HOW-TO: PHOTO WALL

I got what seemed like a brilliant idea the other day - a photo display wall to fill a vacant corner above my couch. But large photo walls are so expensive:  custom framing, the art or photography on display, and usually a professional installer to hang them just so.

This Vogue vintage cover wall from Domino Magazine was a great inspiration. 

So what to do? My first stop was IKEA, king of inexpensive home accessories. Even if the frames weren't glam, a matching set always looks more elegant.

IKEA Ribba frames at $10 a pop - including the mat!

But what to put in the frames? I have years of fashion and shelter mag editorial and advertising tearsheets lying around, so I raided my stash to find a series of photos suitable for framing. The guidelines were to 1) find images in various shades of jade to pick up the green themes in my apartment, and, 2) to find them with as few words on the page as possible (editorials are best for this).

After choosing favorites, I framed them up and laid out the photos to find the best arrangement.

I settled on a mix up of home decor, accessories, and fashion images from over the years. Vogue had the best fashion options (of COURSE), but Town and Country takes the prize for absolutely gorgeous accessories shots (note the Tony Duquette brooch picture in the center).

With a little help from the IKEA frame inserts, and a lot of measuring, I framed out the job.
Tips:  Be sure to measure the space between each frame too, so the distance is right. I then penciled in the exact spot for each nail hole on the paper, and drove the nail right through the paper, pulling off the wall papers when I was done. Easy peasy!

(Remember, in an older building, it can be really tough to find the perfect "center" since the walls may not be perfectly straight. Your best bet is to trust your eye as well as your measuring tape, moving things around until they look right. Also, keep in mind that the frame insert papers are a great guide, but they're slightly smaller than the frames. You'll need to add in an extra inch or so for the perfect fit.) 

The final result:  ta-da - inexpensive photo wall!

The set dresses up an otherwise dull corner (apologies for the window glare). 

Total cost? $120 for frames. $0 for old magazine tearsheets. Yay!

I tried the same affect in my bathroom with vintage nature prints and a shell craft basket. Again with the glare. Sorry!

Have you found a special trick for making great wall displays?

THE POCKET DECORATOR (iPHONE EDITION)

The iPhone has many uniquely addictive properties, one of which is sticky fingers. Less than 24 hours after I purchased a white iPhone, it was stolen (really? I mean, REALLY?!). I went from tech-glee to trepidation:  had I just acquired an app-enabled Hope Diamond? But, with my new-new iPhone, I've stopped worrying and moved straight on to decorating. The phone, that is:

This is the chinoiserie iPhone cover from Rogue. Can I tell you how much I LOVE this??!! It's absolutely charming. I've ordered it in pagoda orange (see swatch below) with grass green monogram. But if swathing your phone in Blue Willow china patterns isn't for you, check out a few of their other great designs below (I spy some KWID inspired trellis...).

So many great options - switch them out?

On to the interior - here are some apps I've loaded and loved:

Photosynth

iPhone 4 has a great built in camera, but only a professional grade lens can fisheye enough to capture a full room. I hate stumbling across an exciting design in a shop/hotel lobby/friend's living room, and being unable to fit everything into the frame. With Photosynth, you take multiple photos around the space, and Photosynth weaves them all together into one large image or a panorama. Genius! You'll never again wonder what part of a space inspired you.

Code Reader

This app is a box store bonanza - unsure if you're getting a good price on paint? Wallpaper? Linens? Photograph the bar code, and Code Reader gives you a list of local locations selling the same item and their prices. If you're a bargain hunter like me, you may find that it's biggest value is time; I've stopped leaving things on the shelf wondering if there's a "better deal" - then having to return when another store was more expensive or out of stock. And you may decide that a few dollars more doesn't justify another journey across town.

Yard Sale Shopper

I'm afraid of this app. I'm afraid of what the power to know where EVERY estate and/or yard sale in the immediate vicinity may do to me. Yard Sale Shopper combs through local classifieds and creates pin-point maps with descriptions of each sale. Prediction? You may spend the money you save on shopoholics rehab. 

Color Change

This app is the electronic version of Benjamin Moore's sample paint cans. Photograph a space, select the wall (or furniture, lamp shades, etc.) you want to change, and choose from hundreds of colors. Color Change then "repaints" the space in your photograph, for infinite experimentation. Without the aching arms. 

TagReader

More and more stores and media outlets are "tagging" things, and with home decor mags jumping on that wagon, this is one app you shouldn't go without. Hover your camera phone over a tag, photograph it, and the corresponding video/photo/webpage/etc. will show up on your screen. Tags are a bit like easter eggs - they can provide some fun surprises. For instance, House Beautiful featured a tag on a story about Tobi Fairley's new home. I clicked a quick photo of it, and got to watch a fun video of Tobi giving a personal tour of the home. Tres tres tech!

Decomash

This app is a bit hit-or-miss, but it's free and harmless, so go for it. Decomash enables you to photograph a space in your home, and then it performs an art search online, pulling together thumbnails of suggested artworks for photographs. See something you like? Click the image, and you'll be transported to the website to buy. 

AroundMe

I really, really love this app. It's designed to easily point you to the nearest necessities - cafe, movie theater, parking, etc. But, grab the "nearby" feature, and you'll get a picture of all the shops around you, so if you're in the mall or visiting a new town, you won't have to wonder where the good stores are. Just click and stroll!

Color Capture

All the smart paint companies are doing it! This app lets you photog any color you like, then matches it up with a corresponding paint color (and, provides harmonious shades for accenting as well). "Ben" is easy to use, and Benjamin Moore paint is everywhere, so this remains one of the most popular options on the market. One tip:  make your sure you have good lighting when capturing that wayward leaf, fabric, or other inspiration. Shadowing reads darker for the Ben app than it does for your eyes, so light the item up to avoid a mis-match.

What did I miss? If you have a favorite iPhone app (or phone cover) be sure to share your find in the comments!
Images, companies as attributed.

Irving Penn, Fashion Icon

A tremendous loss for the fashion community - brilliant photographer and portrateur Irving Penn is dead today. His work spanned decades, and he was the star of the style set, capturing virtually every great model and famous face over his more than 60 year career. For more details about his work, read the New York Times article here.

A tribute in photos:

Images: http://open-eye-photography.blogspot.com/2008/08/irving-penn-photographer.html; http://academic.reed.edu/art/courses/art201s09/Links.html; http://www.magazine.org/asme/top_40_covers/16996.aspx; http://mariagimenez.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/irving-penn/; http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/daily_picture_show/; http://vi.sualize.us/view/e5aa0a440301199ce795b70c7cdaebf4/

Milledgeville and the Architecture of the South

One of my favorite reads, Style Court, had a wonderful post recently about the little town of Milledgeville, GA, and upcoming exhibits at Georgia College. I visited Milledgeville earlier this summer, and the town itself is a carefully staged exhibition: row upon row of columned homes, framed in brick walks and languid trees. Just about an hour South of metro Atlanta, it's worth a day trip when you're next in the South's megalopolis. Be sure to take your camera.

Map, here. Visit my post on Milledgeville for more pictures and history.

P.S. While in Milledgeville be sure to visit Flannery O'Connor's Andalusia. Read about the history of her farm and home here.

All images, my own. Do not copy without permission.

The Selby

This is one of those website you come across, and can't figure out a) why you've never heard of it before, and b) what you did in this world before you did. Todd Selby photographs interesting and creative people in their home environments - and between their style and Selby's photographs, this website is a treasure trove of image and expression.  

A few of my favorites from Francois Curiel's home in Geneva (head of Christie's, Europe).  

Art director Julia Roitfeld at home in New York.

All images, theshelby.com.

Paris In Your Living Room.

According to the New York Times, Jennifer Clark's murals are "wall coverings that almost require a passport." These gorgeous photo murals are large enough to cover a wall and change the feel of an entire room. And at $199, they won't break your bank doing it. Available at Target.

How To Make An Entrance

I've been on this cleaning/organizing kick lately, and that has included, much to my horror, HUNDREDS of photos. Boxes of them. Oh, the days before you could just download them and stuff the overload into an external hard drive. Anyway, I noticed that I have so many pictures of garden gates and doors. Kind of a weird obsession, but when you think about it, an entrance (gate to the garden, door to a house, eyes to the soul, whatever) defines the experience. Just as an excellent appetizer increases appetite for the entree, a proper entrance increases excitement for what lies ahead. Below, some spectacular views from around the world.







Atop the picturesque Aventine hill in Rome, the keyhole in the door to the garden of the Knights of Malta affords a spectacular view of St. Peter's Basilica (Photo: Todd Gaynor.)









A magical "through-the-rabbit-hole" garden entrance in Chongqing, China (Photo: Peachum.com).












Austere gate into the Bishop's Garden, The National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. (Photo: Rachel Cooper).












Snowy carriage entrance to the serpentine drive at George Washington's Mt. Vernon.

Garden and Gun

Faulkner said that in the South, history is the bullet in the dining room table. In other words, history isn't really gone at all. It's lodged just beneath the bowl of collards and a little to the right of your tea glass.

Despite a lot of modernization, the South still suffers from originality and eccentricity in spades, and thankfully, Southern magazines are no exception. Founded as a quarterly in 2007, Garden and Gun is a marvelous testament to the uniqueness of Southern culture, canvassing film, food, art, architecture, design, travel, literature, photography, and, necessarily, biscuits.

Click here for an article on Southern architect and interior designer Bobby McAlpine's excellent work. And below, some lovely images from the magazine's recent retrospective, "Southern Exposures." Enjoy! (Photos by Richard Sexton; last photo, Eric Kiel)