Red Room

A dear and stylish friend gave me a subscription to Mary Englebreit's Home Companion Magazine for Christmas. I confess I was a little surprised — though Mary Englebreit is an acclaimed illustrator, she really doesn't seem like my style. But. I trust this friend's design instincts implicitly. So when I received my first issue, the February/March one, I checked it out. And have barely put it down since. It rocks.

One of my favorite articles featured a room painted red. The red was great, but the really brilliant part was that they hadn't gone white on the woodwork and had just kept everything in one color. I don't think I've ever seen another room that has done this. I found it inspiring. The third picture shows the non-red part of the room.

Another good idea in this room: the wall shown behind the stool was covered in red fabric, with a layer of cotton batting beneath. It functions as a bullitin board of sorts. You would use straight pins on it — like you're pinning fabric — instead of pushpins.

Yet another good idea: the dress on the mannequin is made from children's artwork photocopied onto larger paper. So clever.

I have a new found respect for Ms. Englebreit. Apparently, she's some kind of forward-thinking business genius.