I have an ongoing love affair with hable construction and now they have teamed up with Garnet Hill on an entire bedding collection. Right now it is not in the budget for me since we have lots of upcoming projects at the house but I am thinking of adding a couple of pillow cases to satiate my appetite. :)
pic from Garnet Hill
Venus glass collection from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, hand-blown glass, silver-lined interior, mirrored finish. I don't know how much they are. Probably a lot.
I am not a big martini drinker. Give me a scotch on the rocks and I am set. But I could be converted. I will take one of each, please...
from DWR
Cheers!
Shevon Gant is a Brooklyn-based ceramic artist and designer. I first became aware of her work through flickr. I can't decide which I like more, her actual gorgeous ceramic pieces or the way she styles her pieces with food and household things and photos them. Ok, I love everything about them. It's one thing to see a beautiful object and it's another to see it in action and give it life and imagine how you would use it in your own home.
Some of my favorites...
What a great capturing tool for all your fabulous decorating ideas! Check them out here.
Marisa at Creative Thursday is now producing limited edition gocco prints and selling them here.
More irresistible art for my wish list. Someone must scoop this little guy up! Oh how do I love gocco.
So to celebrate I am giving myself a virtual gift, since the budget is tight these days.
A Hable Construction Rose Poppy Weekender tote. Makes me want to go to the beach!
If I haven't said it a million times in the last two weeks, here it is again: I can't wait until summer arrives! And I just happened to be surfing the Ikea site during lunch today and came across their new Summer Brochure (that coincidentally arrived at our house today!) and am so excited to see their expanded selection of outdoor living furniture and accessories. I say 'expanded' and anyone correct me if I am wrong, but I don't remember them having quite as many pieces last year.
Although I truly do love Smith & Hawken's stuff, you can buy at patio chair at Ikea for the price of a S&H chair cushion. Living on the east coast (middle part) where we are lucky to even use our patios 4 months out of the entire year (and that is if we are lucky enough to not have a sweltering summer), I have a hard time spending a ton of money on patio furniture and accessories. I think these are a great alternative. I would probably either make or invest in some off-season covers to protect the acacia wood.
Sometimes Ikea's colors are a bit too primary for me, but the Summer Brochure has the yummiest shades of green, which I will call Jade. For other beautiful shades of green check out Holly's post at decor8 "Green Glorious Green".
And I love the shades of red and orange with tangerine. For other beautiful shades of orange check out Victoria's post at sfgirlbybay "In the Mood For Orange".
I can't wait to have brunch on the deck with Shirred Eggs and Pear Mimosas.
(All photos from Ikea Summer Brochure which you can see here.)
This month I put Blueprint magazine on the publication pedestal. My favorite feature was the Small Space Makeover for Editor-in-Chief Sarah Humphreys. I had a light-bulb moment relative to the headboard they made for Sarah which was just fabric hung on a wooden dowel since space was at an ultimate premium in her apartment. (photos above from Blueprint magazine, left and CB2, middle and right)
And then not martha reminded me of those amazing Marimekko fabric panels and hanging hardware CB2 now carries.
We are in the planning stages of a bedroom and bath overhaul. The first phase was the new vanity, sink, faucet and counter in the bathroom. Bedroom: so we upgraded to a king size bed, which I have very mixed feelings about to begin with (another story), but I did find a relatively simple and reasonably priced platform bed frame and headboard. The three pictures above the bed I purchased in...1998. Yes, I cannot believe it has been that long. I got a job at Pier 1 when I moved back to Philly from New York before I got a job in architecture and got the set of landscape prints there for less than $30. And I have loved them ever since. But the size, material and color of our new headboard seems to overwhelm the three lonely pictures. Purchasing a large piece of art just doesn't seem like it is in our budget, so I think one of those Marimekko panels could be the perfect-in-every-way answer to my dilemma. I *heart* Marimekko anything. And particularly the two panel prints above that CB2 has right now. The panel is $49.95 and the hanging hardware is $24.95. Not too bad.
The other benefit I see, is that if I ever got bored with the panel, I could run down to my favorite Philly fabric shop and pick up a couple of yards of remnant fabric and hang that from the hardware. I guess I could also make something with a sturdy wooden dowel and some hook-and-eye hardware. We will see...
I usually procrastinate about doing grocery shopping. I shouldn't though, since we are lucky enough to have a shopping extravaganza only 2 minutes (actually walking distance) down the road from us: Wegmans. Most of our neighbors hike across town to the Giant to save money. I personally think that for your basic grocery staples, Wegmans is no more than Giant. The trick is to ignore all the new and wonderful items from food, to dishes to magazines that you can discover while there. If you are looking for a grocery item and you can't find it at Wegmans, no one makes it. Remember that.
I was buying our standard decaf Asian green tea and happened to look up at the top shelf at some of the most amazing tea vessels I have seen.
Teaposy, just like Wegmans, is a Rochester, NY based company that is all about the art + craft of healthy and natural tea. It is not only healthy, but also beautiful. Each vacuum-sealed blooming tea looks like a pod or acorn, but when you put it in hot water it turns into a flower. There are nine types of tea, each one blooms into something unique.
I am smitten with the glassware. Each piece is made of crystal clear glass (so you can see the blooming tea!) in simple shapes.
They're beautiful, practical and healthful with maybe a little bit of luxury mixed in. Sure, happy living is not about the stuff you have or buy. But getting together for tea with friends or family is something that many cultures have been doing for centuries. The Japanese even have a ceremony dedicated to the sharing of tea. If an inanimate object encourages us to stop and spend some time with ourselves, friends or family and share a cup of tea, I think it could be worth it.
PS: You can do a search of retailers that carry teaposy products across the US. In Philly and New York you can find teaposy at Bloomingdales and Wegmans. *hl*
