Finds

We took another trip to Urban Ore this weekend, It's become a ritual. There is so much to find!

One of the first things I saw was this:

Sadly the price tags were totally fair but at $135.00 each. I couldn't afford them.

I picked up a couple things, one of which I will go in to detail about in the future. Another was this:

A metal first aid box for $2.00. It has some very old and moldy/gross supplies in it. I got it home and went at it with soap and water and a Magic Eraser (greatest cleaning product ever).

It fits all our medical stuff perfectly! I love it. Before they were all just in miscellaneous boxes tucked here and there.

Then there was the thing that got away, hmph.
I spotted this lady with a large orange tin with beautiful teal and yellow flowers on it. It's like this thing was made for ME. I complimented her on it and she said "Oh yeah I was thinking about not getting it at all, but now that someone likes it I have to have it!"

Damn! My husband said to go home and etsy/ebay it. Right, how am I supposed to track down some anonymous tin in a thrift store?

Well I did, on my first try, I love etsy!

Cleaning out!

This week I've been going over some things and culling some collections in preporation for the move.

Remember that old vintage radio I refurbished into ipod speakers? It's going.

Right now I really have no use or space for it so it has to go. I listed in on etsy, so if you love it and can give it a good home, check it out.

Sale at Lolabags.

I'm having an End-of-Summer sale at the shop. Everything has been marked down.

Lolabags.etsy.com

September House Tour Recap

9/7/09 John and Johann

9/14/09 Kris

Home

It feels so good to be home! The shows were incredible, they played a song they had only played 3 other times and the last time was in 1998!

Not sure if I'll get back to posting this week but just wanted to let you know I'm home safe.

Leavin' Here

Sorry for the erratic posting as of late, it's not over yet!

I'm out of town for a few days, off to Seattle to see the best band in the world in their hometown.

An interesting side-note, The band wanted to do a video for this song with a ton of women riding Vespas on their way out of Seattle but they just didn't have the budget for it.

Handmade Friday

Isn't she lovely? I love her. I'm a confessed Star Trek fan though. Thanks to a friend I've been watching the original series (I was always a TNG fan). I had to search out Star Trek art on Etsy.

Made by John Tebeau/jctebeau this lovely print of Uhura is a must have, although this one of John and Yoko is fantastic as well.


Have a great weekend! Live long and prosper.

Jonathan Adler Fabric!

Be still my beating heart! Jonathan Adler has created a line of upholstery fabric; "Volumes of Velvet". I can't wait to start seeing it on furniture!

Check out the full post at Discover: Interior Design

Cold War Relics

I came across this post on Apartment Therapy and it really hit a nerve with me.

It was about bomb shelters and how some look today. It included a link to Good  Magazine with a full tour: Waiting for the End of the World.

I would love to have one of these, not for what they represent but to have a cozy space to turn into whatever you'd like and seal yourself off from the world. Your own little place to create or relax.

I wonder how many of these are here in the States?

Make your own

I still had some of this great paper left over and have been racking my brain what to do with that and the Peacock wallpaper sample I have. I was hit with an idea for the wrapping paper, alas the wallpaper is still untouched (I'll figure out something!).


I decided on making  a card holder for both card sizes I have, my tiny moo and regular size cards.
I cut the paper to the sizes I needed and folded it, since I didn't have a fancy bone paper folder like Martha uses I improvised with a cheese spreader.

Then I stitched it all together on my sewing machine (did you know you could sew paper? You can!).

That's it, one side holds the regular size cards and the other two rows of my mini moo cards.

House Tour

Name: Kris/Rakka Deer
Location: Bremerton, WA
Square Footage: 1,200
Years Lived in: 2.5 months
Rent or own: Own! It's my and my BF's first house!
Describe your style: Po'Mo. As in "Poor Modern". We only buy new pieces when we can afford them.
Blog/Website: Personal: suspectandfugitive.com Home: casarakkaleff.blogspot.com

What's your favorite free/found item?
I have a reel-to-reel that I found on the side of the street about seven years ago that I LOVE. I can't wait until I can find a place to display it.

What's your favorite purchased item?
If I've got my serious face on, I'd say our green couch. If I'm being honest, I'd say our Xbox 360. I'm addicted to streaming Netflix...

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
Lack of time. Leff, my BF, and I have big ideas but we sometimes have to curtail them for that very reason.

Is your design style organic or planned?
Planned organic? (What a cop out answer!) We do have a general idea of how we want things to go but occasionally, one of us will find something on Etsy and then we have to reorganize things.

What is your favorite spot in the house?
On my green couch in front of my Xbox. (Seriously, I'm addicted to the streaming movie thing.)

How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
Not so much style as color. Leff and I have both been into straight lines and minimal clutter forever but I've found in the new house that we're tending more towards brighter colors and greys, of all things. (It's weird because we live in the Pacific Northwest. There's enough grey outside most of the year that it's kinda' strange to want it indoors as well.)

What is your favorite resource or store?
Either Re-store or Etsy.

What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
Colonial Williamsburg Blue and Dusty Rose combos. No offense to anyone who likes these colors, it's just what was in all of the parsonages that I lived in growing up.

What has been your favorite design trend?
I won't lie, I'm loving how "Mad Men" has made Modernism more accessible!

What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
"Speed Racer" and "Valley of the Dolls".

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
Space. We've lived in places that have been under 900 sq feet until this year. In our apartments, Leff and I tended to go vertical. We're still into utilizing space that way (our stairwell is a fairly good example of that) but we're having to adapt to make our place feel less like a empty cavern.


What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
Painting. It's taken a long time (I've painted almost every surface of this place since we moved in, including ceilings (!) in some rooms.) but well worth the effort. It now feels like home!

photos courtesy of Kris/Rakka Deer

Small Changes

Just a little one this time. I went back to the green, I did like the teal but it just didn't feel right. The green, however "harsh" it may appear on some screens feels right for me. So it's staying.


The other change is a 'retweet' button. Pretty neat little widget that counts how many times a post has been mentioned on twitter and allows you to tweet it to your own twitter. I hope you make use of it, I know I will.


You can find it right here.

I was...

I was going to try to resume regular posting today with a Handmade Friday post but then I realized what day it was and it's just not that important.

My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims and even to those who lost no one but as a human being felt the loss.

photo courtesy of Gothamist

Treasure

Sometimes the flea market here in Alameda is only good for the kettle corn (believe me it's worth getting up for) and sometimes the flea market yields many treasures.


Foolishly I thought that since the Bay Bridge was closed this weekend there wouldn't be a lot of people at the flea market and we could go a little later than we usually do...wrong!

Man it was packed, never again will I wait until 9am, it's worth getting up at 6:30 am on a Sunday to beat the crowds.

I picked up a couple little treasures before stumbling on the big one...

It's a no name, so don't get too excited but it's gorgeous! I love this shade of aqua and it spins!

How much was it you ask?

$20! Unreal! I don't think Ikea even has a chair that cheap. I might replace the base, I do like that it spins but it's a little low and toes are bound to get stubbed on it. I might wait until we move and then see where it ends up and it's functionality.

Does anyone know where I can buy MCM chair bases? I'd love to see a wooden dowel base on it.

House Tour

Name: Joan Yokom & Johann Fitzgerald
Location: San Francisco
Square Footage: 660 Sq. Ft.
Years Lived in: 6
Rent or own: Own
Describe your style: Eclectic, urban, contemporary, comfy
Blog/Website: http://www.johannfitzgerald.com/ and http://www.xojy.etsy.com/

What’s your favorite free/found item?
A friend gave us the most incredible wedding present. He is a printing salesman and had access to an old stripping table from the days when all the masks and film were cut by hand. He chopped the legs to coffee table height, had the thing powder-coated red, rewired the lights and switch, polished the metal and mounted it on industrial castors. It’s WAY to big for our space but we love it and get a kick out of the fact that it basically dominates our condo. It looks so cool at night when we plug it in and turn on the light table function.


What’s your favorite purchased item?
We bought several rusty steel side tables from a metal artist in Napa. We had them sand blasted then we polished them using a four inch hand held grinder then sealed the surfaces to keep from rusting again.

 What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?

There are two artists planning this space with different perspectives. Somehow we manage to find solutions we both like. Our processes are quite different but we usually arrive at the same conclusions.

Is your design style organic or planned?

Both. We planned the layout of our living space but most of our things are found or given to us. The space evolves and we have to prune it from time to time.

 What is your favorite spot in the house?
JY: The couch is the perfect nap spot. The afternoon light comes in and drifts across me as I lie there.
JF: The bed, for the same reasons


How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
We have moved into a more streamlined, modern mode with our Bertoia chairs, grey/green plaster walls and the mesh curtain.

What is your favorite resource or store?
Any hardware store. Also we have collected a few cool pieces from the San Francisco recycling center during their artist in residence shows. Behind the gallery there’s always a collection of interesting things that have shown up at the center that anyone can take home for free. That’s where we found our big red “f”.


What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
JY: Not into the antler craze.
JF: Really chintzy hardware.

 What has been your favorite design trend?
JY: The re-appreciation for mid-century furniture.
JF: The move toward specialized finishes on walls.


What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
JY: Probably growing up the daughter of an architect in a home of Herman Miller and Platner although I went as far away from it as I could until very recently. I also love the outdoors and the city so am always bringing home stuff I find on the beach or the street.
JF: While working for Otto Design Group I was responsible for finding all manner of discarded objects to convert into functional design elements for stores like Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and House of Blues.

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
Function and form (remember 660 square feet). We have a lot of artist friends and family and we try to find enough space to display the art without crowding and conflict.


What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
Our recent Venetian plaster project (Johann is a plaster and finishes artisan www.johannfitzgerald.com) prompted us to eliminate some electrical conduit that had been installed by the previous owner. The visual impact amazed us.

photos courtesy of Joan and Johann

Old becomes new...

I saw these gorgeous apartments via Decor8...

Would you believe that they're old World War II bunkers?

The ultimate idea of upcycling and using what you have, architect Rainer Meilke saw these going to waste and lobbied for a chance to turn them into something great.

They're beautifully excited. I'd love to see this happening in more places.

Read the original post at Decor8, the English article and the website.

photos courtesy of bunkerwohnen