In Progress: Talia’s Room
Talia’s bedroom is in our mammad (bomb shelter/reinforced room, now required in all new buildings by Israeli law), and so far it looks like this:
The window needs a curtain or shade of some kind because it’s an eye sore (pretty much the only thing I see in this photo). I’m planning to paint the walls and ceiling light pink and then do a mural of green mountains. I hope it works out as I’m imagining.
I opted for an oversized globe light fixture to block the other eye sore in the room, the emergency air filtration system:
If I owned the apartment I’d consider building a closet around it to completely hide it, but since we’re renting, the paper globe ensures I don’t see it every time I pass the room. We’re calling it a moon, which will work nicely once the room is a forest.
The theme for the room comes from the forest scene sheets. My grandparents bought it for my mom at Macy’s in the late ‘70s when they came to visit her in the US from Israel. She just gave it to me when we moved to Modiin to use in Talia’s room. I already had the green rug, which had been in our living room in Brooklyn, and all the artwork. The bed, crates, and toy chest were speedy affordable buys from IKEA that I made when we moved in and I was already 9 months pregnant with Sol. The bed needs some work…
Here’s a mood board I put together to make sure everything will work together:
Wood-framed painting from Mexico City // Trees painting by Nicolas Party (for wall mural inspiration) // Landscape sheet set is vintage // Rice paper shade by Hay // Rug by Nordic Knots (similar here) // Elephant by Flying Tiger // Basket, crates, teepee, and orangutan by IKEA // Wall-hanging is vintage from my childhood // Pink paint is Tambour’s “Impatient Heart” // Green paint is Tambour’s “Jungle Book” (great name) // Bedroom by Emily Green for inspiration
The artwork here is too clumped together and organized in my opinion, with awkward vast white space around it. I’m planning to scatter it more once I paint the walls.
And this wall will look less empty after painting as well. For now Talia’s chest of drawers are old Muji storage containers I’ve had for years (already yellowing). One day we’ll upgrade…
Around Modiin
My favorite neighborhood in Modiin to walk around in and take photos is Shimshoni. The plant life and facades make for great inspiration.
I want that pot and plant….
Bougainvillea in Shimshoni
And a few from Nofim, where I live (Modiin’s newest neighborhood … for now):
View of Tel Aviv from our balcony, plus one of the new neighborhoods being built across the way.
Nook Architects, Barcelona
Barcelona has some of the best interiors, with multicolored tile floors and beamed ceilings. Nook Architects uses both beautifully — they’re a new favorite.
Gorgeous windows.
I love that hallway tile juxtaposed with the bedroom tile. Did you notice the clock?
Bathroom Top 10 list.
Beautiful tiles. They give the space everything.
Beams and tiles.
Here’s Nook’s three-person team:
I’m looking forward to their Domestika course, Interior Design from Start to Finish.
Pop of Green
via Fermetti
Bright green is my favorite — it’s clean and fresh and energizing. It adds life to a space much like plants do and feels lighthearted. Like below, where a wood or black table would make the room feel serious and sombre but the green makes it playful and less precious.
via Jessica Wansink
via Nook Architects
via hunker
via Milk Decoration
via thekitchn
via dezeen
via Domino
Leanne Ford’s Oversized Paper Globe Lanterns
Paper lanterns have been around for a long while, but Leanne Ford makes oversized ones look distinct and special every time. I just ordered this 80 cm one by Hay for my daughter’s room. Hope it does what I’m hoping it will for the space. More to come. In the meantime Leanne:
Side note, she spray-painted those wicker chairs Cherokee Red — nice idea. And the room has mirrors on every wall that isn’t a window, which reflects the garden outside all over the room.
Korean Curtains
The Korean Instagrammers I follow have minimalist homes with a lot of white and wood. But sometimes they throw in a patterned curtain….
@hami.mommy (also above):
Our Old Apartment in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn
From 2014 to 2018 I lived in a mediocre apartment just south of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I had moved in with my boyfriend (turned husband) and quit my product manager job at Kickstarter to become a math teacher, so I moved to a cheaper neighborhood and upped the square footage. Teaching was so all-consuming that I didn’t take any “real” photos of the place; I can’t find any photos of the hallway I painted green. Here are a few old pics from my barely-used Instagram account during that period.
Hated the floors.
Loved these plastic rugs, but they were hard to keep steady on the hardwood. I moved them to our living room to be held in place by our coffee table, which worked a little better.
The coffee table was a hand-me-down from Kickstarter’s original office in Manhattan, which they cleared out when moving to their new space in Brooklyn. I used it as a bench in our next apartment’s kitchen, and now it’s on our balcony in Israel.
The sun, figurines, and magnet I taped to the wall are from Mexico City.
Masquespacio’s Tiles
Spanish design studio Masquespacio does the most amazing tile work. Look at this restaurant! La Sastrería, in Valencia, Spain.
Also in Valencia is this tropical sushi restaurant, Kaikaya:
And below is a new project of theirs, an office space for Cuardernos Rubio, a company that designs playful educational content and stationary.
It’s all so fun.
My Old Apartment in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
From 2011 to 2014 I lived on a beautiful street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, in the one gray building on the block. It was a 500 sq ft (46 sq meter) studio with an alcove archway and great sunlight.
I bought the mermaid painting at Miss Pixie’s when I lived in Washington, DC, and it traveled with me to all four apartments in Brooklyn and it’s now with me in Modiin, Israel. The dead space bottom left of it isn’t great (nor is the cheapo silver mirror). But that’s life in your 20s….
The white sofa is from IKEA. Over time it got dirty and I’ve since re-covered it in gray velvet thanks to Comfort Works. It’s still with me now in Israel. If I were designing this today, I would turn the couch facing the windows, back to the bed, to create two distinct living spaces.
I got rid of the two Robert Longo Men in the Cities posters when I moved in with my boyfriend (now husband), who refused to have them around. I had bought them from a woman in Alexandria, Virginia, who said she loved them but her husband refused to have them around.