Year Archive for 2008
INTERIOR DESIGN WEEK! NEO-BAROQUE GOTHIC FURNITURE, WALLPAPER, CHANDELIERS.
My architect father’s birthday is coming up, so let’s give him a little present. Last May, we celebrated Rococo Week. Now, I proclaim that this shall be Interior Design Week!
I grew up on my dad’s photo books about modern home design. When I moved into my first real place (above), I turned it into a Zen Minimalist Loft. (Yup, that’s a Verner Panton chair and meditation cushions.) These days, I lean more towards modern Marie Antoinette decor, or Neo Gothic Rococo…
…as epitomized above. Reader Elizabeth sent me these delightful visuals of Meg Matthews’ old bedroom (she’s the ex-wife of Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher). Meg’s got the dark royal aesthetic down to the black stand-alone clawfoot bathtub. Elizabeth writes: “Oh how I wish I could find all of the elements to create a room like hers…”
Ah, that’s what Interior Design Week is all about! Elizabeth starts us off with a link to Meg Matthew’s “Rock and Skull” limited wallpaper design< by Wonder Walls. Be still, my beating heart… The interlocking skulls (bottom right) come in a variety of colours and shades, but hopefully your walls aren’t too high: each square meter will put you back £75.
Let me point you in a more economical but equally Gothic direction. When I visited Berlin last year, I flipped for a furniture/fashion/design store called DOM. Designer Christian Koban’s vision can be described as “mod meets Edward Gorey”; I bought a spired black umbrella and promptly lost it. DOM has several German locations, as well as stores in Paris and Amsterdam. Too bad the website doesn’t have better images of his home furnishings.
A number of modern interior design companies have taken inspiration from the Baroque. Horchow’s mirrors (A, B, C above) feature deep carved patterns and ornate scrolls cast in resin and hand-finished in glossy lacquer. (Available online for $400.) Maisons du Monde’s hand-carved Barocco headboard is upholstered with button-tufted velvet (500 euros online). Even the tightest budget can accommodate Growing Veip’s Baroque Coat of Arms picture frame, a wicked pink delight that sells for $26.
I love 18th century design but I have a phobia of antique furniture (don’t judge! Billy Bob Thorton suffers from the same affliction.) That’s why I’m always glad to see Baroque forms re-cast in modern materials. Holland-based Studio JSPR sources unique antique pieces, restores them, and then seals them with a rubber-based coating. (Reminds me of Maarten Baas’ burnt furniture, which I wrote about). The Plastic Fantastic range is designed to resist all weather conditions, and can even be used as garden furniture; most pieces are over a thousand dollars.
Finally, let’s brighten up our morbid lairs with these stunning Neo-Baroque chandeliers. The Anastacha Lamp by Terzani (left) is designed around a brushed nickel bulb flanked by black or white plexiglass diffusers. Unica Home, one of my favorite modern design retail sites, sells it as a suspended lamp or wall sconce ($1200-5000). Atelier Abigailahern’s ghostly chandelier (right) casts a flickering low light and holds either taper candles or t-lights (£1,300 online).
What would you put in your dream house? Wait til you see the Neo-Rococo furniture pieces that I’ll post tomorrow!
SHARE & COMMENT
IPSO FACTO: BRITISH GOTH BAND, ONLINE CLOTHING AND ACCESORIES STORE.
CARMINA: What’s the term for people who love big words?
RONAN: Umm… pretentious?
Or how about fustian? I like big words, I do. They compensate for my… well, let’s not go there. At least I’m not alone: Goths are known for their labyrinthine scene/online monickers (D’Elormie, Sanguinaria, you get the idea). Visual Kei bands are as guilty of appropriating Latin and French words (Dué le Quartz and Psycho le Cému, anyone? )
Reader Emily suggested a post on Ipso Facto, so let’s make that our mot du jour. Behold three definitions, all of which are Gothic…
a) The Latin phrase means “by the very act,” or automatically. In other words, an effect is the direct consequence of the action in question, and not a subsequent one; “Faustus had signed his life away, and was, ipso facto, incapable of repentance.” (Marlowe, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus)
b) Ipso Facto also refers to a British all-female band (which is what Emily really meant). They’re known for their mod Goth outfits and for rocking out with The Horrors. In the words of Drowned in Sound: “Everything is taut black and white; guitars sound like they’re being played through straitjackets, the organ lines like slowly snapping ice.” Check out some of their tracks on MySpace.
c) Finally, there’s an online Goth store that goes by the same name. Ipso Facto sells casual Western Goth clothing, footwear, and accessories; most items are under $100. My personal style doesn’t usually run in this direction – I prefer Victorian/Rococo/Gothloli/J-punk – but I had fun browsing the categories and putting together a “sample outfit” (above). I began with an Emily the Strange creepy bones camisole/panty set ($24.50). I liked the short, black twill dress with an embroidered skull pocket by Attempt ($97.50). Boots are a must; I picked tall Torment ones with metal plates and buckles ($99.50). Alchemy’s English pewter razorblade ring ($29.50) and Tripp’s chain handcuff bondage straps ($17.50) also caught my eye.
I leave you with a Wikipedia article about the longest words in English. What are some of your favorite oroduntidities?
LA CARMINA
