Old Magazine Ads and Fashion Editorials

Found these in a bunch of old magazines in an Antique store on my last trip to Big Sky, Montana...









If I remember correctly, this was some advertorial about the future and "computers". These cardboard boxes are different interpretations of the computer of the future. How the little girl fits in I do not know.


Ali McGraw, je t'aime...

Paint Therapy: My Bathroom before and after...

My mom and I have always said how we would love to be brick layers in our second lives. The process is so simple and therapeutic, as is knitting, and...painting. I was down and out this weekend and in an attempt to keep my mind in a positive place, my boyfriend Paul and I painted my bathroom. Let me just tell you, it was a long time coming...

Before (heinous HOT PINK)...



After (Thin Ice by Valspar)...




Bath Mat (also used as outdoor rug) by Dash and Albert. Shower Curtain by Shabby Chic.

Broken Dolls

Archival print by Kate Phillips for sale on Etsy.

Broken dolls are really creepy. I had a pair of my moms dolls from childhood (arms amputated) in a little rocker in my room growing up and my friends always made me turn them around to get rid of their stare (see below). Maybe everyone is scared because of the "play things coming alive at night" storyline (think Chucky).

In any case, I like old dolls for the same reason that I like antiques and animals up for adoption— their make-up has been loved off, their arms broken, and now they need a home. It's fun to imagine the lives they've lived.

Yesterday I found this AMAZING mid-century painting of a child and her broken doll that I am in love with and hanging in my bathroom. I think it's got less of the creepy factor because it's 2D.

On Assignment: Yolo Boarding

I just returned from Grayton Beach Florida where I was on a freelance assignment re: Yolo boarding, the new stand-up paddling craze taking over parts of Florida and California. Here's a glimpse of the photo shoot...



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Photographer Colleen Duffley at work.

To learn more about Yolo boarding, check out www.yoloboard.com. Photos Courtesy of M Public Relations.

Liza Sherman Antiques- NYC

(My favorite, the Senegalese Oil Barrel Shelving Unit, price upon request).

Strolling through the West Village on my recent weekend in New York, I came across Liza Sherman Antiques- a good mix of industrial, french country and ethnic. The chandeliers are particularly awesome. Check it out.


French drafting table, $6,200. Stage lighting, pricing varies. Late Edo Japanese Handpainted Banner, $3000.


Cumulus Bamboo Chandelier, $1950. Bubble Chandelier, $3800.


Pair of Karl Springer lamps, $2200.

Nude Women

I once had a friend explain the "tattoo debate" to me this way:

A person is in one of two camps. The first camp looks at the body as a blank canvas, a place where they can create something new. The second sees the body as a work of art in itself, something that shouldn't be tampered with.

I saw this painting at a store on Dixie and fell in love with it. The woman's face and figure are so modern. They seem in many ways to contradict the traditional (draped cloth) set up of the painting. In any case, made me think of the aforementioned argument, body as work of art.

Derby Chairs...

Campaign Chests

I found this campaign chest in Birmingham. Asking $215. I had no idea what a campaign chest was. Webster's has two definitions:

1. money collected and set aside for use in a campaign, esp. a political one; a campaign fund.
2. a low chest of drawers having handles at each side for lifting.

I love the look of storage spaces with these tiny little drawers. Check out Desire-to-Inspire's entry on "Card Catalogs". Similar but different. One person even uses is for liquor storage...

French Laundry Basket

...turned into a table. Would look awesome with stacked books or linens in the interior.Found this at Hanna Antiques In Birmingham, Alabama. Asking $300. Corresponding chairs $45 each.

Dixie Finds: Lounge Chairs

Found this Eames knock-off at A. Abbott Antiques for $299.You may be able to deal with the downgrades, considering the real thing costs $2,949.


Vintage Recliner. $450 at Hampton Antiques.

Trendspotting: Chalkboards

My new chalkboard.

You know that scene in Devil Wears Prada, where Meryl Streep (Miranda Priestly) goes on and on about "cerulean blue" and says to Anne Hathaway, "it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room."

I sort of feel like the Andy Sachs character when it comes to chalkboards. Honestly, I peeked my head into this incredibly outdated Office Supply store the other day and left with a giant green chalkboard. I felt innovative. After surfing the design blogs/shops for the last few days, I realize that in all reality, Factory 20 has been feeding my subconscious. They're lovin' the chalkboards. Alas, my purchase was not my own...

From Factory 20:

970s, USA, Great pair of Vintage chalkboards from the highly sought after Monumental Untitled Concepts Collection (MUCC. $885 (1 left in stock)


Jugendstil framed salvaged slate paneling. Thick flowing floral 2 ton heavy canvas ribbon framing bolted around the perimeter. Iron anchor bolting. $4800.



And this super cool chalkboard drawer idea on Remodelista. If you are regularly changing the contents of your drawers, this is a cool way to customize.


Also, from photographer Roland Bello...

Artist Visit: Courtney Garrett

Several months ago I wrote a piece for Thicket Magazine's March/April issue about the up-and-coming artist Courtney Garrett. While the piece focused on Courtney's career and work, I was also in awe of her design sense after seeing her place in Atlanta. She and her husband live in a converted basketball gym that they've kept clean and simple, but romantic at the same time. Notice the windows in Courtney's studio upstairs, which would normally be above the bleachers.

Courtney in front of one of her pieces (pink), from her Foxglove series.






Notice how great the light is in her studio...

Cashmere Buffalo

Cashmere Buffalo is a great shop right at the crux of Antique row on Dixie and Rosedale. Their style is much more eclectic, and affordable, than some of the other gold-gilded places on the strip. I particularly like their linen selection. They've got the fancy stuff and the crafty stuff too.

My favorite piece out of the whole lot is the embroidered pillowcase (french) hanging on the arm of the settee. It's shaped like an envelope, and you secure it like you do an envelope as well, at the flap.



Linens range in price from $5 for a set of cocktail napkins to up to $385 for their damask and antique linens.

They've also just recently gotten in these antique Indian vessels. Very heavy, and would look so stellar clustered together in a foyer or on a dining room table. Maybe even next to your bathtub.


Antique Indian vessels, $65-225.

Apartamento Magazine

Apartamento Magazine

How I missed the launch of this magazine I do not know. Found it online today and am dying to get my hands on a copy. The magazine is based in Milan and uses the tag line "everday interiors". I gather from the images that by "everyday interiors" they mean interiors on a budget, for renters, and young hip folks. It seems a more European, philosophical, non-Conde Nast, masculine version of Domino (RIP). Just ordered my first copy and will report back once I give it a good going-through.

Brown Paper Packages

When I was in high school, I bought these little yellow butterfly patches and ironed them onto my backpack because of a line I read in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years Of Solitude. Mauricio Babilonia, lover of Meme, is followed by yellow butterflies wherever he goes. The line reads something like "and she knew he'd been there, because the butterflies were there."

I was 16 and so in love with LOVE. And though the butterflies were totally heinous (in addition to the backpack and the rest of my wardrobe) I still love "fiction-inspired design" for lack of a better term. One that I still cling onto is "brown paper packages" from the song My Favorite Things in The Sound of Music. I just can't stand fancy wrapping paper with balloons and holly berries. I think wrapping things in postal wrap makes it so much more exciting- it always reminds me of getting something in the mail which is the BEST.


Scotch Kraft Postal Wrapping Paper, 30in x 15ft. Get it at any mailing center or crafts store.

It's also a blank slate for your ribbon (string). I like using rope or a really neutral gingham for thank you gifts. For good friends I like picking out a ribbon that suites their personality, and pink velvet for a 16th birthday!