Redux

During our visit to the Bay we stayed in our former haunt Alameda. (Actually less than a block from our old apartment). I instantly felt like I didn't want to leave. I love that town and one day plan to live there again

So while we were there we did a quick run of the three thrift stores on the island. The Salvation Army, The Goodwill and the St. Vincent de Paul...oh but wait, something was different about the St. Vinnies...

As I walked by this window with the doors I thought "Wow, somebody knows what they're doing on the display tip" and when I walked in I saw this:

This was not the St. Vincent's I left. I spoke to Chris, the Creative Reuse and Recycling Manager, and he gave me the scoop. It's now Called Redux Studios and Gallery, They've only been open a short while (a month or so I think) and they cleared out the old thrift store and now it's a boutique of sorts. They cherry pick the vintage items that are in the shop and they also have a gallery for artists using recycled material. Additionally they are building studios in the back for artists and they plan to have teaching workshops there.

Pretty awesome huh? I'm really itching to get back to Alameda now. The prices are fair. Some of the vintage items are what you'd expect to pay at a thrift store and things like Mid-Century furniture are priced at reasonable prices for what they are.

Here are the studio spaces under construction:

 So if you're in the Bay take a trip to Alameda and check it out. I'm loving the concept and while I'm kinda bummed the thrift store is gone, the workshops sound really great and I'm jealous I don't live close enough to check them out.

Thrifting

This past weekend Bob and I went up to the Bay to visit some friends. We, of course, got some thrifting done while we were there. I visited all my favorite haunts. Some were exactly the same as we had left them. Some had changed (more on that later in the week). Here's what I scored:

A couple of vintage board games (Clue, which is a favorite around here), some sewing notions, a karate belt, a vintage thermos, some industrial clips (we use them as chip clips), a photo developing timer, a bell and a meat tenderizer. An odd lot but all incredible useful items.

Beddroom Shuffle

If you're curious what spurred all this rearranging, it was the impending visit of some friends. Nothing gets you motivated to clean and get your home looking it's best like visitors.

Here is what the bedroom looked like before. It's largely the same except for minor tweaking and the California print I bought from Morgan of The Brick House has found a home after much trial and error. 

The map really did get tried everywhere around the house but this seems to be the best fit. Before the dresser looked like this:

I like the trio of pictures but the one large one seems to clean up the area. My husband really likes it there because he's got a thing for geography.


We spent the weekend in the Bay and got some awesome thrifting done. I'll post my finds and something extra this week.

More art, more shuffling

 I actually picked up two pieces at Nick Metropolis. The first one being the 3-D Digestive System, the other is this bad boy; A diagram of the human ear:

It was one of those things that you see and you know immediately where it will go in your home. It took some slight rearranging but this awesomeness now resides above the record player.

(Here's a look at what the wall looked like before)

There's been an art moving all over the house, the "For Like Ever" print that was in the bedroom is now in the dining room. Observe:

Here's the before if you need reminding. It hides the weird cut out in the wall and fills in the negative space. I'm not 100% on it but I do like the pink with the disco ball.



Yes, no, maybe?

Kitchen Updates

Last month I talked about my visit to Nick Metropolis and my want for a vintage digestive system diagram they had. It was a tad out of my price range but I went back and haggled a little and came home the proud owner of a 3-D Digestive system. It was pretty filthy. I took some pictures of it just after I had sprayed it with cleaner. Check out that dirt slide!

With some minimal effort and and a once over with a Magic Eraser (best cleaning tool ever) it was clean. It had a hole in it which I fixed it using some spackle and touch up paint.

Not too shabby huh? I did some rearranging in the kitchen. Art has been shuffled:

I also redid the fabric in my Pyrex shelves (see the old fabric here). I felt like the orange was too dark. I went with the same green fabric that was hanging above the stairs in Seattle.

My newest kitchen addition is this Orange Crush soda thermometer from the 50's. I'm absolutely in love with it. With the aqua and orange it's like it was made for me.

Misc.

We went to the Pasadena College Flea Market this weekend. It's the baby brother of the Rose Bowl Flea. It's oddly laid out, half outside and half in a parking garage. With it being in the 90s I was glad for the garage part. I suppose I can't complain because it was free to get in. There were tons of records which made Bob happy but it was too hot for him to get into it. All I came home with was a nice large Mikasa bowl.

 

For three bucks I had to get it. I'm a sucker for 60s and 70s Mikasa designs.

On a side note the people at Houzz.com have invited me to be a monthly contributor. It's like a flickr/tumbler/pintrest site for design except it actually gives credit to the original photos and links to the products.

Check out the ideabook I made in preparation for Shark Week.