some thoughts for a monday

 

take me to this bedroom. and if you love mix and match patterns, you might just DIE over the preview of missoni's collection for target. 

I. DIE. and look at this absurdly adorable missoni for baby outfit that i MIGHT have to buy though it will be years before i have someone to put in it.

and i've been meaning to tell you...last saturday, i saw a great play with my mom, my sister and my brother's girlfriend dani ... it was love, loss and what i wore and starred a very pleasant, easy to watch marla maples and a non-dorota dorota. it touched on so many universal female themes in an understated, matter of fact way, and really nicely tied in how outfits and shoes and bras mark the moments of our lives and how we remember them. totally recommend. 

before the play, we had a really lovely brunch at elsewhere...i had delicious eggs with cheese perfectly folded in, and my mom's bloody mary had pickled green beans garnishing it! dani had the best looking blueberry pancakes we had ever seen...my favorite thing about hers was the way they served the butter - a perfect little square of it in a white porcelain spoon atop the stack. i missed the pre-eaten photo op, but you get the idea.

 
the best thing about elsewhere was their attention to coffee refills, and you know me and my coffee. we were all playing around with our cameras and retro camera apps, and i stumbled into this photo which i felt perfectly captured my "oooh it's coffee time" feeling. 

and look at the sweet little herb garden in the covered greenhouse-like room where we were sitting.

after brunch and before the play, we roamed around a flea market in hell's kitchen and i spotted this very cool bar cart. so perfectly un-glam... i think that's what i thought was interesting about it - no shine or sparkle, just a certain midcentury utilitarian style, complete with the zodiac signs on the surface...very age of aquarius. 

i'm all about bags, as you probably know, but this seems like a naked emperor situation to me...these edie parker bags (which remind me far too much of caboodles) are close to $1000.

really?? if i were going to spend a grand on a bag, that's not what it would be.

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shutter at the thought

isn't this a lovely idea? what i love most about it is that it requires zero skill in crafting, which makes it a great project for me. painting an old shutter in one solid color is something i could (probably) handle and that's all it takes to make this pretty tableau. you could even leave it with whatever state of worn-ness and color it comes to you. i love it for pictures and postcards as it's shown above, but it would also have a pretty functionality if you used it for messages (even at work!) or mail.

this has been a light writing week for me as i'm adjusting to a very busy new job and juggling many other things, but i promise to be back next week with more. let me know if you have any specific wishes for posts.

have a wonderful weekend.

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rose colored glasses...and blue and purple and white and green....

i'm a little taken with colored glass bottles right now...they're so pretty, especially in lovely pastel shades like these.



i love how this collection is all in shades of blue...so collected and grown-over-time looking, isn't it?

tag sales and flea markets are great places to find glass like this, but it can be challenging to amass a sizable collection upon deciding you want to have one so i like the idea of being on the lookout for good finds at places like that while also picking up a few here and there in retail settings like these and these from west elm. all together they look a little too mass-produced, but mixed in with vintage and mismatching pieces, they totally work.





pier 1 also sells glass bottles, seen below, and in small doses, they can contribute nicely to a collection. these feel more kitcheny feel, right?


and possibly some of the nicest are from pottery barn, like these:






love!

to the max(field)

you know how i feel about things having a collected-over-time feeling (in a nutshell, i adore it). so the maxfield flatware from pottery barn has always made my heart sing. too bad i made its acquaintance after i received every kitchen item under the sun from my wedding registry. if i were to register now, these would be at the very top of my list. the set is comprised of five different place setting styles, and is perfectly mismatched in that timeless, vintage way so many of us strive for in our homes. what i also love about it is that if you eventually inherit flatware pieces or serving pieces from your parents or grandparents, they can mix right in and they make it all that much more authentic.


well since my registry ship has sailed (several years ago at this point), i'm going for the next best thing by collecting mismatched flatware whenever i can find it super cheap. last time i was up in woodstock, i scored an entire basket of old flatware for $1. can't beat that. i recently started polishing it...not easy. i get the whole elbow grease thing now. so i'll do it over time, and one day maybe i'll have a set as lovely as the maxfield.

a mismatch made in heaven

i love the use of mismatching woods in this little vignette -- the pale gray stained chair is totally unpurposeful looking with the walnut hutch, isn't it? and the white wainscotting and picture frames add even another layer of that collected feeling. i find images like this inspiring because it lets us see how much possibility there is in the things we already own...hand-me-downs, heirlooms, tag sale finds and the occasional new purchase can all live together in a kind of harmony that you just can't buy out of a catalog. well, i guess in this case you actually could. well done pottery barn.

you like?

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bowls in bloom

i love the idea of fresh flowers in a low or footed bowl, rather than a traditional vase. first, because i think it automatically creates a different shape and proportion than we're so used to seeing, and also because it provides the opportunity to use such a wide array of special pieces. it's such a great thing to be able to use a family piece of silver or a rarely-used soup tureen or serving bowl from a beautiful set of china.



of course it's a great chance to use great thrifting finds as well. so often, when i'm at tag sales or antique shops, i see a really gorgeous bowl, but i hesitate, often because they're so much fancier than what i use at home. but when you think of it this way, it's a whole other world of opportunity for the special bowls of the world.


images from house beautiful, real simple, katie-writes, country living, a rose is a rose florist, garden party sisters, k bella designs, wedding flowers and reception ideas, my home ideas

projecting

to me, one of the best things about being a blog reader (and blog writer for that matter) is the constant exposure to interesting and beautiful ideas. specifically, i love all the projects that are out there, especially because so many of them are so doable, even if you're not that great at projects. yesterday, i shared the crumply goodness that is tissue paper, and today i have two more to share.

the chrome pig above is by an artist named harry allen, and has been featured in elle decor and other places of note. it's $190 which isn't outrageous for a special flourish in a room, but it's an investment.

so the lovely blogger at hello gorgeous came up with her own version and it looks amazing. feast your eyes.

home goods pig: $6

krylon chrome spraypaint: about $6

finished chrome pig for $12: priceless

and then decorno came out of blogger retirement to update her faithful readers on this little chestnut:


LOVE doesn't begin to capture it. i don't think it's exactly the same as the fabric eddie ross and i love (yeah, i like to make it sounds like we love it together), but it's very close.

on another note, remember this project? LOVE.

things like this inspire me to look at all things old and new with fresh eyes, not seeing only what's there, but what could be there. you too?

all images from linked sites