Tre chic... and I owe it all to Cori

Thanks to my friend Cori, I now am the new proud owner of these lovely and crazy chairs by Thomasville, circa 1965. I'm soooo in love!

I'm really undecided on how to proceed. They need some work because 3 of them are blue in tint and two of them are yellowish - like somebody tried to get creative at one point. Both work, but I want all 5 to match. Also, they should be reupholstered.

In an ideal 2009 world, what would these look like? I'm thinking a creamy white with gold gilded accents, refreshed but in keeping with their original aesthetic--but I've also heard opinions of bold and black. Thoughts?

Dream shoes

Can they get any better?



Chie Mihara, $Too much for me.

Estate sale finds

Today I went to an estate sale in my neighborhood of Ballard. I'm really loving my finds!!!











All of it for only $150!

Brian will likely scream "I'm not a French prince!" and worry that slowly but surely, he will find himself living in this room:



But, go to a friend's child's little league game on a Saturday morning, leaving your wife to her own wishes and desires...and this is what you might just have comin' to you.

My new partridges

I can't really describe why I'm so obsessed with these little partridges. I just am. They are the heaviest, fatest little birds I've ever sat on a shelf, and I love them.



I got them at Shop Good Grace on Etsy, the same place that I bought my yellow vintage tufted pillows, which I also loooove.



Theresa (owner) and I have been emailing back and forth for the past year, and what a sweetheart she is--she refunded my purchase of the partridges and told me to make a donation to the LAM Treatment Alliance, which is fighting to find a treatment and cure for the disease that my mom has. That warmed my heart! Maybe that's party why I love these birds so much. But they're also just so adorable, it's hard to get over it.

Chairs, a long time coming

One of our recent home improvement projects was finally finished, thanks to Brian who got down to it and started painting a few weeks ago.

I bought these chairs on Craigslist not too long after we bought our house and all of the sudden had a dining room. Actually, I bought a table (which never made it to our dining room and instead sits in the basement, becoming the cat's feeding station away from the crazy food stealing dog) and these chairs came with them. At first I thought we'd trash them but then I looked at them again, and realized that they could probably be pretty cute with some help.







This summer I picked out some glossy white paint with my mom and got to work...





But then, I got really sick of it. And stopped painting entirely. For months. I had no motivation without having a fabric picked out to recover the chairs. And I realized that I was very oddly freaked out of picking out a fabric. So one day, I made my mom come with me and I found a cute green print.

But the chairs still sat there, unpainted.

Then, over Thanksgiving when our neighbors asked to borrow our dining room chairs (they needed extra), I said yes but I was mortified. Our chairs were falling apart, chipping, stained, and totally disgusting. So I almost decided to start painting again, but didn't.

Then, Brian got frustrated and picked up the paint brushes, and painted for about 3 days straight. And we brought the fabric to this wonderful upholstery gal in Bellingham who finished the job -- in one day -- for only $30 a chair.

And voila! Cute chairs!







Now our dining room is getting close to being done. I would eventually like to get an area rug, and we were bummed to find out that our Christmas present to each other, a beautiful dining hutch that was partially paid for through a compilation of saved gift cards to Jayson Home & Garden over the years, is actually a piece of crap. (Thanks again to the honest sales lady who wanted to save us from the frustration of shipping and picking up a heavy pile of poo.) Anyway, we would eventually like to find another hutch that we like. But it's looking pretty good and I have to say, I think it's really a fun challenge to decorate on a budget; it makes you appreciate it all the more.

My grandma's furry friends

I love my grandma. I've known for a long time that she is a smart, interesting and crafty woman (see the amazing beach house she made here).

My grandma is a dog-lover extraordinaire. She has owned dogs for the majority of her 89 years. From boxers to poodles to more poodles, she has owned and loved the pooch. But, I never really realized the depth of her love until recently. Until her hat collection came up in conversation this holiday season.

You see, I have come to find out that each time one of her dogs passes, my grandma actually KNITS A HAT USING THEIR FUR. I asked her to model these for me this past weekend.







Apparently they don't even smell like wet dog in the rain! Amazing!

Painting projects

Poor Brian, he is upstairs painting our hopelessly tacky upstairs bathroom. It's a project that I started actually, about 2 months ago or maybe even more... but it's so detail oriented and ANNOYING with lots of painted cabinets, and trim work, and windows - and there's toilets in the way and the whole project just stinks. My dad is coming this Friday to stay the night, so the pressure is on.

I also started this painting project last week. I'm repainting these vintage chairs that I essentially got for free. HIGH GLOSS WHITE! If I can fix the inset caning part okay, I think they'll turn out pretty well. I need to find a nice green fabric - something that will go with our lovely drapes (that we have yet to hang)....cuz those cushions are pretty pretty nasty.







Paint paint paint. I went to a meeting this week with white paint in my hair - realized it when I got there. That was cute.

The Danish Modern Couple

I'm very skeptical of people who design their homes with only one type of style. For instance, there's The Pottery Barn Couple who only decorates in dark masculine woods and poufy couches, or the Hollywood Regency Girl who obsesses over faux bamboo, or the French Country Lady who primarily displays roosters and slightly irregular glazed bowls (oh wait, that's my mom, tee hee).

Well you guys, I am afraid that we're becoming the Newly Married Danish Modern Couple. Noooo!

Yes, we are.

We recently purchased this beautiful table from Craigslist for only $300 so I couldn't pass it up.



But seriously - we already have a Danish modern credenza and two recently recovered Danish modern arm chairs.





Then we also installed this mid century light fixture above our stairway landing.



HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

I am kind of liking these chairs that are currently on eBay..... mostly because they are simple, would match the table, and the upholstery would match the 1958 EAMES ERA dining room window panels (sheesh). But seriously, tell me to stop!




I gravitate towards more feminine pieces, whereas Brian is more modern - but we have found a safe haven, if you will, in Danish Modern. I like it because it has clean lines without sacrificing warmth.

But enough is enough! Somebody needs to put a moratorium on this!

Etsy vintage shoe finds

Oh my many subscribing readers, is this your dream day? 3 posts in a day - why yes it is!

I was online tonight and found these two pairs of amazing vintage shoes, and I had to post them in case my friends have the right size of feet!

First... I wish they were in a different color but... I just love the side. "Lincoln log" cut outs Italian wedges! That's too much for me to handle.



Second... whoa, amazing...you can't get better than vintage tapestry flats. GET IT!

Reasons why I love this photo

In order:

1.) It showcases my new antique drum table that I purchased off of Craigslist last Friday for $60. I love a good deal. Against Brian's will, I am trying to carefully integrate a few classic pieces into our home. I think it will provide some synergy with the whole traditional, 1948 vibe going on.

2.) It includes two of my most favorite people in whole world.

3.) They kind of look like they despise each other.

4.) Lindsay's black motorcycle jacket.

5.) The blooming pink Camelia tree poking out from the back!

My obsession with tufting

My favorite part about spring, like most people, is the fact that it's still light out at 7 pm. Tonight, like 5 minutes ago, it was particularly light. The sun was shining through the corner of our living room, and it was just so pretty that I had to take a picture. Then I realized that I hadn't bragged about my new deadstock 1960's tufted pillows that I got for $30 on Etsy yet!

My personal feeling lately is that everything should be tufted. That's not really true, because I saw these beds yesterday and thought "cellulite thighs," but in general, I do love love love tufting.



(Photo from House & Garden)

Anyway, the light was shining on my tufted pillows and I was inspired to share. First, this is the view outside of my window. Until recently (the whole time I've lived in this house) this was a very bare tree, and I just find it so charming with its new spring growth.









I'm starting to like this little corner of our home. I want to get a taller, skinnier pot to put that plant in, so it doesn't compete with the table. Those mid-century Danish modern chairs were recently recovered in ivory faux leather (a.k.a. slightly squeaky vinyl)....I've had those suckers for awhile so their makeover was a long time coming. We recently purchased that little gold mirrored top table from Revival Home & Garden, a wonderfully charming new home interiors store in Georgetown (that actually, thanks to CJ, will start carrying my jewelry -- as soon as I can sweat shop enough together for them. The Frank James trunk show wiped me out!)

Here's a small sampling of Revival H&G, which was recently featured in DailyCandy:

The world's most beautiful handbag

I think we all should have a moment of silence for this handbag.






Ok, that's over.

THIS IS MY PERFECT PERFECT HANDBAG. (And it's on sale right here at Bluefly for only $1328! What a deal!)

Oh, fashion. So silly.

Measuring lights

I'm really into these measuring lights by Chrissy Angliker made out of coiled measuring tape. They'd be great in a sewing room, but since the last time I used a sewing machine was when I manufactured hideously disgusting flannel pig-printed pajamas in the 9th grade (the elastic waist band was suffocating even for my then-14" waist, proving I had no talent even for the simplest of all sewing projects), I think I'd have to create a different use for this light. I think they'd be cute in Brian's studio. It's really our office, but it sounds way cooler to say studio, and you can actually casually and honestly say that word when you're a designer. ANYWAYyyy, they'd look good in there.









Speaking of our office, Brian painted it last weekend. A muted green with a charcoal gray chalkboard paint wall. It looks really really great...will post photos later!

The Krista Faye flat

Thanks to Etsy, the glory of modern mass production, and of course, ME, the fashion world will delight in a new peep-toe flat by Jeffrey Campbell this fall.

I found these on the homepage of Etsy a couple nights ago, forwarded to my friend Ty who's repping JC shoes in NYC, and WHAM BAM! Jeffrey purchased and sent to Spain for production. Hopefully my strict terms of contract will be met: that a size 5 gets sent to me in Seattle, immediamente por favor.





I love the lines from the side.

Yay!

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

My friend Lindsay, one of my best friends since junior high school, is celebrating her birthday today!

Here's to being young and hot, Linds!

Jagerbombs!

Spring '08 jewelry trends - Part I

It seems like yesterday that I was researching and writing about fall jewelry trends. Time flies in these long, cold, rainy months, doesn't it? Well spring is on the way, and while you shed that layer of sweaters and scarves, you'll be making more room to express your style through jewelzzz. So here's what to look out for.

Spring Jewelry Trends

Saturation
Lots of color. Tomato red. Electric blue. Neon shades of pink, yellow, and green. Yellow will be big again this spring.

Mod electric earrings, by Totinette. $16.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8307129

Pony earrings, by Trove Designs. $25.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9420426




Mini to the nines earrings, by boldsimple. $14.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9448635



Seeing Red, by marie fly fly. $30.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9450497


Gemstones
Gemstone jewelry is making a comeback. Especially those in yellow tones (citrine, yellow topaz, amber), and blue tones (aquamarine, blue sapphire, lapiz, London Blue, chalcedony). Rock crystal, which is clear, will also be big.

The Kelly, by Dana LeBlanc Designs, $48.00
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9166775

Faceted aquamarine drops with 14K gold-fill, by Raraavis. $28.00. www.etsy.com

Geometric rock crystal on 14K gold-fill chain, by Raraavis. $26.00. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7133522

Big bold necklaces. Geometric shapes. Multi-strand necklaces.

Long beaded necklace, by Hazell, $125.00
www.etsy.com

The Monaco, by Dana LeBlanc Designs. $54.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9489985




Yellow and gold freshwater pearl triple strand necklace, by fantcastle. $35.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5657877


Bows



Delicate bow necklace, by Rachelle D. $12.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9494948




Glass jar bow necklace, by Autum Leah. $12.50.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8030589




My pretty baby bracelet, by Opulent Oddities. $32.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9534256


Tribal themes.
From carved beads to natural-inspired materials such as wood, coral, bone, and coconut, jewelry is going primitive.




Hand wrapped coconut ring, by tomate, d epingles. $20.00
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5420798



Blood red coral and vintage silver tone pendant necklace, by Curly Sue. $25.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8385716





Trade wind hoop earrings, by Kim B Designs. $36.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8755245




Kalar wood earrings, by Salt Run Designs. $16.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9070576


Charm bracelets.



Opal pearl, gold, rhinestone vintage charm bracelet, by Original Jewels. $80.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7406754




Love and adornment vintage charm bracelet, by Just Be Designs. $30.00.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9543300


Stay tuned for more spring jewelry trends later this week!