Pining Away

Pineapple wallpaper, Studio Printworks (House and Garden, July 2007)

Brrrr! The snow has stopped falling here in Chicago (for now, at least), but it's still freezing outside. On winter days like these, I'm always happy to come back home and in from the cold. A house like Katie Brown's (of Katie Brown Workshop), with its Dorothy Draper-esque pineapple wallpaper by Studio Printworks winding up the stairwell, would also be welcoming right about now. Brown chose the pineapple print to "provide contrast from all the white in the living room" and because it's "a real treat for the eyes: the big pineapples are like a little hit of happiness." Even more so during the winter, when sunny pineapples- the stuff of tropical island paradises- bring to mind exotic locales and balmy weather.