The last time I blogged about the photography of super-talented James Merrell I so awestruck I was at a loss for words. Well, I’m still at a loss for words. He has photographed some of the cutest and coolest homes I’ve ever seen, and his photos are perfectly composed and mesmerizing. Love him, love these.

Lately I have been seeing alot of sofas simply draped in pieces of fabric or loosely slipcovered and I really love the casual and comfortable vibe this produces. It’s a wonderful money-saving solution to anyone with a hand-me-down sofa whose upholstery may be less than desirable. My favourite is when draped with a huge piece of cream coloured linen. I love easily wrinkled fabrics and this has the effect of “come take a leap on here, throw your feet up and call the dog/S.O. up to snuggle with you”. This idea can also easily have a messy and cheap look but if the rest of the room is filled with natural and casual items then it can work. It’s a great way to get a different look with each season as well – light linen in the summer and faux fur in the winter (I love the photo with the fur below).

Apartment Therapy	Domino
Penny Wincer	Canadian House & Home
Polly Wreford	Trine Thorsen
Atlanta Bartlett	Jocelyne Beaudoin

House of Pictures
Domino
Domino
Nick Bowers
Beach Studios
Robert Gervais
House to Home
Marie Claire Maison
Jordi Canosa
Home Portfolio
Hus & Hem
Pippa Jameson
Domino
Skonahem
Hand
Hus & Hem

Lara Fishman founded her design firm Storm Interiors in 2000. Located in Los Angeles, her firm has had a variety of projects – executive offices, residences, restaurants, medical offices etc. Traditional, rustic, regency, old Hollywood, contemporary….no style seems off limits to Lara and her team. The icing on the cake would have to be Lara’s secondary firm, Designers Call, founded on the philosophy that high-end interior design should be accessible to those without the budgets or time for the traditional design process. Lara converted a Mercedes/Dodge Sprinter into a mobile design studio in order to bring fast, affordable decorating services and design products straight to her clients’ homes. Genius! Here’s a small taste of some of the beautiful spaces in her portfolios.

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our basic rules: First, the pet must be on a piece of furniture. And said piece of furniture must be clearly visible in the photo, so both pet and furniture takes center stage. (Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture…and your pet happens to be sitting on it). And second, the photo must be of decent quality. For example, if it’s REALLY dark or fuzzy (camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks!

“Here is a picture of our beloved lab Georgia. Great spot for her to lounge as she has a direct view into the kitchen (obsessed with food) and also the front door, should anyone come to visit (thinks anyone who knocks is there to see her).
– The Kosman’s from Reno

“I work at Osborne & Little in the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, and occasionally my little pup, Lily Bean comes to visit. She has a favorite spot on the Designers Guild sofa.“
– Kathryn

“This is Buddy, my 6 year old English bulldog on my brand new recliner. He always has to have the best seat in the house.“
– Irene

“This is my Sam, first looking terribly guilty and then assuming his favorite position to peer out the window.“
– Evelyn

“I attached a photo of my triple purring siamese cats. Emily, Evita and Yoko are lying on a original purple 70ies chair with a green danish cushion (BoConcept). Unfortunately I do not have a better picture of the chair (I confess I was a little more focussed on the cats 😉 But I really like the colours in the photo.“
– Patricia

 “as a longtime reader and fan i thought it time to submit nicolas b.b. to your monday pets on furniture series. here is nicolas in all his beefy glory ‘laxing on my bed.“
– Jenny

 “This is Louis my 12 year old cat on a chair, he likes to be in a photo, isn’t he gorgeous? and this is Jeff, he is Louis’s twin brother.”
– Olivia

“Attached are pictures of my cat, Fat Albert. He is a super-old rescue kitty who has slight limp which we call his “pimp walk,” and only one kidney after a bout with cancer a few years ago. He is living out the lives he has left on our Rice sofa, which we recently inherited from my grandmother.“
– Becca

“Every Monday I look forward to a new Pets on Furniture, and I couldn’t wait to get a great picture of my tuxedo cats to submit! Sebastian-on the left, and Miles-on the right, are my handsome, loving cats who enjoy lounging all day around the apartment together. Here they are on our bed, where they always are when I get home from work everyday.“
– Loryn

“It is forbidden for my greyhounds to get on the furniture, however…this is Virgil, the greyhound for whom I am babysitting while his parents are vacationing in Italy. Virgil is healing from a skin condition (note the cone) and has been by my side all day everyday. I did not hear him get up on this chair in my studio while I was working away on the computer. I just turned around and discovered him napping in the cozy chair and didn’t have the heart to make him get off.“
– Toni

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our basic rules: First, the pet must be on a piece of furniture. And said piece of furniture must be clearly visible in the photo, so both pet and furniture takes center stage. (Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture…and your pet happens to be sitting on it). And second, the photo must be of decent quality. For example, if it’s REALLY dark or fuzzy (camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks!

“My 4 legged babies here- Gizmo, Bogs and my orange thrift sale lounge chair! Bogs is an Australian Shepherd. Very smart- loves to learn and hang out with the humans :-). He actually learned how to open the door (the long handle pushes down to open and the door opens out ) so now we have to keep it locked! I just love him! Gizmo the cat is not as fond of him  as you can see.“
– Kristen

 “We would like to submit this image of our darling Serif to your Monday Pet’s on Furniture series. Here is a link to a short, fun video of him goofing around“
– Andrea & Daniel

 “I’m not sure if there’s enough furniture here to qualify, but…This is my cat Bowie. He usually picks one place in the house to lay for a couple weeks before finding another spot and so on and so on. These are some pictures from the time when he was really into sleeping on the dining room chairs.”
– Cheryl

“I’ve attached a picture here of our miniature dachshund, Otis. He loves sitting on our laps most of the time…but here, he is modeling a sweater that I knit for him recently. He was a good sport for a little while…but eventually, he rolled around on the floor, trying to chew the sweater to shreds.“
– Michelle

“I’ve been following your blog for a while now and I absolutely love the Pets on Furniture Mondays. I got my sweet little girl, Isis, back after having left her with my boyfriends parents in Germany until we settled in Tbilisi, Georgia. As soon as she entered the apartment, she made herself comfortable. I found her resting on one of the couches, in her favorite position just a few hours after arrival.“
– Karina

 “This is Moses, relaxing on his couch.“
– Roger

“Here is a link to my picture of Pearl, my greyhound, in her favorite spot on the couch (with velvet pillows!)“
– Susie

“Here is Samba on a beautiful armchair we bought in Argentina years ago for 250 pesos that is now redone, at the time it was the most fancy dog basket… Also our cat Pablo is taking water from the fishbowl under the japanese roll.“
– Magali

“I was photographing my just-done guest bedroom today & Pepper decided to ‘help’ (as in, refused to get out of the way of the camera). She ruined a good number of shots, but a couple of them turned out pretty darn adorable if I do say so myself.“
– Tess

“i love your weekly posts on pets! thought i’d share a few of my little terrier, max 🙂
– the first set was taken at our house. max spends a lot of time looking out the window and on many occasions, gets quite excited about what he sees! he’s literally on the edge of his seat 🙂
– the pic of him on the wicker chair is max being more composed, hamming it up for the camera 🙂 photo taken by laura reoch at my print shop.”
– Olivia