Welp.  My interior decorating obsession du mois has elevated to a whole new level thanks to Grace Bonney’s fabulous Design Sponge at Home book.

You probably already know about the blog Design Sponge — ah-mazing eye-candy, home decorating ideas + DIY projects, and sneak peeks into the fab homes of various style and design afficionados.  (My only gripe with the site — its design.  Which is ironic, because it’s a blog about, well, design.  But it’s so cluttered with ads, side banners, “click here for more,” etc., that I’m left feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, like I’m going to click on the wrong thing and suddenly pop ups will consume my screen.  Ack.)  The book is beyond.  I spent the entire weekend poring over it, page by page, a veritable well-spring of inspiration and home design genius.  This in turn led me down the rabbit hole of googling nearly every single homeowner featured in the book, and then into their respective design collectives, home goods shops, nurseries, etc.  By Sunday afternoon (just before the Super Bowl), I was practically buzzing with inspiration and itching to buy about 349898 different items.  Some key items I’m absolutely dying over…

Wall sconces.  One key takeaway from the design masters featured in the book — interesting and functional lighting installations.  So many of the featured folks had one-of-a-kind chandeliers that they’d either made themselves (using, for example, glass balls or capiz shells) or “salvaged” from a thrift store.  (I’m going to begin to use this verb — “I salvaged this vintage dog portrait.”  Aka: “I found this dog painting while trolling around Etsy.”)  Anyhoo — while I’m on the fence about a chandelier (most of the funky/modern ones aren’t to my taste, and the more traditional ones seem almost ironic or flat out cheesy in a recently renovated apartment), I can REALLY get behind a set of wall sconces. What a genius space-saving trick — no longer a need for bedside tables on either side of the bed, and think about all of the table-top space you’re saving.

I love the look above — the gold base adds a cool glamor and sophistication to the crisp white room.  I’ve source my own affordable pair at none other than Lowe’s ($158):

I think this design would look fabulous in the navy, aqua, and coral guest room we’ve been slowly updating — it looks nautical/symmetric in a way that would play nicely with navy and would offset the feminine accent colors and fabrics we have going in there.  Circa Lighting has a stunning collection of sconces, including these puppies (holy MOLY), which I’ve already imagined hanging on the walls of my future lavender personal office, whenever I get one.

Speaking of my future lavender office, I fell in love with the following fabric (“the Ann,” $90/yard) from textile guru Rubie Green

I am imagining it as the cushion on a pair of cane chairs or even just framed in huge gilded frames, triptych style, along one wall.  I’m in love — the perfect balance of whimsy and sophistication.  And it would look divine offset by one of these amazing cloud paintings by Tara Andris ($700).  Dreamy.

But back to the matter at hand.  Let me tell you — Rubie Green’s entire line is absolutely genius, y’all.

(All of the photos above are from Rubie Green’s actual home.  Do you not DIE over the headboard?!  Sheeeeesh.)

Four poster beds always felt a little…old-fashioned.  But I saw lots of examples to the contrary in Design Sponge, including in the home of a Martha Stewart living contributor who had painted hers a cheery coral color, and in the home of Emerson Fry (the fashion designer behind eponymous line Emerson Fry — read about her in this feature), where a pair of twin four posters were painted a fresh yellow color.  I was puttering around online, doing some research on this front, and instead found myself obsessed with these architecture beds ($1,190) from Room + Board.  I now absolutely have my heart set on buying one — or a pair — of these for the bedrooms of future mini Magpies.

Don’t you just the love?!  So simple and yet such a great way to introduce or echo color elsewhere.  The interest in / curiosity about the four poster bed look is not yet quenched, but these are sufficiently satisfying my furniture lust list.

I was obsessed with the fact that one homeowner had “salvaged” an old country barn door and installed it as a sliding door to her dressing room — it looked spectacular given that the rest of the home was pristine and polished, and added some serious texture and character.  I recently purchased a hammered metal letter to hang on one of our budding gallery walls.  I felt I needed something other than a framed print/painting, and the rustic style was perfect alongside the polish of the rest of the artwork.  So, I’m very much on board with this design trick, and am considering ways to ‘toughen up” or “balance” other corners of our nest.  This wine rack (Cyan Design, $223) achieves just that.

The only hiccup is that Mr. Magpie and I have an aversion to displaying wine/booze — we keep ours in “the booze basket” (an oversized, lidded rectangular chest) or in our pantry.  I think that we’re both still reeling from college, when displaying liquor felt like a design accomplishment.  I know that the whole “bar cart” design trend is huge right now, but it does not speak to us.  So, we’d need to accept that wine would be part of our interior decor for this to work.

There were tons of unique art objects / home decor accents featured in these spectacular pads, and though Mr. Magpie complains that I “only like white” when I decorate, I couldn’t help but daydream about adding these animal oddities to bookshelves and accent tables in our pad: first, this unique porcelain-and-gold skull from Beetle + Flor (exact style below available at Michele Varian’s e-boutique for $348); second, these darling measuring hedgehog measuring cups ($36), which are far too pretty to live in a cupboard.  I’d figure out a way to display them — or maybe would separate one of the sizes and use it as a little jewelry dish or something.

And, am loving the idea of adding some more antlers to our digs (Mr. Magpie has a wall with three sets of antlers installed, staggered), perhaps to decorate a coffee table.  (Gold — $79; white — $60).

At least two homes featured a new-to-me classic called “The Hudson Bay Blanket,” a striped wool blanket that reminds me of camping or staying in a cabin in upstate Maine for some reason.  The look isn’t exactly my style — I’m not a primary color gal — but it did get the wheels turning and suddenly I was lusting after my own, Magpie variation in the form of the Pia Wallen cross blanket (~$250 and up depending on size).  I know I’ve featured this style on my blogski before, but now I absolutely MUST own one.  I’m intrigued by the black and white but feel it’s too fierce for my style, so the gray is currently garnering first place.  I love the Scandinavian design, which would be a sweet nod to my grandfather’s heritage.  (He was born in Finland.  His first name was Aser, a traditional Finnish name.  How bad ass is that?)

Not sure what all the fuss is about?  Check it out in context:

Need/covet/die/want now.

I loved that several of the bedrooms featured a bold, upholstered/patterned/stenciled headboard or comforter and then crisp and simple hotel sheeting.  There is something so inviting about these sheets, which look freshly laundered and pressed and are just calling my name.  (It could also be that I’m currently beyond exhausted.)

I’m convinced I need a set and have read good things about the line Frette ($65+).

I’ve been dying to own a cow-hide rug for centuries (this one is my JAM, but here’s an affordable style I’d also consider), but a new idea occurred to me — maybe I can get the look less obtrusively with cowhide pillows!  {Hi option below — $129 each; lo option below — $25.}

While we’re talking outdoorsy/West (and I’m just realizing a trend between the antlers, cowhide, and now — portrait below), I’ve been bothering Mr. Magpie to let me buy an Eadward Muybridge photographic print of horses in motion.  I want the biggest size possible (we’re talking 6 feet) to hang above our leather couch for an upscale Ralph Lauren look.

Pleeeease can I get it?!  I want.

And, finally…just something I want — a set of lacquer boxes ($86) to stack on top of each other in handsome Hermes orange.

What are you coveting?