This week's Home by Novogratz has me thinking about two things above all else: overdyed rugs and oversized art.
Bob and Cortney set out to design a home for a busy couple with slightly different tastes — one more modern and one more rustic/natural — and no time to focus on decor. The white walls with big art are perfect with the planked wood dining table, mismatched dining chairs, and that cool little pyramid terrarium. But in the living room all I can see is that rug and that shuttlecock, and they are now my obsessions du jour.
We've discussed overdyed rugs before, if you recall, from the beautiful but expensive Color Reform line at ABC to more affordable versions to DIY options. The Novos, however, found another option from a Brooklyn designer named Michael Stout. I found this video, and it answered a lot of questions I had about his process and confirmed that an overdyed rug will be part of my future home design.
Bob's choice of big art (from Room 125 in Manhattan) was a great way to incorporate textural antique rustic into a clean, modern design. The super zoom shows all the gritty details on the object much more than would be possible if the actual object were, say, sitting on a shelf, and the stark white background keeps it graphic and modern. And Bob pointed out "those are real feathers" in such a Spinal Tap-esque "this is an exact replica of my skeleton" moment that I totally got it.
(Images: Matthew Williams)
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Am I the only one that can't stand these two's designs? Clearly they are doing something right because they seem fairly popular. It's just that every room looks basically the same to me. They always work with neutral(ish) or light blue walls and fill it with funky light fixtures and outrageously expensive art. Throw in a few mix-matched chairs and pillows, something rustic, a ratty-looking thrift store find and a plant or two and tada! It's a Novogratz!
No, you are not the only one that can't stand these two designs!
I saw the original broadcast on HGTV..
Absolutely HIDEOUS!!!!
From the cool 60s pair of chairs they bastardized to that filthy rusty and horrendous locker cabinet to those blue barstools at the counter.
HGTV executives must be on crack
The Novogratz are poor excuses for designers
The Novagratzes' talent is in their art selections and commissions.That's the show HGTV should showcase them in: how to choose/make/decorate with art. Leave the vintage-modern-classic decorating mashup to Emily and Genevieve.
I'm not a fan either, but the media is making a huge deal about them. All of a sudden, they seem to be everywhere, including here in Toronto.
I don't know who they are, BUT I love natural modern.
1. Head to toe leather does not work.
2. It's usually too difficult to collect all the modern period pieces you'd need.
3. All MCM somehow looks like you stepped into a house where the people just never changed anything.
4. Cork lamps, a touch of leather with metal and persian rugs, amber glasses...all excellent. And the recycled elements bring it into the '10's instead of having it stuck in the 70's.
I am loving the mismatched dining chairs, and in fact wrote a post on ideas for painting them: http://dreamingofjune.com/painted-chair-ideas/ And I actually like Novogratz!
My mom just told me about them last week, I caught this exact episode on HGTV this past weekend. It seems to me that they put a bunch of colorful (sometimes tacky) things in a room and call it "design" I'm not sure how they got to be so popular. Not a fan!
I would love to see them do a show all about art and artists.
i actually went to a barbecue at this house last weekend, and the decor is very, very nice... but it feels a little like it's a ready for a catalog photoshoot. the green chairs with the blue buttons are everything. i had no idea it was a novogratz project... the home office is really the best room in the house. i assume a proper tour is to come?
I'm with jmsnc: tour, please... I would love to see this bedroom!
Solid! I dig it groovy.
fell asleep in the middle of this episode. got all tuckered out for the bad acting. i don't get the whole overdyed rug thing.
I'm sorry, but I don't get them either.
SORCE for that pyramid on the Table...DIY???
obsessed with that green chair with the silver frame!
These two are such a crock! I can't stand them either and wish they didn't have so much cultural currency right now with TV and all the other press they get. Sometimes they're okay - this is one of their least offensive moments but gosh, they really are the Emperor's new clothes.
Surely AT can team up with some one, some pair better than the Nov's. Again, I've seen better results sent in by AT readers.
I have to say the Novagratz's have grown on me. They are not to everyone's aesthetic. They have a defined look, "Downtown Chic" (the name of their first book), and they do follow a formula. They share their simplistic formula for those who would want to recreate a similar look. Yes, they do push for real art in the home, but that doesn't have to break the bank. They also believe in a mix of high and low, new and vintage. Most of the time I like the results. I love those chairs, though I would want them covered in grey perforated leather with the teal buttons.
I'm a fan of their work and am surprised by all the negative comments. I think the eclectic look and getting the right mix is really hard to achieve. I know they have a kind of formula they vary for each place but it's always interesting to me. Wish they could visit my apartment and rearrange some things...
I have to say I'm in shock that somehow these two are even considered good designers. I just watched the "Bachelor apartment" episode - the scale of furniture is completely off, the room has no flow or real style. You can't buy a tiki bar from the 1950's and think it works well just because its vintage, it's still a bamboo tiki bar! The room just fells empty and not well put together.