I just picked up a Thomas Paul Robin rug in powder and cream and I could not be more thrilled (I’m also super-psyched about my new plaid Sperry Topsiders, but that’s a whole other story):

While I’ll laugh myself silly over Portlandia‘s “Put a Bird On It,” I still love birds on things. I’m up at our family place in Maine, and upon arrival, we were greeted by a nest full of robin’s eggs (the marine lanterns were my great grandfather’s and we had them turned into the porch lights). You can see the back of the nest cascadng down the side here; I’m too short too get a good shot!

I climbed up on a stepladder to get a peek at the baby birds when I saw that their mom was busy crapping on my parents’ black car again:

Obviously, a robin feeding her baby on a rug was an appropriate choice for the bedroom I use. This is the room the kiddos in the family also use when they are up here, so I originally decorated it around a favorite bright Fairfield Porter poster from The Farnsworth Museum. We’d been needing an area rug for three years now, but I like to wait until I find the perfect thing:

Here’s a peek at some of the little deets, like Mr. Lobster and a fun throw pillow from Mainer Angela Adams:

A wooden boat picked up at an antique store and a Seth Thomas clock that’s been here since before I was born.

A hint at the lobstering harbor view; it’s pretty gray today, but the sea is right beyond that deck railing:

Here’s a little more Maine color eye-candy:

If you’ve never been to mid-coast Maine, I cannot recommend it enough. Just be sure to come with an appetite for lobsters and arm yourself witha lot of bug repellent.

Click here to buy your own Robin rug

Reading the New York Times Travel section this weekend, I stumbled across a site I hadn’t visited. Now that I have, it is sure to become a giant time-sucker in my life. It’s called DesignTripper.com, and it’s full of carefully curated, unique vacation roosts (houses, inns, B&Bs, even yurts) and restaurants that aren’t likely to earn you any Starwood rewards points.

This led me to their post about Fair Folks and a Goat, an amazing shotgun house in New Orleans that has a boutique, a coffee parlor, a gallery and one bedroom for guests with a rotating art installation inside (the one above is by local artist t Hannah Chalew), among other things. This spot can’t be summed up in a category or two; what’s so great is the way they support local artists and craftspeople. I also loved seeing local artwork (Time Out chair – so genius – is by Sarah Ashley Longshore), combined with two of my favorite items we carry, the Blu Dot Real Good Chair and Patrick Townsend’s Orbit Light, combined with classic New Orleans shotgun architecture:

UPDATE: Since posting this, I found that Fair Folks is moving their creative action north to Greenwich Village and will be opening a new a retail boutique and design emporium featuring the works of established New York designers and talented young artists in September! Learn more here.

What are some of your favorite ways to find chic vacation spots? Do you browse through Wallpaper*, drool, rip out the pages and then start saving money? Enjoy cruising through sites like airnb and vrbo, sure you’ll find that perfect needle in a haystack while looking out for scammers and the kind of homeowners who take bathroom pictures with the toilet seat up and all of their products all over the sink (I’m not talking in a Todd Selby kind of way)? Hit your local AAA? Let discount sites like Jetsetter do the searching and the discounting for you? Post what you’re looking for on Facebook and see who has good ideas? Are you laid back enough to do the CouchSurfing thing? Have you been doing the travel agent thing since long before the interwebs were invented and swear it’s still the best and only way to go?

There are so many options out there it’s really hard to keep up; while DesignTripper does NOT handle bookings and reservations, they certainly cut down on search time for the cool spots. Please share your favorite travel search methods with us as well as favorite places you’ve stayed in the comments section – I’d love to know about your experiences, good or bad!

Photos via DesignTripper.com

Did any of you feel a wave of nostalgia for a Howard Johnson’s road trip stop while watching Mad Men last night? I kept thinking of my family driving from Ohio to Cape Cod in the family truckster (a tan Ford station wagon with wood paneling and flip up seats in the way-back) and stopping for a hot dog and an ice cream cone. The bright colors, light fixtures and even the waitress uniforms actually looked retro-fresh in last night’s episode.

Somehow, the combination of pot pies and orange sherbet leads to a devastating fight between Don and Megan, and he abandons her in a HoJo’s parking lot. How could he not, with that fabulous honeysuckle dress with matching chevron coat? It was made for a HoJo’s. Girlfriend even had on matching pink sunglasses. Tory Burch has got nothing on Megan’s costume designer.

Only that devilish cad Don Draper could make the iconic Howard Johnson’s roof look sexy.

Anyway, the wave of nostalgia made me want to look into the history of Howard Johnson’s. Because I’m lazy, most of this information was compiled via Wikipedia, so take it for what it’s worth.

Howard Deering Johnson opened drugstore in 1925, but soon realized that the soda fountain was the most profitable part.  He started tinkering with ice cream and the business changed direction toward becoming a restaurant that became known for fried clams.

In 1932 a second restaurant was opened, one of the first franchise deals in the U.S. The first motor lodge was opened in Savannah Georgia in 1954, and it was designed by architects Rufus Nims and Karl Koch. From there, in a nutshell, the business boomed and the motor lodges became known for their ubiquitous roadside advertisements:

In the 1960s and ’70s, there were over 1,000 HoJos across the United States and Canada.

There is a site completely dedicated to posting pictures of former HoJos, called HoJoLand.com

Then, new owners and more new owners and big changes, bland architecture and a new logo that’s no fun. The End.

Oh, P.S. Also, when you Google “Howard Johnson,” this guy is interspersed between all of the motel pictures. He’s a singer:

Images 1,2, 3 via amctv.com

Image 4 via diet.com

Image 5 from Wikimedia Commons

There are so many great places to stay when traveling, whether they be easy on the wallet, easy on the eyes or easy on our backs as we enjoy a relaxing massage. I’m going to make more of an effort to share lodging that’s full of great design with you as it crosses my path. In honor of Liz Lemon, we’re going to christen this column “I Want to Go to There.” Sadly, this amazing hotel did not cross my literal path, but rather entered my life via an email from Jetsetter.com, which is always full of tempting trips I wish I could take.

Forget the bat cave, this hotel was formerly a house of bedrooms, carved out of a cave in Cappadocia, Turkey.

Common areas even have wi-fi, though unless you are booking a local hot air balloon ride online, being on your laptop at a place as beautiful as this should be a crime.

Turkish interior designer superstar Halide Didem designed the beautiful and exotic rooms. She layered bright colors, luxe fabrics, metallic finishes and exotic shapes atop neutral and natural base of textures, a design lesson we can all take a note from.

Beautiful terraces give guests a chance to soak in the views from a luxurious perch.

Cave bedrooms are a combination of rough-hewn walls that form a cozy room with sumptuous linens; the perfect combination for a great night’s sleep.

Are there any areas or hotels on your dream trip list? Please let us know about them in the comments section!

All images from Hezen Cave Hotel

Let’s face it, we’ve all seen so many cleverly decorated boutique hotels that it takes a lot to catch attention lately, doesn’t it? I mean, we’ve seen everything from Beetlejuice looking B&Bs to crack den chic (a certain Manhattan too-cool-for-school joint, I’m talking to you). However, as I caught up on my magazines with an old issue of W the other day, a tiny picture from “August’s Most Wanted” caught my eye (yes, I am that far behind on my glossies). It was a shot of a bedroom from the c/o Maidstone East Hampton. Let’s enjoy some fresh eye candy from their Swedish icon designed rooms (inspirations range from Eero Saarinen to Birgit Nillson the soprano, not to be confused with Brigitte Nielsen, known for Red Sonya and Flavor Flav reality shows):

The decor inside this lovely classic in are very unexpected:

Pssst, if you like that chair from The Vernor Panton-inspired room, we have it for sale here.

This joint is also extremely dog-friendly.

They also have Kronan bicycles ready to lend out to all of their guests. I suppose you could put your tiny dog in the basket and pretend he’s Toto. By the way, that would make you Dorothy.

They’ve also done their best to remain energy-efficient, from nixing the bottled waters to serving organic food in the restaurant.

Color me refreshed.

All images via c/o Maidstone.