Love it / Live [in] it: Color Saturation [Rob Nadeau]

Happy Friday! Now that fall is in full swing, here in Seattle we get a lot of grey days and I crave color more than ever. It's right around this time every year that I start rethinking every neutral piece in my home and lusting over shockingly saturated elements. These paintings by artist Rob Nadeau are the perfect fix, as color seems to be boldly splashed over a long lost grey background...

interior via Design Attractor

interior via From the Right Bank

I came upon these gems while perusing one of my favorite resources for unique artistic finds, strataflora. My friend Amy has an incredible knack for finding new and gorgeous artwork. And in my search for inspiration with a serious injection of color, I was completely taken with all this bold colored modern seating. Bright green dining chairs? Yes, please..Enjoy!

p.s. head on over to Design For Mankind for another dose of Artful Interiors from yours truly.

I want to Live In...The Ridgeback Cafe

As you know, Seattle is coffee haven, and when the sky is grey and there is work to be done the best way to pass the time is holed up in a comfy cafe with a heavenly mug of a local roast. I just moved into the Ballard/Phinney Ridge neighborhood and have quickly fallen in love with the Ridgeback Cafe on the corner of 65th and 4th.

Between the organic mid-century modern interior, incredible food and delicious coffee (they serve Stumptown Coffee) this place is perfect for weekend brunch with the girls (they have PINT size mimosas!) or a late afternoon cram session. The minimal yet ecclectic decor is a perfect mash-up of industrial chic and thrift store jewels in a sunny warm palette...Enjoy!

Art + Interiors: Purple Mystic [Amanda Raek]

Associated with both nobility and spirituality, Purple is an incredibly empowering color. I have to admit it is not usually in my own color palette but when I found this photography on Etsy by Amanda Raek I knew I had to post about it. I love the back and forth between the focused forground and the blurred out background, the graphic texture of the flowers' stigmas against their soft petals and the touch of blue here and there that give the work its calming affect.

"I belive that we must find, all of us together, a new spirituality"- Dalai Lama

Side table via Arteriors, pendants via Nice Modern, pillow via Urban Outfitters, rug via JhMinassian, chaise via Urban Outfitters, end table Kartell

I love mixing traditional and modern in an unexpected way; the tufted plum chaise next to the lucite end table, the modern pendants hovering over a vintage rug and the graphic pillows adding rhythm to the space. It's a great way to blend styles for those of us that just cannot settle on one and it's a look that feels right in place whether in an old house or a new loft. Enjoy!



Art + Interiors: Bold Gestures [Robert Motherwell]

I have spent an absolutely lovely, art-infused weekend in San Francisco getting inspired and rejuvenated. One artist whose work seemed to speak to me the most this weekend was the work of American Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell. In Motherwell's work, the act of painting itself is the content of the product. His works were much less about painting "pretty pictures" and more about expressing the raw, unrefined essence of human emotions through the paintings life-size undulating getsures. For me, this kind of art provides a sense of release as it allows the viewer to experience the painting through the lens of their own emotions.

"Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it."-Robert Motherwell

Rug via Fort Street Studio, Sofa, chair and lamp via Room and Board, End table via Architonic.com, Vases via Arteriros, pillow via etsy.com/shop/bestillshop, End table via Room and Board, Sideboard via Four Hands 

I'm loving the understated black and white palette with touches of yellow where the design strength of each individual piece is enough to carry it. It is a space without clutter or chaos, where you could sit down with a cup of coffee on a quiet morning with a clear head ready to start your day. One designer in particular that does this look well in Victoria Smith of http://www.sfgirlbybay.com/. If you have not yet seen the gorgeous spread in Rue Magazine you simply must check it out. She does mid-century modern with sprinkles of texture and color with expertise and endless style.



Photos via Rue Magazine