Domythic Bliss: fantastical locations

Showing posts with label fantastical locations. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Don't Be Afraid of Blackwood Manor

A few months ago, I watched the Guillermo del Toro movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. The best part of the movie to me was the incredible house. The film itself was not necessarily the best thing I've ever seen, but it is, at heart, a mythic story. If you decide to watch the movie, I very highly recommend you precede it by reading the book Blackwood's Guide to Dangerous Faeries, which is a really enjoyable and creepy story, and gives the movie more depth, since the movie starts where the book ends.

But whether you watch the movie or not, you can stand in awe of the images below.

As always, please do click images to enlarge immensely.

Blackwood's estate:

Little Sally's room is beautiful, right down to the wallpaper. Charming and simple, yes? Or...

....not as simple as you might think. Look closer. There are repeating patterns of human figures among the flowers, in a very Walter Crane style. I. Want. This. Wallpaper.

Not to mention of course the spinning shadow-caster, which I have yet to be able to find a real one of online (I've wanted one since Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow)

More shots of the amazing wallpaper and Sally's room:

The beautiful grounds of the estate:

Sally approaches a sculpture...a sphere made from animal bones and antlers:

Emerson Blackwood's insignia on the stained glass of the house door.

And on the stained glass window in the library:

The stove in Blackwood's studio figures greatly into the story, and has runes etched above it into the stone:

The front door is absolutely stunning, but there aren't many good still shots of it in the movie. Stained glass and wood carving creates a tree.

Speaking of trees, how would you like to have this one on your property?

Even the local library is droolworthy.

The amazing enormous entry to the manor. Notice the tree-carved pillars. The leaf-carved bannisters. The forest murals. The stained glass. The wow factor.

Blackwood's decrepit studio, with a beautiful skylight, and a very creepy mural.

This is about the only shot I could find that shows the front door:

Notice the bell jars on the counter:

Just look at that door! Wow.

The manor house

Can I have one? Can I?

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Full Fathoms Five Thy Father Lies

And now for something completely different. My posts have tended toward the woods and wild of faerie. But there's an entire ocean of myth out there as well to dive into for inspiration!!

Someone (I'm so sorry I can't remember who!!) posted this picture to the Domythic Bliss FB group of a beautifully lacy pearl and shell corner:

Of the Little Mermaid (Disney) rooms I've seen, this one is my favorite. Imagine having this room as a little girl:

Or um, you could just have enough money to have an entire aquarium built around your bedroom...

I seem to recall this grotto bathroom was from Neuschwanstein Castle. I could very likely be wrong:

Or you could sleep surrounded by open water. Quite risky for sleepwalkers and groggy mornings:

Or sleep on the half shell:

I found the below image to be more practically inspirational. I love the way they used blue organza for the curtain, mimicking the shimmer of light in the water:

Merle Pace's beautiful underwater bathroom she helped create for a friend: Grapevine on the walls resemble coral and seaweed, and glass fish hang all around.

Mermaid and ocean themes are pretty common for bathrooms, but I thought the soft colors and the pale mermaid statue of this incarnation below made it quite inspiring:

Oops...Mr Octopus is reminding me not to forget our more Jules Vernesque friends:

How about a submarine underwater home theater?

Or this sublimely beautiful dining room? This one also, while extremely gorgeous and elaborate, is inspirational for any room I think. Their use of the dim lighting, the color green instead of blue, and the patterns on the ceiling and walls really give it a different sort of look from the other undersea rooms, and yet entirely oceanic.