will prevail in this difficult situation, but it will take some work.  I have a month to work it out.

Two understated heroes in this room are that kickass floor lamp and the cool, industrial coffee table.  I'm going to do some hunting on that lamp and I'll let you know what I come up with (maybe it's just photo equipment (Jayme?)).  But I'll get back to you on that.  And I know this sounds horrible, but those coffee tables have been a thing for a few years now and you can definitely go and pick one up at your local flea market pretty easily.  Well maybe not your local flea market, but head to Brimfield in July or September and you'll definitely find at least 100.  Doesn't make it any less awesome, I'm just sayin'.

So not my most articulate post, but to sum up: kilims rule, white walls can work, good design makes me (and you) happy.