Rex Ray: Contemporary Art And Design

Ever since I saw one of the below images, I've kept it on my mind. So today is all about Rex Ray. A San Francisco based artist and designer. The images themselves are extraordinarily powerful. A heightened fusion of art mixed with a decorative attitude. Amazing colors. Exotic patterns. Sometimes even butting up against each other, or overlaid. I really love this confrontational aspect of them. At times they feel modernist, at times totemic. But always contemporary in an unique way. Throw moments of Miro and Matisse influence in there as well. I almost forgot. I think they're amazing. But what I also really love about this artist and designer is that he is in fact both. He's managed to straddle that line between high art and usable design which I think is always a tricky move. His work has been exhibited in major art museums. But he has also done product design work in conjunction with companies like Apple, and album art for David Bowie. And as I'm further showing below an assortment of rugs, placemats, and wall tiles for various manufacturers. It's really quite a diversity of art and design applications.

Thomas-Michael

rexray.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray.

rexray.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray.

rexray.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray.

rexray.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray.

rugsandcarpets.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray. This is an example of one of his rug designs. Really love this.

modern-twist.eu

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray. This one is a placemat design. It could be so many things, couldn't it.

modwalls.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray. And finally some subway tiles for the wall. I love information inspired design.

Interior Design: FLOR(Rug/Carpet)

Today is all about FLOR. It's an interior design flooring product I think is really cleaver. In short, they've taken rugs or carpeting and broke them down into repeatable tiles. Thus allowing you to tile your own rug or carpet together. As you like. Not only does this create a seemingly endless array of design possibilities, but it's cost effective. In general the offering is very clean in terms of design and biased towards modern. But not in a cold way. And it's excessively easy to work with. In fact they even have a great little gadget on their website where you can actively design your final product, which I'm showing in the last image. Enjoy!

Thomas-Michael

flor.com

Interior Design, Modular And Modern Carpet Rug Flooring Solutions From FLOR. Checkers here. I should note I think they also merchandise the product really nicely. This is such a clean image.

flor.com

Interior Design, Modular And Modern Carpet Rug Flooring Solutions From FLOR. Love the bright stripes.

flor.com

Interior Design, Modular And Modern Carpet Rug Flooring Solutions From FLOR. For the more laid back of you they also have soft and more neutral options.

flor.com

Interior Design, Modular And Modern Carpet Rug Flooring Solutions From FLOR. Here's a nice natural and textural option.

flor.com

Interior Design, Modular And Modern Carpet Rug Flooring Solutions From FLOR. This one I really love. It's colorful and neutral at once.

flor.com

Interior Design, Modular And Modern Carpet Rug Flooring Solutions From FLOR. Love this one too. Like the randomness a lot.

flor.com

Interior Design, Modular And Modern Carpet Rug Flooring Solutions From FLOR. This is the online design application I was talking about where you can design your rug carpet in real time. It's extremely easy to work with by means of drag and drop. And it automatically calculates the price as you go. Very convenient.

flor.com

Interior Design, Modular And Modern Carpet Rug Flooring Solutions From FLOR. Lastly, a simple layout I designed quickly just mixing options together. There's so much you could do with these. I think they'd look great on the wall as well. There's an idea!

Affordable(Yet Chic) Home Interior Basics

You can put all of these together, or just get and do one. And they are all affordable. They address a lot of the most typical issues people express and ask me about all the time. Particularly with regard to apartments on the small side.

1. I need a big table that I can host a dinner on.
2. I need a big table that I can work on.
Use the same table for both.
3. I want a chair that's comfortable but not frumpy or ugly.
4. I need something for the floor.
5. What do you suggest for an inexpensive yet cool coffee table?
6. What can I do with my bedroom to make it more interesting?
7. What should I do with that blank wall?
Ideas below.

Thomas-Michael




A large table for a dinner or as a work surface.

roomandboard.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Room And Board, Pratt Dining Table, Desk, Large Work Table, 72" X 36", Price ~ $680 USD. This is a great and inexpensive table. It's clean, modern, and will work with anything you've already got. It's also thin and not too heavy looking. So it won't feel like it's clogging up a small apartment. I'm including my four favorite surfacing options. You can put your laptop on it and lay everything out to work, or clean it up and serve a dinner on it. Perfectly functional.

A large table for a dinner or as a work surface.

roomandboard.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Room And Board, Pratt Dining Table, Desk, Large Work Table, 72" X 36", Price ~ $680 USD. This is a great and inexpensive table. It's clean, modern, and will work with anything you've already got. It's also thin and not too heavy looking. So it won't feel like it's clogging up a small apartment. I'm including my four favorite surfacing options. You can put your laptop on it and lay everything out to work, or clean it up and serve a dinner on it. Perfectly functional.

A large table for a dinner or as a work surface.

roomandboard.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Room And Board, Pratt Dining Table, Desk, Large Work Table, 72" X 36", Price ~ $680 USD. This is a great and inexpensive table. It's clean, modern, and will work with anything you've already got. It's also thin and not too heavy looking. So it won't feel like it's clogging up a small apartment. I'm including my four favorite surfacing options. You can put your laptop on it and lay everything out to work, or clean it up and serve a dinner on it. Perfectly functional.

A large table for a dinner or as a work surface.

roomandboard.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Room And Board, Pratt Dining Table, Desk, Large Work Table, 72" X 36", Price ~ $680 USD. This is a great and inexpensive table. It's clean, modern, and will work with anything you've already got. It's also thin and not too heavy looking. So it won't feel like it's clogging up a small apartment. I'm including my four favorite surfacing options. You can put your laptop on it and lay everything out to work, or clean it up and serve a dinner on it. Perfectly functional.

A comfortable chair.

crateandbarrel.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Crate And Barrel, Oasis Slipcover Swivel Chair, Price = $1400 USD. This is the most expensive item in the post, but it's worth it. And honestly, you could easily end up spending a lot more on this type of chair. It's clean in design. I love the thin side arms. Elegant, chic, and comfortable. It's not under designed. It's not over designed. It will work with anything you already have. And. You can slip the cover off and wash it. How perfect.

On the floor.

westelm.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, West Elm, Jute Boucle Rug, 9' X 12', Price = $400 USD. This is an easy, simple answer for any large area of ugly floor. It's neutral, natural, and textural. It's modern with modern furniture, classic with classic furniture. Like everything else, it will work with almost anything you have. And it's only $400 USD.

Coffee table.

elleinterior.se

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Coffee Table, Wood And Books, Price = Wood And Books. Do I really need to say anything. Stack up some books and throw a great piece of wood on top of them. Love it. In fact, if you look around this image, there are a couple of great and affordable things going on.

In the bedroom.

www.style-files.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Simple Chic Canopy Bed, Price = Fabric. All you need here is some nice sheer fabric and you're in business. Drape it loosely, looks great.

And on the wall.

www.pursuingprague.blogspot.com
www.elizabethannedesigns.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Wall Decor, Book Pages, Price = Books. Really simple, cleaver, and almost no cost. Grab a book and start ripping.

Stripes

The short story is that I was at a lunch yesterday. A woman there was wearing a technicolor striped dress.

Thomas-Michael

Stripes. Two of my favorite striped patterns.

Stripes. Some stripes in architecture.

katespade.com

Stripes. Some stripes in retail store design and visual merchandising at Kate Spade.

elledecor.com

Stripes. Some stripes in home interior design from Elle Decor.

elledecor.com

Stripes. Some stripes in home interior design from Elle Decor.

elledecor.com

Stripes. Some stripes in home interior design from Elle Decor.

Stripes. Stripes on the ceiling, stripes on the floor.

elledecor.com

Stripes. And some striped furniture to compliment.

ikea.com

Stripes. How about some striped sheets from Ikea.

Stripes. There's also stripes in contemporary art.

fendi.com
versace.com

Stripes. And stripes in fashion from Fendi and Versace, Spring Summer 2011 collections.

versace.com

Stripes. And lastly. Nothing, but stripes. From the Versace Spring Summer 2011 ad campaign.

"White-Space"Inspiration From Interior Design Magazine, November 2009

Recently I've been looking quite a bit at what I'm calling whitespace. It's a term used in several contexts. Essentially to describe the manner in which absence can bind elements together. Often referred to in the arts as negative space.

'White space should not be considered merely blank space. It is an important element of design which enables the objects in it to exist at all. The balance between positive or non white and the use of negative spaces is key to aesthetic composition.'
-Wikipedia

Relative to interior design, I came across this example a year or two ago from an Interior Design Magazine article. The house is in Connecticut. Interiors by Cherie Zucker. In this project, we start with an almost entirely white space. Then color is then injected at points boldly and strong, but in a finite and elemental manner. Every piece of color and form to some degree thus becomes part of a spatial definition, the white space thus is holding these curated pieces together like parts of a Mondrian composition. It is museum like, but soothing. Discreet, and harmonious at once. And it's a very gorgeous and contemporary idea of space I think that can be translated easily into anyone's interior.

Thomas-Michael

interiordesign.net

Home Interior Design, WhiteSpace, Inspiration From Designer Cherie Zucker And Interior Design Magazine, November 2009.

interiordesign.net

Home Interior Design, WhiteSpace, Inspiration From Designer Cherie Zucker And Interior Design Magazine, November 2009.

interiordesign.net

Home Interior Design, WhiteSpace, Inspiration From Designer Cherie Zucker And Interior Design Magazine, November 2009.

Cowhides: Pure Rugs From Los Angeles

If you're looking for a cowhide, or a sheepskin, you may want to try Pure Rugs. Located in Los Angeles, it was founded by three architects who wanted to make finding quality cowhide rugs easier and more reliable. All of the rugs are handmade in Buenos Aires with hides from Angentina and Brazil.

Thomas-Michael

purerugs.com

Home Interior Design Product, Cowhides From Pure Rugs, Los Angeles.

purerugs.com

Home Interior Design Product, Cowhides From Pure Rugs, Los Angeles.

purerugs.com

Home Interior Design Product, Cowhides From Pure Rugs, Los Angeles.

purerugs.com

Home Interior Design Product, Cowhides From Pure Rugs, Los Angeles.