Quilts two ways

My husband likes to do side-by-side comparisons.  So, for example, he might come home with 5 different brands of very dark chocolate and conduct a taste test.  (This was one of my favorites, as you can imagine.)  In Boulder, this was applied  liberally to cooking, with the result a series of meals know as "two ways."  Fried chicken two ways compared a classic American (Southern) version to a korean version.  Thanksgiving brought sweet potatoes two ways: roasted and casserole.  You get the idea.  It all became a "thing," you know, and on my other blog there is a series of "two ways" posts, like this one and this one.

Last fall, I was working with a woman to lay the ground work for her eventual basement renovation (i.e. purging and organizing!), and to keep her eye on the prize, I put together a board for the family room down there.  Only problem?  Her one request was that I incorporate cowhide.  Which isn't a problem in and of itself, but she has a sort of funky contemporary house but most of the decor is on the traditional side, and really cow hide goes both ways.  I'll share those boards sometime--cowhide in a modern setting, cowhide in a more country setting--but to launch this occasional series, I was inspired by all the quilt inspiration I shared yesterday, and went ahead and built two boards featuring quilts.  Fun, right?

First up, Minimalist.

One note: I would actually put the quilt on the bottom half of the bed, not as a wall hanging as the board sort of suggests.

I have to say, it was SO hard for me to leave this so spare--I am anything but a minimalist.  In fact, I threw that painting in at the end because I couldn't quite stand it.  But I have been really drawn to sort of industrial wall lights lately, and it was fun to use the prouve-style swing arm lamp in something.  I think this works because the leather and chrome and industrial elements toughen up the quilt, while the natural wood and sheepskin keep it a bit organic.

And, perhaps a little more "me," (okay, a lot more me), the eclectic version.

To be honest, I want to redo my bedroom immediately to look just like this.  Well, not quite: I would put a different stain on the legs of that armchair.  This works because the color palette is totally drawn from the quilt, and the headboard, side tables, and lamps are of equal intensity, while the black, white, and natural elements keep it from going haywire.  And aren't those bird paintings cool/weird?

What do you think: minimalist or maximalist?

Do you have a material or item you'd want to see two ways?  Shoot me an email or leave it in the comments.