On FLEEK / Message Me

I did a post on message décor in the early months of this blog because I thought its quirk-factor dovetailed with boho. Then last year I remember reading in some important magazine that it was on its way out, only to read in another important magazine recently that it’s hot again. All of which goes to show how fickle trends and trend reports are, possibly including this one.

For what it’s worth, what makes message décor I’m seeing today more sophisticated than your everyday, mass-produced sign art is:

1. Medium—Neon lights, retro light boxes/bulletin boards with interchangeable letters, magnetic Scrabble tiles, free-form or stenciled lettering, collage cut and paste, washi tape, chalkboards, pillows and plates.
2. Context—The message takes on additional meaning because of placement within a certain room or near a particular object. 

I’m guessing boho diehards pay scant attention to trends anyway. And since, as Voltaire says, reading is one of only two amusements that will never do harm, you all should enjoy these incredible NEW examples I’ve found of how people let their homes speak their minds.

Read on!

For affirmation, of a sort

Sandra Rojo photo / AD

Whether a message for the homeowner or a guest, it’s always good to hear. And I like the composition of this vignette with the apple, which in itself has a dual meaning: an apple for the teacher OR the apple in the garden of Eden. Should you bite?

S. Swalwell photo / Inside Out

Sometimes it’s not enough to hear we’re good; we have to be reminded to accept the goodness in ourselves. Not sure what the coiled, snakelike orange object is below-left of the sign, but it brings a “forbidden fruit” context to this vignette as well.

Bart Brussee photo / vtwonen

What a great affirmation to get you through a workday! The stenciled version right next to the smaller, taped-up version is interesting—as if to show that getting down to business made the temporary permanent.

Sköna Hem

Dare I say, something we all need to remind ourselves of?

For advice and reassurance

Tessa Neustadt photo / Homepolish

Glad someone is. Wish I had one.

Via Think Decor / Tumblr

Reminder for photographer and subject alike.

Via Design at Sketch

A perfect message for a well-designed, assymetrically nuanced room. This room is so perfect it makes me want to tear it up.

Adam Helbaoui photo / Design Therapy

Because if it isn’t, whose place have I crashed in?

Via Gravity Home / Tumblr

Is this meant for a partner, a guest, or one’s self? One-two-three, cha-cha-cha!

Anna's Pocket-Sized Retreat / Apartment Therapy

Hand-done, which adds to its meaning, and brings us to…

As potty humor

It's hard not to roll your eyes at a "Keep Calm and…” sign, but this one flushes trite right down the you-know-what. Thank you, context, which here includes a narrow and claustophobic powder room and perhaps the need for Xanax.

Raca Architekci / Stylizmo

I love how the backward message shows up in the mirror correctly and vice versa!

Nikitin Violetta & Filippova Ioannina 

So true, except the water here looks a bit murky, which I find disturbing.

Via Etsy

This one would work in the bedroom just as well, but maybe it would be too obvious there. You decide. Speaking of bedrooms...

As foreplay

Carina Olander photo

Love THIS message paired with these Freudian-shaped, prickly cacti!

Tjitske van Leeuwen / vtwonen

We? Oui! WHOA!!

Skeppsholmen Sotheby's International Realty

But will you get it all being so obvious?

Via vk.com

This one could have gone under "affirmations," but since it’s in the bedroom I wondered if it had another meaning.

Jessica Giesey / Design Sponge

Go ahead, try! You won’t have much luck unless you try the flip side, which is where the taped letters have been applied. Ha!

Dustin Halleck / Design Milk

Not so sexy, but still inviting. I love the simple composition of the three-letter word against all those books filled with words.

JJ Locations

A great night-lite, don’t you agree?

As foreplay, but not IN the bedroom

Archivo LIVING

After all, love happens in other places, too.

Via The Decorista

I’m trying to imagine how I might have felt about seeing a sign like this as a young, single woman visiting a beau for the first time. Depends on the beau, I suppose.

Jeroen van der Spek 

This one is just sweet.

To honor favorite song lyrics

One Girl Interiors / Desire to Inspire

The song is, of course, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I find it interesting that the room is the opposite of rainbow-colored, so it must be "Kansas." And why is the message embroidered and displayed in an embroidery hoop? Think on that one.

Woman's Day

These laser-cut song lyrics are what they say, and the room sings a rowdy backup.

Micasa

“The Waters of March,” by Brazilian Antonio Carlos Jobim, is one of my favorite songs of all time. I would LOVE having it on a wall in my home. Do you think they make the song in a stencil?

Micky Hoyle photo / Revista AD

Anyone who came of age in the 1970s will identify with this shout-out to Neil Diamond. I love the unique lettering and the addition of fun hats overhead.

As social commentary

Louis Lemaire photo / VT Deco

There’s certainly love, peace and harmony in this vignette. The letters look like Scrabble tiles with magnets applied, stuck to a vintage tray or baking pan. Magnetic poetry would work, too, and just about any flat metal object would serve as a base. Plus, you can change up the message whenever the mood strikes!

Csaba Barbay photo / Home Adore

Well, many things are just that, ODD, no ‘splaining possible. Interestingly, this message is paired with a drying mat that looks like a lawn, as well as a few other idiosyncratic pops. Can you find more oddities?

Lauren Kolyn / Apartment Therapy

The least trite beachy décor I’ve ever seen. Profound even, if you ponder a bit on the other items in the vignette.

Jason Loper / Apartment Therapy

That’s life!! Now say this over five times, really fast.

As work inspo

Spicer + Bank

“Cool your jets” was the mantra of my childhood. Can't remember how many times I said it or it was said to me. And now that I’m in my sixth decade, I know the twist on the phrase in this photo to be true as well. So get as much done as you can while you’re young; it eventually takes longer and longer.

Hannah's Quality Cool Life / Apartment Therapy

This is more the mantra I need to move me into high gear these days.

Emma Fiola / Apartment Therapy

Can’t argue with science OR Beyonce, right?

Katie Hodges / via Spicer + Bank

So true. Lots of sucky stuff to be discarded along the way to great.

Speaking of creativity, as ART! 

Sara Medina Lind / Skona Hem

Haha!

Via Planete Deco

A full poem, though I’m not sure what it means. But that’s good, isn’t it? For pondering, I mean.

Marie Claire Maison

A barbed homage to Réne Magritte. So is this the equivalent of the “Go Away” gnome I have by my front door?

HGTV Magazine

Time for you to come up with your OWN message décor. But as you do, ponder why the “w” is lowercase and “RITE” is all caps.

Until next time…

• Follow my Message Me Pinterest board to get more message decor. Come to think of it, while you're there you're welcome to follow ALL my home decor boards.
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Got Mail #6 / Boho must-haves from Anthro spring collection

Anthropologie

I know I’m guaranteed some boho home décor beauty when the seasons start to change and Anthropologie rolls out its new collection. Take it from me, this year’s spring home-decor offerings are a breath of boho fresh air.

I also know the door’s open in this photo, but let’s stay inside a bit and look around. After all, that’s what a lookbook’s for, and this one will have you ogling, drooling and spending before you know what’s hit you.

Comfort for living

I can’t begin to identify every new piece in each photo, but I’ll try to hit the highlights.

Anthropologie

My absolute fave in this photo is that wild and crazy chair—the Medina-Printed Rivona Chair. The Medina print reappears in other new pieces. The inspiration for the fabric is Moroccan, but the chair is all midcentury modern. Love those legs!

Anthropologie

Told you you'd see it reinterpreted on other pieces. Meet the Medina-Printed Tassa Sectional. It’s low-slung and pillowy, and if you fall asleep on it you’re liable to wake up in One Thousand and One Nights. Scheherazade never had it sooooooo good.

Anthropologie

Here’s another view of the Tassa, paired up with the equally transporting Moroccan Wedding Ottoman. It functions as a coffee-table ottoman OR a bench for extra seating. I’m just wondering why it took someone so long to turn the ubiquitous Moroccan wedding blanket into multifunctional furniture.

Love those slender golden legs! I think I have legs on the brain, if that's anatomically possible...??

Anthropologie

Here are some other beauties that caught my eye (clockwise from top left):

• The Floret Occasional Chair (you caught a glimpse of it in purple earlier but it also comes in green) features cotton velvet upholstery on a rosewood frame. What more could you ask for? 
• The Moussem Ceramic Stool, designed by Tracy Boyd, made of glazed white clay. It wants to cuddle up to a chair in my living room, but it would also work on a patio.
• The Zaylie Chair is inspired by Suzani applique and embroidery and sports embellishment all the way around, so be sure to place it where it can be viewed from a variety of angles. 
• The Kezia Occasional Chair is upholstered in your choice of three printed velvets. ‘Nuf said, right? 
• The Tanja Trunk makes a terrific coffee table or end-of-bed accent with its natural wood, incised eight-point stars and antique-iron accents. 
• This collection of Sketched Safari Chairs, by fashion designer Edward Hall, is the perfect anchor for any global-inspired home. So many shapes, sizes, animal prints and colors! Begin your safari hanging out with the elephants on the Purple Holloway Chair and the Canary-colored Tillie, then run with the big cats in the Indigo Bixby and the bright Orange Tillie. The collection also includes a flamingo-printed chair, as well as elephant wallpaper and a tiger lampshade, but I’ll let you hunt those down on your own. 

Dining with pleasure

Anthropologie

Nothing tells a sweeter story, gathered ‘round a table, than Anthro’s Folkthread Chairs, reinterpreted this season in recycled silk in three colors to mix and match. I’m also in love with the plushy Kinza Rug beneath. It’s shown in ivory but also comes in a black-and-white version.

Anthropologie

And what would any gathering be without romantic, mood-setting lighting? I’m loving (left to right): the Abalorio Chandelier, the Nomad Pendant, and the Beadcraft Chandelier.

Dreamy boho bedrooms

Anthropologie

The Premium Leather Rhys Bed comes in 13 colors and four sizes. Here it’s dressed in one of my favorite new duvet sets, the Kessabine, shown in slate but also available in orange. I love the embroidery, pompons and fringe against soft cotton, don’t you?

Anthropologie

The striking Geo Brass Inlay bedroom furniture collection includes this platform bed with massive headboard in tropical hardwood, inlaid with brass, and the diminutive nightstand shown. There’s also a three-drawer chest of drawers to complete the sweet suite.

Anthropologie

The Prana Bedroom Collection showcases the natural beauty of multi-hued, live-edge oak and includes the bed, nightstand and six-drawer chest shown. And there’s that Moroccan Wedding Ottoman again, this time at the bed’s foot. All items are sold separately.

Anthropologie

If this rooms isn’t glamorous boho—glambo—I'll eat my pompons. The Velvet Ainesworth Bed comes in 18 colors and two sizes, each and every one fit for a princess, a diva, a super-model, or glamorous, boho you. The Velvet Edilyn Bench comes in all the same colors so you can have a custom match as well as a comfy seat to take your shoes on and off.

Anthropologie

Some of my favorite new Anthro bedding includes (clockwise from top left) :

• The Kerry Cassill Persica Quilt and shams, which call to mind lovely, gently worn bedding you might find in the Paris Flea Market. Here it’s paired with the Lulie Wallace Cascabel Sheet Set. I can almost smell peaches, can’t you? 
• The Woven Sunset Duvet and shams is by LA’s All Roads Design and features standard, king and euro sham options. I love its happy pinks, and, of course, I adore anything that comes out of the All Roads’ workshop. 
• I don’t often point out cute kid's stuff (unless I want it for my adult self!), but the Wilderness Map collection of toddler and infant bedding is an exception. It’s perfect for your little cowboy or trailblazer or bronc-buster. Check out the buffalo! I bet there’s an antelope in there somewhere too. 
• Ditto for the Cat Collective collection. Wish I had a young child so I could decorate with that, right down to the cute little bereted cat pillow. Turn him over and check out his stuffed tail! 

Weave me some happiness

Anthropologie

Nobody does textiles better than Anthropologie, and they’ve really outdone themselves this spring. There’s a vast array of new colorful throws, rugs and pillows….

Anthropologie

...as well as designs in black, white and other neutrals. I just adore the detail and the workmanship in these pieces. I could look all day and touch all night if they’d only lock me in the store! (I keep trying!)

Anthropologie

My favorite rugs will probably be sold out by the time this post appears. From left to right, my penultimate picks include the very boho Versify Rug with its all-over tassels, the William Morris-inspired Wyla Rug done in crewel embroidery, and the Embroidered Tiger Rug, available in either orange or teal.

Anthropologie’s unique, handcrafted rugs do often sell out quickly, particularly in the smaller, less pricier sizes. If, like me, you have wall-to-wall carpet and no good space for an area rug (and your budget doesn’t allow a bigger size) get the one you like in a 3-by-5 and hang it on the wall as art. But get it quick, before it’s gone, K?

Anthropologie

I’m really into the look of a handcrafted throw at the foot of my bed since I redid my bedding with one of Anthropologie's throws. But now they have plenty of new choices for me to drool over. Clockwise from top left, meet my spring collection picks:

• The Tufted Desert Throw, the latest from All Roads Design, which simply SINGS summer sunset. 
• The Centrale Throw Blanket, which I simply MUST have for my living room. 
• The Woven Poms Throw in mind-bending boho coral. 
• The Textured Indira Throw in a cadre of neutrals. 
• The rug-like Aldalora Throw in either neutral or blue. 
• The Tufted Yoursa Throw with its sweet patchwork of soft stripes, outlined in poms.

Anthropologie

And I could never forget throw pillows, especially these, with lots and lots of fringe, poms, tassels and embroidery. From left to right, shop the Marisol collection (which includes the 30-by-30-inch floor pillow shown at bottom), the Tufted Leyland collection, and the Tufted Yoursa collection.

So many textiles, so little time!!

Delicious décor to feed your (my) decorating habit

Anthropologie

My storage picks, clockwise from top left, include:

• The Eyelash-Fringed Catchall Basket, handcrafted by women in Rwanda, 
• Ditto for the Lidded Tassel Basket, in white. 
• The Cassatt Woven Vessel, a delightful mix of glazed stoneware, wool roving, and manila and cotton rope, designed by mixed media artist Karen Gayle Tinney. 
• Playtime Canvas Bins, which are just too cute in my book to limit to the kids. (I want that sweet alpaca one for my office.) 
• The Cat Study Hook in orange, designed by Brooklyn-based Leah Goren. 
• The Tasseled Pera Baskets, which come in in three colors and shapes (my favorite, a gorgeous gold, is not shown). 

Anthropologie

Fiber wallhangings have been making a big comeback from the 1960s and 70s, and Anthro adds to its collection each season. But when each style's gone, it's gone. Here are, left to right, newbies Ojai Fringed Wall Art in your choice of two motifs, the statement-making Macrame Woven Wall Art, and Salinas Fringed Wall Art in your choice of three motifs.

Anthropologie

What would any Anthropologie catalog be without unique pottery? Clockwise from top left, meet my new best friends, Wild Alpaca Pots, Gold Accent Dessert Plates (hang them on the wall as art!), Arletta Coasters, and Simea Mugs.

Anthropologie

Last but not least are two more woven wonders: the Tulum Hammock, which is embroidered but reminds me of mud cloth, and the Beadwork Hammock, designed by LA artist, sculpture and jewelry designer Julie Rofman to emulate the look of her intricate beadwork.

Anthropologie

Here are some close-ups of each hammock. Can you guess the missing detail?

If you guessed me (or you!) lounging away a sultry summer afternoon therein, you’re on the winning track! Just 17 more days until spring, so summer can’t be far behind.

Until then, if you want more…

• Explore the products and stories behind the Anthropologie spring collection in the Spring Home Journal and Studio Sessions. 
• Request your very own catalog. 
• See everything that’s new in the Anthropologie house and home collection. 
• Become a BoHo Home follower by subscribing, using one of the services at the bottom of this page. Or, follow my blog with Bloglovin.