Handmade Friday

Wishing. That's the word. I wish I had a spare $165 for this incredible necklace. Made by Katie Johansson of Dollybird Design the feather is underneath a piece of cut quartz. I think this is the embodiment of my love of all things peacock.

Sigh...I suppose it's always good to want right?

Have a fantastic weekend!

Check me out on Design Sponge!

My little bookcase is being featured!

Things We Love Jan/Feb Recap

1/7/10 Amanda

1/21/10 Benita

1/28/10 Kelly

2/4/10 Rins

2/11/10 Annie

If you would like a love item of yours featured drop me an email.

Light up the darkness.

Ever since I can remember my mom always left the oven hood light on, she still does it in her house now. I've never asked why. I assumed in case anyone had to get up to use the bathroom or get a drink in the middle of the night they didn't have to stumble around for the light switch.

Now that I have a oven hood light I'm leaving mine on too but only after the sun sets and until I go to sleep. When we have guests I'm sure it will stay on all night. My husband and I had a discussion about this, his mom left her light on and so did his grandma. I think the light is a cozy beacon. It's always nice not to have to walk into a dark room.

We also leave our porch light on all night because that's how my mom did it and it just seems safer.

I know sometimes the amount of pillows on a bed is a result of somebody's mom having four so they had four. Some people karate chop their throw pillows 'cause mom did it too.
What else do we do just because that's how our parents did it?

I'll tumblr for ya

I'd like to think that I am from a generation where technology won't pass me by, but I suppose that is foolish thinking I mean, I know there are old folks out there who use the Wii and I've shown my Grandma Google and iphone Scrabble but I guess at some point you just give up the ghost and wave as the technology leave you in the dust.

With that said I feel like an old coot yelling at the kids on my lawn when I say this but I was not hip to the tumblr. I kind of knew what it was and I had seen a site or two but I was uninterested until this week when I was checking my site stats and saw that the orange bookcase post had quite a few tumblr hits.

I followed one and it felt like when Alice went through the rabbit hole! That little bookcase ended up on so many tumblr sites, I was so surprised.

I'm not sure why I wanted you guys to know it, I just did. So if you'd like to you can check out the first tumblr site Home Sweet Home to post the bookcase and go on your own rabbit chase.

Bathroom

About a billion years ago (ok 2007) I shared with you a print I had framed:

Who doesn't love a nude Marilyn? and with an orange veto "X"? Yes please!

Marilyn got a new frame when we moved and I thought it looked so much better in the black frame:

Once again we've moved and she's got herself a new frame and with that frame I bring you the only room in the house that's really, truly finished; the bathroom:

This time I really think she looks the best in the white frame, something about white on white.

I'm in love with this room. It's about half the size of our last bathroom (funny thing about the small studio is that it had a massive bathroom). The shower curtain is Marimekko and I LOVE it. It bled a little but a treatment of Retayne took care of that and since it bled the company I bought it from (Crate &Barrel) sent me another one which will most likely end up as a bag in my etsy shop. The lighting in there is weird so it look a little more yellow than it actually is. The last picture is the best representation of the color which is a pale pale yellow.

It had no medicine cabinet and a pedestal sink so there was zero storage (unless you count the toilet tank). So I bought the cabinet from Ikea, which I always kind of wanted (I think I have a thing for first aid crosses, I'm going to have to look into that).

Putting together the cabinet taught me a valuable lesson: If I'm ever in the position to install my own cabinets or pay someone to do it, I'm going to pay someone. It was frustrating to say the least.

Jonathan Adler Stationery

Jonathan Adler has a new line of stationery with Lifeguard Press. It's very afforadable and very cute. I think it's much better than the Barnes & Noble stuff which is kind of restricted by the blue and brown color scheme.

Check it out:

I've already snapped up a couple of the greek key items (which is my new thing by the way). Don't miss it, check out the whole line here.

Also, Jonathan Adler has some new needlepoint pillow. There are zodiac themed:

They're nice but I'd like to see more of the mod shapes and colors. This past seasons stuff has been a little light and leaves me wanting a bit more.

photo courtesy of Jonathan Adler and Lifeguard Press

House Tour Jan/Feb Recap

Because January was short on House Tours I combining the recap with February's. Enjoy!

1/4/10 Carissa and Dustin

1/25/10 Elizabeth

2/1/10 Johnny and Stacie

2/8/10 Heather

2/15/10 Veronika

Thanks again to all the participants for this month(s) House Tour's.

If you would like to be featured in a House Tour send me an email or add a couple photos to the flickr group.

Quick Change

Take a look around look up and to the side.

Can you see where I changed the sidebars and got rid of some filler? I moved the blogroll and the about me stuff to their own pages.

Opinions? Do you care, is it less crowded, more complicated?

Any feedback would help.

Handmade Friday

I know most of you are already familiar with the work of this week's featured artist but I still wanted to showcase her work just because it's so damn awesome!

Jenn Ski is a well known artist. Her work has been featured on many websites and print magazines and even her home has garnered some attention (deservedly so, it's gorgeous!).

Check out her blog and her shop.

Have a great weekend!

Things We Love

This weeks TWL is from a good friend of the blog Kris/Rakka. Kris's home has been featured in a House Tour and she did a guest post during my move.

The horses were a bday present from my signif other, Jason. I used to ride (but haven't for years). It was really cool that he remembered and found some vintage, cheesy flocked equine decor that would look good on our bar.

-Kris/Rakka sporadically writes about her home owning experience on her blog Casa RakkaLeff. She also has a 365 project: Stupid Fucking Awesome and two other blogs: Glitter Pissing. Be sure to check out here art on etsy: Rakka Deer and Suspect and Fugitive and don't forget to follow her on twitter.

$0.02

A reader of the blog sent me a question via formspring and elaborated through email. She was willing to share the question here in case anyone else had some ideas:

Okay, Ana, I love your website and Lolabags, (as you know). But my husband and I are about to enbark on a major project. We are putting two bathrooms in one space in our upstate house. We are doing these bathrooms ourselves. Planning, designing and building. (uh-oh). We are both getting ready to retire from our city jobs and hope to one day open an Inn up in our second home in the mountains. We have been working on our house since 1992. It has been in our family since 1972. It's gone through so many changes. But your website has given me so much more confidence.

Anyway, I would love to show our transformation of this space and I just don't know how. That's one question. I would also love your input as we go.

Right now we are planning the first bathroom which will be mid 20's and 30's? I don't know what you would call it. I like the old fashioned bathtubs, but not the clawfeet. I've chosen the double slipper pedestal soaking tub. Right now I'm trying to decide on a sink pedestal or wood cabinet with sink? I don't know. I really want something interesting and not new. Perhaps an antique? I have to look around, but we haven't yet decided if the floor will be wood or the hexagon tile on the floor? I'm afraid that with the tile there will be too much white? Help me, please. Too many decisions and not enough confidence. We have decided on half wainscoting painted white and then a nice color on the rest of the wall.

Peace & Love,

Cathy

My answer was as follows:

Ok Cathy,

Here's what I think.

I would go tile in the bathroom, it's so much easier to maintain and you don't have to worry about it warping like you would if you went with wood.

It doesn't have to be white! There are SO many options out there, start searching the internet you'll find a ton of beautiful options.

Considering you want to go with a antique-y feel and hope to turn it into a B&B I would really think about converting an old dresser into a sink/vanity. It's a charming look and it gives you and your guests much more room to put your stuff on.

Take a look:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14420225@N03/2562225644/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daffodillane/3661564004/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40124102@N07/3690447579/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hotash/271838896/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sblendid/30501511/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clarkwork/3594210312/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15359828@N04/1616475062/

http://jon.oxer.com.au/blog/id/154

Hope this helps!

Ana

Anyone else have some ideas? Any questions? You can always ask via formspring or email!

Update

At a reader's suggestion I put up some fabric behind the mobile hanging above the staircase. I'm really thrilled with the outcome.

Here is the before:

Here is the after with $14 worth of fabric:

HUGE difference right? It also covers up some wire work at the bottom of the stairs that you could see just above your head.

Before/After Free Bookcase

If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter you know I've been been talking about a bookcase that I've been working on.

On our last weekend in California my husband and I found a cute little Mid-Century bookcase on the side of the road. It had seen better days it was wobbly, dirty and sad.

I popped it in my trunk knowing I would soon have a basement and this would be a perfect project to tackle in it. After I finished the matching desks for my husband and I (pictures soon I promise) and then made curtains, I moved on to the bookcase.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, where I wanted it to go and what I wanted to put in it.

In our old place we had built a built in curio cabinet in the kitchen. I lined the back with some great orange and red lava lamp-y fabric and it housed my Jonathan Adler vases. I thought I had a picture of it but all I could find was this one:

You can barely see some salt and pepper shakers in there!

This is what I wanted the bookcase to hold. So the bookcase wouldn't be overcrowded I sold about 5 Adler vases that I didn't truly love (hey 5 Things!) Then my husband sanded the bookcase and I started painting.

Here it is before any work took place:

Pretty hard to love huh? It was actually dirtier in person. So after the sanding there was primer, then a few coats of the same semi-gloss white paint I used on the dresser, then I painted the interior shelves Benjamin Moore's "Burnt Caramel". The whole project cost maybe $30

All in all it took about a week and I am in LOVE with the final result. Are you ready?

I love, love, LOVE it! I'm so happy with the color and the teal and white vases just *pop* against the orange.

House Tour-Veronika

Name: Veronika, my husband, my baby daughter and we also share care of my two stepsons
Location: Surrey, UK
Square Footage: around 1500 sq.ft
Years Lived in: 2
Rent or own: own
Describe your style: I like simple, practical ideas, white walls, colours and bits of old furniture
Blog/Website: fewthingsfrommylife.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8073150

What's your favorite free/found item?
Probably drawings I have around the house, given to me from a friend or my granddads ones in the living room, he drew them when he was at the college.

What's your favorite purchased item? 
at the moment new sofa in the living room

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
space, it is very limited and with three kids we have a lot of clutter

Is your design style organic or planned?
I would like to say planned, and it very often is. But it changes a lot and I find myself constantly moving furniture around, building new cabinets etc...it is very evolving, it has to, with growing children.

What is your favorite spot in the house?
dining table in our kitchen

How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
very much, now I have a family, baby, two stepchildren and house full of toys, books, CDs, clothes, shoes...5 years ago...it was me, boyfriend and beige walls:)

What is your favorite resource or store?
ebay, Ikea and local antiques shops.

What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
net curtains, mirrored furniture, huge TVs

What has been your favorite design trend?
recycling

What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
blogs, mag. Livingetc, Elle Deco etc.

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
children:) and space and money:) :)

What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact? 
it must the living room coffee table/stool, I bought a cheap old ikea coffee table on Ebay and covered it with cowhide ( I more describe the project on my blog in section DIY projects) and it had huge success.

Photo courtesy Veronika.

Handmade Friday

This is kind of a back to back post. Annie who's dresser was featured yesterday in the Things We Love post has just opened up a shop on etsy!

She's making these gorgeous pillows with these really great mid-century inspired fabrics.

Check out her shop here.

Have a great weekend!

Things We Love

The first time I met my husband's grandpa, we talked the awkward talk of the person who can hear and the person who really should have a hearing aid. After a while, he lifted his feeble arm and punched me (surprisingly hard) right above my knee and said, "Welcome to the family." Then he said something about my husband's other grandpa who had died and his own late wife having a "helluva time up there in Heaven," which was hilarious and random.

When he died, the whole family was frantic to get a hold of the things in his house that they had loved. Things are just things, but loved one's things let you keep a part of them, and we were beyond excited to get this Danish dresser that had sat in the bedroom. The drawers are the perfect length for wrapping paper, and Grandma had kept hers in the bottom left drawer. Mine sits there now, and I think of her every time I use it. It helps me feel connected to a woman I never met and a man I barely knew. So it's not just the tapered legs and the gorgeous teak that make it my favorite piece of furniture; I love the fact that 40 years ago, they were loving the same style that I love today. I love that I get to enjoy this amazing piece in my home. I bet Grandpa is having a helluva time too.

-Annie
Ultra Vroom and Business Unfinished. 

The Jacoby Rule

One of the benefits to moving up here to Seattle is that my best friend of over a decade lives here. So now we get to see each other more than once every couple of years. We actually get to hang out. It's awesome.

The other day we went thrift store shopping and I came back with this:

It's a green corduroy Backgammon set and it was $2! I love it!

Bedroom

Here is a little before and after of the bedroom. A before the Tord Boonjte Garland Light and after...

Here it is with the $8 Ikea Orgel paper shade:

and then there was light...

I love it, the husband is still undecided on it he said it looked like gold vomit. I corrected him and said it was brass, brass vomit. I think it adds drama to the room and since we can't hang art on the wall it needs some oomph and the light has oomph. 


Just a quick note I wanted to add. The tv that's in this room is 20+ years old. It's a JVC and my brother gave it to me on my 10th birthday and I think he had it a year before he gave it to me...Amazing huh? Since it's from the days way, way before dvd it only hooks up to a VCR.

I'd love a little white flat-screen but this one is still ticking!