Odd that a specialty "gardening" magazine would not include specific genus, species, and variety names. No, not odd. Make that lame. "Ornamental Grass"? What's that supposed to mean? There are thousands of cultivars of ornamental grasses. "Pink Yarrow"? What kind??? The flower in question is agastache, but doesn't tell us what kind. As noted above, I have never seen A. foeniculum with such long flowerheads, or so densely packed. If it is a special variety we will never know since this "gardening" magazine doesn't give variety names. Unfortunately lame gardening magazines tend to "doctor up" their scenes before photographing to make their pictures prettier. Weird that BHG would put out something so lame.

Ok I found something...on page 56 the page is split into 4 photographs. The bottom left photograph is of a bathroom, very tight shot of one corner with a sink. The wallpaper has a deep red background with the image being in white. It's a garden scene wtih gazebos, stylized flowers and children. A white towel rack hangs on the wall with red and white checked towels underneath a smaller solid white hand towel. The countertop is white and there is a red skirt around the counter. The mirror has a white lattice frame. This comes under the chapter "Life Unstructured". It's a lake house, The designer is Len Mysliwiec of Lifespace Design Inc. 6607 Sweet Wood Ct. Fort Wayne, IN 46814. (206) 672-2530. Why don't you call Len and ask him to give you the name of the wallpaper! In the back of the book there is a Resource Page.

A very practical exercise. sometimes Maths seems so useless, but when a teacher can show her students a practical use for the information they're learning, it makes it more interesting. Plus she's showing how you can use an abstract idea in a concrete way. Smart young lady! Kristene

Thank you, Marti, for continuing the conversation. It seemed obvious that folks were trying to hijack the other thread because they disagreed with some of the opinions, and at the very end several were posting gibberish, in what looked to be and attempt to run the thread to 150 posts so that it would be frozen. besides being ever so childish, that is also a weirdly controlling thing to do. It's a shame. Posted by beverly27: "Don't you think that after 151 responses everything about this topic has been said and resaid? Why didn't you just let the topic die???" She explained why, she found the discussion "absolutely spot on." I doubt that there is any general topic in the world that is 'over' in 150 posts. What I find worrisome, though, is a vigilante attitude that questions why someone would wish to discuss a complicated topic further, and a topic with such a variety of opinions. If we are unimpressed with a topic, perhaps we should just ignore it (I do that all the time) or even start a new topic that we are interested in? In the origianal post, Is it just me or does everyone look to have a magazine home?, christyinco stated "As I scroll through the endless sites and images on the internet to get ideas for my home I am struck by how many homes look to be perfectly decorated - like out of a magazine. Fresh and up to date on all the latest trends." "I can get discouraged in my own home and ask myself if I've made the right decisions in decorating or why it is that after a year of living somewhere our DVR is still on a plant stand under the tv" "We just purchase a piece at a time and live in the "almost" finished spaces" "I suppose that one of the other things that I notice is how spaces have no personality anymore." Christy had touched on some contentions that every amateur designer has come across, and certainly that every professional has to address. 1. Discouragement at not achieving design goals quickly. 2. Trying to live up to perfectly decorated homes in magazines. 3. Having to build (as I call it) a design one piece at a time. 4. Lack of personality in modern design. 5. Trends. These are quite different but somehow related subjects, that all bring about a spectrum of views. But mentioning the word "trend" around here can be like pulling a mandrake from the roots, what with all the screaming. And I wonder if that is the issue that some folks find most painful, as if they had been pulled up by the roots? It has been suggested that in the Kitchens forums the 'trendy' and 'on trend' are aggressively promoted and any traditional design is squelched. Well, this isn't a kitchen forum, and I haven't visited there to read the posts. But I can imagine why folks would promote the trendy in a kitchen. The thing about kitchens is that they are expensive to rehab and they are where we make our food. People don't live in the same home as long as they used to and see upgrades as a possible investment -they don't want to spend $25,000 on a kitchen and have it bring the value of the house down. If they imagine moving in 5 years, their 'updated' kitchen should still look relatively fresh if it is on trend right now, people are looking for "newer" kitchens, not "older" kitchens when they buy a house and a traditional style kitchen often looks older the day it is installed. The other thing is that a new kitchen looks more hygienic. It just does. I didn't write that it is more or less hygienic than a traditional kitchen, just that perception is what counts. As far as design goes, I feel 'trendy' can be a neutral word, but I admit that I am ambiguous when it comes to trends. My design isn't what you would call trendy, and I do tend to move in a direction opposite of trends (or most likely, I feel that I have been there done that). But I think new trends have their place, especially if you are getting tired of your old decor, and want a little change, like a wall color, lamp shade, curtains, pillow or side chair. Updating is most important for a Traditional design which can easily look dated and quickly turn into a dusty exhibit at a local historical society. There is nothing worse, in my mind, than a beige and brown Traditional interior that looks like a very faded, old albumen photograph. On the issue of trying to live up to the perfectly decorated homes in magazines (2), I like what awm has to say about artistic talent, and her appreciation for it. Years ago my mother taught hobby painting. The students met each week and copied greeting card art, and calendar art, and if they were courageous, they copied a photograph from National Geographic. Time to time I dropped in on the classes to help or visit, and one thing I noticed was the students' general berating of Modern Art and Fine Art in general. (They did like the Impressionists, and when the students wanted to copy those mythical Kinkade Cottages with the rows of bright flower hedges, I tried to steer them toward something more Barbizon). As a whole the women made mediocre work that could be pretty or even have a decorative appeal. There was nothing wrong with the paintings, and a few of the students even showed a talent for this kind of work. But as artists, or art students, I never quite understood their constant need to ridicule Fine Art. Of course, it had to be insecurity, resentment and jealousy. I think the same emotions often play out in discussions on decorating with people who do it as a hobby or who lack the raw talent. Rather than appreciate those who are gifted or admired, they want to throw darts. I took the painting group on a field trip to a major museum to show and explain Modern art. An ethereal painting by Baziotes, caught their wrath and was deemed childish. I pointed out the subtle color changes and effects created with yellow glaze over pink, a technique that would work well for a sunset, and the fact that the coromandel brown in the Baziotes made the pink color glow even more. The point being that they hated that painting when they first saw it, which meant to me that they should study it in depth to reveal it's secrets. If they had no reaction to it, there might not have been anything to discover. Anyway, I do believe that if you design your own home, you have to find a way to make yourself happy, like making your own oil painting. It isn't going to be a museum piece (Magazine worthy), and comparing your work to a Museum Artist is going to make an amateur feel unworthy. However, looking at museum work might make any artist's own work better. You get ideas, pick up tips in the most unlikely places. And that's what the design magazines are good for, too. It might also help to look to blogs (Apartment Therapy) and magazines (World Of Interiors) who aren't afraid to show homes that are well lived in, shabby or even quirky, and realize that when you look at magazines that are written to show off wealth and sell Bentley cars (Architectural Digest) or push the latest garbage pumped out by the furniture industry (Elle Decor), you don't have to buy into what they are selling, but like visiting a museum or poster shop, like an artist, you should only be looking for inspiration not for personality, because those magazines won't provide it, (personality can distract from sales). But if one tries to impress others, or be something they are not, they will forever be on the unhappy carousel. Posted by Mmmbeeer: "Some people want to talk about window dressings and countertops and some enjoy trying to understand why and how a topic like decorating, which seems to many people to have such superficial appeal, is actually such a complex expression of who we are and how we choose to live." So nicely put, and brilliant. Here is a link that might be useful: Screaming Mandrakes