Modernests » Motifs

Halloween Decor – Interior Design Inspirations

Katya Roberts — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:02:44 +0000

Creepy interiors are a great source of inspiration for elegant, grown up Halloween decorations. This is the home of painter Sean Scherer featured on re-nest. Although these examples are a part of his regular decor, I think they’re also great grown up ways to let the spirit of the creepy into your home this October. Anatomical sculptures and pictures breathe something of the medieval and dungeon-like.

You can see the full tour here

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Pyrex Vintage -> Modern Motifs

Katya Roberts — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

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On the heels of finding those vintage inspired glass storage bowls on Fishseddy earlier this week, here is some more glassware inspiration. If you’re into fabric design, silk-screen printing, or just making doodles on a napkin, check out the vintage Pyrex motifs on these storage bowls from the Pyrex museum.

The girls from Shelterrific visited the museum located not far from Seattle and brought back these pictures. Browse the Pyrexlove site for

more fun vintage Pyrex kitchenware or see great photos at the flickr pyrexlove group. I can see some similar motifs looking great on an accent pillow, or a sheet set or on a rug.

On a fine art note, check out the impressive glass installation at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see a slide show of the Fluent Steps piece by Martin Blank. An incredible amount of work and workmanship.

Etsy Tea Towels

Katya Roberts — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:23:00 +0000

Etsy has some great, whimsical tea towels. Here are some of my favorite picks. Browse and you might find some very affordable favorites. Etsy is always a good gauge for trendy motifs. I have been noticing beach cruisers on dinnerware and now towels. I hope to do some silkscreen printing one day, till then I will feast my eyes on other creations.

Trina Turk collection for Schumacher

Katya Roberts — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:08:00 +0000

I attended the Trina Turk for Schumacher collection launch party on Wednesday. It took place in her beautiful home in Los Feliz. Her collection consists of some wonderful prints. This photo is compliments of photographer Mike Gardner who was photographing the event and collection for C magazine. Trina’s prints are great for outdoor furniture and that is exactly how they were displayed – around the pool and outdoor lounge areas of her home. I love her choice of colors and it seems any combination of these fabrics and colors look great together.

Woodsy Lamp – Cathrine Kullberg

Katya Roberts — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:23:00 +0000

Are you familiar with pop-up greeting card books? There are some really impressive things one can do by making precise incisions on paper. Thinking about the concept of cutting and thus creating negative space got me contemplating how that can translate into furniture, accessories or lighting. Just in time I came across Cathrine Kullberg’s work.

This lamp is a perfect example of achieving both an object and an experience through cutting and thus texturing the surface. Her delicate depiction of a forest line is perfect for this woodsy lamp. How about having it in a room with these sheets?
Actually I think it stands on its own and would be best served in a contrasting space as pictured here.

Droolworthy Modern Motifs: Facets

Katya Roberts — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Facets are here. I love them. Check out the Chisel Vase at CB2. Now on sale for $29.95. Here are some faceted creations highlighted in California Home & Design magazine.

The gorgeous West Elm lamp, the Dominique Jacob and Brendan MacFarlane No End Sofa. I particularly love the little dessert platter by Achim Haigis for Rosenthal. The table has a great name. It is the Kooh-I-Noor table by Piero Lissoni. Marcel Wanders is the creator of the mulit-faceted faucet. He created this piece as part of an Aqua Jewels line for Bonomi.

Some of these are quite affordable while others are certainly Droolworthy! Droolworthy will be a new topic here at MODERnestS where we are hatching new ideas for a warm, affordable, modern home every day.

Modern Materials: Branch Light

Katya Roberts — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:50:00 +0000

California Home & Design magazine featured this beautiful home as the 2009 pick for the CH+D Award for Residential Interior Design.

The owner, Charles De Lisle, is a former welder and he designed and made this branch light out of found brass bars. I love that it is suspended by a chunky, natural rope. What a beautiful juxtaposition of materials and shapes. I am very inspired by this creation. I am particularly inspired to take up welding now. Add that to the long list of things to learn in order to make cool stuff.

The dining table is custom made. What a soothing color and it looks so great with all the wood and white brick.

Silhouettes Motif

Katya Roberts — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:00:00 +0000

The silhouettes motif pops up in various places and a variety of home objects these days. Jessica Rust Designs creates custom silhouette plates and PrettyFaces makes custom pictures in oval backgrounds available on Etsy. A part of me is beginning to OD on silhouettes, but another part is still drawn to the romance of them.

I am making an exception for this particular display because it breathes the old world romance and I believe silhouette wall art ought to do that. I love that these are all different in various shapes and sizes of frames. Some of the paper looks aged. The antique gold frames are a great juxtaposition to the more modern black frames. This is simply lovely. Click to enlarge

My DIY: Modern Lantern

Katya Roberts — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:20:00 +0000

What once was a Chinese lantern is now a modern lantern. I shared this DIY creation with Shelterrific after an ongoing discussion about lamp making. You can see the original post and an image of the lamp in its natural habitat here.

Someone mentioned that it reminded them of the Beijing National Stadium designed by Herzog & de Meuron design firm, which is interesting given that it was once a Chinese lantern. Hmm…

It reminds me of this work of Testa and Weiser featured in the Skin and Bones exibit at MOCA. Check out this great dress from the same exhibit. Another parallel? I’m lovin it. These ziggy wine rack and glacier runner from CB2 have a similar motif of intersecting diagonal lines. I think we are onto a motif trend here.

Related Blogs

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Print Love: Outdoor Themed Sheets

Katya Roberts — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:00:00 +0000

With a myriad of prints in textiles to get excited about, I keep coming back to these sheets from West Elm. With a kitschy seventies feel to the pencil drawings of the great outdoors, these sheets have me lusting. Reminiscent of the outdoor prints on mirror tiles in the seventies, I am a fan.

I once picked up some seventies mirror tiles with a landscape print from Salvation Army. I decided to dissect the image and hang it out of order and in some instances side-ways or upside down. Here you can see the bottom four. The long line of mirrors helps elongate the room and reflects little lights from the opposite wall at night. Very cozy.

Got any examples of kitsch gone chique? By the way, in case you have not heard, CB2 is having a Marimekko bedding and prints sale.