apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We first heard about India Rose while checking out the annual Sample Sale at the American Industrial Building on Third Street. Their showroom was definitely one of the highlights of the day - a lovely, light-filled space with sheer curtains framing the main space and loads of gorgeous textiles throughout. Alas, on a recent visit it had been taken over by boxes from their warehouse, but we were directed to their online store which features their products just as artfully displayed as we remembered.

Sometimes we're surprised at how much our mood can be affected by just a little change in scenery. Our living room is shades of light neutrals and some espresso, and yeah, it can feel kind of blah sometimes. These peonies have completely changed that, though.

We had a "choose your own adventure" book phase some time around ten years old. Feeling like we had a say in how things were going to turn out was kind of a novelty at that age, perhaps. Now we get to make lots of choices, but it's usually about whether to use dryer sheets or not and other such boring ephemeral matters. But being able to create our own design accessories could jump start our phase again...

We have a sliver of a balcony that we've really only used for hanging clothes out to dry and trying our gardening luck. We'd like to make it a place where one (and we mean that literally - there's no room for two) can spend a moment soaking up the sun. These mats could create the more inviting look we're after, while also covering up the peeling floor paint out there that needs to be redone.

We are related to some passionate bicyclists (affectionately known by us as "bike nerds") who have dedicated several garages and a basement or two to their love... but that's in middle America, where space like that actually exists. Bike enthusiasts in the city have to be a little more creative in order to accommodate all their toys. Enter this hacked bike rack.

We spotted these two hanging out together on Church Street a few weeks back, just aching for someone to take their picture. We know a lot of people would be hesitant to work with two super-saturated colors like bright orange and teal in a home; it's definitely a statement...

While we can appreciate the look of a zebra print rug in the right room, we've never found ourselves daydreaming about one in our own home. Perhaps it is the whole connotation of tredding over the skin of something dead, but... sadly for our souls, that's probably not the case (we do love this leather belt rug, after all). However, we've taken interest in a few spins on zebra we've seen around lately.

We love the wall of photos we saw recently at 1300 on Fillmore, a new restaurant devoted to honoring the storied Jazz Age for which the Fillmore area is known. Now we're curious, would anyone want to recreate the effect in their home?

Bright colors make us happy, a big reason why we're all smiles whenever we see any Fermob furniture. We've seen the selection of outdoor tables and chairs at Flora Grubb before, but this bench is new to us.

When we're feeling in the mood for a little retail pick me up but haven't got more than a couple bills to rub together, we always magically end up in front of Therapy. Like a good shrink that'll help you with what you're searching for, without, say, sending you off to some insanely priced treatment facility, Therapy will give you the style you want without breaking the bank.

Have you ever been to Nantucket? The place can be a bit of a trip (you're 16 and wearing an ascot?) but we really liked all the creative uses of rope that are all over the place. Rope bracelets? Yes, please! And in small doses, we think it can add a nice touch for your home, too.

The double rocker. It's a form we've seen before, but never with this much panache. The craftsmanship here is gorgeous, and for something so in line with the style of today, we love that it's actually an antique.

We don't have a car in the city for lots of reasons (however anytime it's raining we can't remember of any of them), a big one being that parking here is bananas. The few times we've borrowed a car we've come close to hysteria looking for parking, and then having the piece of mind to remember where we parked the next morning is a whole other issue. But here's a helpful way to avoid the insanity.

Since moving here we've found that of all the places we've lived, this is the place that has garnered us the most out of town visitors. It would seem everyone's left their heart in San Francisco, and frankly, we couldn't be happier about it. We've begun getting a little routine down and wanted to share a bit of what we've learned about hosting overnight guests...

This placemat instantly reminded us of the sheets and security gates mentioned here recently. Does that make patterns of circles the new trend? We have no idea, but we like the look - it reminds us of a million little bubbles.

We're kind of like barracudas in that we're drawn to anything that sparkles. It's no wonder, then, why we're so interested in this table - under the glass top are 480 twinkling LEDs that respond to movement. Reach for your glass of wine, and the table comes to life with a trail of light following your hand. Bonus in that it runs off of only 35 watts of electricity when active.

Here's a good idea for an inexpensive light-diffuser. We think it would be good for someone with an ugly fixture who wants an upgrade that won't require much hassle (kind of like us).

We'll admit, we're recent converts to pink. But though it hasn't been long, we've definitely fallen - and hard (notice exhibits A and B). We think this little vignette shows a great color combination that introduces pink in a soft, subtle way.

We love online retailer Textile Arts, and Marimekko is the best for offering striking prints that can be used both functionally and as art. While checking out the website, we fell hard for a few of the Spring 2008 prints.

We went to Alameda a few months back and got this from some enterprising fellow. He had found a cool book of old "Audubon-style" prints of birds and fish and was selling the pages for $3 a pop. We don't condone desecrating a good book, but if it's filled with pictures rather than text, why not showcase some that you really like?

The squares on this votive set remind us of little windows lit up across a nighttime landscape. We also love the color combination, which feels really soothing and a perfect match for candlelight.

Despite our best intentions (and our overzealous purchasing at the nursery), we've been resigning ourselves lately to the possibility that our green thumb is, in reality, a few shades darker. But our heart sang with newfound hope when we saw this article...

Every time our buzzer rings we practically jump out of our skin. We'd compare it to playing Operation, minus the little tweezers and any of the fun. Wouldn't it be nice to toast your guest's arrival instead?

We found this image in the comments section of our post on Paper Source. AT Curer Goodnightdean "floated" her artwork on high-quality paper, rather than using matboard. Click below for the how-to.