IKEA Sofa Makeovers

A Mysig cover in Toronto Ticking in teal blue.

Wish your IKEA couch wasn’t white? Then visit Bemz (bemz.com), which makes removable, washable slipcovers for eighteen of the Swedish retailer’s sofa and armchair models. Bemz’s new line, the Arts and Crafts-inspired Mysig, includes solids, patterns, and graphic stripes offered in warm hues like aubergine, chestnut, and light olive green. The sheaths, which are made of cotton and cotton/linen, “let people personalize an otherwise impersonal piece of furniture,” says Bemz founder Lesley Pennington. Armchair covers start at $40, sofa covers at $90. —Amy Keith

Hot, or Not?

Ever since televisions made their way into American homes more than 50 years ago, they’ve battled—and, in most cases, overtaken—the fireplace as the focal point in the living/family room. Now, thanks to Classic Flame’s portable Paramount plug-in combo unit (classicflame.com), there may be peace in our time. The espresso-stained wood console has an electric fireplace insert with an ember bed, glowing ceramic log, and a flame effect (TV not included). It’s available after February 12 for $2,499. Is this the best of both worlds? Cast your vote—and send us your feedback—in the comments box below. —Carolyn Weber, Senior Building Editor

Displaying Collectibles

Objects, like people, have lives of their own and tales to tell. Things you acquired because they speak to you start to talk to each other when grouped into a display. Play around, have fun, and listen! Here are some stories on view in my home studio.

As a graphic designer, I love typefaces, so I’m naturally attracted to unusual examples. (What kind of a game would be called Flinch? I’m still afraid to open the box. But the type is gorgeous.) The Venus Unique pencils, with their beautiful labels, came from a cavernous stationer’s in Providence, Rhode Island, where unsold items from the 1940s lurked on dusty shelves. It was all very mysterious, a great place to escape on a rainy afternoon. At the rear of the cabinet is a set of perfectly made-to-scale toy Chinese weapons, dangerous-looking but adorably harmless at the same time. The collection’s rhythmic arrangement and the elegant shapes of the weapons are very pleasing to the eye.

The Big Picture

Artwork—the personal kind that makes your decor look inviting and complete—can be pricey and difficult to select . And family photos are usually too small to display as wall art. Fortunately, digital technology and some handy online resources are making it easier and more affordable than ever to supersize your cherished images, then frame and enjoy them as focal points in your rooms. The jump in scale has surprising impact, elevating the everyday into objets d'art.

To create the large-scale artwork shown left, I started with a snapshot of my mother taken when she was a teenager. I chose this particular image because it's very nicely composed, with a range of tones from crisp white to velvety black. The pattern in her dress mirrors the slightly out of focus background, and the old-fashioned deckle edge of the picture and the date stamp add vintage interest.

Barbie Is My Interior Decorator

I'm well aware that when I was a child, my feelings about Barbie were more intense than those of my friends. I thought about her all the time, wondering who her parents were, how she could afford all those great clothes she wore, and whether she was nice or mean. I can't say that I loved her, but I was definitely obsessed with her. If she had been a real person, I probably would have stalked her. But that was a long time ago. Still, old fixations tend to linger and express themselves in curious ways. My Barbie thing came out in a big way when I was decorating my last apartment.

This is the first Barbie Dream House. It was issued in 1963, and predates my introduction to the world of Barbie. Yet I was a kid with a strange streak of nostalgia, so I coerced my mother into calling a friend with a daughter older than myself. Mom successfully talked her friend into selling us her daughter's original Dream House. Made of cardboard, the "House" was really a studio apartment. Its compact floor plan captivated me—a sleeping area, sitting area, entertainment console, vanity, clothes closet, and bookshelf, all packed into one room. It had everything you need except for a kitchen, but that seemed unnecessary to the eight-year-old me.

Color Your World

One of the most interesting things I learned my freshman year in art school (apart from the painful fact that I was not nearly as happening as I thought) is that even if you're well-versed in color theory, your innate color sense is often a better guide for determining what hues go together—or at least a more interesting one—than adhering to rules. Sure, cool and dark colors, such as navy blue, recede, and complementary hues, such as shades of red and green, are natural pairings. But nothing beats gut reaction (What colors make you happy?). By developing your own palettes, your decor will be much more personal and inviting. Inspiration can be found in unlikely places. Today I noticed a beautiful bright-skinned orange balanced atop a roll of duct tape next to a roll of kraft paper on my kitchen table (please, don't ask). Voilà—an instant orange, gray, and tan palette! But how to use those colors decoratively and in what amounts? To figure that out, I matched the objects to Benjamin Moore paint swatches —Fairway Oaks #1075, a rich tan; Gunmetal #1602, a silver-gray; and Fruit Punch #140, a lively orange—and then played around with them to decide how much of each color I wanted to see. I decided to use the soothing tan on the walls, and opted for gray upholstery, and, to cheer things up, patterned pillows and a throw in vivid orange. For a bolder approach, use the brightest color as your main hit—an orange couch would look smashing against dramatic gray walls and a neutral tan rug.