you remember Steinberg’s famous posters for The New Yorker. They depicted a map of the world from the viewpoint of  a New Yorker. Many other versions ensued through the years. Steinberg was a prolific cartooner for The New Yorker.

His work lives on in many ways, including these whimsical styles created in the 1950′s. Opera, above, comes in two colorways. The rest of the details are at the bottom of the post

New York, New York

• Suggested Retail Price : $78
• Width: 54″ wide
• Fabric 100% cotton
• Also available in wallcovering

Aviary Wallcovering

• Suggested Retail Price : $186 per roll
• Width: 27″ wide
• Strippable
• Not available in fabric

Views Of Paris

• Suggested Retail Price : $86
• Width: 54″ wide
• Fabric 100% cotton
• Also available in wallcovering

Opera

• Opera
• Suggested Retail Price : $188
• Width: 68″ wide
• Fabric 100% cotton
• Available in 2 colorways
• Not available in wallcovering

If You Would Like To Order

I promised a few people that I would post this today. Naturally when I called for pricing, I was told there will be a price increase next week. Not to worry, I’ll post the increases next week and add pricing for wallcovering. The prices noted here are Schumacher’s suggested prices. Designers are not required to sell for that price. If you are interested in placing an order through my online buying service, shoot me an email with the style and the quantity you need.

Keep that collar popped, Worthington Triplet, III (not made up). I have the perfect solution for transforming a girl’s eye-sore of a dorm room into the ultimate Little Club (see Preppy Handbook) dorm room simply everyone will be lining up to join. Just remember to act bored when you see the results.

Space Planning Is So Fetch

I decided to stick to a few realistic rules I happen to know of after taking these photos. You can’t paint and you can’t install wall-to-wall carpet. But there are ways around these sorts of things and I’m sure the rules are broken all the time. But I wanted to show what you could do within those rules. I also decided to keep the furniture – though I’m imagining a real mattress. My back aches just looking at that thing.

So what’s going on? I’ve done a little feng shui rearranging. I don’t like that bed with a direct line to the door. Bad karma. I also like the idea of making the bed look more like a sofa. I enclosed the bed with two end tables and hung a no-sew, ceiling-to-floor curtain behind all three to create a cozy club sofa. More about fabrics, etc farther down the post.

Across from the bed, we need entertainment. A low, modern unit is just the thing. I’ve added an awesome lamp. The desk needs a better chair – so I broke my rule and burned the chair. Time to see what it’s all supposed to look like. Ready? Roll your eyes and say, “whatever.”

Curtains, Sheets and A Rug Create A Snug Retreat

No, I did not say Snuggie! To create the retreat, I’m creating a focal point by enclosing the bed and end tables with a curtain. This is a no-sew project made from inexpensive rods and a few queen sized sheets. I chose pink, zebra striped sheets from PB Teen. You’ll need about three queen-sized for this project ($89 each) to create a full look. Or, opt for flat panels. Hang a rod as close to the ceiling as possible, slide the bottom hem through the rod and gather. For added zip, use fusible tape to sew grosgrain ribbon just below the bottom hem (the end that hangs at the ceiling.) Repeat this look at the window. You’ll have to cut the sheet in half, or hem it for café style curtains. Use fusible tape if you don’t own a sewing machine.

Now for the bed. I was so happy to find authentic Lily Pulitzer at Garnet Hill. Finally! I love Lily. Here in Grosse Pointe it never went out of style.  Standard pink and green is obvious. Since we’re off to college, I thought I’d try a sophisticated look that blends well with zebra. Lily’s chic, Cha Cha Chains comforter ($166) is just the thing. I love the 70′s-inspired cane look.

Now we need shams for the back and sides of our sofa. For the back, I like Lily’s La De Da quilted pink shams and white for the sides ($49 each). If you can find king-sized matelasse shams in hot pink that’s a better look, but I couldn’t find any. I think these do a good job because of their heavy weight.

Finally, I’m covering our beautiful (so not), gray floor with this zebra print rug also by Lily and available at Garnet Hill ($398). An alternative is to go with zebra squares from FLOR ($12.99 per square). You can take them with you when you move. Depending on how many you buy, they cover more gray. Also, you can clean and later replace them if they get too grotty.

Walls, Furnishings & Final Touches

Okay, so now we need a place for storage and a flat screen, plus a few must-have accessories. Let’s start with the coolest thing first. We can’t paint the walls, but we can decorate them to look like wallpaper using large decals. I love, love, love these truly masterful paisley wall decals from Blik ($60 for a set of 20). They’re the perfect color and style. I was so happy to find these. Let your budget be your guide and go wild.

Scooting over to #4 on my image board, I chose two of these end tables for either side of the bed. They’re contemporary and offer some private storage. These Hudson end tables are from West Elm and sell for $199.

Let’s add some more  clean lines to all the high-end quality frou-frou with this very chic, but inexpensive Lack entertainment unit ($49.99) from IKEA. A tad bit of droll humor from IKEA’s Filsta puffy lamp ($19.99) on the side? Yes please.

Let’s 86 The Desk Chair

Now about the standard desk chair. Someone on Goucher’s board should be arrested. Nothing in this room says quality, but that chair is a side chair. So wrong. Toss it. Burn it. Gone. I’m switching it out for this pink, spotted desk chair from PB Teen. I hope it holds up as nicely as it looks ($159). Am I going overboard with pink patterns? No. We’re making a prepster statement here. Unlike me (after several drinks at the frat house) with a design statement you can say it over and over and it always looks smart. So there.

While we’re sitting at the desk studying hard, we need a good task lamp – a black Forsa desk lamp from IKEA ($19.99) is just the thing. That’s all I’ve got. Is it enough? Stay tuned tomorrow for a post about all-around items every dorm room needs.

In the meantime, comments please! I worked hard on this. Now that I’ve begged I’ll leave you with these important final words about higher learning spoken to me by my college professor father, “Never let your studies interfere with your education.” Pass the bong.

What a transformation. This is one determined couple. Those stripes took a lot of work. Interior designer, Christopher Coleman, did a really fantastic job transforming this room for a couple who share this office. Both husband and wife have outside offices, but can opt to work at home – a growing trend. It’s estimated that 38% of the work force is mobile. That makes the efficiency and décor in a home office even more important. So what should you keep in mind when sprucing up that mess and preparing your home office for steady work?

As I always say, choose the paint last. But you can select colors as a starting point. Once you’ve chosen the furnishings, you can tweak your paint choices to match, if that’s what you’re going for.

Truthfully, I wasn’t an enthusiast of scented rooms until a couple of years ago. Up until then all I knew about this sort of thing were products designed to cover up some bad smell in someone’s home. Eeeeewwww! Whatever it is, if it smells that bad, clean it! Ick. Then, a friend got me thinking beyond the occasional scented candle by the bed…

She knows how to use scent properly. The key is to use the proper scent in the proper room to help create an atmosphere – not cover up stink. A kitchen needs a spicy sort of scent. The bath needs a fresh scent, and the bedroom gets a touch of something soft and romantic. More importantly, she buys higher end products because their ingredients produce a better scent. And most importantly, she doesn’t over do it. Bottom line, she got me thinking (and using) scent diffusers in my home – something  I thought would never happen.

I prefer diffusers over candles. The bottles are beautiful and the scent is continuous. Actually, I’ve had  an Infusion Organique diffuser in my powder room for a year, so this was a no-brainer sort of test drive. Their bottles are beautiful and the scents are soft and lovely. I put their Acai Rain scent in my bathroom. It looks great on a little tray.

Infusion Organique makes a variety of products for the home and body, but as I said, diffusers are my fave. Infusion Organique uses a blend of organic and scientifically derived ingredients. Quality is really important if you want a real scent that smells like what it’s supposed to be. Their ingredients are the real thing.

Enter To Win Acai Rain Scent Diffuser From Infusion Organique

Okay, enough talk – onto the giveaway. The prize is a 6.4 oz. Acai Rain scent diffuser from Infusion Organique. To enter simply leave a comment on this post. I’d like to know if you use scent in your home, where you use it (if at all) and any other thoughts you have about a scented home. The giveaway runs for an entire week and ends on Sunday, August 1st at midnight. I’ll announce the winner on Monday, August 2nd. The giveaway is open to those living in the contiguous US and Canada who haven’t won a Design Hole giveaway within the last 6 months.

Good luck!

I saw this ad for USM Modular in a magazine the other day and it caught my eye. I adore USM and specified it for an office project a few years ago. Their units come in lots of vibrant colors. They’re perfect for home offices as well. But in the bedroom? Why not?

There are no hard and fast rules these days. I think I’d accessorize this a bit differently to make better use of the storage and to give it a more residential feel. A long unit like this would (and does) look terrific in a contemporary room of any sort. I’d like to see it used as a buffet in a dining room as well. An added benefit is that it’s modular. If you move house you’ll always be able to find a space for at least part of it in your new digs.

You can see some of USM’s ideas for residential use by following this link. I’m interested to know what you think. Would you

If I have an account with the company and/or pricing information at hand I can make a quick phone call to get a price. Considering the zillions of wallpaper, fabric and furniture manufacturers out there, I have accounts with only  few. If I have an account, I’m more than happy to do write up a quote. But if I don’t, I need to open one, which involves filling out forms, faxing things, etc.. In short, it takes time. Samples take longer – especially if the requester doesn’t include a color or a style number. I need to open an account, have the samples mailed to me so I can, in turn, add a price quote and mail them to the proposed client. Again, it’s a lot easier if I have an open account, but it still takes time. Which is why I would prefer that requests for quotes and samples come from those who with a serious interest in the product.

Just to clarify, I’m not talking about readers who are commenting on a post I’ve just written where I haven’t included the price of a product. Those are casual questions.  And I’m happy to answer them. I’m talking about specific requests sent to me apart from the blog.

And when I say that they should have a “serious interest”, I don’t mean they have to buy anything I’ve sent them. Only that they have real plans to wallpaper the bedroom, as opposed to a thought that one day they might get around to it. With that in mind, here’s my question.

Do you think it’s appropriate to charge a service fee for obtaining samples and quotes? The charge (I’m thinking $50) would be applied to any purchase. And there is no obligation to buy anything. I know what my fellow designers would say (absolutely). I’d like to know your thoughts. Do you think $50 is a fair price? What would you be willing to pay ? If it’s zip, let me know. Thanks, in advance for your opinions. I really value them.

Let’s start off with the prints shown above. Starting from the upper left we have The Twins ($30.00) from The Black Apple Shop. Moving clockwise, Perfect Laughter offers its Octotree print for $15.00). Another gem from The Black Apple Shop is Two of a Kind ($30.00). I love the 60′s-inspired look of Cindy Tomczykart’s artwork. Her Girl & Guitar print is $20.00. Say hello to Laura George’s prints (at the bottom, center and left). All her work is really beautiful and sell for about $20.00 each).

I don’t think I’d go for the cockroaches, but how about a zombie brain plate to serve up some Swiss cheese? Folded Pigs sells repurposed restaurant plates, cups and bowls screened with rather ingenious designs and sentiments (@ $15.00 each).

Still here in the humor department! I love these note cards from Zeichen Press. Buy five and get the next one free! I adore these. So worth the $4.00 each price.

Okay, this is a bit off the home decor topic, but I couldn’t resist adding SugarKitty’s custom corsets. Just one of these will not only improve your social life, it will do wonders for the muffin top and all your stuffing. You choose the style, the closure in the back and the fabric. SugarKitty will whip it up in no time. Wear your corset under something chic, or with a billowing evening skirt. I really want one of these. Shhh! Don’t tell misterarthur. It’s a surprise.

Could we please get back to more practical things? Wonder Thunder makes these awesome vegetable storage bags. They replace the plastic veggie bags from the grocery store and can go straight to the fridge to prolong the life of your greens. Neat idea, huh? And cute, too. Prices range from $4.00 for a small bag, to $12.00 for extra-large.

While we’re in the kitchen, tea towels seem to be quite the collectible. Here are three hand printed towels from Art Goodies ($15.00 each). I’m not a collector of tea towels. I use plain white ones from IKEA in place of paper towels. So I’m wondering where you hang the decorative ones? Do you put them in a basket? Do you let them get (egads!) dirty?

Finally, another off-topic shop. But they’re really cute. Super cute. Zephyr Woods has a nice collection of earrings and pendants made from wood (duh). They’re hand painted with woodland fauna and are priced from about $12.00 – $20.00. Very affordable.

Hey! If you’re a local artist I’d love to hear from you. Send me some images and the link to your website via the contact page. One of these days I’ll get my own Etsy shop up and running. Maybe when school starts up again and I have a little extra time. Until then, keep supporting our handmade artists. And now I’m off to design a corset…