Cerno Cubo Bedside Light - Ingenious Design!

Isn't this just the most clever design for a bedside lamp?  It's by Cerno. I love it, and actually can't believe it hasn't been thought of before!

{{{  Susan  }}}

Name Change Again? Make Your Mind Up!

What???  I have to apologize but after checking with friends, family, etc. on their opinions of the new blog name, "The Color Matriarch", the truth came out!  "Too old sounding, stuffy, somebody's grandma", blah, blah, blah.  Not my intention, but I do want to put an appropriate face out there, and I hope I'm none of the above - yet!  If you signed up to my blog when it was thecolormatriarch.blogspot.com also, you can now delete that.  I am so sorry to ask you to do this as I want it to be easy for you to follow along with me!  I so appreciate your loyalty! :)  With that said, if you are getting this email, which is back at the original address of www.susanebrowninteriordesign.blogspot.com, then you should be good and not need to resubscribe.  If you are following me through Networkedblogs.com on Facebook, you should be good and not need to resubscribe too, but may want to double check.  The RSS people will definitely need to resubscribe. 

Below is the new blog address to make sure you are appropriately signed up:

susanebrowninteriordesign.blogspot.com

I know it's a long name, hence, the reason why I was trying to think of some ingenious, catchy, and shorter new name.  But I can't think of a clever name I truly am in love with yet, soooo instead of rushing into it, I will wait and I just know one of these days it will "hit" me, and then I can say, YES, that's a perfect name for my blog.

Please continue to follow me!!  And more importantly, THANK YOU for following me!!!

Best, Susan

Gold and Fuchsia Cocktails

How amazing is this banquette??!!  This is a cocktail lounge in the state of the art Clarion Hotel Post in Gothenburg, Sweden. The shiny gold, the uber long length, the tufting...what a stunning way to create a glamourous, cocktail area in a long space.  I love the color combo of golden chartreuse with fuchsia (ok have to admit one of my favorite color combos that I use frequently), and the black tables work nicely to ground the highly colored area.  Look at those chaotic, but in a good way, shelves in back. They add necessary flow, movement, and interruption to an otherwise highly organized seating area.  Truly love almost all of the environment and its elements. I have to say the one thing I am questioning is the carpet...looks like a crummy remnant piece in this pic, but I am guessing, hopefully, that's just this 2D pic but in 3D reality, works beautifully!!

Stay chic!!  Susan

Yin Yang - Nature and Design

Being in the design world, this picture speaks worlds to me. The integration of nature and manmade objects, which was actually my Masters thesis, is such a crucial part of design.  However, not only is it important in nature and design, but also within the many layers and levels of our daily lives. Living beside other elements and life forms, and not in lieu of, is vital for balance, unity, and peace. Just like the Yin Yang symbol, which I often refer to while explaining my design decisions to clients:

"Ying Yang is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn". "Yin yang are not opposing forces (dualities), but complementary opposites, unseen (hidden, feminine) and seen (manifest, masculine), that interact within a greater whole, as part of a dynamic system. Everything has both yin and yang aspects as light cannot exist without darkness and vice-versa, but either of these aspects may manifest more strongly in particular objects, and may ebb or flow over time."

Obviously, nature and design is an easier contradiction to attend to than more personal clashes, but you need to start somewhere!  Can you live in peace with your opposites???

Many thoughts ahead, Susan

Foyer in Full Color

Last week I did a post titled "Living Room in Full Color". Today -  the fabulous foyer selections within the same home.  Below are BEFORE pics...not a large space, but tall, and very cut up with doors, nooks, stairwells, openings, racetrack/varied depth ceiling, etc.  -- Yes A LOT going on!  We are keeping the tile floor, the white painted woodwork, and the stair carpet.  Everything else in the space is going ba-bye! 

The pillar above will get some additional moulding so it can say, "Hey I'm a legit column, and don't you forget it!!" Clarence House Flowering Quince wallcovering in the 20-22' height space will be perfect!  Accentuating the height is exactly the direction I want to go!  The movement of the dark branches will begin at the floor, over the top of the closet all the way up to the ceiling.  The ceiling will be painted the lovely tan in the background of the wallcovering with the one racetrack a darker version of the blossoms.  I may have to add a slight metallic bronze rub on the red if it is too intense, or worse yet, feeling "sporty", but time will tell!  Can not wait to see Flowering Quince on the wall and going up the staircase!

Below are a couple of spaces done up in the ever crawling vines of the quince!  You can see how awesome it is going to be!

 Lisa Borgnes Giramonti

Photo by Gemma Costas from Domino mag

The window next to the closet will get a lovely drapery from this fabulous F. Schumacher fabric below.

The chandelier will be changed out to the ever fashionable Crystorama Solaris large bronze pendant.  Yes, I know the look, if not this exact pendant is somewhat popular right now, but the style is just sooo perfect (not to say anything about the wonderful price!)

At the stair landing is a wall sconce which will become the Crystorama sconce below.  I will have to think about shades for the sconce otherwise it may be a bit bright walking down the stairs towards the bright light. "Harry, no! Don't look at the light!" Remember that scene?  (OK, probably not if you didn't have kids at that time ~~ A Bug's Life!)

The Terra Sur Mondrian bench will be in place of the Victorian furniture with an accent pillow of red with small purple/orange yarns.  LOVE Terra Sur's furniture!  All made in Argentina!

I'm super excited to se this coming together!  Of course, after pics will eventually surface for you all to see!  Next week, the dining room!

Toodles!  Susan

Wear Your Love Away

I saw this ingenious design on Designboom this morning, (well actually yesterday morning since my blog posts in the wee hours of the following morn).  I love "well thought out" designs as most design enthusiasts do, but when symbolism or significance is incorporated, I think it is elevated to another level of finesse.  Don't you?



According to Designboom's page:  "Japan-based design firm Torafu Architects has developed 'gold wedding ring'. The jewelry piece gradually transforms as the thin exterior coat of silver plating rubs away to reveal a gold band underneath. The creative agency tells designboom that the ring band actively portrays 'the time shared between two people' as the individuals wearing the set displays this passage of time through the wear and tear. 'gold wedding ring' has been developed in both rounded and squared bands as the 18 carat gold may be unveiled in either set of dimensions. The piece is available at deux poissons in Tokyo, Japan."

So romantic, huh?  Of course, if you are one of those spouses who doesn't wear their ring for whatever reason, it definitely is not going to bode well for you and the mutual outcome.  Better keep that baby on!

Keep following, keep reading, and keep your visual antennae always on!!!  Best, Susan

Living Room in Full Color

I know, I know...I have been greatly delinquent on posting once a week.  I have been so busy with my many projects , and I say many with a smile on my face :) or when I sit down to write, I am just too tired to care.  I definitely don't want to be posting "careless" pieces!

I am working on a living room, dining room, foyer redesign and thought I would share with you it's progress.  A few years ago, 2007 to be exact, when the couple with small kids moved into the home, we worked on the exterior -- new siding, ext lighting, railings, landscaping, etc.  We then did some paint colors in the inside just to give the house a more personable feeling.  Now we are starting over, with whole room redo's in the above three rooms.  I'll write posts on the dining room and foyer in future posts. Sooo stay tuned!!

Above is the layout of the room.  I love using Post-It notes cut to size of my furniture selections so I can move the pieces around at will.  Yes, I have the ever popular magnetic set.  However, I can never seem to find the size/style I need.  So I made my own!  The Charles Ray sofa is in the bottom right corner with an existing cocktail table in front and an existing low buffet in back which will eventually get a couple of lamps.  A contemporary style Hickory wing chair is in the bottom left corner and a Hickory chaise in the upper left corner.  In the upper right corner is the husband's Ekornes brown leather chair/ottoman where he likes to work on his laptop from home -- so a must to incorporate!

Here's the sofa material -- kind of a reinterpreted "running dog/Asian" look with the softest of soft microfiber pillows and trim in a rich rust color with an accent trim.  The dark gold color is the Benjamin Moore wall paint while the light gold color will be the on the elevated, peaked ceiling.

The chaise lounge will be in this wonderful soft blue microfiber (more desaturated looking than in the pic) near the fireplace with an accent pillow in a Ralph Lauren green/blue/red to tie in with the sofa and wing chair.

Fabulous Schumacher printed linen for grommet drapery flanking the fireplace.

The Schumacher linen has super duper large paisleys on it and will be bordered by a Robert Allen rust linen at the top.  The green fabric is the Hickory contemporary wing chair.  It will also have bronze colored railheads to bring in a bit of masculinity to the room!

This is the coffee/cocktail table -- an inheritance from the husband's mother so it has sentimental value.  He is thrilled we can reuse it, and so am I!  Look at those big chunky legs -- aren't they cool?  And I love the acanthus leaf accents.  I am having a decorative paint artist add a bit of gold leaf and gold Rub n' Buff to the legs to give it more of a worn, yet elegant look.

And here it all is!!  What do you think?  (Again the blue is not that vibrant - jeepers!! :)

Cheers!  Susan