A nice place to spend the summer...

I've been on the hunt for good outdoor furniture and especially outdoor couches. Here is a gorgeous hand-woven bench I'd have a hard time removing myself from:




Banquette by Drucker

Two Places to Be: Day and Night

Credit: Pool Cabana in L.A. by Ruthie Summers, Moroccan Patio, photo by Mathieu Gast

The unbearable lightness of being.

"wedding shoes" print by colgdrew

Gorgeous Decay

I watched the new HBO movie Grey Gardens this morning. I'd seen the original 1975 documentary a few years ago and was pretty skeptical of a new version and even more so when I heard Drew Barrymore would be playing Little Edie.

Thankfully, the film reveals even more about Little & Big Edie by filling in the gaps left in the documentary. (i.e. What happened to Big Edie's husband? How had Edie come to live with her mother again?). If anything the new film is perhaps too interested in a happy ending as we see Big Edie apologizing to her daughter for holding her back from a career on stage in New York.

Before the estate goes, literally, to the cats, we can see the grandeur of the Beale's home--here is the HBO set of the living room:


But alas, here is the after (this time for real):

There is some reason why this pair--and their dramatic decline--so fascinates the public. The loss of the dream? A cautionary tale of how not to survive an economic downturn?

Design that's black and white.

I'm loving this crisp and classic Portland house designed by Jessica Helgerson.

Here's an excellent alternative to a disco ball in the bedroom. (What, like you don't have one in yours?)

I want this sink...

...and this bright and shiny kitchen. Gorgeous!

Naked Peggies

I'm swooning over these adorable hand painted figures by Naked Peggies. These mini portraits would be perfect wedding gifts or for your cool friends who just had a baby, or a favorite kid who happens to love dressing in his superhero costume... My favorite, however, are the Margot and Richie Tenenbaum peggies. How clever!

It's an honor to be nominated.

As depressed as I am about our house not making it into the finals of Apartment Therapy's contest (boo-hoo), I have to admit that it's all my fault. My fault and my camera's, really. After seeing all of the great spaces in the finals, I'm aware of how little I considered lighting and staging. Rookie move, I know. I blame my blurry, less than gorgeous photos on my limited time (newborn baby) and housekeeping skills (kinda lazy) as well as my camera that photographs everything with a Moonlighting-esque haze. Next time, I'll hire a photographer and win some s*%t.

(Photo: Raddlesnack Small Cool Entry)

Flashback Friday: Pink Party

Happy Friday! Wouldn't you just love to be a guest at this colorful party?

(From House Beautiful, November, 1966)

Take A Picture, It Lasts Longer

Solutions: Photo Storage

I'm now four months into this whole parenting thing and I now realize that the biggest problem is not the continuous stream of spit-up, but the never-ending flood of photographs. There are nights that I wake up in a sweat worried about whether or not I got copies of the photos from Easter that we took on my husband's camera and not my own. Then there are the nights that I worry about the eventual change of technology that will make our digital photos obsolete like so many of my (I'm sure) adorable antics lost forever on my parents' Super-8 movies.

But, I've devised a plan to deal with this photo organization nightmare:

Step 1: Invest in photo albums. I bought plain linen-covered books from Target and then used a rubber stamp to decorate. (Crafty!) For a cheaper solution, three-hole punched vinyl sleeves easily pop into a binder. On the spendier side, these lovely felt books (left) from Kate's Paperie will be nice when the baby wants to look at images of her younger self.

Step 2: Upload and print pictures quarterly (or when I remember). I upload photos to Snapfish and have them printed for 10 cents each at the local Walgreens. I could have them sent to my house which saves time but adds postage cost (and gas to get them here).

Step 3: Have an archival box for less-impressive photos. Having a box handy to store pictures as a way-station and then sort them once a year and pitch out pictures you don't love.

Well thank you very much!

My pick today for Apartment Therapy Small Cool contest is MY HOUSE! Woo Wee! Vote for our house!

Teeny Tiny Trailer (and Chichi!)

Today's Apartment Therapy Small Cool contest pick: This tiny trailer and its chihuahua makes me think of my brief time in Texas. How great!




(via apartmenttherapy)

Calm Cool & Collected

For the next week or so, I'm going to post my daily favorite entries for Apartment Therapy's Small Cool contest.

Today's Pick: Emily's Wonderful in White Studio
I feel so calm looking at this white on white apartment. At only 300 square feet, this little gem packs a lot of style. I especially love the sweet pink bedside lamps.

(Via apartmenttherapy.com)

Stencils That Floored Me

I've been thinking of a creative way to cover the concrete floor in our basement and when I saw these pics of a Moroccan office and its stenciled floors, I was overwhelmed with inspiration!

Royal Design Studio has an incredible selection of Moroccan tile stencils that would be perfect for a large-scale project like my basement. Now the hard part: choosing one...

I also love the Stencil Gallery's selection. Look at this lovely staircase with the stencil design used:

Another inspiring picture:

Spring Purging

When the April sun finally makes an appearance in Portland, one can hear the sounds of thousands of shirts peeling off, of toes walking barefoot on the grass and of minds whirring at the thought of gardens to be planted.

Yesterday, I walked around the yard to see which plants made it through the winter and which bushes have come to life with hopeful green buds. I emptied out the dead summer flowers and dirt from the terracotta pots and Chris dragged all of the plants we'd kept indoors all winter outside.

Now that my outside space is looking better, I want to get the insides of our house in ship shape. My biggest problem is that I like stuff and I'm sentimental. That's a recipe for major clutter. I was inspired by an excerpt from Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke where she advocates getting rid of anything that makes you feel bad or guilty or in anyway negative about yourself. Even if that thing is hidden in a box somewhere in the attic or the garage, things have the power of suggestion. They quietly whisper your shortcomings and in some small way, hold you in the past.

So, today, get rid of those things. You don't need any of them.

(Photo: bies)

Aspirational Living

You know when you go into a store and think, "I want to be the kind of person who has stuff like this..." That's what comes to mind when I peruse the wares at Seattle's Linda Ferrol Studio.

Paris, Je t'aime

1. Paris Doormat by Madison Belle; 2. Paris Tote by Madison Belle; 3. Valises at Basic French; 4. Pré Histoire & Moyen Age Schoolbooks at Basic French; 5. Hand Soap by La Compagnie de Provence; 6. Vintage Bistro Napkins by Family Linens; 7. Pots by Le Creuset; 8. Montereau Jacket by Saint James; 9. Bistro Chair at Conran Shop; 10. Leonard Cohen (Just because...)