Holy Minis! While I was perusing flickr for pictures of the St. Bartholomew Church Panton Chairs, I stumbled upon this image:

You simply must check out this set from flickr member mawphoto – it’s called The Haute Dollhouse and Haute it is. The house was created as an homage to Jonathan Adler and the attention paid to detail is mind-blowing to me.There’s even a little Liberace sitting in the mini-David Hicks wallpapered room in the image below:

If you didn’t pick up a New York Times today, check out the Home Section online. Here are some links to my favorite features this week:

1) I’m loving the slideshow of this modern Sag Harbor home (here’s a sneak peek, the interior floor is actually outdoor decking):

Isn’t this photography as crisp as the architecture in this one? I absolutely love it! The photographer is Michael Weschler.

2)If you like your coastal home a little more beachy, try shopping with India Hicks, queen of the shells.

3) If you’re still depressed about Flint Michigan after watching “Roger and Me,” find a little bit of hope by reading this article.

4) More hope from some industrious interior designers who are riding out the recession is here. Personally, my favorite e-decorator is Vanessa De Vargas. For more information, click here.

top photos by Michael Weschler for The New York Times.

Flint photo by Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times.

I haven’t done any new lazy environmental improvements lately. There, I admit it. You know what? It’s hard coming up with one every week, especially in lazy summertime. It’s hot down here, it’s all I can do to drag the overstuffed recycling bin out to the curb every other week. Therefore, I don’t deserve to pick a sustainable product of the week. Now if only they would make the Panton chair out of recycled plastic, we might have a homerun. Apparently, they don’t. However, I don’t see how anyone could ever throw one of these away, so you know, at least there’s that.

To my point, I was collecting images of this chair on another website the other day and realized that the Panton chair pops up absolutely everywhere. Although a mental buzzer has gone off whenever I’ve seen one,  I could not believe how many different styles and materials coordinate with this crazy plastic chair. It must inspire people to see how many different ways they can make it work. This shot from Nicole Hollis is one of my favorites:

As is this shot of some hot pink ladies lounging gardenside from desiretoinspire (pssst: Kim, I’m so glad you finally got yours, and they look smashing!):

desiretoinspire has a great collection of Panton chair shots here.

This post would not be complete without the St. Bartholomew’s Church shot:

I tend to be more impressed with these when I see them en masse, but sometimes a single chair makes a powerful statement. Are you a fan? Would you use a group of them at your table or just one or two at the head/ends? Would you get them in the same color or mix it up? Use them indoors or outdoors? Or would someone have to pay you a million bucks to put one in your house? Let us know in the comments.

• first image from designpublic.com
• second image from Houzz.com
• third image by Helen Fickling via desiretoinspire.net
• fourth image by flickr member diamants dans la poussiere

I was just flipping through Wallpaper* and caught a glimpse of Palazzo Bartolommei, a gorgeous penthouse apartment in Florence. I am getting the urge to return to Italy and this newly-redesigned space is causing serious daydreaming distraction. From what I can tell, it starts at 1000 Euros/night, but it has five bedrooms, a fully outfitted kitchen, a terrace (from which you can hear concerts at the nearby church) and marble bathrooms. Grab a bunch of friends and it can work out to 1000 Euros for the week!

Ilaria Miani has done a beautiful job on this redesign of this 17th-century space. Look closely at that steel trunk used as a nightstand in the photo above.

Find out who the freak in your group is by seeing who picks this bedroom as their first choice:

images from here.

Petunia Pickle Bottom co-founders DeNai and Braden share an incredible tour of their home and design style. Keep an eye out for the school map of the United States, the oversized Chinese ceremonial mask and the mushroom collection. Without question, I could live here and feel well traveled, educated and at peace. Beautiful job, guys! If you want to learn more about PPB, check out our designer interview. Enjoy!

Maybe it’s the fact that in my professional life vibrant color and pattern are my signature style at Petunia Pickle Bottom that make my personal life at home a monochromatic world.  My rule of thumb when putting together a room usually begins with one object.  I am a fan of flea markets or something with a little history.  So when I begin to style a room, it is usually a unique found object that sparks my imagination.

Our home was built in the 1920’s and still has a considerable amount of the original details.  Our family room is where we like to hang out by the fireplace, read books to the kids on our comfy couches, take a nap or set up train tracks to circumnavigate the room.  When I first saw this room, I was struck by the 8’ window and high exposed beam ceiling. It was light and bright so I chose colors that would naturally illuminate.

The focal point I designed around was the natural wood Roost buck head flanked by archival school charts (lobster and bird) that stem from my father’s days as a college biology professor. My recent obsession with mushrooms covers the fireplace mantle.

Friends joke our kids will have nightmares from the oversized Chinese ceremonial mask that hangs in our dining room. Found at an antique store in historic downtown Ventura, she’s become part of the family. We think it was used in the movies or carried in a Chinese parade.

The red lips of the mask were the perfect color to pair the walls, a vintage red wood telephone booth door filled with glass, and our custom table crafted by my husband.

My 3-year-old son Sutton’s room was recently converted to a “big boy” bedroom.  Years ago I found a stunning oversized school map of the United States (chalk printed so you can write on it) that I knew would be perfect for a child’s bedroom. We held onto over the years and it served as the perfect centerpiece for the “Traveler’s odyssey” theme for my son’s room.

Complete with a flying ship, globes, suitcase, guitar, army blanket, old books, and Read the rest of this entry »