Spotlight On: The Acrylic Coffee Table

If you haven’t noticed yet, acrylic coffee tables are popping up everywhere in some of the most beautifully designed homes. And there is a reason that these modern beauties work in almost any space – completely translucent, they take up absolutely no visual room, and work with absolutely any scheme. They add a slight edge to the most traditional of rooms and combine surprisingly well with any style from glam vintage to urban sleek. Where coffee tables are concerned, it’s the ultimate no-fail solution!

 

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Interior Design When It Sizzles

The 1964 film “Paris When It Sizzles” was not particularly well received when it hit the big screen, and not undeservedly – it is as one critic described it: “contrived, utterly preposterous and totally unmotivated.” Audrey Hepburn, arrayed in a myriad of Givenchy stunners as she flits about “scriptwriter” William Holden’s spacious Paris apartment, brightens things up a bit, as does a hilarious cameo by Hollywood legend Tony Curtis. But the real star of the film – and what makes it halfway watchable – is the stunning apartment that Hepburn and Holden inhabit during half the film (when they’re not lost in fantasy-flashbacks in which they’re fighting trench-coated spies and chasing vampires…like I said, not an Oscar contender.)

It’s apparent that a considerable amount of thought went into the apartment’s set design, in which each new camera angle reveals another impeccably decorated nook of cool French-glam. Basically, it’s the Paris apartment you’ve always dreamed of. I couldn’t help seeing if I could find pieces that evoke some of the feel of that apartment in modern terms. Anyone in the market for a luxuriously decorated Paris apartment?

Entryway

1. Wall Art 2. Chest 3. Lantern

Sitting Area

1. Lamp 2. Mirror 3. Settee 4. Accent Table 5. Rug

Living Room

1. Sofa 2. Table 3. Sconce 4. Bar Cart 5. Rug

Bedroom

1. Headboard 2. Mirror 3. Ottoman 4. Rug

Style Equation: The Workspace

Your home office should be a place that inspires you, helps you focus and accomplish the tasks you set aside to work on. Since both what you use your home office for and what environment keeps you the most productive are so widely varying, everyone’s workspace is, and should be, unique, inspiring, and functional for them. Here are a few style equations to make your workspace a place that inspires you.

If you like a clean workspace, architectural furniture pieces in unobtrusive neutral colors work well. A glossy white lamp adds some polish.

If color inspires and stimulates you try a mod graphic print and a brightly colored lamp. Go for a streamlined desk to ground the look.

To inject a little modern glamour into a workspace, accessorize a mid-century desk with a high-shine lamp and printed ikat chair.