Colorful fabrics and textiles

Whether it's simple quilts, kilims, ethnic patterns, or western florals adding colorful textiles add character, make spaces look better, and more inviting. Patterns are also easier to live with. They will age better and they will hide any fading or subtle stains, making them also a very practical choice. The human animal also must find patterns cozier, homier, and appreciate the visual interest since most cultures around the world preferred to decorate with patterns rather than solid colors.

Image 1 from urbanoutfitters.com, image 2 from Tamar Schechner's flickr, image 3 from anthropologie.com, and image 4 from elledecor.com

Comfort over style

More than anything else, make your place liveable and comfortable.

Top image from hemingwaycool.tumblr.com, bottom two from landofthefree.tumblr.com

Adirondack chairs indoors

Adirondack chairs are great!  They're simply put together, they're very comfortable, and even their iconic looks inspire a desire to relax!  Who says they're "meant" for outdoors anyway?  Might as well place them somewhere where they'll get more use! (That end table's pretty cool, too.)

Image from blissfulbblog.com

Interiors with character (or, random inspiration 2)

The most inspiring interiors are neither the ones that were put together with expensive items, or are organized and anally matchy-matchy in style, or color, etc. The real beautiful interiors have a quality that is hard to easily replicate, they're not formulaic. They are not just for show, they don't seem lifeless and perfect as if the stylists have just left, or empty like a fancy hotel suite waiting for its guests. They are lived in and the inhabitants' lifetstyle added to the room's style. They have character.

Images from brendan-i-am.tumblr.com

Easy-going home

The place seems easy-going and low-maintenance without unnecessary bs - and beautiful! That must be the formula to live happily!

Images from dwell.com

Great antique wood floor

While the distressed leather furniture's cool, and the aged brick wall is, while a little on the extreme side, still pretty nice - the wood flooring is awesome!

Image from thechive.com

Rough wood banister

This unprocessed piece of wood makes a great banister/handrail, and looks really cool, too. There are so many benefits to using minimally processed materials, and the most apparent and the least quantifiable one is the character and style that comes with it. It's goodness that shows through.

And this easy-going living room is from the same house. Not bad, no?

Images from CountryLiving.com

Rustic sink & armchair

Great distressed leather armchair, and a great view! That kilim cushion on the floor is quite nice as well. That giant floor lamp must be a conversation piece! That farm sink in the second image is pretty cool too.

Images from barnwoodanchors.com

Colorful patchwork upholstery

Great way to use up left-over pieces of fabric... Don't throw that stuff away, make a quilt or upholster something; cushions, chairs... anything, with patchwork. The colorful stuff adds a casual vibe... creative and fun!

Top image from QuiltsPlusColor.blogspot.com middle image from decoratrix.com and bottom image from butahouse.blogspot.com

Casual landscaping

This place has landscaping just the way I like it; wild and casual. It's not too shabby on the inside either - I love those armchairs.

Images from abaton.es but I saw it on DesiretoInspire.net first.

Comfy pallet chair

According to some sources there about 2 billion wooden pallets in circulation and about 65% of them get used just once. It makes sense to make something out of them instead of sending them all to landfills, which in turn makes that new stuff cost less. It's a win-win situation. This here (The Pallet Armchair from Pierre Vedel) is one example of what's possible. I love seats with wide armrest so as long as this baby's sanded down to a no splinter finish, I would love one of these.

Images from shft.com

By the way, Pierre Vedel shares the design with the world so you can download the specs and build your own for for free! Go Pierre!

Better with age

I love distressed leather and big armrests therefore I find the chair below to be quite pleasant. Now if only it were less bulky and easier to move around...

Image from EcoChic.com

Equipale furniture

I love these equipale chairs. The rustic natural materials, naturally tanned leather, and that they are still made by hand as they were centuries ago give them a lot of character -and yes, they are very comfortable and look great!

Top image from an ebay listing by roxx (obviously won't be there forever) and the bottom image from ppebble.blogspot.com

Saloon chairs

I love these saloon chairs. They're classical without being frumpy or foo foo looking, they are masculine, solid, and they age well.

Image from FoodServiceWarehouse.com -If you guys end up selling more because of this post, I want a cut! ;) (or better yet, I want some saloon chairs!)

CCK (Casual Colorful kilims)

I love kilims, they have great color and texture and they're a lot easier to maintain and clean than most other rugs/carpeting. Most importantly though they make any place instantly more cozy. I also love casually layering or overlapping rugs.

Images from MechantDesign.blogspot.com

Pretty rustic

Nice laid-back elements: that stone wall, cozy couch, kilim rug, cool distressed leather chair, that old basket used for lighting, cabinets...etc, too many to count.

Images from FresHome.com

The good life

Clean, simple, rustic, and easygoing place by the interior designer Sarah Lavoine. Notice the lack of status symbols in or around this place. The exterior shots are great, I just wish there were more of them.

Images from CoteMaison.fr

Cozy living room

This is Amanda Peet's living room. It's bright, unpretentious, easy-going and comfortable. Way to go Amanda!

Images from DominoMag.com but I saw them on Decorology.blogspot.com first.

Comfortable style

Cozy, bright, comfortable, and easy-going living room. The plaid pillows and the chairs they are on, the exposed brick wall, some color all come together to create a great hang-out area.

Image from BlackEiffel.blogspot.com

Cozy by Ralph Lauren

This is Ralph Lauren's ranch in Colorado. He proves that he has good taste by creating a warm, cozy, and most importantly an easy-going place with colorful kilim rugs, distressed leather, and lots of unpolished rough stones and wood.

That's a cool cabinet below. Simply and honestly put together without any fluff or pretense. RL has the good sense to let it show its age and what it's been through.

Images from ArchitecturalDigest.com