Confession – I have a thing about animal heads. And they are having a moment!

I think it started with the pink paper-mache moose head I did in grade school (late 80’s of course). I had a momentary foray into real taxidermy, until I realized that ordering such online might actually result in the killing of an animal for me to have such décor. We wanted a rhino head over the bed…but not under THOSE circumstances… HELL NO!

Contrary to the recent New York Times story on the over-styled house – http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/05/17/garden/20120517TOTEMS.html – if you have an animal head in your mix and it’s already deceased, (even if you did not hunt it yourself) there is a part of me that would much rather see its beauty celebrated than trashed. So bring on the animal heads!

Even my five year old came up with his own take on this last year.

Super Antlers? Or Super Hook?

After a four month search for accents for my newborn’s nursery that are both graphic, happy, engaging, and timeless but fun…I decided on paper-mache animal heads.

And what do you know…there’s a trend out there right now.

West Elm calls theirs “Animal Sculptures”…how PC! They are even more attractive because they are made by Aid For Artisans in Haiti.

Dwell Studio does a very modern, very Dwell version- Animal Head.

And finally, like light at the end of the tunnel – John Derian has come to my rescue with these gorgeous additions to our world. Little Paolo has been smiling ever since their adoption and  move to our home in Westport.

Giraffe and Zebra – our Wild Things