Are you a looker? Don't you just love to look at photos of interiors - on blogs, in magazines, and in books. We're all unique, and we all have our own style, collections, and ways of setting up a home. And now-a-days, a house can be designed to live or designed to sell. One example of a home style that is designed to live is featured in a new book from Designer Thomas O' Brien - called American Modern.
Designer Thomas O'Brien
[read MORE about O' Brien in
at Meade Design Group Blog]
As featured in my April issue of Canadian HOUSE & HOME, the designer shares photos of his apartment - eight years ago as THEN and how it is NOW. Life can change within eight years - and those happenings can change the way we set our home...
O' Brien's Cosmopolitan apartment - eight years ago.
His style then considered the elegance of his 1930's apartment -
matching pieces, fewer shapes, sparse and serene then...
O' Brien's Eclectic collection.
His reinvention of the way he uses space now...
O' Brien's Spare Fireplace.
His warmer side of modernism then...
O' Brien's Salon Style wall now...
NOT meant to be uniform and let's go of boundaries.
Thomas O' Brien's serene living room then.
O' Brien's living room converted to
a Studio bedroom now...
Ralph Lauren clipping
Ralph Lauren Metropolis clipping
Ralph Lauren clipping
Ralph Lauren Urban Loft
Some of the reasons for a home style to change can be as simple as our age, or as complex as joining your life with another - be it a partner or having a child. I do not have any children, but throughout the way my life has changed, I have adapted, learned, grown, and have always have tried to remain true to myself. I believe a homes style can go through phases - and does not just follow a trend. A home is a reflection of the area we live in, the culture around us, and even a feeling we want to evoke in our home...
Our town home styling in 2006-09
Simple, clean, and balanced
my restyled town home - 2010
Breaking free from being restrained.
Our town home today has been restyled with
a salon style wall -
I started to build it in December - and completed it in January.
It is reminiscent of a style I had
in my old apartment, back in 2000, when
I had fallen in LOVE with this Ralph Lauren wall...
Ralph Lauren clipping from old files...
I think today "the lines have been blurred" - by all the design shows and staging shows... but that's going to go off into another topic, for another post, on another day.
American Modern
written by Thomas O' Brien & Lisa Light
I'm looking forward to checking out Thomas O' Brien's book, American Modern... to learn more about collecting (buying what you love), curating (taking your time), and displaying (layering shapes, textures, colors & eras) artful objects in our home...
O' Brien's artful display of layering shapes and eras.
My artful display of treasure in our home.
I read a lot of comments online over the weekend... One comment about the book said, "the book should have been called American Contemporary" ... but that too - the difference between Modern and Contemporary - is another topic for another day. And I also read a somewhat of an attack (on a post I made at RMS) of the way I styled our home "it looks like a mish-mash".
No matter what you read on blogs or books - style YOUR home YOUR way - and if you're happy with it... than you have captured the essence of focusing on what matters to YOU most.
Have a WONDERFUL day...
i saw thomas o'brien do a talk, he was excellent. i love your salon style wall! it's so great! american modern is cool stuff:)
ReplyDeleteYour home has always looked great no matter where your mood takes you. Personally I live by less is more (I think it's my type A anal OCD-ness having contol)but can sure appreciate your *great* style and talent.
ReplyDeleteSorry you got attacked on RMS........I am very rarely on there anymore. That is why so many people started blogs because once RMS went on tv, the whole caliber of people on it took a nosedive big time.
Thanks for taking the time to post for us! I appreciate you!!
Now, this is a cool post. I love where your own individual style takes you. That one particular person on HGTV RMS is a boob; just plain rude man. I saw the ugly comments thought geez, leave her alone (well my words were more colorful - lol). Anyway, do you and don't let idiots bate you into responding to childish comments.
ReplyDeleteAnyway tata for now, gotta take my butt to class!!
Marilyn
P.S. When are you opening your business ;)
Ok, I'm a college student and can't even spell "bait". DUH! I'm sure you know what I meant!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
i find you in the blog from the Elegant Thrifter, and it very intresting to read your post. Thank you for the pictures and will read you again regards jürgen
ReplyDeleteI think perhaps "modern" (lowercase "m" I suppose) is taking on yet another meaning in the 2000s, and is a bit of a catch-all. The American part in Thomas O'Brien's book perhaps explains the antiques and vintage ephemera. This is my favorite design book from the past, well six months to a year, which is saying a lot, because I am a design book whore. Totally worth the price - I think it's pretty discounted over at amazon right now.
ReplyDeleteJamie - you are so lucky to have met and seen him speak! What a treat!
ReplyDeleteJill - THANK YOU (especially) so much for your continued support. Had we not met through RMS, and you not say to me "you should start a blog - I'd read it", I probably would not have attempted it... so thank you.
Marilyn - Was that you - "To all the haters out there"... lol Thanks for having my back. Sorry you had to see that mess. I especially love the fact, that some people drop the nasty comments over there - all without a profile or any of THEIR own space to support their POV...
Jurgen - Thanks for stopping by! Stan is a wonderful person - I've met through tweeting. And today, while in the bookstore picking up TOB's book, I also picked up Stan's - The Find...
Becky - Yes. I agree with you. Modern, as of late, has turned into a "catch all". I am very much looking forward to going through O' Brien's book this evening, with a glass of wine (and a late afternoon Florida shower) But I do believe the book is available through AMAZON. I attached the link (in this post & at top right sidebar): There are also another 33 new plus 6 used available on the link.
Thanks for stopping by FOCAL POINT...
:D Lynda
Thank you so much for the mention! You made my day and I had so much fun reading your blog entry.
ReplyDeleteCharacter and Patina a great lesson to learn from Mr. Thomas O'Brian.