organic modern

After being internet-less for several weeks after our laptop crashed, I realized just how inspirational the internet is to me, especially in terms of all things art&design. I'm unabashedly addicted to this covet-inducing website call apartment therapy. It features so many cool homes and things that sometimes I have to step away, lest a gimme gimme panic attack ensues.

They do home tours where people with cool ideas and apartments give glimpses inside their everyday lives. I for one have always loved to look inside people's windows from a distance while taking a walk or driving. Nothing creepy, its just really fun & interesting to see what people have done with their spaces or catch the occasional human doing dishes, setting the table or clicking off the tv. When I lived in Ukraine in one of the cookie cutter commie high rises, I would often times find myself sitting on my balcony at night (which sounds luxurious& uber European but really looked liked this):


I could watch from a distance as the indoor lighting illuminated what people were up to. And, no I did not go as so far to invest in a pair of binoculars.

Anyhow, the first picture above is from a house tour Apartment Therapy did which I really liked. You can find it here.

I think the first time I ever truly fell in love with someone's place was the first time I visited Philipp in Switzerland and we had dinner at his mother's. (It happened to be P's birthday and when I really fell for him & immediately loved his family). His mother's husband Johannes is an interior designer/builder/architect/man of great ideas and he created their whole house. Their house and other projects of his really fleshed out what I've always loved but had never seen much of. His site is here, although in German.

The creator of Apartment Therapy also has two books out under the same title. The latter just came out a few days ago and I had the chance to flip thru it at the book store.




While reading his first book, I finally found a term which could describe the style I prefer. I never felt "modern" or "minimalist" quite worked because I don't like how both tend to lack warmth at times. "Organic Modern" is a term he referred to which seems to mesh well with my idea of "home" and "beauty". Its modern, yet brings an element of the natural, organic world inside. This blending of sleek, modern design and metals with woods and natural elements is what I'm all about (and what Johannes creates--which must be why I love his style so much) Only now I have something to call it.