Can plain decor be fabulous?
We’re hungry. We cross the bay and head for Chinatown. We walk around looking for a small, nondescript place to have dinner. Where all the patrons are locals. And the menus are not in English. (Never mind how my picture here looks super-touristy…) We stumble upon Uncle’s Cafe on Waverly Place. It’s Plain. It’s Fabulous. It’s exactly what I wanted. It got me to thinking that the lack of decor WAS the decor. Menu items on colorful paper on the pink walls. Black restaurant supply chairs. This place was not about luring in tourists with flamboyant decor and large-scale running-water-murals. They just wanted to serve huge portions of delicious food to customers that most likely lived in the neighborhood and had been going there for years. Our host was super friendly, as you would expect of a small local joint, and brought us steaming green tea in adorable plain, white china following by a huge family-style meal. It was all the ambiance we needed.
Cool Clothes & Interior @ Brigade
Great clothes and a brilliant interior at Brigade in Columbus’ Short North district: www.clothingbrigade.com
Hotdogs and Wallpaper at Dirty Frank’s
Dirty Frank’s is a Columbus local hot dog joint (that serves vegetarian versions of everything on the menu!) with a cool interior, down to the “custom” wallpaper in the bathroom. dirtyfrankscolumbus.com/
Stripes & Sushi at Edamame
Dramatic horizontal stripes in lemon/lime hues at Edamame Sushi & Grill in Columbus, OH. Love the wood framed suspended “rooms” on either end of the restaurant. www.edamamesushiandgrill.com
Compendium of Interior Styles
I love art /design history books in general, but this one by Francois Baudot is definitely a favorite. I bought it for the loads of gorgeous full page photos. It’s almost more of a visual history of interior styles from the Middle Ages through the end of the 20th century. If you have no patience for textbook wordiness, this makes for an easier read & will look awesome on your coffee table! www.amazon.com
I'm an interior designer & space planner and I've worked in San Francisco/Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, Columbus, and Cairo.
I live with my husband Ed (and our chihuahua Gus) in Oakland, CA and our favorite thing in the world is traveling. I also like shopping, yoga, dancing, the beach, Indian food and anything chocolate. I don't like the cold, the suburbs, gardening, credit cards, video games and texting. My favorite YouTube videos are Blood and Drinking Out of Cups.
Thanks for checking out my site! -Reham Shadi
