Buying in good conscience.

Personally, I don't think that the mark of a good design blog is a profusion posts pointing its readers to things to buy. It seems disingenuous in this economy to insist that the purchase of some overpriced whatever makes sense. So in this spirit, I make a promise to only post stuff that I would actually buy or have bought and I think you, my vast readership, would enjoy seeing.

While we're on the subject of spending money (or not), I stumbled upon eBay's World Of Good shop recently while searching for block-printed fabric from India for a bead spread or a quilt. The ShopTilonia shop features artisans of Tilonia and The Barefoot College in Rajasthan, India. Sales of their wares go towards addressing basic in their village like water, electricity, and education. I'm going to save my pennies to buy one of their Jaipuri "razai" quilts or duvets:

Made By Hand

Stylist Pia Bijkerk has "discovered more than 50 shops in Paris that embody the spirit of fait main and where you’ll find the most original and creative clothing, jewelry, handbags, ceramics, home furnishings, and decorative objects in Paris." I'd buy this book based on that description alone! (fait main=made by hand)

This is kind of awesome.

When would I ever have the chance to write about vintage vaginas?!


"Evolution of the Muff" print by Ashkahn Shahparnia at Little Paper Planes

Cute cute cute!

Isn't this just the cutest room! I love the one wall of wallpaper and the gorgeous windows. (photo: LivingEtc)

Sticker Shock!

Stickers are all the rage right now. Slap 'em up on the wall for a quick, high-impact design element. I'm loving these designs from Harmonie Interieure:

What you get...

I always read the "What You Get For $____" column in The Times. Although mostly I'm aghast at how little one can buy for so much money. But this week I'm sensing our new recession reality seeping in. Exhibit A: An 1890 seven-bedroom Victorian near Dubuque, Iowa. Price: $225,000 Now this, my friends, is a bargain.



If this grand beauty is $225K, then what could a buyer find in, say, Portland for this price? Well, nothing like a giant Victorian mansion and more like this:


A modest fixer in a not-so great neighborhood. For $225K in San Francisco you could buy a studio apartment in foreclosure. Or, that same amount could put you in this cute bungalow in central Austin:


Or a 10,000 square foot home/auditorium in Detroit. Yes, an auditorium where you could literally live on stage.

Flashback Friday: Red Rum Red Rum

For this week's Flashback Friday, I've found some circa 1970s rooms that embrace and celebrate the color red.

In this era, using the same material for your drapes, wallcovering, and duvet was like, very Lee Radziwill (but what an aewsome buttery yellow headboard!):

The graphic black & white tree wallpaper looks modern while the flashy fabrics covering the futon and papasans brighten these dorm room essentials:

Something about this room makes me smile. The red walls and glossy floors create an elegant backdrop for an art-filled room fit for a family. Nonetheless, the clown painting makes me feel weird.

Images: New Directions In Decorating, 1973, Look, 1970

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!