Home Sweet Home

I really want to redecorate my bedroom (I have a roommate, so the rest of the apartment isn't exactly fair game). I don't have that much space, but I also don't have that much stuff. What I do have:

• a ton of books
• a ton of clothes
• a ton of shoes
• a ton of jewelry
• a ton of records
• one awesome 1970s black velvet painting of two scantily-clad Nubians riding a winged zebra through space
• one awesome 1970s painting of a voluptuous Indian maiden stepping into a pond
• one vintage open-top schooldesk which was rescued from the side of the road and lovingly restored and painted for me by my nice boyfriend Rusty

Everything else is pretty much expendable. I've been perusing The Selby for inspiration. Here are some of the photos that are giving me the redecorating jones hardcore:

Top, from the NYC home of Josh Conner and Lyz Olko.
Bottom, from the Sydney home of Natalie Wood. Click for full size.

I'm really into the idea of treating jewelry and clothes as something to be displayed rather than tucked away in drawers and closets -- personally, I spend more money on clothes and accessories than I do on anything else, so I think there's something to be said about letting them be a focal point. I think it looks sick when there's a ton of necklaces hanging off a wall, like above, or when clothes and shoes are presented almost like art, like below:

Left, from the Sydney home of Aimee Bayliss, Nathan Smith, and Anne Ryan.
Right, from the NYC home of Sally Singer. Click for full size.

I already keep my favorite pieces on a clothes rail dead-center in my room, and I'm all about the idea of using a basic, tall IKEA bookshelf to house my shoe collection for a look similar to Sally Singer's above.

More general inspiration:

From the London home of Gary Card and Henderson McCue. Click for full size.

The idea of organized disarray (i.e. books and shoes on nearly every surface) is appealing to me, because I'm a huge slob.

Top, from the London home of Rosa Connell and Bella Howard.
Bottom, from the NYC home of Josh Conner and Lyz Olko. Click for full size.

I'm also finding that I like the look of a bunch of stuff just stuck on the wall, no frames, no rhyme or reason -- reminds me of when I was in high school and papered my bedroom with show fliers and pages torn from the local throwaway rags. When you consider what a hassle it is to frame everything and have it all hung straight and perfect, it's so much easier, plus it looks cool and undone alongside a few bigger pieces.

Top, from the Sydney home of Harold David and Dave Bonney.
Bottom, from the London home of Rosa Connell and Bella Howard. Click for full size.

Just great aesthetics all around. I really want to spray paint a cow skull fluorescent red now, and I love clear Lucite furniture. I'd really like a Lucite chair.

Top, from the London home of Sylvia Farago and Christopher Simmonds.
Bottom, from the Sydney home of Aimee Bayliss, Nathan Smith, and Anne Ryan. Click for full size.

More visual candy. I love jewelry stands and having all your shit out on the surfaces of things.

From the London home of Sylvia Farago and Christopher Simmonds. Click for full size.

I love a room with hundreds of books on display. Looks so good...especially with the shoes under the shelves.

So, this is a list of things I'm desperate for (more for my own reference than anything else):

• A Chief Joseph print Pendleton blanket (I love them)
• A Navajo rug
• A Lucite chair
• IKEA Billy bookcases (one for shoes, two for books and records)
• Vintage glass ring hand jewelry holders/jewelry stands in general
• This hanging cluster lamp (reminds me of a geodesic dome, I love it)

I'm on my way...