A New Livingroom and A Blast from the Past

I just love this image from Skona Helm, a Swedish magazine. Not that I can read Swedish. Luckily we have googletranslate to mangle it into English. And even better, Automatism, to find the article and make more sense of it.

The thing I love most about this, though, is not the Swedishness of it, or the newness of it, but rather because it reminds me quite forcefully of my parents apartment when I was a little girl. We lived our bohemian, Buddhist, revolutionary artist life on the outskirts of Harlem in the seventies, in an apartment building that was condemned just a few years later.

It looked a lot like this, but with worn wood instead of painted floors. And our sofa, the mattress covered in patterned linens and pillows, sat on a door much like this. It was however propped up on cinder blocks. I think if I were to do this look today, which I might, I think I love it, I prefer the wheels. We even had a table that was much like this one, but again, the pretty wood sat on cinder blocks.

We had photographers lights every where, and paper lanterns. And many photographs, since my dad was a photographer and film maker. But behind the sofa, we had an old granny square afghan, possibly the reason why I hold a fondness for granny square afghans and really, really should finish the one I am working on now.

And Awesome Sleeping Porch That I Would Steal For My Office

How much do I want this screened sleeping porch with full sized bed swing? Oh, wow. A lot.

Really, I'm a lazy person who prefers to be reclining.

Wouldn't this be a fabulous place to hole up with a laptop to write that novel that I should be working on? Surrounded by notes, jazz playing in the background. Some chocolate not too far away for quick bursts of energy? The kids off somewhere else, far far away while I work. Sigh.

I found this on Piwackett. She actually knows this woman and gets to visit her and sit in that swing. And the other side of the sleeping porch is pretty awesome, too.

Hey look, a place to paint.

Nightwood Bed from Design Sponge

Awesome bedroom makeover from Amy over at Design Sponge.

This bed was made by hand by Nadia and Myriah from Nightwood, and shop that creates handmade furniture from recycled and upcycled bits of wood.

I love the mix of urban and country. Industrial and rustic. Oh and the girly to give it some romance. NICE.

There's even a video of the process. If you watch, you'll see clips from my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, to boot. I miss you, BK.

Dining Under Autumn Leaves

Wouldn't it be nice to live this life?

The simple dinner party out of doors. A table, some linens, some place settings, some fruit.

A hat, a velvet blazer and a skirt, some boots.

A pretty setting, nothing fancy, out of doors.

Created by Chelsea over at frolic. And here is even more in this story and some instructions of a few details.
The funny thing is... I could do this. I have the Autumn yard, surrounded by fall colored leaves, I have a round table I could take out, a table cloth and place settings, a bowl for the fruit. I have blazers and hats and scarves and boots and skirts.

The only element I don't already possess are those cool wine colored chairs.

What I don't possess is the energy to pull it all together.

Well. Hm.

Is creating something like this worth the energy output? Are the memories good enough to make the work worthwhile?

Am I just too lazy? It might be a nice reward for a job (all that work) well done. It might make for some nice pictures too.

Wabi Sabi Living Room and Thrifting Dream

I love this living room. Adore those old and shabby leather chairs. I wonder if they are comfortable? They look comfortable. I think they redid the cushions... they are a completely different color than the rest of the chairs, which is part of their charm. And that little side table with its sexy shape, and the bar cart, and the make-do book shelf/bench thing on the side. And don't forget the black and white photos with their grid of frames, and the great industrial looking lamps. All good things in my book.

What a great eye for the find and for the composition. I would love to find some of these things in a thrift store or a yard sale. But the question is... if one FOUND these things, would one recognize them for the gems they are? Would one envision how they could make a space?

And by "one" I mean "I."

Found here via Aesthetic Outburst.

Bohemian Style, Cafe Version

I love this cafe. I found it at annekata. She's longing for european cafes, which I totally understand, after my history with Greenwich Village cafes, however... I want to live here. I would love to have this be my living room.

The funny thing is, I was sitting here, perusing my starred items in google reader, and my daughter looked at the picture.

"Two couches!" she said. "I love two couches!"

Then I looked up at my living room, and thought, hey, I totally have room for another, smallish not puffy sofa. And the requisite striped pillows lying about. Good for lounging, and also for fortress making. See? Family friendly. Then I'd be able to get rid of S's hideous pink lounge chair. Yes. Pink.

Yes.

Lounge chair.

I should get cracking on the second couch search.

I finally managed to navigate the Polish (?) site and found even more lovely pictures. I think I could work this whole cafe, not just one seating area. Really indulge my bohemian side. Yeah. Bring on the kaffe.

A Chic Living Room, With DIY Hints

I kind of love Joanna's living room, designed by Jenny of Little Green Notebook. Also here. And don't forget her nursery. Check out that amazing window treatment.

I love how homey and down to earth it is, while also being chic. I could put my feet up here and watch tv, or let my 3 year old have a tea party and sleep over with her stuffed animals.

I like Jenny's idea about balancing the warm and cool colors in a room, which I'd never actually thought about. Also the details that I would never think to pay attention to in my own room.

I also love how she takes old, thrifted or hand me down furniture and slaps a coat of paint on it to make it into something new and stylish.

Of course, Jenny actually knows how to do that right, in fact, she shows us how. Did you know the torn veneer can be fixed with wood filler, a putty knife and a sander?

Thanks for the hints, Jenny. And perhaps this will give me the nerve to turn my old peeling veneer white dresser into a chic teal blue accent for my living room.

Some of Lisa's Favorite Things Are My Favorite Things, Too

Look what you can do with wine crates! I really like them. They remind me of old barns mixed with built ins, mixed with boards/bricks, mixed with barrister bookcases.

I do not know if I will ever be over this fixation I have with wine crates.

via apartmenttherapy

A Rustic Type Bench for Books and Lots of Stuff

Found this picture on Automatism, via Hus & Hem.

What I like here most is the rustic bench. I love those various boxes and containers underneath it for storage, and the piles of books on top.

Add that together with the feminine little granny chair, the masculine leather poof (can a poof be masculine?) and the gathered frames on the white wall... well I just like it.

Love the vintagey, gathered, rustic, utility look of it. It says, "I like what I like and I just don't give a damn about what you're 'supposed' to do." And that kind of attitude always exudes style to me.

Another Lovely Apartment

I love this apartment. Perhaps because it reminds me of various apartments I've lived in over the course of my life.

That is all I have to say here. Love.

More pictures here

via designsponge

Cute Kids Rooms and Musings on My Weird Style

I love this kid's room. It's by Sussie Bell and I found it via Brown Button. I showed it to my daughter and asked her if she liked it. She didn't seem to know what I was talking about. LOL

There's what I get for trying to push my tastes onto a two year old.

But I'm sure when it comes time to decorate her room, she will very happily ask for this flower or that dolly or that thing in pink and when I make a banner with the alphabet or a pillow out of a felted sweater, I'm sure she will enjoy it all.

Of course, that is all assuming that I'm going to manage any crafting and decorating instead of just lusting for things I found on the internet.

But on the plus side, I'm really getting to understand what I like and what elements create that.

I love the eclectic white rooms with pops of color... but I don't like them too white or too shabby chic. Now this is a great, girlie room, for a girl, but in general, I would want something a little more modern and a little more bohemian. I'm discovering I really like white draped furniture, but I like it to have a citified edge to it's funky, thrift store vibe. And that means I like white walls and old furniture, graphic elements, a little bit of black, bolder patterns, worn surfaces, old wood, odd color combos, interesting collections, a few modern clean lines, a smattering of industrial and lots of books.

I will be looking for more inspiration, and someday soon... stuff.

I'm looking forward to it.

Sandra Juto's Done it Again

How adorable is this little bedside crate/shelf/table? I know, I know, certainly not high fashion, right? There's no name brand designer or high concept style.... except I love it. Love love.

The warm wood with it's worn use-pattern of circles from long gone bottles. The drapey tendrils of plant in the pretty planter, with it's sparkle. The personality laden weird little doodad. The botanical pod, echoing the shape of the circle pattern. The box spring on the floor, the journals, even the radiator in the background.

Love. This is one of Sandra Juto's favorite things, and I found it on Holly Becker's Decor8 blog.

I do believe Sandra Juto is the one who made that inspiring afghan. That I'm still having trouble posting. Hey, you can go see it on the Sandra Juto's favorite things link.

To tell you the truth, it's one of the reasons why I'm not posting that much lately. I'm having a tech idiot moment with my new computer and have not managed to figure out how to cut and paste photos from the internet. What the heck?

So it might be a little skimpy around here until I work out an acceptable method. Wish me luck.

Wouldn't this be wonderful in your house?

How awesome would it be to have this typeface deer head mounted in your living room. The graphic quality of the print and the majestic, natural quality of the deer combine to make it a cheeky and conceptual statement, which is at the same time down to earth. Me love.

And if I have figured out how to post pictures from the web to my blog, again, I might just be able to start posting here again. My computer died, you see, and now I have to learn the new system.

I think I got this. I've been trying to post this for a couple of days. Yay me. But I'd like a better shortcut. I will keep figuring out.

In the meantime, lets thank this wonderful etsy seller, ruby's lounge, for her inventive creation.

Oh dear. I just realized this seller is Jennifer Koshbin. I've seen her art around for a while. She's wonderful. Check her out.

What I Want Is a Magical Tee Pee Tent

Living etc.
photo by Regression by Claire L. Evans

Have seen some wonderful tee pee play tents via The Haystack Needle.

My son hates to sleep in a bed. He always ends up sleeping on the floor. We laid out some mats and sleeping bags, and he still ends up in front of the door. Lately, we brought his sister's play house into the room, and set up a half of the play house with sleeping bags and comforters and pillows... one for each of them. But I still dream of a wonderful tee pee retreat for him... posssibly one for her too, although I don't know if she's sleep in one.

Then I started searching and realized, those buggers are expensive. I don't see me buying a 300$ play tent in the near future. I also found some instruction in how to make your own, pages of instructions. Ai ai ai. I am not a seamstress.

Then I found this Camp Creek blog entry, years old. A no sew tee pee made of bamboo and an old duvet cover. That's my kind of project! Give them some love... project based learning from a homeschooling perspective. I see authentic art lessons, too... worth more exploration. Did I ever tell you that I was a project based, art integrating progressive High School teacher?

Casual Garden Wedding Ideas

I know I haven't posted lately. With the upheaval of nap time and the new projects and the reduced computer time and some other big stressors, I have neglected this blog sadly. The new stress is a moving plan. Nothing is one hundred percent right now, but we're pretty sure that we'll be moving to Northern California by Autumn.

So such a big shift in location has my whole brain turning around. I haven't been thinking about weddings... but I saw this wedding on Once Wed and thought I couldn't lose this bit of inspiration. I love the casual feel of this seating arrangement. The intimate party. Relaxation. String of lights. Mismatched garden furniture.
I also love this table arrangement. Mason jars and candles and herb pots and garden/wildflowers. Yeah, baby. I've actually thought about collecting mason jars and vintage jars and jelly glasses for drinking. I mean, what's more down to earth, insouciant and romantic than drinking sangria out of a mason jar? Cava out of a jelly glass?

Found via Paper n Stitch

Let's Talk Purple and Such

Oh so pretty, found through sfgirlbybay. She has lots of purple there, but this one is my favorite.

Love this living room. Anything with lilacs gets my heart, but also, I love that black chair... although I don't usually like black leather furniture... too oppressive. But this one looks good. Maybe because it's a small chair. I like the patterned rug. I like the piles of books. That's another thing I find calls me. Books. A room needs books in order for it to feel finished. At least for me. I also like the art. A room needs art. And strangely, I really like that radiator. I know everyone wants to hide them, but maybe radiators are nostalgic for me, growing up in NYC. Or maybe I like the graphic pattern. The stripeyness. The industrial feel.

Now let's talk about purple. I really like purple and have found it is great on walls. I used a darker shade than this in my living room once, Benjamin Moore Tropical Dusk. And my kids had a lighter shade from the same paint chip in their nursery. That was an amazing color. So warm and light and fresh. Not girlie at all. I wish I could remember the name of it.

The best thing about those shades of purple were that they were not that purple. They were muted and had a great deal of gray in them. Like shadows. I would definitely use that paintchip again. Maybe not as dark as Tropical Dusk, because that has to fill a need, but that light color was wonderful. Not as pink or as bright as the picture here.

What a Dreamy Room!

Vineeta's done it again. Found something to match my inner vision I didn't know I had until she put it on her blog. Thanks Vineeta.

I love this room. I love the white draped couch (on a side note, I saw a gorgeous white bedspread at the thrift store, but before I could get there, someone else picked it up and examined it. I hovered about hoping she would move on, but maybe I hovered too close and she took it!) I love the collage of pictures. I love the ivy crawling up the wall and the wide windows. I like the spots of red. And I'm not usually a fan of carpeting, but that floor looks so cozy with all the pillows.

Anyway, I would love to live there, even if the room is a bit girly so I'd probably have to limit it to my studio. That's okay. I could handle that.

Image from Debi Treloar Photography

Garden by Mae Bruncken

Ooooooooooooh.

Pretty.

I want to go to there.

Actually, I am blessed to have a garden that looks like it was carved out of a jungle, so I could do this. Switch the plastic chairs out for wicker (wicker? in steamy, rainy Florida...uh, yeah, that won't work.)

Nestle a bench and cushions and coffee table in a nook off the winding pathways.

My best interpretation (in my head) of this, would be to hang little glass candle holders from the trees.

Hm. How to keep the rain out of them? I guess they would need little roofs. Okay, not as quick and cheap a transformation as I thought. No little mason jars on wire hangers.

But still doable. I'll just put it on the end of my long To Do list.

Now, I can't open up Mae Brunken's site on my ancient computer, so you'll just have to go through Decorated Life's blog. That's okay, she's real cool. I'm sure she won't mind you traipsing through her rooms.

Such pretty details found on Offbeat Bride. I love the wheat grass crates and the mason jars and the long family style tables draped with white fabric. And I would add martha stewart tissue poofs and pretty triangle banners and polka dot streamers and balloons, all in shades of rose and apricot and yellow.

uh oh.

Looks like someone's getting a little detail happy.

Must be like Coco Chanel, who said something along the lines of get yourself all dressed up and then take three things off.

I think it's a good practice in all things... fashion, decorating, makeup, scheduling, writing... do what you want, but learn to edit, and get back down to the simpler version, which might actually be truer to your vision.

Dear Universe, How's About You Grant Me A Fantasy?

Look at this holy smackalicious loft/studio (from Loft Life Mag) in my old home of Williamsburg Brooklyn. Now I loved lots of things about Williamsburg, but my apartment was a little four room floor through with tilting floors and no sink in the kitchen... although it did get lovely light.

Love this kitchen dining area with raw wood and glass cabinets and that funky table.
Uhm, and the CEILINGS. I mean that's just a ridiculonkulous kind of dream, but we could still take elements. For one, the open plan/open space. The adaptation of the original construction into a home... hey this could be in a barn, as well as a converted loft space. I also like the little cluster of potted trees under the sky light. The brick walls are nice, but I've living with brick walls, and if you don't have a lot of light/space, they can get confining. Or cozy, depending on your point of view. I like the industrial feel, too. Not just of the space itself, but of the furniture and art studio.

Oh. There are the chairs. Green wicker. I like green wicker, but I think that table would also be nice with benches.

I also like the color scheme of whites and grays and raw wood browns with little pops of dusty green. Not fancy, but soothing and chic.

One question. Where are the books. This loft needs books.

Found via sfgirlbybay