apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Everything looks elegant on or in a model. On me or in my apartment, it just makes me look like a slob, and not in a cool Michael Stipey way. Conclusion: Must get richer and skinnier. Piles of Frette linens pooling on the floor of a French chateau, unfinished coffee spilling o'er the rim of a Nymphenburg cup, a once-bitten madeleine crumbling atop a nightstand made of frayed editions of À La Recherche du Temps Perdu... Yessir, I'm down with it.

good lawd them lamps is big.

I love the appearance of the oversized bedding cascading onto the floor...

But believe me, stylists work their butts off to get that perfect "casual" drape. Photogenic casual ain't easy... been there...

Yeah, what's with those freakishly huge lamps in the first picture? I had to do a triple-take to make sure they weren't sitting on a table in the foreground. Those candles must weigh ten pounds a piece, minimum!

The British seem particularly good at being stylishly rumpled, both in home and fashion.

i'm afraid i'll never break tradition with that which was forced upon me at an early age. THE BED MUST BE MADE!

I'm with you, rachelrachel. I make the bed even before I'm all the way awake. I live in a studio and it makes a huge visual difference.

I love the glass table lamp in the 2nd picture.
Any ideas on where I can find a similar lamp?

Patrick is right. This is an old stylist's trick. The idea is to give the room life by implying that the occupant just stepped out of frame in the middle of their day to day activities. It prevents the space from looking like a freshly made, lifeless hotel suite without introducing the messy distractions and imperfections of actual life...all the better for the reader to imagine themselves as the true occupant.

It is an art. The first picture is an example of what can go tragically wrong when the stylist or photographer over thinks it. Those lanterns and bowl look like they are being sold in a catalog. There is nothing haphazard about them.

On the larger design front, I can see a real movement toward a slouchy, homespun contemporary (almost futuristic) look in a number of lines big and small. For example, neutral, solid slipcovers are roaring back, but this time they are being used to soften the pristine and precise lines of Italian contemporary instead of just the traditional farmhouse/beach house shabby chic pieces.

The scale of those lanterns and the bowl are also a bedroom styling/photography trick. It sounds odd, but it is VERY tricky to shoot a bedroom so the bed does not dominate the shot (even if the bed does not do so in real life). Over-sized items, and shooting only a portion of the bed itself, keeps the shot in proportion.

(although perhaps those lanterns overcompensate!!)

Ohhhh man I saw those lanterns in a tiny decor shop a couple of years ago and I LOVED them, but they were out of my price range and haha yeah, they are even more huge in real life and would not fit in my apartment anyway. But I think they'd look great outside- in a garden or on a patio.

I don't know how many years it's been since I have made a bed. I am happy that made beds bug other people. I hate to get into a made bed with all the sheets tucked in tight. Drives me nuts. Clean sheets is enough for me.

I like, I like. Please share with us where you purchased those lanterns. I Like, I like....... The tunic is cute too.

Gabriella

If I don't make the bed almost the minute I wake up Jones (huge poodle) and Maddy (hissy cat) quickly take my place under the covers--not a good idea if you like clean sheets.
Beds and rooms look better when the bed is made, anyway.

oooooh, I want to jump in that daybed and take a nap in the sun. It looks so soft and cozy.

Styling: why there's a pair of shoes in the foreground of so many decor mag shots. As in http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/011609RajivHouseTour/03

hahahahaha,
so "stylishly rumpled" means a perfectly designed and manicured room with an unmade bed?
i'm pretty sure i can rumple my own room without inspiration.
thanks?

These are so appealing - why does my unmade bed never look so elegant?

I guess I can start calling my bed making style, "stylishly rumpled" now. All I try to do is to get all of the covers going roughly in the same direction and I call it a day - my bed is seldom ever "made" or "unmade" and my down comforter looks better to me fluffed out and draped all over the place rather than tightly pulled down at the corners and arranged with precision. (I do keep all corners of the comforter off of the floor lest my dogs make a nest for themselves.) I guess I associate a perfectly "made" bed (hospital corners and all) with being in the military or with being in a hospital.

I think the chamber pot is a bit excessive, full of rose petals or not.

I'll stick to making my bed.

I've been looking for hanging lights like those shown in the 6th shot (gray bedding, brick wall). Anyone know where I can get my paws on something similar?