Month: May 2017

Trend Alert: Texture in Marbling

Posted on by Ourso Designs in Uncategorized

Marbling is the art of printing multi-colored swirled or stone-like patterns on paper or fabric. The patterns are formed by first floating the colors on the surface of a liquid, and then laying the paper or fabric onto the colors to absorb them. (It is not at all the same art as faux marbre, or faux finishes, which involves painting a marble-like finish directly onto walls, columns, or furniture.) 

We love the wallpaper shown above that mimics this same ancient marbling technique.  We are seeing this texturing being applied to all sorts of home decor items such as bowls, plates, planters, rugs, wall surfaces, etc and have even seen this trend show up in fashion!

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Here is a youtube video that shows the intricate process of marbling.

Here are a few examples of paper marbling translated into interior design decor:

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And our designers’ picks:


Inspiring Backyards: Ideas for Sprucing Up Your Backyard

Posted on by Ourso Designs in Uncategorized

We are in the midst of spring and the warm weather brings us outdoors more and more, and so the backyard projects begin! The outdoor projects are as satisfying as unwinding in that outdoor space. Or is it, the projects make the unwind time more satisfying? Well, to get you started, here are some inspiring backyards that will give you lots of ideas for sprucing up your backyard!

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Rugs are a great way to make your outdoor space feel more like a comfy interior, but a great way to get the look of a rug without the maintenance is to paint the concrete!
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Love the built in seating!

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Orient your seating under a large back yard tree. The tree creates a canopy for shade.

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Are you seeing a trend here…? Look at all the string lights. Its great to have a layering of lighting (see our past blog on outdoor lighting), like chandeliers, garden lighting, and even strings lights.

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Check out these great swing ideas!

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PLANTERS! Not only should you have some fixed flower beds, but add pots and planters, this adds some depth to the space.

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Slat walls are perfect for creating barriers as well as bringing in a vertical element to your space. AND you can hang lights or grow plants on them!

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History Lesson: Jean-Michel Frank

Posted on by Ourso Designs in Uncategorized
Artists inevitably take inspiration from the world around them, and it’s hard to imagine a richer environment than Paris in the 1930s, when Jean-Michel Frank was the most celebrated decorator and designer of the era. His projects were often to decorate rooms with Picassos and Braques hanging on the walls, and his circles included everyone from Parisian artists to socialites, Man Ray to the Rockefellers.

But Frank’s style is hard to describe. He’s known as a minimalist, but it’s his layer of maximalism that makes his work so interesting and complex. He was understated and restrained in the shapes of furniture he designed, but often dressed them in opulent materials: ornate mica screens, bronze doors, lamps made of quartz, as well as the shagreen-covered vanity and cubic sheepskin club chair he created for Hermès. Frank’s favorite color was white, which he made appear both spare and rich. And he’s credited with designing one of the most iconic minimalist pieces of furniture in history—the Parsons table—but would often cover the tables with the most luxe finishes.

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Despite his keen eye for design and quality, Frank found the elements of daily life key to any space, and believed “perfect taste” to be a recipe for a soulless room.

A distant cousin of the famed diarist Anne Frank, he fled France around 1940 to escape Nazi occupation, and worked and traveled in South America and the United States. Sadly, he committed suicide by jumping from a Manhattan building in 1941, at the age of 46. But his work is still celebrated in museums today, and you can buy reproductions of some of his most iconic furniture pieces designed for Hermès.