Monday 30 April 2012

Dark Shadows

Just a quick post, as I'm about to clean out my linen closet in anticipation of my Yard Sale! (Seriously, if you don't hear back from me by tomorrow, someone send a search and rescue team. A hot search and rescue team.) It was an odd weekend, this one! I was invited to a gospel show at a Baptist church and thought since I'd probably not get another opportunity to go to one, I'd check it out. My friend T and my cousin Saucy Miss Scarlet and I went together (despite the concerns of some friends that I may burst into flames upon entering a church.) The choir and their band was great! (Wah-wah peddles at church?!) I won't get into the set played by the amateur religious rock band, which was at least mercifully short....maybe there IS a God. We made it out after the show with no incendiary instances, had a snack at Stella's and popped by work (Prairie Sky Books) to take a photo of my latest window display. What, did you think I only decorated at home?  Warner Brothers was kind enough to send us passes to the advance screening of Dark Shadows next week (there are definite perks to my job!) and we are awfully excited! In appreciation for the passes and because of my undying love for Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, I cobbled together a goofily macabre, vampy window display. Hope you like it. And I hope you'll go see the movie!



Monday 23 April 2012

The Great Purge of 2012

Steady, now. I'm going to do it. I'm about to start the Great Purge of 2012.
Some of y'all know that I'm planning a yard sale, and I intend to get rid of a LOT of stuff. And what better place to start than my studio? I figure if I start huge (the biggest room with the most stuff in it) it can only get easier from there. I'm a little scared of the time it's gonna take, plus I'm going to have to be very firm with myself. Am I ever really going to use two industrial paper-cutters, a 10 pound box of ugly wood beads or a bag of dolls heads? (Wait! I used those when I sewed a whole bunch of 'em onto the hem of a shirt for my Lady Gaga Halloween costume...) Wish me luck. It's about to get real up in here...


UPDATE: I cleared out one shelving unit in 3 hours. 2 big tubs for the yard sale, though! I was very strict with myself. Time to do another hours worth. I can't believe I thought I'd finish the whole room today!
UPDATE #2: It's two days later. I've filled almost 5 72-litre bins with stuff, just from the studio! I also pulled 100 dvds off the shelves and sorted through and priced all the jewelry I'm saying adios to. And I just threw out a huge recycling bag full of magazine clippings, sketches, greeting cards, etc. Why was I keeping this stuff?!


Saturday 21 April 2012

Chairs!

After my last post about the Pasha chair, I started thinking about how I have a bit of a chair fetish. I could write a whole blog about 'em! But I'll just stick with one heavy-on-the-photos-post. Man,  I LOVE chairs! Sitting is AWESOME! Hope you enjoy these picks. You and your ass can thank me (or curse me) later.

The Skull resin chair by Pool UK. Just a concept piece, not mass produced.

A classic! The Louis Ghost chair by Philippe Starck.

Another Starck, the Mademoiselle chair.


The Eero Saarinen Tulip Chair.

Another Saarinen classic, the Ball Chair.

And the hanging Bubble version.

The Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair.

The Eames moulded plywood lounge chair for Herman Miller.

I see these all over Mexico, and would love to bring one home...alternatively you could by the Acapulco chair.

I've always called these banana chairs, and found one once at a yard sale for $50...then left it on my balcony, cuz I was too lazy to unscrew it from the roof. You can find similar chairs here, or try your luck yard-saleing.

While I don't really like leather furniture, I do love traditional equipale  chairs from  Mexico.  These ones are often made from pig leather...ewww, bacon-y. You can find similar ones here.

Once again, the Pasha chair, by Pedrali.

I've always loved round settees! I'd look on ebay, or in antique stores for a similar one,  but if you've got an extra 9 grand lying around, you could try Windsor Smith for a similar piece.

I know I said I don't like leather furniture, but you might! And this Safari Camp chair by Ralph Lauren is so beautiful.

Loving this new Reclaimed Boat Chair from Anthropologie.

The Opera chair by Casmidy.

The Skeleton Chair by Michael Aram

Suzani print chair from Graham and Green.


If you like these chairs, you may enjoy the book 1000 Chairs, by Taschen.









Friday 13 April 2012

Pasha Chair

Oh my gosh. Look at this Pasha Chair from Italian company Pedrali. You know when you have to request the price, you can't afford it!


Thursday 12 April 2012

The Taming of the Kitchen

I know, I know, I'm all talk and no action! Actually, I'm all talk and no money, but as soon as that situation is remedied, I'll start on the "normalizing" of my bathroom, then move on to taming my kitchen! I know to stage the house I'm supposed to paint everything blargh, I mean...cream, and I will...mostly. But what do you think of painting the kitchen cabinets grey, and the walls sage? Both of which would work well with the slate floor, and add a lot more interest. Let me know what you think of my inspiration photos.

Slate floor

Our appliances

My sink area. (Our dishwasher is installed underneath.)

I love the grey shade of the cabinets...

...and the colour of these cabinets is what I was thinking for the walls.

I've got two of these open shelving units installed in the kitchen. One is vertical and the other is horizontal. They look better in person.

I'm thinking of this Corian countertop to replace my butcher block counter.

So sharp...

I've these Grundtal shelves from IKEA in the kitchen. I still love 'em!


Thinking about adding these spotlights, to complement the existing stainless steel overhead light.

Love the vintage feel of these cup pulls, but may just stick with my basic brushed nickel drawer pulls in the built-in pantry.

But I might get a bit fancier for the cabinet door knobs.

This lurvely toile fabric could make a nice curtain for the window, or for the open space under the sink.

Chic linen tea towel!

Thursday 5 April 2012

Monochromatic

I apologize for being an absentee blogger as of late. I still don't have a new Mac, cuz my computer guy thinks that the next generation of Macs are going to be released next week! (I, of all people, have absolutely no concept of whether this is the case, but I'm willing to wait a little longer.) The nerds over here at the Mac Rumors forum also suggest waiting. I'm dying a little inside, but we'll see how it all turns out.

Just because I've been computer-less at home doesn't mean I haven't been thinking of you...I hope you'll enjoy this batch of photos of colourful rooms. And in this case, by "colourful" I mean predominantly one colour, with lots of hits of white to help move the eye around, and monochromatic schemes in some cases. I even included beige! Beige! Perish the thought.

Your basic colour wheel.

White and serene...

...to moody and black.

Another black beauty.

Gorgeous and grey.

Beige! Beige! Beige. (I did it!)

A glossy chocolate brown.

Now we're talking my language...purple on purple!

I want to just sink right into that couch. Cleaning the cat hair off it can be someone else's job.

A teal dining room.

A turquoise bedroom would be nice to wake up to!

Green on green...and a little Picasso never hurts. My grandparents had a Picasso print of a dove when I was growing up. It was a simple line drawing and I once asked my grandpa who drew it. He said "I did!" I thought well, it's pretty simple, but not bad for a farmer! I completely believed he drew it until I was about 16.  I was a very gullible child.

Limey!

A charming yellow bedroom.

Open concept orange!

Red sari bedroom.

That is really, really pink.