seen and felt

when i first laid eyes on this pillow on the crate and barrel website, i fell in love. not only do i love the repetition of the concentric circles, but also their texture and neutral color are soothing at the same time as being modern and playful looking. as i do with many things i love but have no immediate need or use for, i printed this out and filed it away in the appropriate folder - in this case, "textiles." yeah.

then, i happened upon this pouf, an even more amazing version of the same concept. a piece like this could make an entire room. it manages to be a total piece de resistance, while being cream on cream and made of felt. who knew? i wondered what a piece like this in a more definite color would look like, and was disappointed to see that it did not work as well as i had hoped.i feel like it is immediately cheapened, even in neutral shades of brown, or green, as shown below. to me, it is a look that's meant to live in shades of white and play more off its texture than its color. there are so many other ways to add color to a room, why waste it on a piece that gets so much mileage out of its texture and dimension alone?i also happen to think that these look more like arts and crafts projects than smartly designed home accessories - too playful.
back to the ones i do like, i could see using them in a room all done in shades of sand and oatmeal, and mixing them with several other patterns and textures, as the pillow is shown below.

here is one design scheme i could see working well. i played around with a fuscia throw, and one that was a burnt red because i felt obliged to at least try the whole "punch of color" angle, but i think the muted colors really work best here:



















and because one look at that incredible chair isn't enough, here are two more. add it to the wish list. obsessed.